The text is Romans 9, 18. Therefore
hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will
he hardeneth. And whom he will he hardeneth.
Now in my message tonight, I'm going to try to do what Moses
commanded Israel to do. And that's found in Deuteronomy
32, and I'd like for you to write this down as a side text. Our
main text tonight is Romans 9.18, but our side text is Deuteronomy
32. In Deuteronomy 32, verse 1 through
4. Now listen to this. Deuteronomy
32, 1 through 4. This is Moses speaking to the
congregation of Israel, and he says, O ye heavens, and I'll speak,
and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine shall
drop as the rain, my speech shall distill as the dew, as the small
rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass,
because I will publish the name of the Ascribe ye greatness unto
our God." Ascribe ye greatness, sovereignty, unto our God. He is the rock. His work is perfect,
for all His ways are judgment. A God of truth and without iniquity,
just and right is He. Tonight I want to ascribe greatness
unto our God. Now, we believe that the Father
is God, and we ascribe unto Him greatness and sovereignty. He
made the worlds. We have no doubt about that.
Our Father fashioned the universe, and He moves at this time all
things through space according to His will, according to His
purpose. He, as Spurgeon says, holds the
reins of creation, he holds the reins of providence, and the
reins of purpose. And several times in the Scripture
it is said, he doeth according to his will in the armies of
heaven and among the inhabitants of this earth. Our God is in
the heavens and whatsoever he hath pleased, that did he in
heaven, earth, the seas, and in all deep places. And Paul
said in Ephesians, he worketh all things after the counsel
of his own will." We equally believe that Jesus Christ, who
was incarnate in the flesh, and we have not one doubt about it,
is very God of very God. The work of our redemption is
as divine as the work of creation. We behold Christ our Lord, who
is very God of very God, taking on Himself a human body. We behold Him healing the sick,
raising the dead, and stilling the We behold Him rising by His
own power from the grave. We behold Him at the right hand
of the majesty in heaven, making intercession for His people.
We behold Him coming again in great power and majesty. We behold
Him sitting on the throne of judgment, and before Him gathered
all nations. And we say, All hail the power
of Jesus' name. Let angels prostrate fall, bring
forth the royal, thou them, and crown him Lord of all." He is
God, and he is absolutely sovereign. And he said, "...all authority
is given unto me in heaven and earth." He said, "...I have all
power over all flesh, that I should give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given me." And he said, as the Father quickeneth
whom he will, so the Son quickeneth whom he will. He's a sovereign
Lord, absolutely sovereign. As for the Holy Spirit, believing
that the work of creation is divine, and the work of redemption
is divine, and the work of conversion is divine, the Holy Spirit is
God Almighty. Believing that the work of conversion
is not only divine, but as great as the work of redemption and
as great as the work of creation, for the work of God cannot be
divided. We believe the Holy Spirit to
be the everlasting God. There are not three gods, but
there is one God in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
and we ascribe unto Him. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
greatness, ascribed greatness unto our God. Our God exercises
His sovereignty and His supreme power in all that He does. Now, three statements. This goes
in your outline, starting it off. He is sovereign, and as
a sovereign, He has a sovereign right. And as a sovereign, he
exercises that sovereign right. That's the introduction. God
is a sovereign, and as a sovereign, he has a sovereign right, and
as a sovereign, he exercises that right. He's an active sovereign. Now the first point in the message
is this. we're going to define God's sovereignty. What do we mean by the sovereignty
of God? I've read the book, you've read
the book. Could you give a definition of the sovereignty of God? One
of the best definitions that I have found is very short, one
sentence, and it goes like this. By the sovereignty of God we
mean His absolute independent right to dispose of the world
and all creatures according to his own pleasure. That's what
we mean by the sovereignty of God. By the sovereignty of God
we mean his absolute, independent right to dispose of this world
and all creatures according to his own pleasure. That's what
the sovereignty of God means. Now make good on that. Turn to
Psalm 135. I'm going to give you three scriptures for that.
What I'm saying is this. I'm saying I'm defining God's
sovereignty. Somebody says, you believe in
the sovereignty of God? Yes, I do. What do you mean by the
sovereignty of God? Well, I mean by the sovereignty
of God this. I mean God's absolute independent
right to dispose of this world and all its creatures according
to his own pleasure. And David said that in Psalm
135, verse 6. Verse 5, he said, I know that
the Lord is great, that our God is above all gods. A little letter starting G, there's
only one God, so he doesn't put a capital G on that. Only the
Heavenly Father is capitalized when the word is God, denoting
Him. Whatsoever the Lord please, Whatever
he pleased, his own pleasure, that's what he did in heaven,
earth, and the seas, and all deep places. Now turn to Isaiah. Here's another scripture. Isaiah
chapter 46. We're defining God's sovereignty.
We're saying that he has absolute independent right to dispose
of this world and all creatures according to his own pleasure.
And he says in Isaiah 46, verse 9, Isaiah 46, 9, Remember the former things of
old. I am God. There's none else. I am God.
There's none like me. I declare 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." I'm going
to do what I please. That's what God says. I'm going
to do what I please. Now then, turn to Romans 9. Romans
9, verse 22. We're saying that God's sovereignty,
He has absolute independent right to dispose of this world and
all creatures according to His good pleasure. Can I not do with
my own what I will, God says? Can I not do with my own what
I will? Look at Romans 9, verse 22. What if God willing to show
His wrath, and to make known, make his power known, endured
with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction,
that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels
of mercy which he had aforeprepared unto glory." Now look back at
verse 20, "'O man, who art thou that replies against God? Shall
the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made
me thus?' Does not the potter have power over the clay of the
same lump to make one vessel under honor and another under
dishonor? Isn't that God's right? What
if he does this? How do you reply to it? Now then,
here's point number one under that Roman numeral one. Roman numeral one, we're defining
God's sovereignty. And I gave the definition in
these scriptures. Now here's point number one under
that, or A. God's sovereignty is His pleasure
without constraint. Now, we're saying that God's
sovereignty is His absolute independent right to dispose of this world
and all its creatures according to His own good pleasure. And
when we say His sovereignty is His pleasure, that's His pleasure
without constraint. Now, we do things voluntarily. Carolee played the piano tonight
voluntarily. My wife played the organ voluntarily. I'm up here preaching voluntarily,
and yet in everything we do, there's always a degree of constraint. You women cook supper tonight
voluntarily, but even in that there was a degree of constraint.
You men will get up in the morning and you'll go to work voluntarily,
but even in that there's a degree of restraint. None of us ever
do anything solely and completely according to our good pleasure.
I'll show you that. We're motivated. There's a degree
of constraint. We're motivated by a lot of things.
We're motivated by need. We're motivated by hunger. We're
motivated by thirst. We're motivated by fear. We're
motivated by a desire for health. We're motivated by a desire for
survival. There's practically nothing,
and the reason I say practically nothing, I want to leave a little
way out here, 99 and 44, 100 percent, there's practically
nothing that we do totally and completely according to our own
good pleasure. We have constraints about everything
we do, but not God. God does so incompletely as He
pleases, when He pleases, with whom He pleases totally and completely
without any constraint whatsoever. And then, number two under that
point, or B, God's sovereignty is His pleasure without constraint
and without being subject to the will of anyone else. Now, we do nothing, absolutely
nothing, either good or bad, totally of our own will. We are subject to the will of
society. We are subject to the will of
government. We are subject to the will of
our parents. We are subject to the will of
our wives. We're subject to the will of
our husbands, we're subject to the will of our children, we're
subject to the will of our neighbors, we're subject to the will of
the world in general, and in all things, we're subject to
the will of God. And no matter what you do, good
or bad, it's either in the directive or permissive will of God. There
is no human being who ever performs any deed or any act totally and
solely and completely of his own will. There is always a subjection
to somebody else's will. Look at Acts chapter 4, and I'll
pick the worst. You say you mean to tell me criminals
Do what they do according to the permissive will of God? I'll
pick the worst deed ever done on the face of this earth. It's
not murder, it's not rape, it's not treason, it's not selling
a country. It's crucifying the Son of God,
and that was in the will of God. It says in Acts 4, verse 27,
"...of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed
Pilate, Herod and Pilate and the Gentiles and the people of
Israel were gathered together to do whatsoever thy hand and
thy counsel determined before to be done." Even those who crucified
the Son of God were not acting totally according to their own
will. I believe in free will. I don't
believe any will is free but God's will. everybody's will, there is none
to whom God is answerable but to himself. I have a lot of wills to which
I'm answerable. But God's sovereignty is God
doing his pleasure subject to no will except his own. And there's absolutely nothing
at any human being. Now, we are answerable for our
actions and for our deeds and for our words. We are responsible
for them, but God is going to work everything out for His glory,
either the glory of His mercy or the glory of His justice.
And every son of Adam is going to be in that program like every
grain of sand contributes to filling a valley for a bridge
to go over or for a viaduct or for a highway. And then the third
point under that defining God's sovereignty is this. God's sovereignty
is His pleasure in opposition to any obligation. Now this is important. I'm obligated. I'm obligated
to my mother and father. I'm obligated to my brother and
sister. I'm obligated to the teachers
who taught me in school. I'm obligated forefathers who
set sail from England and came to the shores of this country.
I'm obligated to every soldier that ever shed his blood for
the freedom of this nation. I'm obligated to the men who
made the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
I'm obligated to the people who keep the power plants running
to have these lights to read by. I'm obligated to the people
that hand it down the Bible, I'm obligated on every hand.
I'm a debtor both to the Jews and to the Greeks, to the rich
and to the poor, to the barbarians, to the free. I'm obligated to
everybody, and so are you. God's obligated to nobody. And whatever I do, I do out of
a sense of obligation. I can never repay the debts I
owe. God doesn't know any debt. And
everything God does, he does according to his good pleasure
without any obligation, don't you, for a moment. You say, what
if I'm not one of the elect? Well, what if you're not? Now
you start to think about that. What if I'm not? God doesn't
owe me anything. Look at Romans 11, 33. Now listen
to this. This is so important. God's sovereignty
is doing his pleasure without constraint And God's sovereignty
is doing His pleasure, not subject to any will but His own. And
God's sovereignty is doing His pleasure in opposition to any
obligation whatsoever. In Romans 11.33, now listen to
it, O the depths of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge
of God. how unsearchable are his judgments
and his ways past finding out. For who hath known the mind of
the Lord, and who hath been his counselor?" Now watch this, "...or
who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto
him again." What does that mean there? It means this, who has
first given to God anything that he might be paid back. That's
what that's saying there. Look at it, verse 35. "...who
hath first given to God, that it might be paid back, that God
owes him anything, that it might be recompensed unto him again. For of him, and through him,
and to him are all things to whom be glory." God is obligated
to nobody. Turn to Psalms 50. Charlie Payne
and I were riding along the other day, and he quoted this verse,
and I thought of it while I was preparing this message. In Psalms
50, verse 7. Turn over there a minute. Psalms
50, verse 7. Psalms 50, verse 7. Here, O my
people, and I'll speak, O Israel, and I'll testify against thee,
I'm God, even thy God. I'll not reprove thee for thy
sacrifices or thy burnt offerings to have been continually before
me. I'll take no bullock out of thy house, nor he goats out
of thy foals. For every beast of the forest
is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills are mine. I know the fowls of the mountain
and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry I
wouldn't tell you, for the world is mine, and the fullness thereof
If I were hungry, I wouldn't tell you. I don't owe you anything. No sirree, God's sovereignty
is God's good pleasure in opposition to any obligation. Point number two, God's sovereignty
in salvation in the light of His attributes. Now what's this?
We know there's some things that God cannot do. And he cannot
do them because they're contrary to his nature. They're contrary
to his character. They're contrary to his attributes. In other words, for example,
God can't lie. You say, well, God's sovereign,
he can do anything. Now, that's foolishness. God is sovereign,
and God can do anything. But God can't lie, because God
is true. And God can't fail, because God's
almighty. And God can't sin, because God's
holy. And God can't learn anything,
because God knows everything. He's omniscient. And God cannot
clear the guilty without a sacrifice, because He's righteous. He's
holy. Therefore, a thinking man's going
to ask this question. All right, you say, God's sovereign.
And God's going to do all His pleasure. God's going to redeem
a people. And any thinking man is going to ask this question.
Job asked it this way, how can man be just with God? The heavens
are not clean in his sight. How much less the people of God
who drink iniquity like the water, man who drinks iniquity like
the water. So how can God justify an ungodly sinner? How can even
a sovereign God, who cannot lie because he's truth, and who cannot
sin because he's holy, and who cannot fail because he's almighty,
how can he justify an ungodly sinner? How can he receive a
guilty sinner unto himself and remember his sins no more? He
can't just sovereignly do this any more than he can just sovereignly
lie. God cannot just sovereignly say,
somebody says, well, you believe, if you believe in election, you
believe people are going to be saved whether they ever believe
or not. God can't say people that way any more than God can lie. God
can't sovereignly lie, and God can't sovereignly do wrong, because
God, as though He's answerable to no one, He is God and he's
answerable to his attributes, and to his character, and to
his nature. And God will always act as God. Always. You say, that may not seem important,
but that is very important. And that's what brings us to
this question, therefore, how can God be just and justify the
ungodly? Well, in this way, number one,
And what we're doing, explaining God's sovereignty in the salvation
of sinners in respect to his attributes or his character.
First of all, God can justify us, and when I say us, I mean
the ungodly, the wicked, that's us, consistently with his law. For in our representative, the
Lord Jesus, the holy law was perfectly fulfilled. perfectly
fulfilled. Christ said, I didn't come to
destroy the law, I came to fulfill it. Christ said to John, John
said, I have need to be baptized with thee. Christ said, suffer
it to be so. To what? To fulfill all righteousness. God was being true to the righteousness
of the Father. enabling the sovereign Father
to redeem a people because Christ was fulfilling that righteousness
and that love. That's what Paul said in Romans
5 when he said, by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. So a sovereign God, now His sovereign
will is to redeem a people. But that sovereign will is subject,
not to the will of another, but at least to his will, to his
nature, to his attributes, to his character. So in order to
sovereignly save that sinner, the law on behalf of that sinner
has got to be honored. So God can consistently, can
justify us consistently with his law because Christ came and
fulfilled that law. Secondly, and God can justify
us consistently with his holiness. God hates sin. His contempt for
sin is infinite. I wish I hated sin like God hates
sin. I think we will someday. I don't
think we're capable of hating sin like God hates it right now. His hatred for sin was sufficiently
manifest in the cross of Calvary. Nowhere and nothing Can we see
or can be shown God's hatred for sin like Calvary's cross? That's where you see. That's
where God's hatred for sin is revealed as in no other place,
at Calvary's cross. When that one who was the dearest
to the Father and loved by the Father, that one cried, My God,
why hast thou forsaken me? There we see as nowhere else
God's infinite hatred for sin. And God can justify us consistently
with his holiness because Christ had borne that hatred and absolutely
emptied it. He drank the very bottom, bitter
dredge of God's wrath against our sin. And then God can sovereignly
save us consistently with his justice. What does the justice
of God require? It requires the punishment of
sin. That's what it requires. The Scripture says, every transgression
shall receive a just recompense of reward. Our sins must be punished,
and our sins were punished in the person of God's Son. He suffered
enough for the punishment of all sins of all believers. Joseph Warren wrote this, how
great how great the victory our Savior won through death for
every chosen son. He triumphed over every foe that
freedom from sin I might know. God can justify us consistently
with his justice. Now then, watch this. Fourthly,
God can justify us consistently with his truth. God said the
soul that sinneth it shall die. Well Christ died, and in Christ
I died. God said I'll in no wise clear
the guilty. He didn't clear the guilty. The
guilty were punished in Christ, our surety. God says the wages
of sin is death. We receive those wages in full
in the body and soul of our Lord. God said, who shall stand in
his presence? He that hath clean hands and
a pure heart. That still goes. And you and
I will stand there in his presence because in Christ we have both
clean hands and a pure heart. We talk about God's sovereignty.
We don't mean by that that God's sovereignty said, I won't say
that one and damn that one. Whatever God does, he does consistently
with his nature. and consistent with his law,
and consistent with his holiness, and consistent with his justice,
and consistent with his truth. And Christ our Lord enabled the
Father to sovereignly save sinners, consistent with these attributes. Now, fifthly, under that same
heading, listen to this, God may deny heaven God may deny
heaven to any sinner on this earth consistently with the honor
of his character. Now I've tried to show you how
God can sovereignly save a sinner and be consistent with the law,
holiness, justice, and truth. And now I'm saying, on the other
hand, God can sovereignly damn a sinner and still be consistent
with every attribute. First of all, number one, God,
or A under that, God may cast a man into hell and not be charged
in any way with unfairness or unrighteousness or lack of mercy. Why? because all men deserve
to be cast into hell. That's the reason. They deserve. Now, that's what the world doesn't
see. When the world starts complaining about, I just don't believe a
good, merciful God will send a man to hell. Well, a good,
merciful God will send a man to hell and still be good and
still be merciful because men deserve to go to hell. And that's
what the world doesn't believe. They don't believe that sin ought
to be punished. unless it's somebody else's sin.
And then God be unto that, God may deny salvation to any sinner
without injury to the honor of his goodness or the honor of
his mercy. For that which is not contrary
to his justice is not contrary to his mercy. Isn't that right? God may deny salvation to any
sinner, any son of Adam. He may deny salvation to any
son of Adam, and not do any injury to his mercy or his goodness. For that which is not contrary
to justice is not contrary to mercy. For example, here's a
judge sitting on a bench. They bring in a murderer. He
sentences that murderer to life in prison. Is the judge unmerciful? Can you go off and say, well,
that judge is not a merciful man? Yes, he is a merciful man,
but his mercy must be consistent with righteousness. Is God sovereign
in salvation? Well, let's just answer that
in the Scripture. Number one, The sovereignty of God is seen
in the Old Testament in his calling one nation passing by the others. Thirty-nine books in the Old
Testament, just twenty-seven in the New. And in those thirty-nine
books in the Old Testament, God deals with whom? Israel, one
nation, a chosen nation. He passed by all the rest of
them. And now what the Scripture says, turn to Deuteronomy 7.
Deuteronomy 7, is that not a fact? Is that not a fact, the fact
of God's sovereignty and the calling of one nation and the
passing by the rest of them? In Deuteronomy 7, verse 6, Thou
art a holy people unto the Lord thy God. The Lord thy God hath
chosen thee to be a special people unto himself above all people
that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord didn't send his
love upon you, nor choose you because you were more in number
than any people. You were the fewest of people,
but because the Lord loved you, and because the Lord would keep
the oath which he swore to your father, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
That's the reason the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, redeemed
you out of the house of bondman, the hand of Pharaoh, down in
Egypt. God made Israel his covenant
people. I know it, you know it, and everybody
else knows it. And he left all other nations
to heathen darkness. I know it, you know it, and everybody
else knows it. We just won't admit it. That's
sovereignty of God in the salvation of Israel. The man's going to
have to be a plumb blind man to close his eyes to Israel right
now, or close his eyes to future promises regarding Israel. God's
not through with Israel yet. I don't know anything, and I
know that. You do too, don't you? Israel's a special people. And then secondly, let's look
at this fact. Is not the sovereignty of God
seen in bestowing, secondly, certain spiritual advantages
on certain people, like yourself for example. There's no question
that some people have greater advantage for salvation than
other people. I did and you did too. I was
born in a country where the Gospels preach. I was born in a family
that attended church. I live in a town where churches
at least acknowledge God, and then you attend a church where
the gospel of grace is preached. You enjoy certain advantages
that the further out you go from your particular circle, the last
advantageous for salvation. In other words, here you are
in a church where we follow the Word of God. I've read dozens
and dozens and dozens of scriptures tonight. That church is where
the Bible is not even opened on Wednesday night, much less
on Sunday night or Sunday morning, and yet you're here in a circle
where the scripture is read and where God is honored and where
the truth is preached, where the gospel is preached. You get
on outside that, at least you're in a in a nation where you're
free to come to church. There are other nations where
they're not free. And at least you're in a town where people
have some interest in spiritual things, and you just—then the
Scripture says, who made you to differ? What have you that
you did not receive? You see what I'm talking about?
And God's sovereignty is seen in that. He sovereignly blessed
you with certain spiritual advantages that a lot of people don't have.
Turn to Acts 16. Here's a scripture that is, unless
you face it in the light of God's sovereignty, you'll have a hard
time dealing with this scripture, Acts 16. Paul wanted to go preach in one
place, and God wouldn't let him. God wouldn't let him. Look at
Acts 16. I don't know whether I can pronounce all these places
or not. Verse 6, And when they had gone through Phrygia and
the regions of Galatia, Acts 16, 6, they were forbidden of
the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia. The Holy Ghost
told them, Don't you go down there and preach. After they
had come to Mysia, they were saved or wanted to go to Bithynia.
And the Holy Spirit said, Don't you go to Bithynia. He wouldn't
let them. So they passed by Mysia and came
down to Troas, and a vision appeared to Paul in the night, and a man
of Macedonia said, Come over and help us. And the Holy Spirit
said, You go down there and pray. Boy, what a blessing to be born
in Macedonia! Wouldn't you hate to have been
born in Bithynia? And the Holy Ghost said, You won't preach
to those people. Wouldn't you hate to live in Asia when the
Holy Ghost wouldn't even let Paul preach to them? That's what
I'm talking about. I'm talking about, I see the
sovereignty of God in the calling of Israel, and the passing by
of the Philistines, and all the rest of that bunch. The Babylonians,
and the Egyptians, and the Amorites, and the Hittites, and all the
rest of it chose Israel. And I see God Almighty in His
sovereignty. I'm no better than any other
son of Adam, but He put me where I can hear the gospel. put you
where you can hear it, and God have mercy on your soul if you
don't hear it, if God's given you those advantages. Christ
said it'd be a lot easier for Sodom and Gomorrah in the Day
of Judgment than for you if the mighty works had been done in
Sodom and Gomorrah, and they weren't done there. You see what
I'm saying? They were done sovereignly in
Capernaum. They weren't done in Tyre and
Sidon. They were done in Bethsaida. They weren't done in Sodom and
Gomorrah. Why weren't they done? Well,
God's on the throne. And then I see the sovereignty
of God, the fact of God's sovereignty in the new birth. Turn to John,
chapter 1. John, chapter 1. Listen to this.
In John, chapter 1, it says in verse 12, as many as received
him, Christ, John 1.12, "...to them gave he power, the right,
the privilege to become the sons of God, even to them that believe
on his name, which were born." These people were born, spiritually
born, begotten, not of blood. That is, it wasn't handed down
from father to son. It wasn't of the will of the
flesh. It wasn't of the will of man. They were born of God. The fourth point under that is
found in 1 Corinthians 1. Here's another fact. or example
of God's sovereignty in the salvation of sinners. God's sovereignty
in the salvation of sinners, 1 Corinthians 1, is seen in the
condition of the persons whom he calls. Why he call me? Why he call you? God in his sovereignty
passes by the gates of kings and visits paupers. He passes
by the gates of wise men and visits the ignorant. He passes
by the rich and visits the poor. He passes by the powerful and
visits the weak. He passes by scholars and bestows
salvation on the unknown. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 26, you
see your calling brethren, it's amazing to you. Not many wise
men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called.
If this thing of salvation were after the flesh, And after human
wisdom, you wouldn't have learned it. These mighty men, these noble,
these wise men would have learned it. But God had chosen the foolish
things of the world. God in His sovereignty chose
them. to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak things
to confound the things which are mighty, and the base things
of this world, and things which are despised, that God chosen,
and things which are not to bring to naught the things that are,
that no flesh should glory in his presence. Now a man called
me last week. And he asked me this. He said,
I've been watching your television program, listening to you on
the radio. He said, I want to know if you believe in predestination.
I said, of course I do. I'd deny the word of God if I
didn't believe it. He said, but brother man, he
said, you don't believe that a few are going to be saved no
matter what, do you? I said, no, I don't believe that.
I don't believe that. The Bible doesn't teach that.
I believe in predestination. I believe in election. I'm not
ashamed of those. Those are Bible terms. I believe in God's absolute
sovereignty. I believe God's going to save
whom He will. I believe God's going to show
mercy on whom He will, show mercy on whom He will, He'll harden.
I also believe that anybody that wants to be saved can be. I also believe that all who seek
mercy from a sincere heart are going to find it. I also believe
to him that seeketh he will find, and to him that knocketh it shall
be opened, and to him that asketh it shall be given. But I know
that God in his sovereign pleasure makes people willing. I know
it's all of the Lord. I know the whole of salvation,
the whole of the work of salvation, whereby a despised, depraved,
wretched sinner is brought from a state of ungodliness and rebellion
to a state of submission and faith, who is lifted from the
cesspool and blackness and pit of sin, enthroned with Christ
at the right hand of the Father. The whole of that work from Alpha
to Omega, beginning to end, is of the Lord and of Him only. And he does it according to the
good pleasure of his will. And there's not a soul in heaven
that will ascribe even a minute particle of his redemption to
his own will. Not a one. Maybe people on this
earth running around talking about what they did for God,
but nobody in heaven. They all ascribe the entirety
of their salvation from beginning to end to the power and grace
and mercy of God in Christ. Our Father, bless the Word, teach
us. We are just babies.