Romans 9, verse 16. Let's go back just a little bit.
Let's read the preceding six verses, beginning with verse
10. And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by
one, even our father Isaac, 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, unto Rebekah
the mother, The elder shall serve the younger, an unheard of thing.
As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau the oldest
son have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he said to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. Now verse 16 is a conclusion
of the above testimony. Verse 16 is a conclusion of what
he has just said, that election which is unto salvation, that
election which is not salvation but unto to salvation, is not
owing to the will of man, it is not owing to the works of
men, it is not owing to the actions of our minds or bodies, but election
which is unto salvation, is wholly and completely of God. He gives
saving grace and redeeming mercy, when, where, and to whom he will."
Now that's what he's saying in verse 16. So then, it is not
of him that willeth. Now the preceding illustration
which Paul used, Jacob and Esau. Here's a mother who has in her
womb twin boys. Esau was born first, Jacob was
born second, just a little while later, but nevertheless he was
born first, Esau. And while these boys were not
yet born, while they had done no evil or good, that the purpose
of God according to election, which is unto salvation, might
stand. It was said to the mother, I
have chosen Jacob, I have loved Jacob, I have set my affections
upon Jacob. I have made Jacob my child. I
have given to Jacob the second son, the birthright. I have rejected
Esau. I have passed him by. I have
left him in his sins. I have hated Esau." It was said
before they were ever born. So then, the blessing of salvation,
the blessing of the birthright, The blessing of eternal life
is not of the will of any of the parties concerned here. Now,
the father, Isaac, willed it to Esau. Rebecca, the mother, willed it
to Jacob. Esau willed it to himself. Jacob cheated. He so willed to
have it that he cheated to get it. But Paul says, it is not
of him that will it, it is not of him that run it. Esau made
every effort to get that birthright. Isaac made every effort to give
it to Esau. And Rebekah made every effort
to get it for her other son, and Jacob made every effort to
get it for himself. But God says their willing and
their running had nothing to do with it. It's not of him that
willeth, it's not of him that runneth, it is of God that showeth
mercy. For God said before the boys
were born, the elder shall serve the younger. Election is unto salvation. John Gill called election the
leading step to salvation. For he says election leads to
redemption. Election leads to justification,
election leads to regeneration, and election leads to life. And
it's not to be ascribed at all in any way to the will and works
of men, but is entirely owing to the love, mercy, and grace
of Almighty God. That's election. Now, verse 17,
for the Scripture saith to Pharaoh, that is, God said to Pharaoh,
And this is taken from Exodus 9.16, if you'd like to look up
the reference. All the way through this chapter,
Paul quotes the Old Testament. And we're going to turn to each
quotation. In Exodus 9.16, God sent Moses
down to speak to Pharaoh. Verse 13, he said, "'Say, let
my people go, that they may serve me.' And then in verse 16, God
said to Pharaoh, and in very deed for this cause have I raised
thee up, for to show in thee my power, and that my name may
be declared throughout all the earth. God said to Pharaoh,"
and that's the reference over there. Now look back at Romans
chapter 9, verse 17, "'For God said to Pharaoh, Even for this
same purpose have I raised thee up. God ordained from all eternity
that Pharaoh would be raised up for this purpose. But all
of God's works are from eternity. The Scripture says known under
God are all his works from the beginning. The Scripture says
he declares the end from the beginning. And God says, I have
caused you to be born. I have caused you to be born
in a home where you would be considered for the kingship.
I have caused you to be exalted to the throne of Egypt. I have
preserved you through conflict and war and battle. I have preserved
you from the assassin. I have preserved you and have
not cut you off yet. I have preserved you that my
name might be declared throughout all the earth, and that I might
get glory in thee." And God hardened Pharaoh's heart,
and God stirred him up against Israel, and God caused him to
go to great lengths in rebellion to show God's power. John Brown says, God revealed
His superior power in destroying the host of Egypt in the Red
Sea while preserving and saving Israel. And this confrontation
was a direct confrontation between God and the power of evil, and
in defeating the power of evil, God showed His power and got
glory under His name. The sum of it is this. This man,
Pharaoh, was promoted by God in every sense. This man, Pharaoh,
was preserved by God in every sense to show the wisdom and
the power and the grace of God that his name might be glorified. For the Scripture, or God said,
For this same purpose have I raised you up, that I might show my
power in you, and against you, and in defeating you, that my
name might be declared throughout all the earth." Turn to Philippians
2. We're going to see this in days
to come. In Philippians 2, look at it
in verse 9. Wherefore God hath highly exalted
Christ, and given him a name which is above every name, that
at the name of Jesus every knee is going to bow, and every tongue
is going to confess that he is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father. Every knee in heaven, earth,
and hell. Every tongue in heaven, earth,
and hell. is going to bow and confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord. And that's what God is saying
to Pharaoh. I raised you up that I might demonstrate my power.
I raised you up that my name might be declared and glorified
throughout all the earth. God is going to get glory in
redeeming sinners, and God is going to get glory in executing
and manifesting his justice and his righteousness. Now verse
18, Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and
whom he will he hardeneth. If God can show mercy to whom
he will, And we know that's true, don't we? God can show mercy
to whom He says, is my arm too short that I can't save? Can I not do with my own what
I will? Though your sins be as scarlet,
I'll make them white as snow. If God can show mercy to whom
He will, then the natural consequence is God can harden whom He will. Isn't that right? Therefore hath
he mercy on whom he will have mercy." That's true, isn't it?
All right, the natural consequence is, whom he will, he can harden. Now then, the Scripture says
Pharaoh hardened his heart, doesn't it? The Scripture also says that
God hardened his heart. Now what does that mean? What
does this mean? Therefore hath he mercy on whom
he will have mercy." That's true. We know that's true. We understand
that to a degree, don't we? But whom he will, he hardens. It doesn't say he lets them harden
themselves, although they do, but it says he hardens them. Well, let's go about it this
way, and I think this is the best way to deal with that. First
of all, men and women are born with evil hearts. Will you grant
me that? They're not born innocent and
pure as they would have us to believe. But the Scripture says
we're born speaking lies. The Scripture says that we're
born hating God. The Scripture says we're strained
from the womb. We're shapen and formed in sin. and wickedness. All right? That's true. Loving evil. We're
born that way. And therefore our hardening in
sin starts there. That's the egg, that's the seed,
that's the root, that's the beginning. And it's a bad egg and a bad
seed and a bad root. So anything that comes from If it's an evil seed, then it's
going to be an evil tree. If it's an evil egg, it's going
to be an evil animal. And so we see how that men are
hardened in that way. All right. Secondly, men harden
their hearts by sinning. Continual sinning hardens the
heart. That's true. Pharaoh continued
to rebel. What was it, ten plagues God
sent? And each time he found it a little
easier to rebel, and a little easier to resist. And he kept
on sinning, and kept on rebelling, and motivated by self, and motivated
by pride, and motivated by covetousness, the hearts of sinners become
hardened by frequent sinning. Now that's true, that's established,
there's no question about that. So this thing of the hardness
of the heart, first of all, comes from the evil roots. And secondly,
it comes through frequent sinning. It comes through frequent giving
in to myself, and giving in to my pride, and giving in to my
covetousness, and giving in to my own will, and resisting the
will of God, I become hardened in my rebellion and hardened
in my sin. But, it still says God hardened
his heart. Now, we know that men harden
their hearts because of their beginning, because of their continuation
in sin. But it says God hardened his
heart. And when it says God hardens
a man's heart, it is much like it is said in Isaiah. Turn over
there with me just a moment. Over in Isaiah, I think it's
chapter 46. In Isaiah, I think it's 40, 45. Now listen to this. In Isaiah 45, verse 5, it says,
I am the Lord. There is none else. There is
no God beside me. I girded thee, though thou hast
not known me, that they may know from the rising of the sun and
from the west that there is none beside me. I am the Lord. There
is none else. I form the light. That's much
like saying, I enlighten the sinner. That's not what it's
saying. That's much like what I'm comparing
here. God says, I regenerate. I have mercy on whom I will.
I have compassion on whom I will have compassion. I form the light.
But it also says, and I create darkness. It says, I make peace. He made
peace through the blood of the cross. But it also says, he creates
evil. And we know that God breaks the
human heart. God is known to them of a broken
heart. Well, God breaks the heart and brings us to himself. But
it says God hardened his heart. So it says God forms a light,
it says God creates evil. Forms a light, creates darkness,
God forms good and creates evil. God breaks the heart, God hardens
the heart. All right, let's see what we
can do with that. When it says God creates darkness and God
creates evil and God hardens the heart, the way God does this,
and God is, I'm not trying to soften the blow of reprobation,
I believe in reprobation. Judas was the son of perdition
from the beginning. Pharaoh, for this purpose, was
raised up. Esau have I hated. You can't
get around that. But what I'm trying to explain
is how that God hardens a man's heart, and yet God is not responsible
for that man's evil. The man is totally responsible
for his own evil and for his own rebellion. But the way that
God creates darkness and creates evil and hardens the heart is
by leaving a man to his own wisdom. And by leaving a man to his own
judgment. That's all God has to do with
you, is just leave you alone. In other words, God is light.
And in absence of God, what do you have? Darkness. God is love. An absence of God gives you what?
Hatred. God is light. God is life. God is truth. God is good. And an absence of God gives you
death, darkness, evil, and hatred. And all God has to do to harden
your heart is to leave you in your own hands, and leave you
to your own judgment, your own wisdom, and your own way. And
secondly, by denying to you, now listen to this, by denying
to you that grace and that power which would soften your heart,
which he's not under any obligation to give you at all. If God withholds the rain, the
crops will die. No question about it. There's
just no question about it. The crops are going to die. There's
nothing that can save them. And if God withholds the rain
of grace and truth and the power of the man left to himself will
become cracked and dry and parched and brittle and hardened. That's
all there is to it. And that man becomes hardened
in his own sin and his own rebellion and his own foolishness and his
own evil. But who withheld the rain? Does that make sense? I'm not
trying to explain it away, I'm just trying to explain it. There's
just one way that that ground can become so it can be cultivated, so it
can grow anything, so the seed can germinate and take life,
and that's for God in His sovereignty to send rain. That's the only
way. And if God withholds it, the
ground itself is going to get hard. And it's going to get harder
and harder and harder until it breaks open. And it's lifeless
indeed. And the ground became hard. But
God hardened it. And here the sinner, there's
only one way that that sinner's heart's going to be open, there's
only one way he'll ever see, there's only one way that he'll
ever know Christ, and that's for God in sovereign mercy to
show him mercy. to quicken and regenerate, make
him alive. It's God who does it. God withholds
the means. You'll become worse and worse
and worse, and you'll harden your heart, but God hardened
his heart. Now then, thirdly, so remember
those. First of all, God leaves a man
to his own natural condition, and his natural condition will
lead him down. And then God withholds the means
of grace that would break him, that would crush him, that would
enlighten him, that would make him see. God made Moses see,
he could have made Pharaoh see, but he wasn't pleased with him.
Stay with me. And third, sometimes God hardens a man's
using the same means that results in life and mercy to the man
sitting next to me. And this is the worst form of
heartening. This is worse than withholding
the means of grace. It's to allow those means of
grace to come upon a man, and that man in his rebellion and
in his wickedness not only hate the God that sends it, but hate
the means that he sends. Now turn with me, I'll show you
that in 2 Corinthians 2. And this is where a man gets
in worse shape. He becomes a religious rebel.
He becomes a religious rebel. In 2 Corinthians 2, verse 15,
Paul says, verse 14, "...thanks be unto
God which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, maketh manifest
the savour, and that's the taste, the means of his knowledge by
us in every place. For we are under God, a sweet
savour of Christ, in them that are saved, in them that perish.
Paul says, they both hear my gospel. And to one, the lost,
those that perish, We, the means of grace, the gospel, are the
saver of death unto death, and to the other, the saver of life
unto life." In other words, the gospel of God's grace, the gospel
of God's mercy, while it breaks one man's heart, and that man
sees his original sin, he sees his birth in sin, he sees his
rebellion against God, he sees his inability He sees God's mercy
to him in Christ. He sees Christ's invincible,
gracious, redeeming work. He sees the Holy Spirit in his
sovereign will calling him. He sees God showing mercy to
him in grace, and he falls in gratitude and praise and thanksgiving
to God for that. That man's sitting right there. It makes him madder and madder
and madder and madder. He was already a rebel, he's
a greater rebel now, because he's not only rebelling against
law, but against life. Not only against truth, but against
love. Not only against God's mercy,
but God's grace. You see what I'm saying? And
that man becomes harder and harder and harder. No use to even argue
with him anymore. Christ said, leave him alone.
Leave him alone. Now, I know that sometimes when
a man hears this message of grace for the first time, it irritates
him, and it inflames him. But let me tell you something.
I fear for the man that it continues to irritate him, and it continues
to inflame him, and he goes on and on and on until like the
Jews of old. And let me show you this. like
the Jews of old. Their table becomes a snare and
a stumbling block. What's that talk? The Passover
table itself, instead of becoming a means to lead them to God,
became a stumbling stone over which they fell into hell. By which they fell into hell.
That's Romans chapter Verse 9, David said, Let their table be
made a snare, and a trap, and a stumbling block, and a recompense
unto them. So how does God harden men? First
of all, God Almighty hardens them by withholding the means,
or by just leaving them to themselves. They're born that way. If they
continue in their own way and their own wisdom and their own
judgment, They'll become harder than a millstone. Another way
that God hardens men is by withholding the rain, withholding the means
of grace, by withholding the gospel. And another way he hardens
men is by allowing that gospel to come, but they do not have
eyes and cannot see and do not have ears and cannot hear, and
that gospel is foolishness to them. And brother, the more they
call it foolishness, the easier it is to call it that. And the
more a man becomes set in his false doctrine, God will send
him strong delusions, and he'll believe a lie and be damned for
believing it. All right, verse 19, let's look
at this one. Now, this is interesting here,
and I may not make you happy with this, but don't judge me until you've spent
equal time not talking about it, but equal time looking into
it. Verse 19, Thou wilt say then unto me. Now this is Paul quoting
an objector. A man says, I object to this
doctrine. This is the objection of a natural
man. This is the enmity of man. Thou
wilt say to me. Now Paul's not quoting a believer.
He's quoting an unsaved man. Thou wilt say to me. Why does
God yet find fault? Why does He find fault with men?
Why is He angry with men? Why is He filled with wrath against
men? He chooses whom He will to show
them mercy. He shows mercy to whom He will
by making them willing. He passes by others and leaves
them in their sins. He lets men go on in their own
way, and that way naturally ends in destruction. He has the power
to change them. He has the power to regenerate
them. He has the power to make them
vessels of mercy. But he leaves them alone and
passes them by and leaves them in their sins. Why does he find
fault with them? And look at the next statement.
For who hath resisted? Or who can effectually resist
his power? who can resist his will, since
he shows mercy to whom he will, and leaves in their sins whom
he will, and none can stay his hand, and none can effectually
resist him from doing what he will? Or, he's unreasonable to
find fault with a man. All right, verse 20. Now, some
people have suggested that Paul, the apostle, met with an objection
that he could not answer. Some suggest that Paul could
not give a fair solution to this problem. I can't, I'll be honest
with you. I wouldn't even try it. But if
you read Paul's answer carefully, with a little bit of help, from
God's preacher, I think you'll see the wisdom in the way Paul
answers this objection. You know what the objection is?
The objection is, why does God find fault with sinners? They can't effectively resist
him. If he's pleased to say this one,
he can. If he's pleased to say that one,
he can. If he's pleased to say that one, he can. That's the
truth. We've already dealt with that. He'll have mercy on whom
he will, and whom he will, he'll harden. He'll leave them alone.
He'll pass them by. He's not obligated to anybody.
He'll show mercy on whom he will. That's so. All right, here's
the objection. Why does he find fault in it?
All right, Paul says, O man, who art thou that disputest with God? Thou the thing formed,
say to him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? Now let me point out two or three
things. First of all, this is the Word
of God. we say Paul had presented to
him a problem which he couldn't answer. That's what people say.
And an objection which he could not offer a solution unto. And
first of all, I say this, this is the word of God, so any answer
given here to this objection is not dictated by Paul, but
by the Holy Ghost. You see, now verse 20, We say
verse 20 is a weak answer. Well, the Holy Spirit gave it,
Paul didn't. Now come on, we say that this
Bible, holy men of God speak as they were moved by the Holy
Spirit, right? So this is not Paul's answer,
this is God's answer. This is the Holy Ghost's answer
here. Whatever this answer is, it's
the Holy Spirit's answer, and it's not the logic of Paul or
anybody else. This man comes and says, Why
does God find fault? Who has resisted his will? He's
unrighteous to charge a man when he could by his power make him
whole, but he leaves him alone. And the answer comes back from
the Holy Ghost. Oh man, who are you to dispute
with God? Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it, Why did you make me this way? And that's
the only answer the Holy Spirit is pleased to give to that question
and to that objection. Now then, secondly, since no
man can explain God, and since no mind can comprehend the mind
of God, and since no human being can understand God's wisdom,
or why God's wisdom dictates a certain course. Even if the
Holy Spirit had explained the wisdom of God in choosing some
and passing by others, our minds couldn't have comprehended it. We would be forced to accept
whatever he said by faith, so why not accept this by faith?
If the Holy Ghost had explained the eternal counsels and covenants
of God in this word, you and I could not have understood it. So Paul's answer is this. You're
a man and you're not God. You're a creature, you're not
the Creator. And you must not expect that
God, the Creator, will give an account of his matters and his
mysteries to you. Now my friend, Paul is saying
this, to speak to God at the throne of mercy as a guilty sinner
seeking grace is a high privilege. To speak against God as an ignorant
servant criticizes a wise master as a fool sitting in judgment
on the will of God is high treason. I don't know why God passed by
certain people, but I'll go further than that. I don't know why he
showed mercy to me. I hadn't solved that problem
yet. We keep talking about, why does
he yet find fault? Who hath resisted his will? Why
don't we deal with this a little while? Why did he choose you?
Why did he choose me? I don't know. Then how do you
expect to know why he passed somebody by? It's a greater mystery
that God should choose us. As Dr. Magruder said one time,
Esau have I hated, that doesn't bother me. I can think of a thousand
reasons why God ought to hate Esau. Esau hated God. But this
Jacob have I loved, that's the problem. I don't understand why
you love Jacob. And the very fact that you should
show so much rebellion against God's reprobation, and take for granted God's election,
shows that you have a much higher opinion of yourself than you
ought to have. Isn't that right? Well, absolutely. The very fact
that people sit around and argue about God passing folks by, but
they never do, they just take for granted that they deserve
to be elected. What we ought to be questioning
is this, why did God choose us? Why did God love us so much that
he gave his Son to die for us? Why did God permit Christ to
suffer as he suffered to save such people as we are? That's
the mystery. If God passed by the whole world
and left us in rebellion, there'd be no mystery to that. But the
very fact that he should send, here is the mystery of God, Lennart,
God was manifest in the flesh, that's the mystery. Scene of
the angel justified in the Spirit, preached to the Gentiles and
believed on in this world, that's the mystery. But we're passing
over the mystery and arguing about something we don't know
anything about. Turn to Isaiah 45. Here's the
reference. Isaiah 45, verse 9 and 10. Isaiah 45, verse 9. Woe unto him that striveth with
his maker. Let the potsherds strive with
the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that
fashioned it, Why, what makest thou? For thy work he hath no
hands." That's the reference there. Shall the thing formed
say to him that formed it, Why'st thou made me thus? I read an
illustration. Rabbi Ben Simeon was riding his
ass on an errand going to a little town. And as he was riding along,
just outside the little town, he came upon a very deformed,
humpbacked man, bent over like this. And the humpbacked, bent
over, deformed man greeted the rabbi. And the rabbi didn't answer
him. But he looked down at him, and
he said, You're the most deformed man I've ever seen. Are all the
people of your town as you are?" And the bent-over hunchback replied,
"'I don't know, Rabbi, but why don't you go to the workman that
made me and say to him how ugly is the vessel that you made?' And the story goes that the rabbi
fell off his horse on his knees and begged the man's forgiveness,
saying, I have greatly sinned against God. Shall the thing
formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Any of us guilty of that? God made you like he wanted to
make you. Don't try to be what you aren't. Verse 21 says, hath not the potter
power over the clay of the same love to make one vessel under
honor and another under dishonor? And that reference is from Jeremiah. Let's look over there a minute.
I'll let you go. Jeremiah chapter 18. But this is real interesting
here. Let's stay with it a couple of
minutes more. Jeremiah 18, verse 1. The word which came to Jeremiah
from the Lord, saying, Arise, and go down to the potter's house,
and there I'll cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down
to the potter's house, and behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of
the potter. So he made it again, another
vessel. That seemed good to the potter
to make. Then the word of the Lord came
to me, saying, O house of Israel, Cannot I do with you as this
potter? Behold, as the clay is in the
potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel."
The apostle John Brown says he's pointing out, now this is interesting,
he's pointing out the object of predestinating grace, which
is man, not yet created. but man in the mass of creatureship,
signified by the unformed clay, not a vessel, but just the mass
of clay, the clay in the potter's hand. There it is, a huge mass
of clay in the potter's hand, and that's the mass of creatureship,
the unformed clay, the unliving clay in the hands of God. And God is able to make, look
at verse 21, of the same lump of humanity in his predestinating power and
grace and elective grace, one vessel under honor and another
under dishonor, and that's for God to decide. Now if a potter
has that kind of power over the clay, if he wants to make sewer
tile out of it, he can. If he wants to make a teapot
for the queen, he can do that too. If he wants to make a towel
for the back porch, he can do that. If he wants to make a beautiful
vase to hold beautiful roses, he can do that too, the clays
in his hand. And back yonder before this world
began, known unto God are all his works from the beginning.
In the hands of God was the whole mass of unformed creatures, creatureship, what
it is, the whole mass of humanity. And God in his sovereign wisdom
and grace appointed unto his glory certain ones to be vessels
unto honor. Verse 22 says, What if God, willing
to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with
much longsuffering the vessels? Now here they are already made.
Here they're already made, they're already the Esau's and the Pharaoh's
and the Judas's. They're already the Moses's and
the David's and the Samuel's. But these are the vessels of
wrath. Out of that lump of clay, he
allowed them to be vessels of wrath, fitted for destruction. And it says he endured them with
long-suffering. What does that mean? He means
there that God has endured them with longsuffering as He endured
the old world before the flood, as He endured Pharaoh before
he cut him off, as He endured Sodom and Gomorrah before He
destroyed them. God supports and provides for
these creatures. Many of them have wisdom, many
of them have wealth, many of them have all that their hearts
could want in the flesh. He even affords them means of
grace which they despise. He could have sent them to hell
a long time ago, but He endured them with long-suffering. But
He'll reveal His wrath, and He'll make His power known. And the
scripture says their foot will slide in due time. Now this next
verse I'll quit. And that he might make known
the riches of his glory on the vessels already formed of mercy
which he afford prepared unto glory. Now watch this. His glorious
riches God has prepared for them that love him. His love, his
grace, his mercy, his wisdom, his power, are all revealed and
displayed in the salvation of his people, called vessels of
mercy. They're objects of mercy, not because they deserve it,
not that they were any better than the other creatures, but
God Almighty, watch this, he prepared them unto glory. They are prepared. Back there
in eternity, he sets his affections upon them. Back there in eternity,
he chose them to everlasting happiness. In time, he calls
them, convicts them, regenerates them, justifies them, sanctifies
them, gives them a new heart, makes them a new creature. He
prepares them for glory. From eternity past, to the day
they're manifested as sons of God, God is preparing these vessels
of mercy unto glory. Unto glory. We'll quit there
because our time's up.