6. Kevin Hay | Calvinism and the Wrath of God | Open Air Theology Conference 2024

Well, it is a tremendous honor and privilege to be here with you all this morning.

I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to be part of this conference as we are asking the question

why?

Calvinism.

Why Calvinism and already throughout our time together yesterday?

We were able to begin seeing the answer to that question both Coming to us from the pages of Scripture

and from church history.

And so today as we continue to expound upon The rich doctrine and the

robust theology known as Calvinism.

I have been given the very light topic of Calvinism and the wrath of God and

of course, I Jest it is a heavy topic that

we will be discussing and I have wrestled with this for this week

and beyond so Calvinism and the wrath of God and so in Contemplating this very sobering

subject.

There's one passage of Scripture that continued to come to my mind and that is Romans chapter 9 so

I want to invite and encourage you now to turn with me in your Bibles to the 9th chapter of

Paul's letter to the Romans the book of Romans chapter number 9 our primary focus for this morning will

eventually be verses 22 through 24.

But for the sake of continuity, we will begin reading at verse 14.

And so if you are able, please stand with me now as we honor the reading of God's Word from Romans

chapter 9 beginning at verse 14 and there

God's Word reads What shall we say then is

There injustice on God's part by no means.

Where he says to Moses I will have mercy on whom I have mercy and

I will have compassion on whom I have compassion so then it depends

not on human will or exertion but on God

Who has mercy?

For the scripture says to Pharaoh For this very purpose I have raised you up that

I might show my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.

So then he has mercy on whomever he wills and he hardens

Whomever he wills.

You will say to me then Why does he still find fault?

For who can resist his will?

But who are you O man to answer back to God.

Will what is molded say to its molder?

Why have you made me like this as?

The Potter no right over the clay to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and

another for dishonorable use.

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 in order

To make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy which he has

prepared beforehand for glory even us Whom he has called Not from

the Jews only but also from the Gentiles.

And with that you may be seated as we ask God and plead with him to bless the

reading and preaching of his word

father.

Oh Sovereign Lord and

Amazing father.

We come to you today in the name of Your son and our Savior

Jesus Christ the Lord and we come boldly to

your throne of grace With confidence as you have called us to because and only

because of who Christ is and what Christ has done for us.

Thank you for this access that we now have to come before you as

Those who are in need of your grace Asking for

your help.

I pray Oh God above all else today that you

Will be exalted.

Oh God, I want nothing more than to exalt you and To see you

revealed in the way that you have revealed yourself to us.

So I pray Oh God that you will Empower us to be attentive to

your word Humble us before the truth that you have revealed about

yourself and about your salvation.

Help us to see you more clearly.

I pray that you'll help us to put aside any

preconceived ideas or or notions that we might have about your character and

Simply seek you through the pages of Scripture

by the power of your spirit.

I pray that you will move among us during this time Working

in us and and causing our affections to rise up and increase for you that we would love you

all the more and that we would have an Increasing amount of gratitude for who you are and for what you have done for

us in and through Christ.

Oh God may you be honored and Be with me as I seek to honor you

In Christ's name I pray Amen,

well recently I came across a quote featured on the website of a well -known

anti Calvinist and The quote was written to depict in an effort to disparage

Calvinism a theoretical scene in eternity future.

I Just want to listen to the way this author depicts the Calvinist position.

He says this Fast forward to eternity.

Imagine all the redeemed Unconditionally elected according to Calvinism are standing on the

precipice of hell in which untold billions of people suffer Unimaginable unquenchable

and unparalleled agony and torment while the elect gaze into the cauldron of hell

one of the unconditionally elect exclaims God is holy and That

proclamation is immediately and worshipfully met by thunderous.

Amen's and hallelujah's since whether redeemed or judged God's perfect and unlimited

righteousness and holiness are irrefutably evident to all.

Then he writes another of the unconditionally elect caught up in the moment

resoundingly declares that God is love and Eerie.

Paul's follows this declaration.

He writes a hollow cavern of silence a silence not from or

awakening calmness, but a silence invoked by an insurmountable contradiction a

Silence wherein an attribute of God is suppressed by the conquest of evidence a

silence like never before.

It is not one of all and glorious wonder but one of confusion and

demoralization of the elect.

My friends I cannot think of a more fitting Introduction to this topic of Calvinism and the

wrath of God because it vividly demonstrates the blatant Misrepresentation

and utter mischaracterization of what the Bible clearly teaches about the relationship

between God's eternal love and his divine wrath.

More than that it robs God of the worship and adoration he so richly deserves.

And finally it undermines the praise of his glorious grace.

Which is the very purpose for which the entire cosmos have been created?

So in seeing the great need to define this doctrine rightly we are Catapulted as it were

into the topic because we understand the gravity of the subject.

We understand the severity and the seriousness of what we're talking about.

And so what I want us to see this morning is that the Calvinistic Understanding of the wrath of God

is the biblical understanding of the wrath of God.

I Want us to recognize that without a biblical understanding of God's wrath We are

failing to grasp the depth of God's grace the power of God's gospel and the

extent of God's glory.

And furthermore, I want us to realize that this is a weighty topic not primarily because it is a

sobering truth to us, but infinitely more significant because the Exaltation

of our great God is at stake.

After all it is not the truths of Scripture that are hard But the hearts that refuse to submit to

them.

So with that in mind, I want us to begin this morning with a biblical Theology of God's wrath a

biblical theology of God's wrath.

Theologians throughout history have often referred to the book of Romans as the closest thing to a

Systematic theology that we have contained in one volume of Scripture.

So since our primary text for this morning comes from Romans chapter 9, I want us to see

this concept of God's wrath Exclusively unfolding within and from the book of

Romans as Paul works his way to the context of Romans chapter 9.

Not only will that help us see how Paul defines and expounds upon the usage of the very idea that

he is Promoting but it will also help us to keep the context of Romans in full view

and in the forefront of our minds as we Prepare to exegete the 22nd through the 24th verse of Romans

9.

So with that as our goal, I want you to flip back with me now to Romans chapter 1.

Romans chapter 1 and as you do I want you to look down with me to verse 15.

Romans chapter 1 verse 15 following his introduction and his expression of

Gratitude for the Roman believers.

We noticed that Paul lets them know in verse 15 that he is eager to preach to them the

gospel.

Why.

Because it is not just unbelievers who need to hear the truths of the gospel but we as believers need to

be reminded of those glorious gospel truths every single day and

Then in verse 16, he says to them for I am not ashamed of the gospel.

For it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first

and also to the Greek.

Then in verses 17 and 18 Paul provides us with two fundamental reasons that he is

not ashamed of the gospel so first in verse 17 He says he's not ashamed of the gospel because in it

the righteousness of God is Revealed from faith for faith as it is written quoting from

the prophet Habakkuk the righteous shall live by faith.

In other words for those who are being saved.

For those who are brought to saving faith the gospel reveals the righteousness of God.

It opens our eyes to see it in ways We've never seen it before and this is actually the very passage that God

saw fit to use in the life of Martin Luther and his very conversion.

Luther would later write about his conversion talking about how he actually Hated the God of

the Bible and that he wrestled with this passage and then he says this.

Then finally God had mercy on me.

And I began to understand that the righteousness of God is a gift of God by which a righteous

man lives namely faith.

And That sentence he says the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel is passive.

Indicating that the merciful God Justifies us by faith as it is written the righteous

shall live by faith.

Now he says I felt as though I had been reborn altogether and had entered paradise in.

The same moment the face of the whole scripture became apparent to me.

Just as intensely as I had once hated the expression the righteousness of God.

I now lovingly praised this most pleasant word.

This passage from Paul became to me Luther says the very gate to paradise.

So just as it did in the life of Martin Luther Paul says that the first reason he is not

ashamed of the gospel is because through it Genuine believers have the righteousness of

God revealed and imputed to them through faith in Christ.

But then as we look to verse 18, we see the second reason Paul provides for why he is unashamed of the gospel.

And he says therefore the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and

unrighteousness of men Who by their unrighteousness? suppress the truth.

And that word wrath there is one we want to key in on for this morning.

It literally means a movement of deep anger and indignation.

So, why is God revealing his deep anger and indignation what is the target

of his divine wrath?

It is every human being who transgresses his holy law

it's the ungodliness and unrighteousness of sinful humanity who actively and

Persistently ignore and rebel against the truth about God that is obvious

to them In the very world in which they live.

It's every single one of us in our natural fallen condition.

Although we see his invisible attributes like his eternal power and his divine nature and his creativity.

We do not naturally within ourselves Acknowledge him or give him praise for who he is and what he's

done.

We see his creativity and the splendor of his majesty and the brilliance of the stars on a Cloudless

night and in the beauty of a sunset that looks like he painted it with his own hand and yet in our

natural fallen State we refuse to bow the knee and surrender to Christ.

Lordship we refuse to give him the glory he so richly deserves.

And Therefore on the one hand Paul says the gospel reveals to those who are being saved

the righteousness that is ours by faith in Christ but on the other hand For those who

persist in unbelief who reject this gospel all that is left for

them is the revealing of God's wrath upon them.

And Paul builds upon this concept of God's wrath not only progressively throughout chapter 1 which we will return

to later.

But also as we turn to chapter 2.

And so if you look there with me as he speaks of God's righteous judgment towards the unrepentant Paul goes

on to say in chapter 2 verse 5, but because of your hard and

impenitent heart.

You are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will

be revealed.

Jonathan Edwards captures this idea powerfully in his well -known sermon sinners in the

hands of an angry God.

Providing a vivid illustration for us of God's righteous wrath being stored up.

And here's what Edwards said the bow of God's wrath is bent and

the arrow made ready on the string and justice bends the arrow at your heart and

Strains the bow and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God and that of an angry God

Without any promise or obligation at all that keeps the arrow one moment from being

made drunk with your blood.

There is nothing that keeps wicked men at any moment out of hell, but the mere

pleasure of God.

And with that restraining grace of God Toward unbelievers in mind before we come back to

chapter 9 turn with me now to chapter 5.

Romans chapter 5 beginning in verse 6 Paul speaks there of God's wrath as it relates

to those who are believers.

God's wrath as it relates to those who have genuine faith in Christ and he says this.

For a while we were still weak.

At the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

For one will scarcely die for a righteous person though.

Perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die.

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners

Christ died for us.

Since therefore we have now been justified that is to say declared Righteous on the

basis of what Christ has done by his blood much more shall we be saved by him?

From the wrath of God.

So in the vindication of his majestic holiness God the Father poured out the full

force of his fury upon his own Son in our place and

Yet Proverbs chapter 17 verse 15 says this.

He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous

are both Like an abomination to the Lord and

So the cross of Christ my friends is the divine answer to that

profound question.

How can God? be just and the justifier of

the wicked.

This is precisely what the concept of propitiation means it is the wrath Satisfying

sacrifice of Christ for the sins of his people for every person who has ever been

Saved or who will be saved between now and the final judgment.

God's justice is satisfied through the substitutionary atonement of his own

Son and his people are credited with his righteousness a

Righteousness that is alien to us.

That is it belongs to Christ.

As that great hymn proclaims there is a fountain filled with blood drawn from

Emmanuel's veins and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty

stains.

My friends what we must understand is that every action of God is always

perfectly carried out in accordance with his holy character.

This is why in Isaiah 6 the seraphim are crying out one to another Holy

holy holy is the Lord of hosts and the whole earth is full of his glory

because everything that God does without exception is Accomplished in accordance with his holy

justice his holy righteousness and his holy love and it is always accomplished

for his glory and for the good of Those who are

called according to his purpose unlike sinful humanity who often

express outbursts of sinful anger or who are prone to things like

Vindictiveness and maliciousness or cruelty God's wrath is carried out with perfect

righteousness and justice every time.

Scripture tells us that our God is a consuming Fire, but what we must

also understand is that when the Lord responds to sin and disobedience and wrath He does

so as a demonstration of his divine love for his own holiness and

righteousness to use a human example if I love children, then

I will vehemently hate the murder of unborn children one

follows the other.

And so when God holds back the full force and fury of his divine wrath and he extends common

grace to Unbelievers for any amount of time.

It is a profound demonstration of his mercy and his grace.

And when he placed our sins upon his own son, he did so as a demonstration of his divine

love for the elect.

As Charles Spurgeon once said there at the cross mercy and truth met together.

Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

Therefore to bring this theology of God's wrath together then we can define God's wrath as

the holy action of God in which he sovereignly Exercises

divine justice in perfect harmony with all of his divine attributes.

Toward those who commit cosmic treason against his majesty.

To vindicate his holiness for the glory of his great name.

God's wrath is the holy action of God in which he sovereignly exercises divine

justice in Perfect harmony with all of his divine attributes.

Toward those who commit cosmic treason against his majesty to vindicate his holiness

for the glory of his great name.

And so now that we have established as it were a robust Biblical theology

of God's wrath we can carry that understanding with us Into our text from Romans chapter

9 and as you're turning to Romans 9, I want to make sure That we understand

very clearly the immediate context of Paul's words.

So leading up to that back in chapter 7 what we see is Paul emphasizing that great struggle all believers

face, which is the battle with the sinful flesh and The great dilemma that Paul is

wrestling with there is this how can we ever be assured of our salvation?

When we truly understand the soberness and the severity of God's wrath, which we rightly deserve.

While also recognizing the sinful flesh that wages war within us day after

day how can we ever have true assurance of our salvation as we're called to

work it out with fear and Trembling, how is that possible?

Well in chapter 8 he provides us with the answer.

He declares in verse 1 that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ

Jesus.

That our union with Christ sets us free from the bondage of sin.

That the same Holy Spirit who raised Jesus Christ from the grave.

Conquering death is the spirit who indwells true believers and empowers

us to live the Christian life.

That we have been adopted into God's family.

And that we are now co -heirs with Christ.

That our future glorification is guaranteed because God chose us for

salvation in eternity past and That nothing in all

creation and he goes to great length and breadth and width to explain this.

Can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

And it is the exaltation of the glorious truths that lead Paul into

chapter 9.

As he begins to soberly think about his fellow Jews.

These Ethnic Israelites whom he knows are living in

active unbelief to the gospel.

Who are living in Disobedience to God those ethnic Israelites who are standing on the precipice of

having that Holy Wrath from chapter 1 poured out upon them from for all of eternity.

And so it's with that in mind that we now walk our way through this ninth chapter and

Again, as we make our way to verses 22 through 24.

The next thing I want us to see this morning is the sovereign purpose of God's wrath

the sovereign purpose of God's wrath.

And so we begin by looking at verses 1 through 5 and It's there that Paul

expresses his deep sorrow and the anguish that he has Genuinely in his

heart for his fellow Jews are currently at that moment rejecting the Savior

even though they were the nation that God chose for the covenants and the law and the promises and the

Sacrificial system and the patriarchs and even the birth and the lineage of the Messiah himself.

His unbelieving Jewish brothers are as far from God as the most lost and darkened

Gentiles on the planet.

And he's asking himself.

How can this be?

In Isaiah 55 Verses 10 and 11 the Lord proclaims this.

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there.

But water the earth making it bring forth and sprout giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater.

So shall my word be that goes out of my mouth.

It shall not return to me empty.

And you might say well.

Maybe he means that in a general way.

We continue reading.

He says but it shall accomplish that which I purpose and Shall succeed in

the thing for which I sent it.

So in light of that Paul wants to make it abundantly clear in verses 6 through 9 that the

Word of God.

That Word of God that the prophets declared has not failed.

He's upholding the character and the nature and the faithfulness of God.

The Word of God has not failed but rather the true children of God are those who are saved by his

grace not by their Jewish lineage and To help them see

this he provides an illustration of this reality, which we see in verses 10 through 13.

And he does it through the example of two brothers Well known to

those versed in the Old Testament Jacob and Esau.

And it's important for us to understand that it was customary and Jewish culture for the firstborn son to receive the double

Blessing of the inheritance of the family and Yet God declared prophetically that in their case the

older would actually serve the younger.

Why?

For the express purpose of demonstrating that God is the one who gets to choose.

God is the one who elects he says not because of works.

Not because of human exertion or effort but because of him who sovereignly

calls.

And in case that wasn't clear enough for us he adds before the boys had even been born and

Had done anything good or bad.

And I will add before the nations that came from them were born.

Paul quotes the Lord from Malachi 1 saying Jacob.

I loved but Esau I hated.

And as we just let that statement marinate in Our hearts for a moment

my friends the shock of that statement should not be in the fact that God hated Esau.

Instead as we've been considering the reality of God's wrath the shock of the statement should be

in the fact that he loved Jacob.

Why?

Because of what Paul has already written back in chapter 3 about both the

Jews and the Gentiles.

Verses 9 through 18 of Romans 3.

He said this what are what then are we Jews any better off?

Because we were given the patriarchs.

We we were given the law.

We were given the sacrificial system.

Are we better off than the Gentiles.

And his answer is no.

Not at all.

But we have already charged that all both Jews and Greeks are under sin as it is written.

And he could have used any Language here that the Holy Spirit inspired.

But listen to the way he describes our fallen condition.

None is righteous.

No, not one.

No one understands.

No one seeks for God all have turned aside together.

They have become Broken worthless.

No one does good.

And if you're sitting there thinking well, maybe there are some exceptions.

He adds not even one.

And just listen to the description their throat is an open grave.

They use their tongues to deceive the venom of asps is under their lips.

Their mouth is full of curses and Bitterness.

Their feet are swift to shed blood my friends.

He's not just talking about the Gentiles.

He's talking about everyone Jew and Gentile alike.

Their feet are swift to shed blood.

And their paths are ruin and misery in the way of peace.

They have not known.

There is no fear of God before their eyes.

And so in light of the righteous wrath of God, which we all justly deserve.

What should be the wonder of all wonders is that God would see fit to

graciously set his divine Love upon any of us.

But it is this idea of God not electing all the Jews to salvation

or even the majority of the Jews to salvation with Esau as the

example which which Launches Paul into this series of rhetorical questions, which we see beginning

in verse 14 of Romans 9.

What shall we say then Paul says is there injustice on God's part.

By no means.

For he says to Moses.

I will have mercy on whom I have mercy and I will have compassion on whom

I have compassion.

So then Paul concludes it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has

mercy.

In other words Paul is saying that God is not required to demonstrate mercy or

compassion Upon guilty sinners worthy of condemnation far from it.

In fact what his righteous character actually requires is justice

pure holy righteous justice and We must

see ourselves deserved of that today.

Furthermore, no one who has committed cosmic treason against the Lord of glory is entitled to

God's mercy or grace.

Rather what we justly deserve is his divine displeasure and eternal Condemnation.

Why.

Because we have sinned against an eternally majestic God.

And in verses 17 and 18 Paul provides us with another example this time

to illustrate God's sovereign prerogative to do all that he pleases and That

example this time is the life of Pharaoh.

So Paul quotes here from Exodus chapter 9 verse 16 where God Declares to Pharaoh saying but

for this purpose I have raised you up to show my power

in you so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth and Then flowing from that

example Paul makes this concluding statement.

So then he Has mercy on whomever he wills and he hardens

whomever he wills.

And so when we think about God's dealings with Pharaoh and Exodus what we notice From the biblical account if you

are familiar with it is that there are instances there where it tells us that Pharaoh hardened his

own heart and Then there are other instances Where God is the one

hardening Pharaoh's heart.

So what can what can we learn from that?

What helps us to understand that this idea of hardening is directly connected to a

sinful disposition?

Which already exists inside of Pharaoh in Fact scripture tells us that one of the

aspects of sins nature is that it is hardening.

It is blinding As the author of Hebrews writes in chapter 3 verse 13, but

exhort one another Every day as long as it is called today.

That none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

And so this is actually what we see God doing back in Romans chapter 1.

Paul explains there that when God begins to judge sinful humanity He does so by

giving them over to their sinful desires.

For example in Romans chapter 1 verse 24.

It says therefore God gave them up in the lusts of

their hearts to impurity.

You see the sin is already there because they're fallen.

Then in verse 26 as humanity persists in sinfulness It says God same language again

gave them up to dishonorable passions.

Passions that exist already and that they desire to carry out then in verse 28

Since they did not see fit to acknowledge the Lord.

It says God gave them up to a debased or reprobate mind.

And so I want to submit to you today that the picture of hardening then is like that of a sponge.

In order to harden a sponge, what do you do?

Well, you can squeeze the sponge and what's already inside of the sponge begins to

come out or You can remove any effort on your part to keep the sponge

from doing what it's naturally going to do.

Which is to dry out.

And so although it is an imperfect analogy what is important for us to preserve here is both the

sovereignty of God and the will and responsibility of human

beings.

This is why the authors of the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith are so precise

in their language.

Saying in chapter 3 paragraph 1 God hath decreed in himself from

all eternity.

By the most wise and holy counsel of his own will freely and unchangeably all things

whatsoever comes to pass.

Yet so as thereby is God neither the author of sin nor hath

fellowship with any therein.

Nor is violence offered to the will of the creature.

Nor yet is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away.

But rather established in which appears his wisdom in disposing all things and

power and faithfulness in accomplishing his decree.

And then also perhaps even more pertinent to our topic saying this

by the decree of God for the manifestation of his glory some men and angels are

Predestinated or for ordained to eternal life through Jesus Christ to the praise of

his glorious grace.

Others are being left to act in their sin and their just condemnation

to the praise of his glorious justice.

So for God my friends this hardening we must understand is a form of his just and holy judgment.

He is not causing these people to sin against him instead He is simply removing the

restraining power of his common grace.

And he's handing them over to their own sinful desire and rebellion.

This is where we all were before coming to faith in Jesus Christ.

Desiring to please ourselves and to rebel against our Creator.

And Yet, please notice with me that in our text Paul says this was part of God's

purpose and plan for Pharaoh from the very beginning.

He tells Pharaoh that he raised him up for this purpose.

In fact in Exodus 4 21 before Moses ever even goes before Pharaoh.

In case you're tempted to think this is all reactionary.

The Lord says this to him when you go back to Egypt see That you do before Pharaoh

all the miracles that I've put in your power.

But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.

So what does this all mean?

What is Paul's purpose and pointing to Pharaoh as this example in illustration?

Well, you would have to be a stubborn Arminian squeezing your eyelids shut not to see it.

It means that God is God.

It means that God does what he pleases and it means that if God wants to

Demonstrate mercy upon one sinner and then he wants to harden another sinner.

Leaving them to their own sins and devices.

He has the absolute right and authority to do so.

Because he is God.

But Paul anticipates the man -centered objections that will come from this truth about God's sovereignty.

And he answers them with God -centered explanations Verses 19 and 20.

He says you will say to me.

Then why does he still find fault?

For who can resist his will and Here's his answer.

But who are you?

Oh man to answer back to God.

One of the things that absolutely astounds me again and again about anti -calvinists is that these are

literally The types of arguments that they make about the plain teaching of Scripture and the character

of God my friends if your response to God's sovereignty as it is

revealed in Scripture sounds more like the Man -centered objections Paul is refuting then the God -centered

explanations Paul is providing you are not in good company.

In fact, you are in direct opposition to the truth of God's inspired Word and

Paul's response to that level of human pride and arrogance as we see in verse 20 is.

Essentially, who do you think you are?

Who do you think you are?

Oh man, you are dust.

You are a vapor.

Here today and gone tomorrow.

Yes, you are made in the image of God, but you are the creation and he is the

creator.

So fall to your knees.

Oh man.

Oh woman repent and humble yourself before this God,

but from there Paul once more provides an illustration to drive this point home

and it is the picture of a potter a Man whose occupation is working with

clay to shape and to mold and to make it into instruments and Utensils that

he can use for whatever purposes that he desires honorable dishonorable or in between.

So from the end of verse 20 through verse 21 Paul says this.

Will what is molded.

Say to its motor.

Why have you made me like this.

It's a ridiculous question.

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?

And so to Demonstrate the absolute sovereignty of God

and the ridiculousness of the objection Paul uses a metaphor that is intended to shut the

mouth of all objections.

How much more clear could he be.

The idea being that human beings are like clay pots in the hands of the

potter who made them.

And just as an inanimate clay pot has no ability or right to question the

purpose of the potter.

Neither do we?

That's the idea and therefore the response of all of humanity should be like that of Job in

Job chapter 40 verses 4 and 5 who says behold.

I am of small account.

What shall I answer you?

I Lay my hand on my mouth.

I've spoken once and I will not answer Twice, but I will proceed no further.

And it's directly after that that the Lord says gird up your loins.

Oh, man.

It's at that point of mouth stopping silence in our text which brings us

to verses 22 through 24 and The primary focus of our

text and so with that as an introduction.

Jokey, jokey Paul says this.

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 in Order to make known the riches of his

glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory

even us whom he has called not from the Jews only but also from the

Gentiles.

See the continuity from chapter 1 to chapter 9.

My friends in the symphony of God's redemptive plan these three verses Represent

the crescendo.

What we see in these verses is the grand design not just for salvation, but for the entire

creation of the cosmos.

This is why we exist.

This is why you are here on planet earth.

This is why you will live for all of eternity.

And there are three primary reasons Paul provides in these three verses first.

It is to demonstrate his righteous wrath.

To demonstrate his righteous wrath Paul says what if God?

Desiring to show his wrath.

In other words the demonstration of God's wrath was not an unknown Byproduct and the purpose

of God's plan of redemption.

No, God desired to demonstrate his righteous wrath from the very beginning.

This was part of the divine plan in redemption.

And he does that by condemning sinful humanity.

Calvin on this point says this God's unblameable justice shines

forth.

No less in the perdition of the reprobate than in the salvation of the elect.

In other words God is glorified through the just condemnation of sinners just as he is

glorified.

Through the mercy and grace he shows to sinners, but then as Paul

goes on he continues saying and to make known his power.

So the second primary reason Paul provides for God's plan of redemption is to declare his sovereign power

to declare his Sovereign power.

And the great irony, of course is that anti Calvinists are crying out against the very thing that God seeks to

declare about himself and The specific way that God declares or demonstrates his

sovereignty Paul says is by enduring with much

patience Vessels of wrath prepared for destruction.

In other words in all the ways we have been unpacking this morning God meticulously patiently

and powerfully declares just how sovereign he is.

I Love the example of Nebuchadnezzar who thought he was

somebody.

From the Old Testament and specifically in Daniel chapter 4 verse 35

after the Lord Humiliates Nebuchadnezzar he comes out of that experience

praising God saying this I

Blessed the Most High and Praised and honored him who lives forever

for his dominion is an everlasting dominion.

Think of the juxtaposition of this former king reigned highly supreme in all the

world he now Praises the kingdom that lasts forever.

And his kingdom endures from generation to generation he says all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted

as nothing and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the

Inhabitants of the earth and none can stay his hand or say to him.

What have you done?

And again, it's important to note here that God is not the one as we see here in the text actively Preparing

these vessels of destruction, but rather he is powerfully and patiently Enduring

them until the time of their ultimate destruction.

But it is against that backdrop of God's soon coming

Judgment that we see the third and final purpose for God's plan of redemption Brilliantly shining and that is to

display his glorious grace.

To display his glorious grace.

Paul says that God carried out this divine Plan of redemption in order

to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy Which

he prepared beforehand for glory.

Even us whom he has called both Jews and Gentiles my friends the one

true and living God Has determined the salvation of his elect these

vessels of mercy for this Ultimate purpose.

This is what Ephesians 1 verses 3 through 6 Clearly expounds saying blessed

be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in Christ

with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places Even as he chose us

in him before the foundation of the world That we should be holy and blameless before

him in love.

He predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ according to the

purpose of his will to the praise of his glorious grace With which

he has blessed us in the beloved.

So not just in this life But for all of eternity God can point to the

church and all her splendor and in all her glory.

And be praised for the infinite magnitude of his glorious grace.

The gracious display of his love for a people from every tribe language and people group

of the world and yet the only way that can happen is

If our sins are atoned for and so that leads us to the place.

I want us to end this morning, which is the divine satisfaction of God's wrath.

The divine satisfaction of God's wrath and to see that I'm gonna ask that you turn once more to the gospel of

Matthew.

The gospel of Matthew chapter 26 and I

specifically want us to read from verse 36.

Matthew chapter 26 starting in verse 36.

It says there then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane.

And he said to his disciples sit here while I go over there and pray and

Taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee.

He began to be sorrowful and troubled.

Then he said to them.

My soul is very Sorrowful even to death.

Remain here and watch with me.

And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed saying my father

if it be possible Let this cup pass from me.

Nevertheless Not as I will.

But as you will so first of all, it's worth noting here that the name Gethsemane means

oil press.

And in Jesus's day an oil press was this heavy stone slab that would Come

down to crush olives in order to squeeze out all of the juice inside.

So the significance of Jesus picking this particular garden to come and pray on the night before

his Crucifixion should not be overlooked.

Because it provides us with this vivid picture of his suffering.

It provides us with the reality of Isaiah chapter 53 verse 10, which says this.

Yet It was the will of the Lord to crush him.

He has put him to grief when his soul makes an offering for guilt.

And we find that this pressing began even before Friday's cross as Luke 2244 tells

us and being in agony He prayed more earnestly and his sweat became like

great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

Think of that as we contemplate the

agony of Christ.

What I want us to think about this morning in particular is The cup

and I want us to ask the question.

What was it?

That was in that cup.

That's the focus of this anguish filled prayer of sorrow after all that Jesus Praise he praised the

first time my father if it be possible Let this cup pass from me.

So what would be in the cup?

That would cause Christ such anguish and an agony in the garden

and as we're considering that we continue reading beginning in verse 40.

Because it says there and he came to the disciples and found them sleeping.

He said to Peter so could you not watch with me one hour.

Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.

The spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak.

Again for the second time he went away and prayed my father if this cannot pass unless I drink it your

will be done.

And so in the midst of this intense affliction Jesus is wrestling within his soul.

He finds the disciples sleeping, but then once again, we see the cup.

Explicitly mentions it again and the repetition of course is intentional virtually leaping to our eyes from the

page.

Beckoning us again to answer the question.

What was in the cup that Jesus needed to drink?

According to the will of the Father.

Just the thought of consuming its contents brought him to this place of intense

anguish and suffering.

But as miserable as the thought of drinking it was the ultimate Priority of Jesus was to honor

the sovereign will of the Father.

And that brings us to the final portion of the passage verses 43 and 44 and it says there and again He came

and found them sleeping.

For their eyes were heavy so leaving them again He went away to him prayed for the third time saying the same

words again the same words the repeated mention of the

cup the reverberation of divine consumption the tension between the dread of drinking it and the Temptation to

forego it in disobedience to his Holy Father.

But Jesus as we know as the perfect Son of God would carry

out that divine mission.

Wouldn't he?

So my friends I ask you once more what was in the cup.

Well reflected in the cries from the garden we find the contents of the cup described in

Psalm 78 75 rather verse 8 Saying

this.

For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup with foaming wine.

Well mixed and He pours out from it and all the wicked of

the earth shall drain it down to the dregs.

So held out before the Lord was the divine cup reserved for the wicked the cup of God's holy

righteous wrath.

And the thought of consuming that cup the dread of receiving the divine anger of his

father brought Christ to such extreme anguish it is Impossible for us to

fully comprehend we can't even go there in our minds.

And Yet Jesus the perfectly righteous sinless Son of God entered into

our world for the purpose of receiving this very cup from the hand of the Father and

Drinking it down for his elect to the very last drop.

He did not deserve it.

But in obedience to the Father in accordance to his sovereign and gracious plan of redemption Determined

before the foundation of the world He would drink that cup the cup that belonged to me and the

cup that belonged to you.

And this my friends is why the Gospel message is a message of grace and glory and

justice and passion.

This is why it matters so much why in comparison to anything else that we can possibly know

Jesus Christ and him crucified must be preeminent.

Because it carries with it eternal significance.

And so in the midst of the shadows and the darkness of that night because of the great love with which he loved us to the

praise of his glorious grace the Father made it abundantly clear that there was no

other way than the cross and And the Son in the midst of his cries of agony would

resolve to go there for us.

He would suffer in our place.

He would bear the fullness of God's wrath that we deserve.

Swallowing our shame paying the penalty for our sin so that we could be forgiven and

at the end of it.

He declared it is finished.

The work is done.

I've completed the task.

The mission is accomplished.

So this morning I simply Want us to conclude our time together meditating

upon the significance of the cup.

Consider the cross.

Reflect Upon what God has done in his mercy and

grace for his people at the same time.

It's also important that we remember that for those whom Christ did not already suffer There is coming a day

when the wrath of God will be poured out His holy and righteous hatred for sin, which is

currently being stored up for the sons of disobedience Will be poured out in judgment.

And those who reject God's Word those who reject God's Christ will spend eternity in the

wrath of God's consuming fire.

Therefore my friends we will either repent of our sins Bow the knee to Christ and

embrace the salvation that the one true and living God offers to us

through his perfect Son or We will one day be swallowed up by the holiness of

his eternal judgment.

My prayer for each and every one of you is that you would cast yourselves upon Christ

And trust your eternal soul to the only Sufficient Savior bow your knee to

this sovereign God and cry out to him.

Oh God be merciful to me a sinner as

Hebrews 2 3 says.

How shall we escape if we neglect such a great

salvation.

Pray with me

father.

I thank you for Your word.

I thank you Oh God that you have revealed to us in such

powerful and specific ways Who you are and how you work?

Thank you for declaring to us That you are sovereign.

Thank you for reminding us that we are not.

And thank you Oh God for the cross.

We praise you for the great plan of redemption.

May each and every one of us praise you both in this life and in the life to come

for your Glorious grace and in the precious and

powerful name of Christ,.

I pray.

Amen.