The Sovereignty of God, Part 5 --- Romans 9:18-24 June 23, 2019

So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. 19You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?” 20On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? 21Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? 22What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? 23And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, 24even us, whom He also called, not from among only, but also from among Gentiles.

Introduction

John Calvin was a brilliant, highly intelligent man. But he was convinced that the Holy Spirit working through the faithful study and teaching of the Word of God could accomplish far more than all his brilliance.

At one point in his life, Calvin was forced out of Geneva because of civil unrest against him and his leadership. He had been teaching through the book of Romans verse by verse before he left. A few years after he was forced to leave, he was asked to return to Geneva. The Sunday after his arrival, he returned to the church where he had been pastor. He ascended the pulpit and told the church body to open their to the very verse where he had left off in his study of Romans years before. This is how he continued his preaching of the next passage.

When we first began our study of this great book, I mentioned to you the fundamental connection between what a person believes and how he lives his life. Action is based on belief. What you believe and hold to be true determines what you do. Doctrine determines conduct. False doctrine will usher in distorted living. When you reject truth, one of the first things that goes is morality. Conversely, Biblical doctrine will put you on the path of right thinking and right living.

Calvin understood that principle. That is why he was so eager to point people to the Word of God and its consistent reading and study. I can do no better than to strongly encourage you in your daily communing with the amazing, eternal God of this universe through prayer and a diligent study of His Word.

As we begin this morning, I want to remind you of where we have been in Romans.

Man's Total Depravity and the Wrath of God Section 1—:1-3:20

After his greetings to the Romans, Paul started right in with the first elements of the Gospel; specifically, sin and judgment.

Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.

Paul, for all time, provided a perfect example of how to begin to present the Gospel. You have to get people lost before you can get them saved. You must inform them of their sin and the danger of eternal damnation before you can present Christ as savior.

The Cross of Christ and Salvation Section 2—:21-5:21

Having established man's accountability to God and God's judgment of guilty man, Paul led right into the solution: Justification by grace through faith in the work of Christ on the cross.

Romans 3:21-25 But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22even the righteousness of God through faith in Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; 25whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith.

Sanctification Section 3—:1-8:39

Once we are saved, how do we respond to the residual sin nature, the old man? We find that, although we are born again, we still have these residual sinful tendencies. How are we to understand this battle within believers against sin? This brought us to the subject of holy living. We do not strive to live holy in order to be saved. We desire to strive to live as Christ lived because we are saved. We are being conformed to the image of Christ.

Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?

The answer to that is No, we do not make allowance for sin in our lives. We always call sin for what it is. In this new life, it does not mean that we never sin as believers. We strive to put to death the deeds of the flesh by the Holy Spirit, but in truth we fail at times. Paul declared clearly in chapter 7 that he even struggled with the residual sin that is left in a believer.

In chapter 8, Paul began with a vital truth which all believers must keep in mind as they war against sin in their lives. :1 reads, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

We can grow weary, discouraged, disillusioned, and disappointed in our fight against the flesh. One thing that enables us to get back up and continue in sanctification is to understand that God continually forgives and cleanses us of our sin. He does not condemn us but we stand in grace.

At the end of chapter 8, there is a list of amazing promises concerning the security of the believer.

Romans 8:38-39 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. The Question of the Jews Section 4—Romans 9:1-11:36

It is easy to track Paul's line of thought as you get into chapter 9. His thoughts go from God's promises of security to the believer, to God's promises to the Jews. Our natural questions are, “What about God's promises to the Jews? Has He forsaken them?” Paul answers those questions in chapters 9--11. In fact, he will write in . . .

Romans 11:1-5 I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of , of the tribe of Benjamin. 2God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about , how he pleads with God against ? 3“Lord, THEY HAVE KILLED YOUR PROPHETS, THEY HAVE TORN DOWN YOUR ALTARS, AND I ALONE AM LEFT, AND THEY ARE SEEKING MY LIFE.” 4But what is the divine response to him? “I HAVE KEPT for Myself SEVEN THOUSAND MEN WHO HAVE NOT BOWED THE KNEE TO BAAL.” 5In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God’s gracious choice.

It is the subject of God's gracious choice that we have been studying for the last few Sundays in Romans 9.

Paul has been expounding on the doctrine of election that impacts how God has dealt with the nation of Israel and how God deals with all of mankind concerning salvation. Regarding the nation of Israel, Paul said that the promises of God did not apply to every single Jew, but to only those whom God has chosen. For example, God chose , but not , as the avenue through which His promises will be fulfilled.

Romans 9:10-13 And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father ; 11for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, 12it was said to her, “THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER.” 13Just as it is written, “JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED.”

On the subject of the salvation of mankind, God also made choices as seen in Romans 9:15-16, 18. “For He says to , ‘I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION.’ 16So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. . . .18So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.

What is the end result of God's election? We will begin to unpack the answer today and over the next few Sundays. There is a tempering effect on us when we think about this eternal, all-knowing, and all-powerful God. Man is put in his place in this vast, incomprehensible universe. The existence of man is not all about man, but all about the Person of Jesus Christ. Your life is not all about you; in the end, it is all about the glory of Christ. All of mankind will glorify Christ either by salvation and the praise of the glory of His grace, or by the justice of the demonstration of God's wrath and power in eternal judgment. The teaches that you have a responsibility in choosing or rejecting the Person of Christ; at the same time, God is sovereign.

Review

Last week we studied an objection that Paul entertained, one which is typically raised concerning God’s sovereignty; that is, “If God is sovereign over all things, then why does He find fault with anyone, because no one can resist His will?” We focused on questions that Paul addressed and raised on God's sovereignty:

1) Man Questions God: “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?”

2) God Questions Man: “Who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, ‘Why did you make me like this,’ will it?”

We have seen in our study about man questioning God (Romans 1:18 and following) that man does not acknowledge God. Man suppresses what he knows to be true about God. We see man's dismissal of God abundantly today in the secular, atheistic mind-set of our modern times. Man thinks that he is above God and has no need to recognize Him. Furthermore, as Adam did in the Garden of Eden, many people blame God for how things are and for what He has done. That is the activity in this first point—Man Questions God.

If man cannot deny God's sovereignty over mankind and the right of God to save some and pass over others, then man's knee-jerk response is to deny his own responsibility and to blame God for the condition of his sin nature. Paul anticipated man's blame shifting and entertained the questioning in Romans 9:19, “You will say to me then, 'Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?' ”

We saw that this questioning assumes that God is ultimately the cause of man's sin. Essentially, the argument goes along these lines, “If God is sovereign over all things, then He is the one to blame for man's sin. Then why does He find fault with man, since He is the reason that man is a sinner?”

This question takes for granted that God determines to condemn people without any reference to what they are or what they do as sinners. It supposes that God creates some people for no other purpose than to damn them to hell and assumes that people are passive in the matter. But that is not what Paul was saying.

God passing by or choosing not to save some people is in keeping with their own choices to rebel. These are not innocent people who are being condemned to judgment; they are proactive in their rebellion. God does not condemn the innocent to hell. But God does have the right to save or not to save sinners as He chooses. We concluded that this question attempts to blame God for mankind's plight. It attempts to dismiss the responsibility of man's utter rebellion against God.

Beginning in verse 20, God Questions Man. “On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, 'Why did you make me like this,' will it?”

We saw that this contrast between God and man stresses the omniscience of God and the extremely limited understanding of man. The thing created cannot begin to know the design of the Creator. This makes clear that man is the created and God is the Creator. Everything we have comes from God— including the ability to even reckon what is just and right.

I read for you a quote from Robert Haldane who succinctly summarized what Paul was saying here. “Any wisdom that the creature possesses was received from the Creator. And if the Creator has the power to form and create rational beings, then the Creator must have transcendent wisdom and power to do so. Does it not insult the Creator to pretend to call into question His justice when you would not know justice unless He caused you to understand?”

So Paul gave an example of how absurd it is for the created to call into question the actions of the Creator. Man does not begin to grasp the perspective of this eternal God who is our Creator. Man does not even stand in the position to question God.

Paul further argued his point by giving an example in verse 20, “Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?” Paul seems to be pulling some Old Testament references from .

In Isaiah 29:16, God is speaking to the nation of Israel, saying, “You turn things around! Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay, that what is made would say to its maker, 'He did not make me'; or what is formed say to him who formed it, 'He has no understanding’? ” Other references are found in Isaiah 45:9,12 . “Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker—an earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth! Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’ Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands’?. . .12It is I who made the earth, and created man upon it. I stretched out the heavens with My hands and I ordained all their host.”

The Sovereignty of God, Part 5

We pick up our study in Romans 9:21-24. Having concisely established man's utter dependence upon Himself, God reveals His reasoning through Paul for choosing some and passing over others. Paul mentioned the word “vessel(s)” three times in the verses 21-23. He expounded on the fact that there are two kinds of vessels in this world: 1) Vessels of Wrath and 2) Vessels of Mercy.

In Paul's response to man questioning God, he first stated that man is in no position to answer to God. Furthermore, Paul declared that God has purpose in allowing there to be Vessels of Wrath and Vessels of Mercy. Verses 21-24 speak of five attributes of God's that are put on display through these two types of vessels. The attributes are God's wrath, power, patience, glory, and mercy.

Paul related these attributes to God's purpose and His reason for allowing Vessels of Wrath and Vessels of Mercy. The Vessels of Wrath manifest God's wrath and power. The Vessels of Mercy demonstrate God's grace. Both kinds of vessels show God's glory and patience. The overall message here is that every person who has ever lived or will ever live must glorify God. Either you will glorify Him as the object of His mercy seen in the Gospel applied to you. Or you will glorify Him in your rebellion and unbelief by being made the object of His wrath and power at the final judgment.

We have heard that the chief end of man is to glorify God, and that is true. In fact, the chief end of God is to glorify God. Think about how He glorifies Himself. This Creator God determines to create and then die for His creation. He puts on display, among other attributes, His power, wisdom, glory, mercy, humility, and justice. The One God in Three Persons is glorified through the entire drama of human history. Paul will say at the end of this section in :33-36 “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! 34For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? 35Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN? 36For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.” Vessels of Wrath Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? Romans 9:21-22

The word for “prepared” is best translated “suited,” “fitted,” or “ready”. A primary lesson that we learn here is that God demonstrates His patience to all of mankind. But why is God patient toward mankind? He is patient toward His elect for different reasons than He is toward unbelievers. The patience of God is shown to the elect as He waits for them to be saved by grace. On the other hand, the patience of God is exercised toward those whom He will pass over in order that He endures these rebels' existence for a time rather than sending them to hell immediately. God's patience is a topic we studied before in .

Romans 2:3-4 But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? 4Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

This passage shows that God is rich in patience, kindness, and tolerance toward those who hypocritically judge others for doing that which they are guilty of themselves. Furthermore, we see that, for Vessels of Mercy, God demonstrates His patience in order to lead them to repentance.

There are other passages that teach why God is patient towards unbelievers and His elect. Let us look at 2 Peter 3:3-9. Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, 4and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.” 5For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, 6through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. 7But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. [But why is God so patient that He causes people to question the return of Christ?] 8But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. 9The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. In this passage, Peter warned that mockers will come questioning the return of Christ, because He delays His coming. They will claim that nothing has changed ever since the beginning of creation. The argument of the false teachers is similar that of modern-day evolutionists who claim that the world has always remained the same with no cataclysmic events. Therefore, there is no reason to expect any miracles, like the return of the Son of God, to ever happen. Evolutionists essentially promote a kind of evolutionary doctrine which rules out any divine intervention in human history.

Peter gave the answer to their denial of Christ's return in three parts. First, he stated that there had already been a judgment of the world by water in the days of Noah. The scoffers in Peter’s teaching will purposely overlook the flood. They are doing it today. Godless scientists ignore the obvious when it comes to the fossil record. A worldwide flood is the only explanation for worldwide fossils. As I have said before, fossils carry more theological significance than they do scientific significance. A worldwide flood points to a greater judgment to come— The Return of Christ.

Second, Peter stated that God's relationship to time is not like ours. “With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.” For us a day seems short, and a thousand years seems a long time. But not for God because He is above time. He views it differently than we do.

Third, Peter came to the point that we are driving home concerning God's patience, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”

“. . . But is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish.”

Who is the “you” in this passage? Some people have understood this in an anti- Calvinistic fashion as if it were denying the doctrine of election. They say, “See, God does not wish anyone to go to eternal judgment.” But this is not a reference to all of mankind, and I want to show you why. Verse 8 specifies that Peter was talking to believers. In verse 8, Peter called them “beloved” and he says that God “is patient toward you [beloved], not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”

The elect make up Peter’s audience in this passage. Therefore, those whom God is not wishing to perish are the elect. So the reason God seems to be delaying the return of Jesus Christ is to give time for all those whom He has elected to be born, to hear the Gospel, to repent of sin, and to come to faith. Peter even said as much a few verses later in 2 Peter 3:15, “Regard the patience of our Lord as salvation.” God is patient so that He may be gracious to His elect.

There is another text of Scripture that conveys God's patience displayed for the sake of His chosen. In 1 Timothy 1:15-16, Paul wrote, “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. 16Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.”

Paul was giving a personal illustration of God's patience for the sake of the elect. Paul was aware that he had been chosen by God in Christ from before the foundation the world. But he also remembered with sadness how he had been allowed to go his own wicked, self-righteous way for years until God called him.

He was a Pharisee who had lived out his religious zeal by persecuting Christians even putting them to death. When the first Christian martyr, Stephen, was stoned by the people of with the Sanhedrin's approval, Paul was holding the garments of those who were throwing stones. Paul hated Christians and the Jesus they worshipped.

Yet God was patient with Paul. Instead of striking him down, God suffered him to march along his own self-righteous path, stacking sin upon sin, until at last He called him to place his faith in the very Jesus he was persecuting. God did it that way so that the devastation of Paul's earlier life would be a striking contrast to the grace, mercy, and glory of God that he afterward received.

God is patient towards all of mankind. He is willing to send immediately to destruction those whom He intends to pass over, but He waits. Conversely, God is patient in allowing those of His chosen to come to faith. Examples of God's patience abound in the Bible.

For instance, let us look at Adam and Eve. When they rebelled against God in the Garden, He did not immediately send them to eternal judgment. Even though God had warned them that on the day they ate of the fruit they would die, He did not execute immediate physical death. Instead, He came to them in the Garden and promised that there would one day be a Deliverer. He performed a substitutionary sacrifice so that they would live. He was patient toward them. We could examine God's patience with Abraham. Abraham failed in many ways, yet God preserved him along the way. The same is true of , who laughed at God's promise that she would give birth to a child. God did not judge her for her unbelief.

God was amazingly patient with the nation of Israel. He had delivered the people from Pharaoh, opened the Red Sea so they could pass through on dry ground, fed them manna in the wilderness, gave them shade and warmth in the desert. But when they came to and Moses delayed for a few days, they quickly rebelled against Him. Even though God was willing to wipe them all out, He was patient with them and preserved them until they came into The Land of Promise. Over and over we could visit numerous instances where God demonstrated His patience.

I want to take a moment and apply this lesson to certain people here this morning. Some who are now present have not repented of their sin and trusted in Christ's death and resurrection on their behalf. God is being patient with you even now, patient for a reason. If you are not in hell today, which you are not although you deserve to be, it is because God has been patient with you, and the purpose of His patience is to lead you to repentance. God's patience is a great thing. It is meant to do you good. He is patient today, but there is a day when His patience ends.

Think for a moment how you are taking advantage of His patience even today. We saw this human tendency last week as we read from Jonathan Edwards’ writings. You are not like some who have never heard or who know nothing of God or His salvation. You live in a country where the Scriptures are known, the Bible is taught, the way of salvation is preached. But you continue to reject this knowledge.

Hebrews 6 gives a picture of those who hear the word often and yet do not respond. Hebrews 6:7-8 states, “For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; 8but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.”

There are some of you here like me. You were raised in a Christian home. You have attended Bible-believing churches. You have Christian parents who care for you, witness to you, and pray for you. Nonetheless you have not responded to that demonstration of God's grace, yet He is still patient with you. You have sinned against patience, yet He continues to extend grace to you. I told a man this past week, when he said that he was unwilling to give up some particular things in order to come to Christ, that those words would ring in his ears hundreds of years from now as he is weeping in judgment. There will be regret and hopelessness that will then be set in concrete, but now the patience and grace of God are available.

Understand this: Although God's patience is great, it is not eternal. We are warned in Scripture that His wrath has been withheld by His patience but that His perfect wrath is building up like waters behind a great dam; one day it will be poured forth. God was patient with Pharaoh but judged him in the end. God was patient with Israel, but many perished in the desert. God was patient with the thief that believed, but the other thief died in his sin and was condemned.

God's patience leads to repentance, but you must still repent. You must trust in the Gospel. If you do not, you will face God's judgment in the end however much you may reject it now.

There is a story of a farmer who was an unbelieving man. His farm was directly across the street from a church. Each Sunday the Christians would worship in the church, but the farmer would show his scorn for them by plowing his fields up and down with his tractor during the worship services. As he plowed his field on Sunday morning, he would shake his fist at the church people who passed by on their way to worship. Everyone could hear the noise and all were very conscious of what he was doing.

He did this all summer. In October when the crops were harvested, the farmer wrote a letter to the town's newspaper, pointing out that he had worked every Sunday of the summer and that God had not struck him down for it. Instead, his crops were in and he had prospered as well as, if not better than, the Christian farmers.

Near the end of his denunciation, he wrote, "Faith in God must not mean much if someone like me can prosper." The response from the Christians in the community was quiet and polite. In the next edition of the town paper, however, a small ad appeared. It read simply, "God doesn't always settle His accounts in October."

God is patient. His patience means salvation. But God's patience is not unending. One day the accounts will be settled and judgment will come.

There is one other application to believers that I want to mention concerning God's patience and that is this: Because God is patient, we should be patient. Patience is a fruit of the Spirit.

Colossians 3:12 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

If you are a believer in Christ, this is the application for you. We tend to be impatient with other people, especially with those who are rejecting the truth of the Gospel. But God is patient and we should be also.

Conclusion

In closing, I want to mention that God's disposition toward those whom He passes over, who are going to judgment, is not one of joy over their destruction. God does not take pleasure in the perdition of the wicked.

Ezekiel 33:11 “Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’”

Ezekiel 18:23 "Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked," declares the Lord GOD, "rather than that he should turn from his ways and live?”

Matthew 23:37-38 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. 38Behold, your house is being left to you desolate!”

These passages reinforce that God holds men and women responsible for their actions. He calls them to repent rather than be destroyed. He does not immediately destroy rebels but patiently endures them, even though they choose to constantly reject Him. So God's patience leads some to repentance. Peter advised us to consider the Lord's patience to be salvation.

Next week we will study verses 23-24 and Vessels of Mercy.

Romans 9:23-24 And He did so [displayed patience] to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, 24even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.

6/23/19