All right, let's turn to Romans
chapter 9, and I want to read beginning back with verse 10
for a moment. And not only this, but when Rebecca
also had conceived by one, even our father Isaac, the children
being not yet born, the twins that were in her womb,
not yet delivered, 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, by whom? By the Lord God. The elder shall
serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. Now the response comes in verse
14. What shall we say then? Paul
anticipates this strong objection against God's election of grace. It will certainly come forth.
What shall men say? Unrighteousness with God? Is
God unrighteous? Is God unfair? The natural mind cries unrighteous,
unfair. It's unfair to call some and
pass by others, that's unfair. My question is, to whom is it
unfair? To whom is it unfair? Now if
you'll think a moment, what we studied this morning, God gave
to Israel, the nation Israel, the glory, the glory, the covenants,
the promise of the Messiah, the pictures and types of Christ,
the prophets, the service of the tabernacle, the priesthood,
the art, the mercy seat. He sent them great prophets to
preach to them the gospel. The gospel was preached to them.
It wasn't mixed with faith in them that heard it, but it was
preached. And they stoned the prophets. They stoned the prophets. Our Lord said, which of the prophets
did not your father stone? And then the father sent his
son into the world to this nation. He was in the world, the world
knew him not, and he came to his own nation, and they received
him not. God sent his son into the world
as he promised. This particular time, the place,
Bethlehem, the family of David, as he said, and they received
him not. And then the father bore witness
to the son by the forerunner, prophesied in the Old Testament,
John the Baptist. Isaiah talked about John the
Baptist. Malachi talked about John the Baptist. And then John
the Baptist came, born supernaturally of an old mother. Elizabeth and
an old father, Zacharias. And God struck his father down
until he named that boy John, a name that wasn't customary
in his house. But God bore witness through
the forerunner. Then a voice from heaven on two
occasions. God said, this is my son in whom
I am well pleased. Then the miracles that he did.
Even the Pharisees said no man could do these miracles except
God be with him. But they rejected him and despised
him and cast him out and nailed him to a cross and laughed and
harassed him as he died. And they looked up and saw a
sign that the governor nailed to his cross which declared in
the three languages of that day, Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. This
is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. But they refused
him. And I ask you, to whom is it
unfair? If God passes them by and leaves
them in their darkness and rebellion, to whom is it unfair? How much
can you say to a bunch of people? How much can you show How much
can you reveal to them? To whom is it unpacked? In this
day, since our Lord died on the cross and went back to glory,
we have far more revelation than they ever had. All the promises
are fulfilled. All the prophecies are fulfilled.
All the types are fulfilled. All the signs are fulfilled. Everything is fulfilled in Christ.
When he had fulfilled everything that was written of him, they
took him down from the tree and put him in a tomb, and God raised
him. And he was seen of his disciples
and one time above 500 people at once. And since that day,
God has raised up preacher after preacher after preacher, evangelists,
missionaries to the whole world, and is preached by these men
the faithful gospel of free grace. If any man thirsts, let him come
to me and drink, and out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water. Come unto me, Christ said, all
you that labor to heavy laden, I'll give you rest. Come on.
Who soars with thirst, let him take the water of life freely.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that hears my word and believes
on me, have everlasting life, and shall
never come into condemnation, but shall perish from death unto
life. And yet they refuse. They scoff. Instead of hearing
this gospel, relieving this gospel, they scoff at it and brand it
foolishness. Now then, if God leaves them,
my kinfolks and yours, my neighbors and yours, if God leaves them
in their rebellion, let me ask you, to whom is it unfair? To whom is he unrighteous? To whom? Is there unrighteousness
with God? God forbid. That's what I said.
God forbid. Today, young and old, TV programs,
movies, newspapers, newspapers, columnists, all of them ridicule,
ridicule what they call the religious right. I don't know what that
is, but they know their thing. They make fun of the born-again
crowd. You've been born again. The Holy
Joes, that's what they used to call us in the Navy, the Holy
Joes, you know. The byword today is don't preach
to me. That's what children say to their
parents, that's what folks you work with say. Don't preach to
me. All right, that's fine. I won't. But I ask this question, if God
passes you by and leaves you in your darkness, and leaves
you in your rebellion, and leaves you in your hatred, to whom is
it unfair? You have to say the same thing
that the thief on the cross said, we're getting what we deserve. And almost all the religious
crowd today, and I'm including about 98% of folks that are meeting
right now at this hour, they cry out against sovereignty in
salvation. It's all right for God to be
sovereign in different places, but not in salvation. Not in
salvation. They despise free, unmerited
grace, and they love free will, free will. They demand that they
have their free will. They demand that no one violates
their free will. We're free to choose. We defend
that right and we choose our wills very well. If God leaves
you to your will, is God unfaithful? Is he unfair? If God leaves a
man to his will, and that's where your will will take you, that's
exactly where it'll take you. Is God unfair? And that's what
Paul said in here. Is God unfair? God forbid. Let me show you two examples. Turn first to John 5. John 5. In John chapter 5, our Lord encountered
the religious crowd, such as we have about us today, the religious
crowd. And he's telling them all the
witnesses that the Heavenly Father has sent, declaring who he is. And he says in John 5 verse 31,
if I bear witness of myself, and I'm the only witness, I don't
expect you to believe me. Because every word's got to be
established by the mouth of two or three witnesses. And God has
established his witness and his truth by a multitude of witnesses. But now read on. There's another
that by witness of me, I know that the witness which he witnesses
is true. He sent unto John, I was talking
about him, the forerunner, John the Baptist. He by witness to
the truth. But I received not testimony from a man, But these
things I say that you might be saved. That's why I'm telling
you these things. John was a burning, shining light,
and you were willing for a season to rejoice in his light. Why
have greater witness than that of John? For the works which
the Father has given me to finish, the same works that I do, they
bear witness of me, that the Father has sent me. Because the
blind to see, and the lame to walk, and the dead to live, the
deaf to hear, Those works bear witness of me.
And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness
of me. And you neither heard his voice
at any time, nor seen his shape, but others have heard his voice.
And you have not his word abiding in you, for whom he hath sent
him you believe not. And you search the scriptures.
That's what that's saying. He's not telling them to search
the scriptures. He's saying they do. These were scripture searchers.
These fellows were. You do search the scriptures.
Why do you search the scriptures? Because in them you think you
have eternal life. But there they which testify
of me. And you, in spite of all these
witnesses that God the Father has sent, you will not come to
me that you might have life. There it is. Is God unfair to
condemn them? Now watch this witness, Matthew
chapter 8. Matthew chapter 8. Now here comes
a man of a different condition. Here
comes a man in need, a man in trouble, a helpless victim of
leprosy. In Matthew chapter 8, verse 1. When the Lord Jesus came down
from the mountain, A great multitude followed him, and behold, there
came a leper, a dying man, a diseased man, a helpless man,
and he worshipped him. And he said, Lord, if you will,
if you can find it in your purpose and will, if you will, you can
make me clean. That's a different approach,
isn't it? And Jesus said unto him, put forth his hand, touched
him, and said, I will be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy
was cleansed. Now show me where our Lord is
unrighteous and unthankful. Our Lord is merciful and gracious. And if any man's thirsty, let
him come. If any man's in need, let him come. If any man's helpless
and hopelessly doomed because of his sin, let him come. I give
him mercy. He said, I ask and you'll receive.
Knock and it shall be opened to you. Seek and you'll find. Which father of you, if your
child would ask of bread, would give him a stone? Or if he asked
a serpent, would give him a Ask a fish, you'd give him a serpent. But if you being evil know how
to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall the Father
give good things to you that what? That resent Him and resent
His will and resent His sovereignty and resent His purpose? No, ask
Him! My goodness. Ask Him. How much more will your Father
give? Them that ask me. These fellas
never ask. You will not come to me. That
old leper did. And he went away spotlessly clean. To whom is it unfair? Alright,
let's look back at my text. Romans 9 verse 15. But the apostle
makes no defense of God. Nah, he just says, listen, verse
15. He said, God said to Moses, I'll
have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I'll have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. The Apostle makes no defense
for God. God doesn't need a defense. The
Apostle doesn't try to explain to these people who charge God
with being unfair and unrighteous, he doesn't try to explain to
them what all they're doing. If God doesn't quicken them,
they won't come, can't come. All of my nature love darkness.
and hate life. If they're not born again, they
cannot see the kingdom of God. All live darkness. All are ignorant
of God's mercy. They must be taught of God. But
Paul just turns to the Scripture. And the Scripture turns to is
Exodus 33, and I want you to turn to it. Exodus chapter 33. He just turns to the Scripture. And when they accuse our God
of being unfair and unrighteous, he turns to the scripture. That's
what Isaiah told us to do. He said, to the law and to the
testimony, to the scripture. You have to speak not according
to the scriptures. No lie there, just go to the scriptures. All
right, let's do that. In Exodus 33 verse 12, Moses
said to the Lord, Lord, see thou sayest unto me,
bring up this people, and thou hast not let me know whom thou
wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee
by name, I know you Moses, and you found grace in my sight.
Now therefore I pray thee. Now here's Moses, great servant
of God, and he asked God three things. He asked of God three
things. Why can't we do that? Why can't
folks do that? Just humbly. Just humbly ask
God these three things right here. He said, Lord, verse 13,
I pray thee, if I've found grace in thy sight, show me thy way. I don't want my way. I don't
want the way that seems right to me. I don't want the way that
seems right to the natural mind. I want to know your way. Your
way. Show me your way. that I may
know thee, would you show me your way? That's a simple request. Lord, you're God. I've sinned
against you. I need help. I need mercy. Show
me your way. That's all. That I may know thee,
that I may find grace in thy sight. And consider that this
nation is thy people. And the Lord answered him and
said, My presence shall go with thee. I'll give you rest. And
then he asked him the second request. He said unto him, Lord,
if your presence go not with me, carry me not hence. I don't want to go anywhere where
you're not. I don't want to go any way that's not your way.
I don't want to follow any path that's not your path. I don't
want to follow any truth that's not your truth. If you don't
go with me, don't let me go. Don't let me even turn to the
right or to the left. I'm shut up to your way. and
your presence, you go with me. All right. And verse 16, for
wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found
grace in thy sight? Is it not that you go with us?
Isn't that the way you find, isn't that the way you know that
you've found grace in his sight, that he's with you, that his
presence is among you, that his blessings are upon you, that
he speaks to you and teaches you and you speak to him, that
God's with you? You know God blessed you, that
he's with you. So shall we be separated, I and
thy people among all the people upon the face of the earth. The
Lord said, Moses, I'll do this very thing that you've spoken.
I'll show you my way. Our Lord said, I'm the way, the
truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father but
by me. All through the book of Acts they spake evil of this
way. Paul's solitarsis was seeking if he could find anybody on this
way, he'd kill them. Show me your way. And, Lord,
if you don't go with me, don't let me go a step. Don't let me
follow tradition, man's patterns and ways and creeds and confessions
and traditions and old wise fables. Show me. Go with me or don't
let me go. And then he asked that third
question. He said, Lord, Verse 18, I beseech you, show
me your glory. Show me the glory of God, the
true glory of God. Now Moses had seen enough to
satisfy most folks. He saw that bush that burned
and wasn't consumed. He's on that mountain and he
saw this bush burning. He's about 80 years old then.
And it wasn't consumed, and he started walking toward it, and
God spoke to him out of the bush. He said, Moses, take off your
shoes, you're on holy ground. Moses took his shoes off, and
God told Moses, he said, I'm going to send you down into Egypt,
lead my people out. And God spoke to him, talked
to him, and finally Moses said, well, when I go down there, and
I tell them the Lord sent me, and they say, what's his name?
What do I say? He said, Lord God, He said, you
say, I am that I am. That's it. I am. Moses went down there and God
sent plague after plague and turned the river to blood and
the hail that came down and the flies and the lice and all these
things and darkness for three days that nobody moved out of
his place because he couldn't see. But there was light in Israel
and where those people live, but darkness in Egypt. Then God
sent the death of the firstborn, led them out of Egypt, dried
up the sea, let them walk across on dry land, gave them manna
during the day and quail and water from the rock. He'd seen
all that. But Moses knew that he hadn't
seen the greater glory of God. That which brings God the greatest
glory. See, these are just the power
of creation. God can create a world. God can
create an earth. God can create seas and mountains
and rivers and trees. He can create man. But for God to save a rebellious
sinner without sending him to hell, If God can take a sinner
out of the dunghill from the cesspool and make him a new creature,
a new nature, a new being in the image of his son and still
be just, justified just, now that's different. That's something
only God can do. That's something that only God
can do a certain way. And that is through his son's
death, bloodshedding and obedience. Save a people. A people. Make them like Christ. Forever
holy and righteous as He is. In His image and likeness. Sons of God. And yet not violate
His law or His justice or His truth. And that's His glory. That's what Moses had in mind.
Show me your glory. That which is distinctively and
exactly and prominently the very will of God. Listen to what God
said. He said, alright Moses, I'll
make all my goodness pass before you. I'll proclaim the name of
the Lord before you. I will. I'll make my goodness
pass before you. I will proclaim the name of the
Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I
will be gracious and I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy. That's my glory. And that's what Paul is answering
with here in this thing when God talks about choosing Jacob,
passing by Esau. Choosing Isaac, passing by Ishmael. Saving those people for his namesake. Moses says that's God's greatest
glory. He'll be merciful to whom he
will be merciful. and be gracious to whom he will
be gracious. So then, verse 16, so then, you
see that verse 15, he said to Moses, Moses here's my glory,
here's my greater glory, here's the covenant, covenant mercies. I'll have mercy on whom I have
mercy and I'll have compassion on whom I have compassion. So
then, it, what? Salvation. It's not of him that
will it. Redemption, this transformation,
this translation from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of
God's Son, this satisfaction of justice and this substitution,
work of the substitute, the God-man. It's not of the will of man.
It's not of him that will it. You don't will your way into
this. It's got nothing to do with the human will. It's not
of him that will it. Scripture says he was in the
world, and the world didn't know him, and he came to his own.
They didn't know him, but as many as received him, knew him,
loved him, received him, believed on him, he gave them the right
and the privilege to be sons of God who were born, not of
the will of man, not of the will of the flesh, not of the blood
of ancestry, but born of God. It, salvation, is not of him
that willeth, and it's not of him that runneth. What's this
running? It's activity. It's activity,
efforts, works. Whether they run down the aisle
or whether they run out in the highways and hedges and witness,
it's not of him that runs. It's not of him that willeth,
it's not of him that runneth, it's of God. It's of God. Holy of God. Only of God. Totally
of God. Of God that showeth mercy. I'll show mercy to whom I will.
I'll have compassion on whom I will. I'm God. Nobody can do anything about
this mess but me. And I've got to do it in a way
that I shall be me. Still be God. The people today
are willing for It to be done without God being God, but it
can't be. It can't be. It's got to be God. It is not of him that willeth,
so them. It is not of him that runneth.
I said that to Moses way back then. It's of God that shows
mercy. If anybody's an object of mercy,
God made him an object. If anybody's a recipient of mercy,
God gave him mercy. If anybody is washed in the blood,
God washed him. If anybody is accepted in the
blood, God accepted him. If anybody is saved, God saved
him. Oh, watch this now. The scripture
saith, he said to Pharaoh, he said that to Moses. Now he said
this to Pharaoh. Now you watch this. He said this
to Pharaoh. Now he gave us an example back
there in verse 8. About Ishmael, God rejected Ishmael,
chose Isaac. He gave us an example back in
verse 11 when God resisted Esau and chose Jacob. And now he gives
us another example, Pharaoh. He gives us an example. Pharaoh passed him by. Now watch what he said to Pharaoh.
This is interesting. He said, Even for this purpose. Whose purpose? God's purpose.
God's purpose. What is God's purpose? Salvation
of his people. His glory. The manifestation
of his glory. And for this purpose, it's God's
act. I raised you up. I gave you life
Pharaoh. I appointed your special time
to live on this earth. Special time. Just like Judas
Iscariot. Just like everybody, I appointed
your time. Our times are appointed, our
days are determined by God. I appointed your time, I promoted
you. I made you the king. I put you
on the throne and I preserved you. Kept you safe from your
enemies so that you could do what you willed to do, what you
wanted to do. And at the same time do what
I raised you up to do. Listen to him. Pharaoh, for this
same purpose, I raised you up. I raised you up. Why? That I
might show my power in you. I will allow you to harden your
heart. I will allow you to vent your
anger against my people. I will allow you to defy the
words of my prophet. I will allow you to try to destroy
Israel. at the Red Sea, I'll allow you
to do all this. You'll want to do it. You'll
desire to do it. You'll think that you're doing
it on your own, but I'll let you do it to accomplish my purpose. The same reason, turn to Acts
chapter 4, the same reason that that bunch of people in the days
of our Lord's death on the cross did what they wanted to do. But
in doing what they wanted to do, they did what God determined
before to be done. Acts 4, verse 27. Verse 26. The kings of the earth stood
up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and
against his Christ, for the truth against thy holy child Jesus,
whom thou hast anointed, Herod Pontius Pilate, who put these
fellows on the throne, the Gentiles and the people of Israel, to
do whatsoever Thy hand and thy counsel determined before to
be done." He said to Pharaoh, for this purpose I raised you
up, that I might show my power and my purpose in thee. Watch
it now that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. You're an instrument in the hand
of God to accomplish his purpose. for his people. God showed two
things in his battle with Pharaoh. He showed his power over evil
and he showed his name, Redeemer and Savior. That my power, I
show my power in you and my name, Deliverer, Redeemer, Savior,
will be declared throughout all the earth. And I want to read
you a testimony to that of a woman who heard about all that Pharaoh
pursuing Israel, crossing the dry land, turned to Joshua. And let me read you a testimony
of Rahab. Rahab, the innkeeper, the harlot
of some color, in Joshua chapter 2, see how his power and his
name were declared even over Jericho. She said, Joshua 2 verse
9, She said to the men, I know that the Lord hath given you
the land, and your terror is fallen upon us. All the inhabitants
of the land faint because of you. We heard how the Lord dried
up the water of the Red Sea for you. That was the talk of the
town. She ran that That place of business
in the wall, people came there. All the business just came to
Rahab's place. She said, that's the talk of the village. We heard
how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you and how
you came out of Egypt and what you did to the two kings of the
Amorites that were on the other side of Jordan, Sihon and Og,
whom you utterly destroyed. We heard about the power of God.
And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts didn't melt.
Neither did there remain any more courage in any man because
of you. For the Lord your God, he is
God in heaven above, in the earth beneath, he's God. My name is
declared. My name is declared. All right,
Paul's conclusion, verse 18, Romans 9. Therefore hath he mercy,
on whom he will have mercy. Like God, he will have mercy.
He will have mercy. But he shall have mercy on whom
he has mercy. Now watch this. Mercy can't be
any other way. It's got to be sovereign or it's
not mercy. Mercy is not earned. Mercy is
not merited. Mercy is a gift. Mercy, but mercy
is never exercised at the expense of justice. So therefore Christ
must die. And what an awful price he paid. for that mercy, for me to have
it free. But whom he will, he'll harden.
What'd that say? He'll have mercy on whom he'll
have mercy, and whom he will, he'll harden. Now let me see
if I can help you with that in just a moment or two. Scripture
says Pharaoh hardened his heart, and it says God hardened his
heart. Well, men first harden their own hearts through sin
and rebellion against God. And God is said to harden their
hearts by leading them to their wills. Pharaoh hated Israel before Moses
ever showed up on the scene, didn't he? He hated Israel. He
had them building bricks without straw. He hated Israel. When Moses came in, it just intensified
his hatred. It didn't make him hate Israel.
It didn't make him battle those people. It just showed up what
he really is. And that's what God hardened
his heart. God sent Moses to him, and all
of these things that God revealed through Moses just hardened his
heart that much more. All right, the natural man speaks
up again then, verse 19. I would say then, why does he
yet find fault? Who hath resisted his will? You
say God's sovereign? Yes, sir. You say men are powerless to
successfully define? Yes sir, certainly do. You say
men are powerless to resist his will and his purpose? Yes sir,
that's true. Then why does he find fault with
us? If even the wrath of man is under the control of God,
if even the wrath of man shall work the purpose of God, if God
uses us to accomplish his purpose, then why should he blame us? Well, here's Paul's answer. And
I know what Paul answers is not going to satisfy the natural
man out there, but it will you. It'll satisfy you. And here's
Paul's answer. Verse 20. Nay, but, O man, who art thou
that replyest against God? O finite, foolish man, who are
you to reply against God? Who are you to try to understand
the purpose and providence of him who works all things after
the counsel of his own will? Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed, Why have you made me thus? The answer to why
God made me thus is found not in me, but in God. A potter that makes a vessel,
why he made it like that? The answer is not found in the
vessel, found in the potter. Isn't that right? Why he made me thus is his will. Now who am I to reply? All right,
watch the second thing. Hath not the potter power over
the clay? That word power is right. It's his clay. He has the right,
the crown rights. It's his property. It's his privilege. He has the authority. And God
has the right to do with his own what he will. Hath not the
potter power over the clay? To make one vessel under honor
and another under dishonor? The Lord's power and purpose
toward everyone is exercised in a way that's consistent with
his wisdom. What God does with us is consistent
with his wisdom, with his righteousness, and with his glory. And he'll
do with us what best serves his glory and the good of his kingdom. Now if we just get that through
here, we know it here, if we just get through here. The potter has power, authority, crown rights over the clay. to
make the same lump, one vessel on another and this on another,
that's his business. But whatever he does with that
clay, with that person, is always exercised in a way consistent
with his wisdom, his purpose, and his glory, and he'll do with
us, all the way through our lives, what is best for us and his kingdom
and his glory. All right, now third answer.
Verse 22, What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make
his power known, endured with much longsufferings the vessels
of wrath, fitted to destruction? And that he might make known
the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had
aforeprepared unto glory, even us, whom he had called, both
of the Jews, not of the Jews only, but of the Gentiles? has
determined to make known to this universe two things. Two things
he showed. What is God willing to show?
What's the first one? His wrath. His justice and judgment
against all evil. God's going to show his wrath
against sin and against evil, that his power might be known. God's longsuffering, that's what
it says here. He endured with much long-suffering
these vessels of wrath. Not a long-suffering, but he's
going to show it after a while. He put up with this wicked world
a long time before he sent the flood. He endured Pharaoh and
Egypt, persecuting his people 400 years. But then he caught
up with them. He endured Sodom and Gomorrah,
nobody knows how long, and then he fried it. And God Almighty
is enduring today, with patience and long suffering, the rebellion
of this world. But He's going to show His power.
He's going to show His power and His wrath against sin. But
you know, for you and me, verse 23, He's going to make known
something else. His name, Jehovah, Sid Kennedy,
Jehovah, Jireh, the Lord our righteousness. He's going to
make known his name and the riches of his glory. He's going to show,
Paul said in Ephesians 2, the riches of the glory of his grace
in his mercy toward us in Christ Jesus our Lord. Trophies of grace. And that will come very shortly.
Very shortly. The name of this message is,
I will show my power in my name.