to the prayer list, Larry Brown,
who's made some improvement, but he's still on an assisted
ventilator. I think that's not the ventilator,
it's like a mask that helps him breathe. He's opened his eyes
and nodded a couple times, so he's responding somewhat. He
does have movement in his arms and legs, but he's still in a
pretty serious condition. Also, Veronica Toinea and Bobby
Dean Driver, remember them in your prayers. member brother
daniel parks is he uh... host of memorial service for
brother joe terrell up in iowa this morning uh... now i can't think of any
announcements let's begin our worship service with hymn number
one hundred twenty nine one twenty nine And did my Savior bleed? And did my Sovereign die? Would He devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I? At the cross, at the cross, where
I first saw the light, and the burnout of my heart rolled away,
it was there by grace I received At the cross, at the cross, ? It was there by grace I received
my sight ? And now I am happy all the day ? Well might the
sun in darkness hide ? And shut his glories in ? When Christ
Almighty At the cross, at the cross, where
I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away. It was there by grace I received
my sight, and now I am happy all the day. But drops of grief
can never repay the debt of love I owe. Dear Lord, I give myself
away. It is all that I can do. At the cross, at the cross, where
I first saw the light, ? And the burn out of my heart rolled
away ? It was there by grace I received my sight ? And now
I am happy all the day After scripture and prayer, we'll sing
hymn number 63. If you have your Bibles, turn to the ninth chapter
of Romans, Read the first 24 verses. I say the truth in Christ. I lie not, my conscience also
bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost. That I have great heaviness
and continual sorrow in my heart, where I could wish that myself
were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen, according
to the flesh. who are Israelites, to whom pertaineth
the adoption, the glory, the covenants, and the giving of
the law, the service of God, and the promises, whose are the
fathers, of whom are as concerning the flesh Christ's King, who
is over all God blessed forever. Amen. Not as though the word
of God hath taken none effect, for they are not all Israel,
which are of Israel, Neither because they are of the seed
of Abraham are they children, but in Isaac shall thy seed be
called. That is, they which are the children
of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children
of the promise are counted for the seed. And this is the word
of promise. At this time I will come and
Sarah shall have a son. And not only this, but also Rebecca
had conceived by one, even our father Isaac, And 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 is said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau 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. So then, it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
For the Spirit saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have
I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, that my
name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath
he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
Thou wilt say then unto me, why doth he find fault for who hath
resisted his will? Nay, but, O man, who art thou
that replyest against God, shall the thing form say to him that
form it, why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter the
power over the clay to make of the same lump one vessel unto
honour and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing to show
His wrath and make His power known, endured much long-suffering,
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, even us, whom He hath called,
not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? Let us pray.
Our Father in Heaven, we rejoice to be able to read such a clear
declaration of who you are and what you've done. We thank you,
Father. As the saints have said in the
scripture, that you have taken your power to yourself and have
reigned. Power belongeth thee. Father, help us this hour to
worship you as we consider the greatness of your person. we pray for those who are sick,
for Veronica Toynita, we pray also for Larry Brown, Debbie's
brother Randy, for the others who requested prayer, ask for
help for brother Parks as he preaches Joe's memorial today
up in Iowa, pray you'll be with him. Help us Lord this day. to have our hearts and minds
and eyes fixed upon Jesus Christ. We may catch a glimpse of his
glory and the greatness of his person. We thank you, Father,
for the clear declaration of scripture that we don't have
to wonder what you said you mean and you mean what you say. Help
us to rejoice this hour in Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. Hymn number
63, take the name of Jesus with you. Take the name of Jesus with
you. Child of sorrow and of woe, it
will joy and comfort Then where'er you go Precious
name O how sweet Hope of earth and joy of heaven Precious name
O how sweet Hope of earth and joy of heaven ? The name of Jesus
ever heard ? As a shield from every snare ? If temptations
round you gather ? Read that holy name in prayer ? Precious
name, oh how sweet ? Hope of earth and joy of heaven Oh, how sweet hope of earth and
joy of heaven. Oh, the precious name of Jesus,
how it fills our souls with joy. With his loving arms receive
us, and his songs our tongue employ. ? Precious name, oh how
sweet ? Hope of earth and joy of heaven ? Precious name, oh
how sweet ? Hope of earth and joy of heaven ? At the name of
Jesus found ? Prostrate at his feet ? King
of kings in heaven will crown him ? When our journey is complete
? Precious name, oh how sweet ? Home of earth and joy of heaven
? Precious name, oh how sweet hope of earth and joy of heaven. Steve, we'll let you do the whole
thing this morning. Let us pray. Father in heaven,
it is in the blessed name of Jesus Christ that we approach
under your holy throne with boldness. We know that you have received
us and have accepted us in Jesus Christ. because you have 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 to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, to
the praise of the glory of your grace, wherein you have made
us accepted in the beloved. We know that you have made us
accepted and you accept all the gifts, the hallowed gifts of
your children, because of the holiness of the Lord Jesus Christ
before thee. We pray you'll receive these
things as we give them in thanksgiving and praise. We pray in Christ's
name. Amen. the the but attention back to the night
romans this passage of scriptures most
despised passage of scripture in all word of god reading it again this week uh...
came across words this same purpose which involves everything that's
involved in this chapter, the purpose of God. I remember a
story Henry Mahan told of a conference there in Ashland, Kentucky where
Ralph Barnard was preaching in a Bible conference. Henry was
about 21, 22 years old and a pastor at Pollard Street Baptist Church
which had about 1,200 members. He had a pretty good group. He
was a fiery young preacher from Alabama. ballpark column he was
sitting on the front row stand-up room eight twenty may and said
all barge stand students his quote romans all things work
together and sat down. Rolfe said, Stand
up, young man. Quote Romans 8.28. He said, All things work together
for good to them who love God and to them who are called according
to His purpose. Barnard said, You've just learned
a great lesson. God does everything on purpose. God does everything
on purpose. I was reading, I also thought
of Charlie Payne. we know vacation out be somewhere
he always look for somewhere to go to worshipping he called
several pastors around and one of them sounded pretty good on
the phone so he said well I'll go hear him and he went to Sunday
school and I was in the Sunday school class and they said we need someone to
read some scripture we have a visitor here sir would you read the scripture
for us and Charlie Payne opened up the Romans chapter 9 and read
it And after he finished, the teacher
says, we don't believe that here. He said, well, I just read the
scriptures. He said, well, we don't believe the way you read
it. Romans chapter 9 tells the story of God's absolute unquestioned
authority and sovereignty in all things. Nothing is left to
chance. Nothing is left to speculation. Everything is set forth. And
it begins with us realizing and recognizing that those who oppose
sovereignty, because they say it means you don't have any care
for sinners, Paul makes it clear that he could wish himself a
curse from Christ for the sake of his brethren according to
the flesh. And then he goes on to expound the great sovereignty
of God. but he shows that as God chose
that nation, Israel, that there was among that nation, Israel,
an election unto salvation. He chose a people out of Israel
to save because he says all that is of Israel is not Israel. We know the Scripture clearly
declares that inwardly, circumcision of the
heart and not of the flesh was praises of God and not of men. Paul said in Philippians chapter
3, we are the circumcision who worship God in the spirit, rejoice
in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. Paul in writing Galatians chapter
6 spoke of the Israel of God and that is those who are saved
out of Israel, those who are saved out of every nation, tongue,
and people upon the face of the earth, they make up what is called
the Israel of God. When Jacob was given the name
Israel in Isaiah chapter 32, excuse me, Genesis chapter 32,
that name means God rules. God rules you. God is your ruler. When you see the word El at the
end of a word, Israel, it means that God is the instigator and
the strength of the statement of the name. Now, those who looked at the
privilege that Israel had as a nation, who were elected naturally,
chosen as a nation, not into salvation as a whole nation,
They say they had so much privileges, and Paul said that. He said,
Who are Israelites, in verse 4, to whom pertaineth the adoption,
and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and
the service of God, and the promises, whose are the fathers, of whom
are concerning the flesh Jesus Christ came. Christ came from
that outfit. He was the Son of David. tribe
of Benjamin they had all these blessings
and all these things and they still seem to be a rebellious
idolatrous people which were ultimately according to Isaiah
divorced by God as a nation or as a people does that mean that all that
preaching went on and had no effect I mean the Word of God has no
effect. What Paul was saying was that's
the accusation that men make against the preaching of the
Gospel when it don't produce results, which is what they're
looking for. The results they're looking for,
they say the Word of God has no effect. He said that's not
the case because there was Israel and there were those who were
in Israel who were not of Israel. But there was one called Isaac who was born in
a unique and wondrous way. Israel was born naturally. Born naturally. But Isaac was
born on the promise. On the promise. Ishmael was born
naturally. He was a child of Abraham. He
was a son of Abraham. But he was outcast and set aside.
Why? Because he was born by the power
of the flesh. Romans 8 and Romans 4 makes it
clear that Isaac was born in a totally different way. When
Abraham and Sarah no longer were able to produce children, God
made them a promise. Sarah shall conceive and bring
forth a child. So Isaac was the child of promise. And that's who all the seed of
Christ is represented by. The child of promise. Our salvation is a promise. We
know we're saved. We know Christ has redeemed us. But we can't prove it. The only
thing we have is that God has said it and He's promised that
it's so. And that's why we're called children of promise throughout
Scripture. Heirs according to promise. And
over in Galatians chapter 4, it speaks of Isaac. In Galatians
chapter 4, In verse 28 it says, Now we brethren, he's talking
to the Galatian church and the church in general, now we brethren,
as Isaac was, as Isaac was, are the children
of promise. That being the case, we are children
of Abraham, the father of the faithful, which it says in chapter
3, in verse 29, if ye be Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and
heirs according to the promise. In Isaac shall thy seed be called. All that's in Israel are in Israel,
but Abraham's seed is not where the spiritual seed is called
from. It's called from Isaac. Then he goes on to say that Rebecca
and Isaac had a child. Isaac was born a promise. Then
Rebecca got pregnant with twins, Jacob and Esau. They were in the mother's womb. While they were in the mother's
womb, they hadn't done any good or evil. They hadn't been born
yet. They hadn't taken their first breath. They had yet to
come forth from the womb as soon as they were born, speaking lies.
They hadn't lied yet. They were still in the mother's
womb, having done neither good nor evil. So that you would understand
God's election, the purpose of God's election would stand. He
said, the elder shall serve the younger, which went against all
protocol in Israel. The firstborn was always the
ruler of the house. He's always the firstborn. But he wasn't a ruler. He was
going to serve the secondborn. Jacob Esau was a man's man. He was a hunter, a gatherer.
He was a man who was strong and vital. He could make venison
stew and did so. But he sold his heritage for
a bowl of pottage. Jacob was a sneaky snake. His name means supplanter. Most
unlovable, one of the most unlovable characters in scripture. A mealy
mouth, mama's boy. lied to his daddy, stole the
birthright of his brother, said, who could love him? We can't
stand that guy. While they were in their mother's
womb, having none, neither good nor evil, that the purpose of
God according to election might stand. God said, that rotten
sorry supplant, Jacob, that's who I love. and hand-loved from
all eternity. And that Esau, that fine, upstanding
young man, I hate him. And there will be those who say,
well, that means he loved him less. That's baloney. The Hebrew word that this is
quoted from in Malachi chapter 3, the Hebrew word means an active,
vengeful hatred. the Greek word we find here in
Romans chapter 9 when it says Esau have I ate it means I absolutely
pay no attention to and have nothing to do with. Disregarded. Now personally I'd rather be
hated openly at least no worse than totally disregarded like
I didn't exist. Jacob have I loved Esau have
I just disregarded. Nothing to him. He means nothing
to me. and the natural response to that
is simply this, that can't be right. The natural says, that
means God's unfair, and that's what they usually say. That's
what I've heard my own kinfolk say. That's unfair. It's unfair. Paul knew they would
ask that question, so he said, is there unrighteousness with
God? Is that what you think? Because he chose one and rejected
the other? because one was a saint, the
other a reprobate. Is that, you think, makes God
unfair? Well, where should both of them
be? If it was by what they earned or what they accomplished in
life, where should both of them be? The wages of sin is death,
and that's eternal death. What did both Jacob and Esau
deserve? Death. Thank God he was kind to one
of them. than make him unrighteous, God forbid, because He said how
He was in the Scriptures. For He said in verse 15 unto
Moses, in the chapter we're looking at on Wednesday nights, chapter
33, verse 19, He said unto Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will
have mercy, and I will have compassion on
whom I will have compassion. It's my prerogative and I do
as I please. That's His glory because that's
what He answered to Moses when Moses said, Show me your glory.
He said, I'll make my goodness pass before you. I'll proclaim
the name of the Lord before you. I will have mercy on whom I will
have mercy. and I will have compassion. Gracious,
I will be gracious unto whom I will be gracious. That's my
glory. You want to glorify God? Better
hang around those four things. Want to speak of the glory of
God? Better camp right there, pitch your tent right there around
those four things. That's what God says is His glory. That's the only thing that He
says. That's the only time that question
is asked in Scripture. That's the only thing He says.
That's my glory. For He saith unto Moses, So then,
if, in fact, God shows compassion and mercy on whom He willed,
it can't be up to man whether or not he receives mercy. It
cannot be up to man. So then, in verse 16, it is not
of him that willeth. Everybody talks about the free
will of man. Let me tell you this, flat out, free will as
to choice does not exist in this world. Everybody chooses what they want.
They will never choose what they don't want. God always chooses
what He wants. So in that sense, God's will
is not free. However, when men talk about
free will, they're not really talking about choice. They're
talking about the power to perform. The ability to make your will
work. and they believe they have that
ability so they say I have the power to accept or reject God that's what they claim but that
doesn't exist either I've sat by many a bedside held the hands
of many dying saints and many those who had no interest in
Christ at all and I know this they wanted to live will to do so and they died. Why? Because when you go to a
funeral next time and look at that body laying in that cactus,
notice that's the example, the final true declaration that man's
will is not free. He couldn't do nothing about
dying. So it's not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth or worketh. God's mercy and compassion, falling
on whom he will, has nothing to do with what man wills or
how he works, but it's God that shows mercy, that shows mercy. For the Scripture says, I'm going
to give an example of His absolute sovereignty in this matter. For
the Scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose, this
purpose, why? Well, it had said purpose before
the purpose of God according to election might stand. For
this same purpose have I raised thee up. Why did
he raise up Pharaoh? You'd have to go back 430 years
to a vision of Abraham in Genesis 15. and the Lord said, I'm going
to make you a great nation. Now he said that right after Abraham
believed God concerning the seed and he was counting him for righteousness
and he sent him into like a dark trance. And he taught him this
lesson. He said, I'm going to make you
a great nation. But that nation that's going to come from you,
which will end up being Jacob and the 12 tribes of Israel, that nation is going into captivity
for 400 years. and then I'm going to deliver
him of my great power. How did he do that? He raised
up Pharaoh. He raised up Pharaoh. Even for this same purpose have
I raised thee up, that I might show my power. How did he show
his power? By raising him up and putting him down. You see,
that's how God operates in this world. If you look over at 1
Samuel at the prayer of Hannah. Chapter 2, and this prayer was
said in part because God had closed her womb where she couldn't
bear children and opened the womb of her adversary, her husband's
other wife had given ten kids. Poor Hannah had no babies. She prayed to God, Lord if you'll
just open up my womb and give me a baby I'll give him right
back to you. So God who had closed her womb
then opened her womb and Samuel was born. And she thought of
herself now and Padina who had always held it over her that
she didn't have no kids. And Hannah prayed and said, My
heart rejoices in the Lord, my horn exalteth in the Lord, my
mouth is enlarged upon mine enemies, because I rejoice in thy salvation. What was her salvation? That
child being born of death. That's what she's talking about.
There is none holy like the Lord, for there is none beside thee,
neither is there any rock like our God. talk no more so exceedingly
proudly, Penina. Let not arrogance come out of
your mouth, for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions
are weighed. The bowels of the mighty men are broken. They that
stumbled are girded with strength. They that were blind, they that
were fooled, have hired themselves for bread And they that were
hungry cease, so that the barren hath born seven, and she that
hath many children is wax feeble. The Lord killeth. The Lord maketh
alive. He bringeth down to the grave,
and he bringeth up. The Lord maketh poor, and he
maketh rich. He bringeth low, and he lifteth
up. He raises up the poor of the dust, and lifteth him up,
the beggar, from the dumb hill. set them among princes, and to
make them inherit the throne of glory, for the pillars of
the earth are the Lord's, and He has set the world upon them.
God rules and reigns in all things." He rules and reigns in all things. It's not up to man. I raised Pharaoh up to put him
down so that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
and that story goes on and on and on if you ask people about
Egypt and Pharaoh if you ask people about Israel and Egypt
they know the story even if they don't know anything else they
know that therefore that being the case
that he raises a man up just to put him down to deliver his
people by his great power therefore he hath mercy on whom he hath
mercy and he adds this because scripture says he hardened Pharaoh's
heart whom he will, he hardeneth. He hardeneth. Then man, with
his rational mind and thought, thinks this way. Well, if God's
sovereign, controls all things, then he may either be a child of Jacob or a child
of Israel. If he's that sovereign, how can
he possibly hold me accountable for my sin. That's a natural
thought, and it's reasonable as far as nature goes. Paul addresses that. Thou wilt
say unto me then, Why doth he yet find fault, and
who has resisted his will, if he is sovereign? How can he find
fault in me, because he may be the way I am? How can he do that? How can he do that? Well, the
answer is simple. Old man, shut up. You have no right to speak. Nay, but old man, who art thou
that replyest against God? You're a creature. you are that
maggot on a dumb hill you are that which writhes and wriggles
upon the face of the earth you are that which came forth from
womb as soon as you were born speaking lies you are him who
drinks iniquity like water you who mind the things of the flesh
and not the things of the spirit you old man who art thou that
replies against God you were made by God you going to ask
God why he made you that way? Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed him, why hast thou made me thus? You don't
have a right to. You see, it's God who chose you
unto salvation. Born before you is in your mother's
womb, having done neither good nor evil. and his purpose according
to election might stand. And he compares humanity to inanimate
clay. Had not the potter the power
over the clay? Well, nobody would doubt that,
I doubt. And I enjoy watching potters
work on wheels. It's just amazing to me how they
can make those things happen. But the clay has no say. It's lumped down on the wheel
and the potter wets his hands and starts and he makes vases
and things out of it. But you'll never hear the clay
say, why are you making me this one? I want it to be a coffee
cup. I didn't want it to be a salad
bowl. No, they don't say that. Why? Because the clay is an inanimate
object. It's dead in trespasses and sins. Had not the potter the power
over the clay to make of the same lump, the same lump, the
lump of humanity, the lump of Adam, the same piece of clay,
to take part of that clay, cut it down the middle, take part
of that clay, and make it into a beautiful, glorious, wonderful piece of art. One that you would not use to
put soup in. one that you would use to put
on the mountain to display the glory and the artisanship of
the artist who made that thing. That sinner saved by grace. That
wretched thing started out this way and ended up being robed
in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, being glorified by God,
being made like Christ. And the other part of that lump
he takes And he molds it and makes it usable. Makes it a thing
to be used. A bowl, a receptacle of some
sort, a cup, a saucer, to be used for a while. But then, because
it has no real value, and thousands more can be made just like it,
to be thrown on the pile of potsherds. it served its purpose. The purpose
was to be used for a while and then disregarded. The purpose
of this glorious vase is to set forth the glories of God for
eternity in the salvation of His people. It goes on to say,
what if God did that? What if God did that? That's
a way of saying What would you have to say about it? Why would
you want to put your two cents on it? What if God, willing to
show His wrath and His vengeance is in His heart, the day of His
redeemed has come, it says in Isaiah 63, verse 4, willing to
show His wrath and to make His power known as He did with Pharaoh,
to make His power known, to raise Him up just to cast Him down,
to make Him a vessel of dishonor and not a vessel of honor, What
if God, willing to show His wrath and make His power known, endured
with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction? What does that mean? The vessels
that He made to ultimately destroy, to cast aside. What if God did
that? What if He did it? Would you
have anything to say about it? No. You're the clay. You have
nothing to say. Why did he do that? And that
he might make known the riches of his glory, the riches of his
glory on the vessels of mercy, which he hath aforeprepared for
glory. When did he do that? Before the
world began. Are you a child of God? and out of that lump of clay
he made you a vessel of mercy and not a vessel of wrath. He
endures the longsuffering and with longsuffering vessels of
wrath because Christ be given authority over all flesh to give
eternal life to as many as God has given him. Who are these vessels of mercy? They are the Jacob's The other
Jacob's, the children of Jacob. It's a name God calls Himself
by so much in Scripture. The God of Jacob. Why? Because He's the God of sinners,
saved by grace. How in the world will they be
recognized? You won't recognize them. But
God will. Because according to this, in
verse 24, even us he had called, whom he has called, not of the
Jews only, but also of the Gentiles. So out of this lump of clay,
he made vessels of mercy out of Jews and Gentiles. That means
the Jews and all other nations, tribes, tongues, and people in
the world out of whom he has called. how does it call? It says we're called, it says
that in Romans chapter 8 where it says for the predestinated
work of the Lord Jesus Christ for whom he did foreknow he also
did predestinate to be conformed to the image of the Son and moreover
whom he did predestinate him he also called. Whom he called
him he also justified and whom he justified him he also glorified. He called. Our Lord says I call
my sheep by name and they follow me and I give unto them eternal
life. I call them. How does it call them? calls
them by the gospel of Jesus Christ, that's the only way they're called.
Paul said, Brethren, beloved of the Lord, we are bound to
be thankful for you. For God has from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit
and belief in the truth, whereunto he called you by our gospel to
the obtaining of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, prepared
for glory. God has saved us called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to His own, there's
that word again, purpose in grace, which God gave us in Jesus Christ
before the world began. Father, bless us to understand
and pray in Christ's name. th th