I did choose thee. Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Niber. The passage of scripture I'd
like to preach from this morning is found in the ninth chapter
of Romans. And before we look at it, I would like to give you
the title to this message, The Place of God's Will in Salvation. The Place of God's Will in Salvation. Most people believe in what they
call free will. Man has a free will. He has the freedom to choose
Christ or to reject him, and salvation is ultimately dependent
upon the choice he makes by his free will. me tell you that that
just is not so. The Bible does not teach that
because there is no such thing as free will. Your will is controlled
by your nature. Now it's true we do what we want
to do. We're not forced to do what we
do. We do what we want to do. If we did it it's because we
wanted to do it. But that doesn't mean we have
a free will. God doesn't have a free will.
He can't sin. He can't just up and say, well,
I'm going to tell a lie, or I'm going to sin. No, his will is
controlled by his holy, righteous nature. And man's will is controlled
by his evil nature. Yes, he has a will, but that
will is controlled by an evil nature. There is no such thing
as free will. Now, most preachers make salvation
ultimately dependent upon man's choice, man's free will. But my dear friends, that's just
not so. It's not what the Scripture teaches, and it's a denial that
salvation is by grace. Now, like I said, I've entitled
this message, The Place of God's Will in Salvation. Now, I'd like to begin reading
in verse 11 of Romans chapter 9 and read down through the 16th
verse. This is talking about Jacob and
Esau, the twins, for the children being not yet born, neither having
done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. It was said
unto her, Rebecca, the elder shall serve the younger. As it's
written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Well, what shall we say then?
What is our response to this? Paul is anticipating the objection
he knew men would make. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? Is God unfair in loving Jacob
and hating Esau and choosing Jacob to salvation and passing
by Esau? Is God unfair? Now, I can understand
people making this objection if they saw a woman who had twins
and she showed extreme favoritism toward one of those twins and
did more for one than she did the other. Everyone would say,
that's not fair. She should love them equally.
And I agree with that. She shouldn't show favoritism
toward one child over another. But what Paul is talking about
is not God showing favoritism in that sense. Probably the best
way to understand why this objection doesn't hold true is to think
of the parable of the workers in the vineyard. You remember
in Matthew chapter 20 where some people who work for 12 hours
and some people work for nine hours, some for six, some for
three, and some for only one hour, and the master gave them
all the same pay. The ones who worked 12, he agreed
with them for a penny a day, and that's what they got. It's
what the master said he would give them, and they agreed to
that, and he was right in that. And they murmured against the
owner of the vineyard when he gave the ones who only worked
one hour the same thing. They said, this is wrong. You've
made them equal to us, and we've worked more than them. And the
master of the vineyard said, I did you no wrong. I gave you
what I said I'd give you. And if I'm generous towards these
one hour workers, are you going to charge me with being unjust
and unfair simply because I'm generous? Now, when God chooses
one and passes by another, he's not being unfair the way a mother
would be unfair with showing favoritism to one child over
another. That's not the case at all. What
we have, when God has mercy on someone, he's having mercy on
someone who deserves to be damned, who's a criminal. Let's say we
had two criminals that were guilty of great crimes against humanity,
and they were just evil people that deserve to be executed.
Now, if the governor pardoned one of those criminals, Would
it be unjust for him to not pardon both of them? No, because the
other one deserved to be executed. He may have been merciful to
one, but it doesn't make him wrong in being just toward the
other. Now, when Paul anticipates this
objection, is there unrighteousness with God? Is God unfair in loving
Jacob and hating Esau? God forbid, he says, for he saith
to Moses, I'll have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I
will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then,
it's not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but
of God that showeth mercy. Next time someone speaks of man's
free will, remember this scripture, Romans 9, 16. It's not of him
that willeth, nor of him that runneth. It's not because of
a man's exertions and efforts, but it's of God that showeth
mercy. You see, God is sovereign. That means he has a will, he
has the power to make his will come to pass, And He always does
make His will come to pass. He is absolutely sovereign, and
He's sovereign in the distribution of His gifts. Look in life. Just look around you, and you
can see how God has made a difference with people. He's in control
of it. There are some people that are born beautiful. There
are some people who are born not very attractive. And you
look at the difference that makes in their lives because of the
way they were born. They didn't have anything to
do with it. They were born as God would have them to be born.
There are people who are born into material well-being, and
there are people who are born into poverty. And they didn't
have anything to do with that. That's just where God placed
them. Some have a silver spoon in their mouth. Some are in want
from the very beginning. There are different health conditions. There are babies born. addicted
to drugs because their mother was addicted to drugs. They didn't
have anything to do with that, but they were born that way.
And there were others that were born in health. There are some
who have just greater advantages. Someone is born in a third world
country. Someone else is born in the United States with all
kinds of opportunities for education and advancement and so on. Some
are born very intelligent, high IQs. Some are born not very intelligent
at all. It's not true that all men are
made equal. That's just not true. We're born
different, and that's all according to God's control and God's purpose. You know, our personalities were
given us, encoded in our DNA by God before we ever split the
womb. You can see God's absolute sovereignty
in all this, and whatever He does is right. We're not to call
it into question. Daniel 4.35 says, "...he doeth
according to his will in the armies of heaven, and among the
inhabitants of the earth. And none can say his hand, or
say unto him, What doest thou? give an account for yourself."
Hannah said, "...the Lord killeth, and the Lord maketh alive. He
bringeth down to the grave, and he bringeth up. The Lord maketh
poor, and the Lord maketh rich." He bringeth low, and he lifteth
up. It was said to Cyrus in Isaiah
chapter 45, the Babylonian king that didn't even know God, God
said to Cyrus, chapter 45 verse 1, Thus saith the Lord to his
anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I beholden, to subdue nations
before him, and I'll loose the loins of kings to open before
him the two-leaved gates, and the gates shall not be shut.
I'm in control of everything. And he says this to Cyrus when
Cyrus didn't even know who he was. And he said in verse 5,
I am the Lord, and there's none else. There's no God beside me.
I girded thee, though thou hast not known me, he says to Cyrus,
everything you've done I've been in control of. that they may
know from the rising of the sun and from the west that there's
none beside me. I'm the Lord and there's none else. I form
the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil.
I, the Lord, do all these things." Now this is who God is. He's
sovereign. He controls everything. I love
the way His sovereignty is demonstrated in creation. When He spake the
world into existence, with whom did He consult or ask about it?
He said, light be, and light was, and the darkness fled. How supreme was His will in this
thing of creation. Now remember, I'm asking the
place of God's will in salvation. Well, what was the place in God's
will in creation? It was everything. He willed
it, and it took place. And we see this in Providence
as well. It was only His will that caused
creation to come into existence. Now, providence is everything
that happens in time. Everything that happens in time,
He is the first cause behind. He decreed for it to take place. He said in Isaiah chapter 46,
beginning in verse 9, remember the former things of old, for
I'm God and there's none else. I am God and there's none like
me, declaring the end from the beginning. And from ancient times,
the things that are not yet done, saying my counsel shall stand
and I will do all my pleasure. Calling a ravenous bird from
the east, the man that executes my counsel from a far country.
Yea, I have spoken it. I will also bring it to pass.
I have purposed it and I will also do it. Now, everything that
happens, And that's a whole lot of things. He is in absolute
control of everything, and everything that happens is His will being
done. Now, there are secondary causes and there are tertiary
causes, but He's the first cause behind everything in prophets. Now, you think of all the events
in your life that have led you to where you are now? Do you
know that God is the first cause behind it all? I love thinking
about that. I love the way the Lord says,
there's not a sparrow that falls to the ground without your heavenly
Father. He controls everything. Every event, He's in control
of it. Proverbs 16.33 says, the lot
is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of
the Lord. He controls the free actions
of men. Men do what they want to do.
But the scripture also says a man's heart devises his way but the
Lord directs his steps. We make plans and we do what
we want to do and we do what we want to do but the whole time
it's God directing our steps. Each step he is in control of. What about the bad things that
people do? He's in control of the sinful
actions of man. Him being delivered, the most
sinful action of man is the death of Christ. Him being delivered
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have
taken and with wicked hands have crucified and slain." You see,
He's in control of everything in Providence. It's always His
will being done, always. And what a joy that is to a believer
when we know that all things work together for good. to them
that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.
No matter what happens in Providence, if I'm a child of God, God is
using that for my good and His glory, and it's all working together
for my eternal good. His will is everything in Providence. There's nothing that happens
outside of His will. Now, most especially, the supremacy
of His will is seen in salvation. Now, his will was supreme in
creation. He willed this universe into
existence, and he didn't consult with anybody. My will didn't
have anything to do with it, and yours doesn't either. His
will is so clearly seen in providence, he controls everything. There's
nothing outside of his absolute control. He hath done whatsoever
he hath pleased, David said, and in salvation, his will is
in control. when he says, therefore it's
not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God
that showeth mercy. He's talking about salvation. Salvation is
not a response to man's free will. Salvation is not a reward
to man's free will. The entirety of salvation is
contingent upon the will of God. It's not of him that willeth.
nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy." Now,
if the entirety of creation rests in His will, and anybody knows
that that's so, there wasn't anything, wasn't anybody for
Him to consult with, and nobody even had a will. He dwelt alone
when He created the universe. And if the entirety of providence
hangs on His sovereign will, would we dare to think anything
less of His glorious salvation? That's His greatest work, salvation. It's entirely contingent upon
His will, not every aspect of salvation. Now, when we think
of salvation, we think of the three persons of the Trinity
and their work in salvation. It's the work of the Father to
elect, it's the work of the Son to redeem, and it's the work
of God the Holy Spirit to regenerate or to give the new birth to,
to give life to. Now, what about election, the
will of God in election? Well, Ephesians 1, 4 through
6 says, according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
Him, in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ of Himself according to the good pleasure of His will."
All of this was done, this choice of His people was done according
to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of
His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. Redemption is according to His
will. The Lord said, I came down from
not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
And this is the Father's will which has sent me, that of all
which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but raise it up
again at the last day." I think of our Lord's prayer in Gethsemane's
garden when he thought about what he was going to endure on
the cross, when he was going to be forsaken by God, when he
was going to bear the sins of his people, when he was going
to suffer the wrath of God. He said, If it be possible, let
this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but
thine be done. You see, he was dying according
to the will of the Father. Isaiah 53, 10 says, it pleased
the Lord to bruise him, to crush him. All of sanctification, all
of the sanctifying work of Christ, where he sanctified us by his
work on the cross, It's all according to the will of God, by the which
will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all. So everything in redemption,
Christ's redeeming work of the cross, it happened as a result
of the will of God and regeneration, being born again. It's according
to the will of God. Now, how much did you have to
do with your first birth? How much did your will, was it
involved at all in your first birth? Did anybody ask you if
you wanted to be born? No, you were given life and your
will had nothing to do with it. And in the second birth, in the
new creation, your will has nothing to do with it. Scripture says,
of his will begat he us through the word of truth. John 1, 12
and 13 says, But as many as received him, to them gave he power to
become the sons of God, even to them which believe on his
name, which were born, not of blood. not of the will of the
flesh, not of the will of man, but of God. Salvation is according to God's
will. It's not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Now I want to think just for
a few moments about some horrible implications some terrible things
that would be true if free will was true. I'm thankful it's not,
but if free will were true, if man had a free will, as most
people say, that means man's will and not God's will would
be the deciding factor in salvation. God's purpose is entirely contingent
upon man's will. According to that view, it would
be possible for heaven to be empty if nobody of their free
will decided to let God save them. The angels would say what
a depressing place this is when they would see all the empty
places of those people that God wanted to save but he couldn't
save because man of his free will would not let him. This
makes man's will sovereign over God's will, and it makes God's
will subservient to man's will, and actually puts the will of
man on the throne and reduces God to a mere spectator. How
dreadful. If free will were true, this
would be a denial of the Bible's description of man dead in trespasses
and sins. Not with a free will, but dead
in trespasses and sins. His will chained to a wicked,
evil nature so that the Lord said, you will not come to me
that you might have life. The Lord said, no man can come
to me except the Father which has sent me draw him. The carnal
mind is enmity against God. It's not subject to the law of
God. Neither, indeed, can be. So free will would be a complete
denial of those scriptures regarding what God says about man. This thought of free will runs
contrary to the experience of God's people. They know that
if they have a will to come to Christ, he made them willing.
Psalm 1103 says, thy people shall be willing in the day of thy
power. Philippians 2, 12 and 13 says,
work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it's God
that worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Psalm 65 verse 13 says, blessed
is the man whom thou choosest and cause us to approach unto
thee. You know, even in our experience,
we say to will is present with me, but how to perform that,
which is good, I find not. We find this sinful propensity
in us that delivers us from really doing what we want to do. That's
our experience, according to Romans chapter 7. But you know,
even these reasons that I've given, these horrible implications
of man having a free will, denies, it's not the main reason, those
are just logical reasons, it's not the main reason we reject
free will. We reject free will because God's
Word rejects free will. It's not of him that willeth.
nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Someone
who believes in free will does not believe in free grace. Someone
who believes in free will rejects the doctrine of man being a depraved
sinner. Someone who believes in free
will does not believe the gospel. Someone who preaches free will
does not preach the gospel. Now somebody may be thinking,
doesn't man's will have a place in salvation? Meritoriously,
no, it doesn't. Man's will doesn't merit anything,
but that doesn't mean the will is not involved in salvation.
You see, God gives a man a new will. That's what happens in
the new birth. And the Lord said to that man
crippled for the last 38 years, he said, will thou be made whole?
Is that your desire? Do you wish, do you will to be
made whole? Now, if you come to Christ, You
will to come. That's what you want to do. If
you come to Christ for mercy, it's because that's what you
want to do. You've been given a will to do that. God gave you
a new will. And I love that scripture, and
the Spirit and the bride say, come, and let him that's here
say, come, and let him that's athirst come, and whosoever will,
whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. Now, did you hear that scripture,
my friend? Whosoever will. Well, don't I need to pray first,
or don't I need to give up all my sin first, or don't I need
to make myself better, or don't I need to understand more? No,
whosoever will. That's what the scripture says.
Let him take, let him seize the water of life freely, without
a cause in you. Take it. Now, I'd like to close
by showing you a man who had absolutely no problem with God's
will, the place of God's will in salvation, the supremacy of
God's will in salvation. You can read about him in Matthew,
the eighth chapter. Now this is directly after the
Sermon on the Mount. We read about a leper who came
to Christ. And remember in the scriptures,
leprosy is the great type of sin. That's why the scriptures
devote so much time to it. It's the great type of sin. We read in chapter 8 of Matthew
verse 1. And when he was come down from
the mountain, great multitudes followed him. And behold, this
is something that should catch our attention, there came a leper. Now he was forbidden by the law
to do this. He was to be outside of the camp.
He was to have a cloth over his mouth. And if he sees anybody
coming toward him, he was to cry out, unclean, unclean. But
this man came to Christ, and the Scripture says he worshipped
Him. Now, this issue is to be settled before any other issue
is settled. He worshipped Christ for who
He was. He hadn't yet been healed, and he didn't know if Christ
would heal him, but Christ was worthy of worship because He's
the Lord. He's the Lord of creation. He's
the Lord of providence, and He's the Lord of salvation. He's in
absolute control of everything. He's God. He's the God-man, and
He is to be worshiped. And you're to worship Him. I'm
to worship Him without reference to what He does or does not do
for me. And this leper understood this,
this issue of worship. was first settled, there came
a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst
make me clean. He didn't say, Lord, I've of
my free will decided to let you make me clean. He knew his being
made clean was utterly and entirely in the hands of the Lord. Lord,
if thou wilt, You can. You have the ability to make
me clean. He came for the right thing,
to be clean. He knew who the Lord was, and
he knew that salvation, he knew that his cleansing was entirely
in the sovereign hands of the will of Christ. Lord, if thou
wilt, it's totally up to you. I can't make it happen. I can't
cause you to. It's totally and entirely up
to you. If thou wilt, thou canst. Make me clean. Now, any sinner who ever comes
to Christ comes just like this fella did. We come in our leprosy,
in our sinfulness. Luke's account tells us he was
full of leprosy. We come full of sin and we worship
him for who he is. He's the Lord. And we say, Lord,
if you will, it's entirely up to you. If you will, you can
make me clean. Let me tell you that every sinner
who comes to Christ just like that hears exactly what this
leper said. Verse 3, And Jesus put forth
his hand, and touched him, saying, I will be thou clean. If you and I come like this leper
came, we'll hear the same thing. I will be thou clean. That's the place of God's will
in salvation. To request a copy of the sermon
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