Good News: God Is Sovereign! - [Romans 9:9-23]

Bethlehem Bible Church

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May 1, 2022

00:00: Well, please take a Bible and open it to Romans chapter 9 Romans chapter 9 and I mentioned that I thought
00:09: Romans chapter 8 was a fitting introduction because hey here we are in Romans chapter 9 For those of you who don't know
00:20: I served in Los Angeles County on the Sheriff's Department for 21 years And one of the things
00:26: I learned Being in law enforcement is that I don't like Injustice I hate it
00:37: Whether it's Somebody not in uniform or somebody in uniform.
00:43: I don't like it. I don't I want to make it right And I always root for the underdog
00:49: I mean I who wants to go to like a movie and see the you know The the guy who was the obvious favorite win or the side that was the obvious favorite win
00:58: The only exception to that of course is if your favorite team's playing then you really don't care if they're the favorite or not
01:04: You want them to you know Waffle -stomp whoever the underdog is but generally speaking
01:11: Not at all cases, but generally speaking. I want justice. I love justice.
01:19: I like to see right prevail except When it comes to sin my sin and even the sins of others in that case
01:30: I don't want justice at all because what is justice the justice of God is Is eternity in hell,
01:36: I know that's what I deserve I know what other sinners Deserve and I don't think
01:43: I thank you God that i'm not like those other people I know who I am And I thank
01:49: God every single day because even though i'm not good he has
01:57: Shown me and countless others grace in christ not justice, but grace
02:04: Let's go to our text in romans chapter 9 and i'm going to read verses 9 through 23
02:15: For this is what the promise said About this time next year. I will return and sarah shall have a son
02:22: And not only so but also when rebecca had conceived children by one man our forefather isaac
02:29: Though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad In order that god's purpose of election might continue
02:39: Not because of works, but because of him who calls She was told
02:46: The older will serve the younger As it is written Jacob, I loved but esau
02:53: I hated What shall we say then? Is there injustice on god's part?
03:00: by no means For he says to moses I will have mercy on whom
03:06: I will have On whom I have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion so then
03:13: It depends not on human will or exertion But on god who has mercy
03:20: For the scripture says to pharaoh For this very reason for this very reason for this very purpose.
03:27: I have raised you up That I might show my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth
03:35: So then he has mercy on whomever he wills and he hardens whomever he wills
03:43: You will say to me then Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?
03:51: But who are you? Oh man to answer back to god Well, what does molded say to its molder?
03:58: Why have you made me like this? Has the potter no right over the clay to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use
04:10: What if god desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power? Has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction
04:20: In order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy
04:26: Which he has prepared beforehand for glory romans is
04:33: I think paul's greatest work So much truth and insight packed into these 16 chapters
04:41: The first 11 are doctrinal and then the last five are kind of the practical Outworking of that doctrine in light of these truths in light of who you are in christ
04:52: Now what? How do we respond? And the theme of the epistle the theme the theme of romans is found in romans 1 verse 16
05:03: And i'll go ahead and read 17 as well For I am not ashamed of the gospel
05:11: For it is the power of god for salvation to everyone who believes
05:16: To the jew first and also to the greek For in it the righteousness of god is revealed from faith for faith as it is written the righteous shall live by faith the power of god unto salvation
05:35: Hear the gospel it is You have your eyes open to it and what happens you are transformed by the power of god
05:46: And paul establishes the universal need for that power in romans chapter 1 romans chapter 2 romans chapter 3
05:55: First he starts on the gentiles Says they all need salvation
06:01: They're all condemned then he goes to the jews and says they all need salvation. They now all need forgiveness because Even though they had the law they did not obey it
06:12: And he culminates that line of argument in romans 3 23 when he says that all have sinned and what
06:19: Fallen short of the glory of god paul also in romans chapter 3
06:26: Points out that jesus is the propitiation The sacrifice offered to satisfy the wrath of god so that god might
06:36: Justify the ungodly and yet also remain just Now in the second half of romans chapter 8, which
06:43: I just read a few moments ago Paul praises god for all the blessings that are secured for us
06:50: Who are in christ? And it ended in verses 38 and 39 for i'm sure that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor any
07:05: Anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of god in jesus or in christ
07:12: Jesus our lord in other words for those christians for believers Can you be lost the answer is no and he's just Rejoicing this exalting in this truth that there is nothing that can pull us apart from the love of god
07:29: Because we are in christ jesus So it's a little bit jarring when you start chapter 9
07:37: And he goes from absolute rejoicing to lament His thoughts go from those who belong to christ to those who don't
07:49: Specifically his fellow jews who have rejected jesus Going to verse 3 in romans chapter 9
07:56: He says for I could wish that I myself were a curse that is to say he says I wish
08:01: I could be damned And cut off from christ He can't be we just read that Listen for the sake of my brothers my kinsmen according to the flesh
08:14: I care so much about these jews That I wish
08:20: I could be a curse. I wish I could take their place But I can't why he's just said
08:25: Nothing can separate him from the love of god in christ Verse 4 they are israelites and to them belong listen the adoption
08:34: The glory the covenants the giving of the law the worship and the promises To them belong the patriarchs and from their race according to the flesh
08:44: Is the christ who is god over all blessed forever. Amen Now i'm going to quickly go through this but listen
08:52: Israel adopted by god sovereignly chosen from all the nations of the world Israel had the glory to escort them while they were leaving
09:02: Egypt and even in the wilderness They had the covenants the abrahamic mosaic and davidic covenants were given to israel alone
09:09: They had the written law of god, which no one else had They had the honor of worshiping god in the temple the tabernacle before that but ultimately in the temple
09:20: And the greatest of any blessing the second person of the trinity the eternal son
09:26: Took on another nature that of a man and dwelt among whom among the jews
09:32: He wasn't sorry irish He wasn't japanese. He wasn't zambian
09:39: He was a jew And paul says that they're blessed by that But the nation of israel largely rejected their messiah
09:50: They rejected the one who is god overall I mean paul makes a very clear statement even there in romans chapter 9 that jesus christ is god
10:00: Truly man because he's born among the jews and truly god eternal the jews
10:10: Soon became persecutors of the church and if we read the book of acts and we will You know, the only reason we're not in acts this morning is because I really can't bring myself to break up the sermon of pentecost but anyway
10:22: We read the book of acts and who is it that's most upset about this new sect this new religion, it's the jews
10:33: And who do they often beat? It's paul And he's not mad at them.
10:40: He says I would count myself accursed for them I would go to hell for them if it were possible.
10:51: This is the attitude of the jewish nation much of it John chapter 8, you don't have to turn there.
10:59: I'm just going to read it verses 39 and 40. They answered him Abraham is our father
11:05: Jesus said to them if you were abraham's children if you were a abraham's spiritual descendants
11:12: You would be doing the work The works that abraham did But now you seek to kill me
11:19: A man who has told you the truth that I heard from god This is not what abraham did
11:28: I mean If we look at the old testament, the old testament consistently says what? God is faithful and israel is not israel rejects the god of the bible and pursues idols
11:42: Paul will later cite isaiah 65 too. Listen. This is god's attitude toward israel in the old testament
11:49: I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people in other words take Take of my grace
11:56: And what do they do instead? They rebel against him And this is how paul introduces this discussion of the sovereignty of god because he's he's talked about the security of christ in christ that believers have then he says
12:11: The jews have rejected jesus And he says the word of god did not fail
12:17: It brought about exactly the result god ordained This word this very power of god would be preached to the ends of the earth
12:28: And ultimately the real israel the genuine israel would believe god and be saved.
12:34: Well, what does he mean? When he's talking in such terms, he means the elect those chosen by the father
12:41: Wherever they were in israel or not And this morning
12:47: As we go through our text, we have five truths five truths that will ultimately drive us to this
12:54: Not only is god sovereign in salvation But this is good news It's good news.
13:00: We need a sovereign god because we can trust a sovereign god Just think of all the promises we read in romans chapter 8
13:10: How we're secure in christ jesus, there's nothing that can separate us from the love of god in christ jesus, why is that true?
13:17: It's true because god's sovereign if it's not true If god's or if god's not sovereign then we can't trust him
13:25: We're going to see five truths that ultimately will cause us to view the whole Passage here the whole of the sovereignty of god through this lens
13:36: Is That god so works through his gospel that he saves all that he desires to save truth number one god is powerful verse 9
13:49: For this is what the promise said about this time next year. I will return and sarah will have a son now you read that You go
13:55: Okay, what's that all about or maybe you'd know right? It's kind of cryptic
14:01: But it's not cryptic if you're a jew This is talking about isaac and ishmael it's talking about abraham and sarah
14:12: I mean if you'll recall abraham and sarah get a little impatient. They're tired of waiting for god to fulfill his promises
14:18: So sarah says what? Have you considered you know, my hand servant hagar and and they they have a uh, ultimately abraham has a child with hagar
14:29: And then the pre -incarnate christ appears to abraham in genesis chapter 18 verse 10 the lord
14:38: How do we know it's the pre -incarnate christ because it's a physical Manifestation of god always a christophers christophany the pre -incarnate christ the lord said
14:50: I will surely return to you about this time next year And sarah your wife shall have a son
14:57: And sarah was listening at the tent door behind him and how did sarah respond she laughed
15:05: She laughed She was too old She knew it
15:10: She said the way of women is no longer with me She was done And what was naturally impossible?
15:21: Was entirely possible for god. And so what happens a year later? Isaac is born just as god has promised
15:32: When god the creator and sustainer of the universe promises something will happen. It does happen
15:39: Isn't that good? If jesus or if god says all these things are true and all these things are going to come about Isn't it good to look back and see god's faithfulness even in something like this?
15:51: God is powerful Secondly god is purposeful God is purposeful.
15:58: So we go from isaac and ishmael To esau and jacob all these comparisons he's doing
16:04: I mean we've had kind of the the saved people and then the jews who reject and now isaac and ishmael and now esau and jacob
16:15: Now you could look at Isaac and ishmael and say well, you know, that's really not a fair comparison because just think about it
16:23: I mean, we know that ishmael is He's kind of conceived in adultery.
16:28: He's the result of a sinful Conspiracy between abraham and sarah conspiracy. I like that a conspiracy conspiracy between the two of them and Ishmael is the result of that so he's not the promised son
16:42: But look at verse 10 And not only so but also when rebecca had conceived children by one man our forefather
16:50: Isaac So we could say well those two aren't exactly
16:56: Equal so if god favored the one who was actually the the son of the promise that would be reasonable
17:04: But jacob and esau is A different story. I mean what could be more fair than twins, right?
17:11: They're created on the same day But their fates the bible tells us here in verse 11 were determined before they were born
17:20: Though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad
17:25: In order that god's purpose of election, which is the constant theme of this passage this whole section from romans 8 on God chooses god acts and that makes all the difference
17:38: That god's purpose of election might continue not because of works, but because of him who calls
17:48: We want to say well, this is a more fair comparison, but ultimately fair doesn't have anything to do with it It's about favor.
17:55: It's about mercy. It's about grace It is the result of god's purpose in election.
18:00: Well, what is god's purpose in election? Why does god choose one and not another?
18:14: It's simple We don't know It's deuteronomy 29 29
18:21: Because he does the secret things belong to the lord When we start trying to figure out who the elect are
18:28: We're we're in a bad situation. I have people sometimes they'll say well, how do I know if i'm one of the elect? You know and Mike says this do you believe the answer is yes keep believing
18:43: The elect believe not perfectly, but they believe Deuteronomy 29 29 says the secret things belong to the lord, but the things revealed what belong to us to our children
18:55: Sometimes we like to you know, well What about this and what about that? Well Here's what we know
19:02: Everything that we need to know is revealed to us in this book The things that we don't need to know are not revealed to us.
19:08: Does that make sense? I think it does. Okay So who or what made the difference when we're talking about twins
19:18: Identical twins born on the same day no difference between them god did god made the difference verse 12 she the mom rebecca
19:34: Was told the older will serve the younger As it is written jacob.
19:40: I loved but esau. I hated What's supposed to happen?
19:46: We can see it right there. The older will serve the younger. That's not what's supposed to happen The whole order of the middle east is if you're the first born you've got it made
19:56: You're going to be given the largest portion of the inheritance And you know when the father dies who's in charge the oldest one, which is the way it should be in every family by the way
20:06: You only say that when you're the oldest child, but why does god hate esau
20:18: Before he's done anything Some people say well, you know, it's not really hate And I don't have time to go through the whole study.
20:25: But if you look at malachi and other places the answer is yes god actually hated esau he hated esau because esau
20:39: Was not the object of god's grace He was not the object of god's love
20:47: And when we look at esau's life how he treated his birthright He essentially trades it for a good lunch we understand, you know, here's his god -given ultimately god -given birthright and he just Trades it easily away now jacob.
21:03: We could get into jacob the deceiver and all that Jacob is not a great guy But god's favor was on jacob and not esau
21:17: And here's the truth Basic truth that we talked about a little bit in sunday school shameless plug we tend to think that people are morally neutral that you know,
21:28: I here's and I'm, not on you if you use this phrase or even if you've said it to me
21:34: I think so and so is Searching that they're looking that they're seeking after god.
21:40: Maybe they are but if they're seeking after god, why is it? Because god's drawing them We in our minds.
21:47: We want to think that people are neutral towards god And we want to believe that god is neutral towards them
21:55: Is that the way the bible describes it? No we could go over and over again and find places where you know romans chapter 5 where Those unbelievers are described as enemies.
22:09: We were once enemies Psalm 5 Where it says god hates sinners
22:20: We underestimate we think that people are morally neutral but it's because we underestimate what happens in adam we underestimate the effect of original sin
22:31: Even in the womb a child is not neutral toward god He or she bears the sin of adam.
22:38: That's why you know when they come out and we think they're cute and I I totally think babies are cute but You know, they're the cutest little vipers ever born.
22:49: I mean, that's just that's the reality Esau was not neutral Then again again, as I said jacob was not neutral either
22:59: He was a deceiver. He was sinful But this is just as true for jacob as it was
23:06: Or as it is for any believer here today Romans chapter 8. I didn't read this part verses 28 to 30
23:14: And we know that for those who love god all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose for those whom he foreknew
23:24: And i'm going to pause there for a moment to foreknow someone In biblical terminology is to set your affections on them.
23:33: What god did was he foreknows people not events He sets his affection.
23:39: He loves them. He chooses them. He sets them aside For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son
23:49: In order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers And those whom he predestined he also called and those whom he also called or he called he also justified
24:01: And those whom he justified he also glorified Jacob even his sin
24:08: God used for good for his good For jacob's good and ultimately for god's purposes
24:16: God is not the author of sin But he uses secondary means like jacob
24:23: Okay, so god is powerful god is purposeful and third god is just sorry there's no p here god is just This question arises if it's
24:35: If we have two equal parties esau jacob Why is it that god hates esau and loves jacob?
24:45: And the question is in verse 14 What shall we say then is there injustice right don't we just want to go well that's not
24:56: Fair and paul says By no means. It's the strongest form of negation in the greek language
25:06: Absolutely not In each case that we've looked at the nation of israel
25:12: Ishmael and isaac jacob and esau Was god unjust One commentator said this he said for god to do such a thing to favor
25:24: Jacob over esau, even though they hadn't done anything. He calls it thoroughly immoral
25:31: Just wrong. What does that bring about for you? What does that make you think if you think well, that's not fair.
25:38: That's not right. That's thoroughly immoral Here we are. We are the judges
25:44: God is on trial. That's the picture We're going to decide that god is not fair.
25:51: God is unjust And really it's not even that so much
25:59: For the unbeliever as they look at this They're not the jury They're more like a lynch mob
26:06: They think they know what god ought to do how he ought to act how he ought to think
26:13: That he ought to be fair that he's obligated to give grace to everybody and paul says
26:23: In stevie's get that idea out of your head It's foolishness. It's wrong.
26:28: It's unbiblical You're redefining god Excuse me.
26:34: You're refashioning god in your own image You're determining what is fair and then saying well god should be like me
26:47: God determines god judges god decides Look at verse 15 For he being god
26:55: Says to moses I will have mercy on whom I have mercy. I will have compassion On whom
27:01: I have compassion This is an allusion to exodus 33
27:10: I'm going to read verses 17 and 19 if you recall
27:16: Moses asked to see the glory of god, in fact, we'll read that here
27:23: And the lord said to moses this very thing that you have spoken I will do for you have found favor in my sight and I know you by name
27:33: Verse 18 moses said please show me your glory And he god
27:40: Said I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name the lord
27:47: And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show mercy on whom
27:53: I will show mercy Moses asked to see the glory of god and the lord agrees to show him a bit of it
28:07: But our concern is what god says and paul repeats That grace and mercy belong to god.
28:14: They are his to dispense. They're his to give as he desires To whom he desires he's under no obligation and the idea that god would be unjust
28:25: Is simply outrageous Is god obligated to be gracious is he obligated to be merciful and the answer is simple
28:34: If grace is obligated, then it's not grace If mercy is obligated, then it's not mercy
28:46: As we open I said the gospel is the power of god unto salvation in other words the truth that jesus came to earth
28:53: Took on an additional nature lived the sinless life God demands died to pay the price of every sin of every believer
29:00: And then rose on the third day that truth is propelled into the heart of every believer
29:07: They become They're unsaved and god the holy spirit causes them to be born again.
29:12: What how? By the proclamation of the gospel he uses that to cause them to be born again
29:20: And if the holy spirit does not cause someone to be born again Is he unjust?
29:27: If he doesn't if he doesn't take everyone and give them a new heart new desires new affections.
29:32: Is he being unjust? And the answer of course is no So why is it that we think somehow that or does does anyone really believe that god is obligated to?
29:43: Show mercy to everyone and look man cannot earn mercy Verse 16 so then it depends not on human will or exertion but on god who has mercy again.
29:55: It's his alone Every false religious system says that you can do something to gain god's favor that he
30:03: Will then give you mercy, but this passage cannot be more plain God is the determiner of who does or does not receive his mercy and nothing
30:13: We can ever do will change that there's no amount of sacraments. We can take confessions. We can make
30:19: You know good works of any kind that we can do that are going to Force god as it were that corner him into giving us mercy
30:30: He goes on to describe the example of pharaoh verse 17 for the scripture notice how scripture
30:39: Is used in in place of really the voice of god we could we It is fascinating here.
30:45: You want to talk about god breathe? How about this for the scripture says to pharaoh for this very purpose?
30:51: I have raised you up that I might show my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth
31:00: Most powerful kingdom in all the world egypt Why was it powerful because they had slave labor of israel, but when israel is
31:16: Delivered from pharaoh's hand when they are wandering through the wilderness and then when they go into the promised land
31:25: There are countries that and there are people groups that want nothing to do with them. Why because they've heard what happened
31:32: If the power of a nation was measured by the power of a god This was a powerful god who delivered israel out of the mouth as it were of egypt
31:45: Look at verse 18 So then he talking about god has mercy on whomever he wills and he hardens whomever he wills again
31:55: The mercy of god is his alone But here we have this idea of hardening being added
32:03: Well, how did god harden pharaoh if we if we went through we're not going to go through the whole thing
32:09: But if we went through the account in exodus Pharaoh hardens his heart.
32:15: He rejects what moses says he you know, he he well Here's what happens. He says fair Moses says this is what's going to happen and pharaoh appears to relent and then he doesn't he hardens his heart every single time then in response
32:30: Text says god hardened him. Well, what did that mean? It means If god hardens somebody he he takes a little bit of the restraining grace away from them.
32:40: We're not all as bad as we could be Before we get saved Some people are a lot worse than others.
32:48: Well, what is the difference? It's that restraining grace of god that he keeps people from being as wicked as they otherwise would be so when it says he hardens pharaoh
32:58: Or he hardens whomever he wills it simply means that Instead of keeping them at this level.
33:03: He pulls back a little bit and lets them be more wicked so Described over and over again in romans chapter one.
33:15: What happens, you know, somebody sins or they they worship the Creation instead of the creator and god gives them over we have this constant refrain god gave them over god gave them over That's the restraint being
33:28: Removed step by step so that a society becomes more and more sinful
33:34: But god is perfectly just And he sets the standard for what just is that some people want to set their own standard is of little matter except When we consider what peril their souls are in so first god is powerful second god is purposeful third
33:56: God is just and fourth God is beyond reproach God is beyond reproach.
34:03: Look at this question here in verse 19 Paul writes you will say to me then
34:09: Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will? Okay, paul if what you're saying is true
34:19: If god is so sovereign in salvation if he is the giver of mercy if he's the giver of grace If he's the determiner of who's going to be saved in or not
34:29: Then how can he judge anyone? If he's that sovereign Why is he going to punish anyone?
34:37: It's not their fault No one can resist his will
34:44: As I consider this it reminds me Reminded me a little bit of you know, this is kind of like the argument of a little child
34:52: Because it's like this. Yeah, I don't know if anybody's ever had this experience But as a child you're throwing something around either in the house or in the backyard
35:01: I guess here in new england It's usually in the house because you have like what? We have about three months where you can go outside So they're throwing something around the front room and you know crash something breaks
35:15: Well, I didn't mean to break it Well, okay, but you know throwing the football around in the house is you know a little hazardous
35:23: I don't care if you are tom brady the third or whatever, you know It's not my fault
35:33: But that idea that it's not my fault that I didn't intend it or whatever misses the mark.
35:39: Why? Because these again are not morally neutral people we we inherit a sin nature from adam
35:46: And then we sin not just by nature, but by choice It's not just throwing the ball around in the house or doing something
35:56: You know just childish It's very intentional to suppress the truth of god in unrighteousness and to sin
36:06: We all have consciences, I mean i'm just like recapping all of romans and paul says essentially
36:15: Check yourself with this whole question It's really not fair.
36:21: How can god find fault? How can he judge anybody after all nobody can resist him? What's paul's answer to that?
36:31: You know, typically what do you say if you answer a question with a question? Have you ever done that? Yes And it's usually because you're trying to dodge in this case paul
36:41: Answers a question with a question Because the question in verse 19, why does he still find fault is?
36:53: Impertinent It's shocking It's disgraceful verse 20
37:03: But who are you oh man to answer back to god? It's absurd
37:13: I'm going to ask you a question because you really need to rethink what you're saying. You ever said that to one of your kids I heard what you said.
37:20: I think you need to think it through again Will what is molded say to its molder?
37:28: Why have you made me like this? Is that a good picture? Isn't god the creator?
37:37: He goes on to say in verse 21 has the potter no right over the clay To make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use
37:48: When I worked in a jail, sometimes people would say I know this is shocking to you Some of the inmates would say rude things to me
37:59: It was amazing. And you know, so I would get that kind of shocked look on my face like a lot of times depending on their size
38:09: Walk up to him and I just go Pull the sleeve of their jumpsuit and I go, you know what? Your arms aren't big enough to talk to me like that Why?
38:20: It's the same picture here Only it's like times a million You think you can talk to god you?
38:29: insignificant creature You little lump of clay you really think you can question the eternal god
38:39: Do you know who you are? Right? It's it's like, you know, when the cop stops a politician. Do you know who
38:45: I am? Well, this is the opposite Do you know who you are? God made you out of dirt
38:51: He breathed life into you He sustains you and the entire universe and yet somehow you think he's subject to your authority
39:01: Paul says There are some questions that don't deserve an answer
39:09: God didn't make you sinful In your sinfulness that you were born into you rebelled against him and he did not intervene
39:19: You did it He didn't grace you but you are guilty. Here's how our confession of faith said it
39:27: By the decree of god for the manifestation of his glory some men and angels are predestinated or foreordained to eternal life through jesus christ
39:38: To the praise of his glorious grace and listen others being left to act in their sin
39:46: Then just condemnation to the praise of his glorious justice So there's glorious grace on the one hand for those who believe and glorious justice
39:59: To those who don't Notice what it says there others being left to act in their sin
40:09: And so people say well, wait a minute god's love. Yes. He's love, but he is also just we can't, you know separate the separate out the
40:21: Uh Attributes of god and just choose the one we like because then we have a an idol not god of the bible
40:30: Point number five God is beyond understanding God is beyond understanding
40:38: What if god desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?
40:46: In order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy Which he has prepared before him for glory
40:58: God would be perfectly just To establish a rule that says one sin is instant death, but he didn't do that in the garden.
41:05: He doesn't do that today He's patient. He endures with much patience those who rebel against him those who sin against him
41:13: Those who hate the father who hate the son and who hate the holy spirit? Sometimes that patience is so that he can display his grace and his mercy on his vessels of mercy and sometimes
41:32: It is so that he can display his justice When we think about glory this passage immediately came to mind first john 3 2.
41:44: I think I read it a few weeks ago But it's worth reading again Beloved we are god's children now
41:50: Think about it. We didn't used to be god's children. If you love the lord. Jesus christ. You're his child now And what we will be has not yet appeared in other words
41:59: We're not glorified yet, but we know that when he jesus appears we shall be like him because we shall
42:05: See him as he is this is the promise to vessels of mercy
42:13: God is beyond our understanding in doing these things for us Now just to close here many evangelical churches avoid this doctrine
42:29: They avoid this passage like the plague. I mean if you're just skipping around the bible if that's your habit
42:35: Why would you ever come to this? You would never come to this paradigm either of the gospel being guilt grace gratitude
42:45: But turn for a moment to romans chapter 11 Because what goes on romans chapter 11 verses 30 to 36 what goes on?
42:54: Throughout the rest of this is he's wrestling with this question of israel And the elect of god and all these kinds of things and how god saves and whatnot
43:05: But starting in verse 30 of romans chapter 11 listen For just as you were at one time disobedient to god
43:14: But now have received mercy because of their disobedience. He's talking about disobedience of the jews
43:21: Because they rejected the messiah Now the gospel's gone as it were worldwide,
43:27: I mean it has now but back then it had spread verse 31 So they too
43:33: Now have been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you They may uh, they also may now receive mercy for god has consigned all to disobedience
43:45: That he may have mercy on all what does that mean that he's going to save all no it means all kinds of people
43:51: He consigned everybody all over the world to disobedience through adam's sin
43:57: Adam being our federal head sinned. We all are born sons of disobedience or daughters
44:05: And now he has mercy on all kinds of people jew and gentile alike And look at how it ends.
44:11: We've read this many times, but now in context we just think okay, I get it The sovereignty of god the election of god his work in choosing some and not choosing other
44:22: This is how paul responds to it in verse 33 Oh the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of god
44:29: How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways? For who has known the mind of god or has been his counselor and the answer is no one
44:40: Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid and again the answer is no one For from him and through him and to him are all things
44:52: To him be the glory To him be glory forever. Amen. Let's pray father
45:00: Such a blessing to see how How you choose not because of anything good in us
45:12: Not because of anything we can even fully fathom Your word says
45:19: You're inscrutable. Your ways are unsearchable. We can't grasp it What a marvelous blessing to think
45:29: That you would choose anyone That you would grant us forgiveness full and free in jesus christ by your grace