Untitled Sermon (29)

Last study we covered some of the major objections to the concept of predestination. I did not address all objections, my approach was addressing the objections against the idea of predestination altogether. Those who argue that it is not a biblical concept.

There are many out there who will act as if what is being said is not in the pages of scripture. Over the course of the last few months you all have learned that cannot be true. It is clearly in the pages of scripture and we must determine what it means. As stated before our jobs are not to bring our presuppositions to the scriptures as we are prone to do. And as we often do with the doctrines we do not like.

But last study was simply addressing the objections that the teaching or idea of predestination is non existent in the pages of scripture. We can never make such a claim nor should we want to. As a body of believers, as the people of God, our goal is not to abuse god's word but to proclaim it. With that being said predestination is not the only doctrine that is despised. And what we are looking at does hint at other doctrines.

why suddenly do we have this mass objection to the things of God? Where did this attitude come from? It is true that there has always been objecting God but the question is when did professing believers start objecting what they say they believe in? This has to be one of the great tragedies of our time and we are living in a time of religious chaos.

Ultimately what this boils down to is that people want God, but not according to the scriptures. People want an idol. So many have taken the idea of God from the pages of scripture and formed their own golden calf. And then say such things like my God would not do XY and Z. This is become the battle cry of the twenty first century, my God would not do XY and Z.

I mean we can think about our culture for a bit and see why we have such an attitude that we have.We are of the Mister Rogers' Neighborhood generation. We are from a culture that says be good for goodness sake. For the sake of goodness be good. Treat others with respect and care.

Love each other and share everything that you have. Sharing is caring. And make sure you bring enough for everyone because it would not be fair if everyone does not get involved. And none of those things are bad I don't mean to make those things sound negative. They are most certainly not bad it is just that we have failed to tell the whole truth.

We are in the age of 0 discipline and as time goes on more and more human beings are becoming foreign to the word consequences. And the more we move towards sharing is caring and absolute equality, the more the idea of consequences becomes foreign. So how can we teach wrath, and Holiness and hell in an age that knows no consequences for its actions in an age that demands everyone receive the same.

How do you tell somebody who believes in absolute equality that heaven Is not an equal opportunity place? This is what people object to because of their idea of what love, equality, and goodness is. But love, equality, and goodness are not defined, in their minds, by the word of God.

And this is the critical difference between secular christians, if you would allow me to use such a phrase, and biblical christians. Or I can define them in a different Way. Those who have a superficial faith and those who have authentic faith.

Those who have authentic faith allow the word of God to be the final authority of all things. We allow the word of God to be the source that transforms our mind. And this is the hearts of the reformation which a lot of teachings of predestination come out of that period because the scriptures were the authority and they allowed the scriptures to speak.

It doesn’t mean that all the reformers are right. As the reformers, you all and myself are very capable of getting things wrong. So we don’t assume that everything the reformers say is absoulutly true, but whatever truth is proclaimed we should not be angry with or reject.

We should embrace truth no matter how hard it is . Sadly this is not the case. So many people find creative ways to reject the clear teachings of scripture. Not just with pretty destination but also with the doctrine of hell. And this is what I mean by one doctrine leading to another. You cannot talk about predestination without talking about hell.

And it is this very concept that is on people's minds, whether consciously or subconsciously, hell is what people are thinking about when they think about the sovereignty of God. The scriptures proclaim the gospel is offensive to those who are perishing. It is offensive because in order to properly give the good news you must deliver the bad news.

Man is faced with the reality that he is a law breaker , that he is broken the divine law therefore he must receive divine justice. This is a stumbling block fallen man. His mind will never comprehend the seriousness of his condition apart from the divine work of the Holy Spirit.

Many Christians are well aware that hell is an uncomfortable subject to discuss. And many Christians struggle to explain to a person why they will spend eternity in hell apart from authentic faith in Jesus Christ. Even some of the most brute, conservative Christian you will meet will find away this often the truth of the absolute sovereignty of God.

Don't believe me? Start having conversations . Listen to the way Christians talk about hell. unbelieving John will ask believing frank why would an all loving God send someone to a place like hell? And believing Frank will respond with it is not God who says you to hell, you send yourself by rejecting Jesus.

It sounds good, it sounds Noble , an d it gets said all the time. and while I agree that it is a person's rejection that has sealed their fate, the last message I ever wanna convey is that God is not sovereign in divine justice. Rebellious sinners will seal their fate by their rejection of the son of God but make no mistake about it the only one who can send a person to hell is God himself. The only one who can lay that judgment down is God himself.

And we soften that truth because deep down we are slightly offended by it. How many of you have ever heard that phrase before or something similar that you send yourself to hell by your rejection?

The problem that we face in our churches is that we have no clue who got is and we have no clue who we are. This is why we do expository preaching, to put an end to our biblical illiteracy and ignorance. So let's continue with our study and learn a thing or 2 about our God and about ourselves .

Romans 9:14 NASB95

What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be!

as a reminder, we covered some of the more popular objections to those reject the idea of predestination altogether . We did that because Paul here is raising an objection. Paul is well aware of his audience and he is well aware of where the human mind wants to go when the human mind here's these kinds of things about God.

There is something within us that protest this very concept. This is not just about predestination, this is about to the sovereignty of God. And predestination is just a little subplot to the much larger plot. So there is something within fallen man that wants to wage war with the sovereign God.

If it is not an all out rejection of him it is a rejection of his personality , his attributes , and his truth. and Paul is very much aware of this . So he raises an objection and it is one that we have not fully covered. He asks a basic question is there injustice on god's part? And we have to ask is there any injustice on god's part.

And I think as Christians we know the response we should give is no. But the question is comma do we fully understand that? do we fully comprehend the point Paul is trying to make when he asked that question. And he responds in that way we have seen from Paul before.

may it never be, no way, far be it from your mind , do not even allow that thought to enter. He asked this question because in order to understand Salvation we have to know what justices is. he asked the question because in order to understand election we have to know what justices is. And if we want to understand grace and mercy we must know what justice is .

So imagine if you will 6 people standing up here all before you . And we take into consideration , and 3. And we apply those 3 chapters to the 6 people standing before us . They are sinners without excuse and they all fall short of the glory of God.

They're guilty lawbreakers . Deserving of divine wrath for breaking the divine law . They are creatures of the dirt rebilling against their creator and the judge of the entire cosmos has declared them guilty.

So do we understand that about the 6 imaginary people before us . They are all guilty deserving of wrath and have already been declared guilty . So based on what we covered in and 3 and based off the 10 commandments that we are familiar with do these 6 people deserve hell ?

Yes, absolutely they do . Especially if the divine judge has declared that is what they deserve. And let's say for the sake of conversation that God, the divine judge, decided to pick 3 of those people , he pulls 3 out and tell them I have pardoned you 3 for your crimes.

I will not send you to your death . I will not send you to the Lake of fire , I will keep you and you will abide with me. Does that sound like injustice? No, This situation that we're talking about simply means that 3 received justice and the other 3 received mercy.

Why are we so offended by this? How can the people of God be so offended by this? No one gets in justice. God in no way is obligated to give Salvation to everyone for that matter anyone . God is not obligated to man in any way . I don't know what Christian would make such a statement but I know plenty of Christians who act that way. God is not obligated to treat all people equally.

mercy is a voluntary act on god's part. It is a completely voluntary act and the text tells us why

Romans 9:15 NASB95

For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

Romans 9:15–18 NASB95

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 it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.” So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.

Romans 9:15-18

romans

Paul now draws your attention to the word of God. Paul was very wise to do this and no doubt this was the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. For people even today still accuse Paul of perpetrating his own opinion. Some will even disregard a statement from Paul and say that is just strictly a paul thing.

of course, whether deliberately or unintentionally, the people who make these claims deny that the scriptures are the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, tonight the scriptures are breathed out by God. But in case anyone wants to say this is strictly a pool teaching, all appeals to the Old Testament scripture. Verse 15 he aknowledge is that God said this to Moses.

Paul is quoting exodus 33. In exodus 32 Israel made the Golden calf and worshipped it. Both died and Moses was angry and in chapter 33 Moses was prayerfully interceding for Israel. God agreed to reveal his glory to Moses and that he will lead these people but then he told Moses I will have mercy on whom I have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.

That is another way of saying I am God. And I will act as God. I will decide who I show mercy to and who I will not show mercy to. And the point is that what Paul is saying here in Chapter 9 is not anything new.

Paul goes on to say in verse 16 does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs but on God who has mercy. And he's talking about Salvation here. He is pulling the rug from underneath anyone who sings they are adding to their Salvation whether it be by their desire or by the work.

That is the reason why he uses the language that he uses. You were not saved because you had the desire to be saved. And you were not saved because you ran the race. You were saved simply and solely on the very fact that God has shown you mercy. You did not contribute to this. You are the recipient of this.

And then Paul moves on to quote scripture again and this time he says directly for the scriptures say to pharaoh. And what is it that is being the third to the pharaoh? For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed through out the whole earth.

And that is exactly what happened. Israel was known throughout the region simply based on what happened to Egypt. If there was ever a text where God is displaying his sovereignty it is the exodus account. It not only displays god's sovereignty over a monarchy, over a government. But over his own people, over creation, over nature.

not only is god sovereign with the land but God is sovereign over life as well. It is God who says when one dies and that is what we see in the exedous account. And in verse 18 Paul concludes this series with God will have mercy on whom he desires and God will harden whom he desires.

And that is what we see in the exodus account. What is interesting is that when we read about the pharaoh in the exodus account, the scripture say both pharaoh hardend and his own heart and God hardened the pharaoh's heart.

and we have to ask ourselves is there a contradiction here? Did pharaoh Harden his own heart or was God hardening his heart. And the answer is no there is no contradiction there both true. It is not up to us to argue with the pages of scripture. The scriptures declare that the pharoh heart and his own heart and that God hard in his heart therefore both were at work.

this is not the only time work God is attributed with the one working. Joseph was betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery in a time when selling someone into slavery was as good as leaving someone left for death. And Joseph earned favor with Egypt I want a great drought came it was Joseph that controlled the supplies.

And his own brothers come to him begging for these supplies not knowing it was Joseph. Most of us are familiar with the narrative Joseph has a little fun with them, a little test to see where their heart is. And when he finally revealed himself to his family. He told his family that what they intended for evil God did for good.

Now that is another account where the actions are both attributed to the ones involved and to God. Not a new story.we see the intentions of sinful man versus the intentions of a holy God.

A few things we have to discuss when approaching these verses. One thing that you all should be aware of, and we have discussed this in the past, is that there is such a thing, there is such a movement called hyper Calvinism.

And hyper calvinist love these verses we just looked at. And they will point to these verses and they will say, do you see how God is the one who works in the righteous and the unrighteous. Hyper calvinist believe that the Holy Spirit of God not only electes man to Salvation and leads the elect 2 Salvation. But in the same exact way the Holy Spirit leads the reprobate to damnation.

That those who will spend eternity in hell are those that the Holy Spirit worked to secure their spot in hell. Now they probably won't explain it that way, at least some of them some might. And they will turn to this text and they will tell you the scriptures clearly state that God will have mercy on whom he will have mercy and that God will Harden whomever he will hard it.

Not only do I think hyper Calvinism is wrong but I believe the church should take a strong stand against such a teaching. yes , it is 100% true that God did in fact hard in the pharaoh's heart. No question about it. But what is also true is it the pharaoh hard and his own heart as well.

And so we come to the conclusion based on those 2 facts, and it is a conclusion I have already made through this series, that God is not working against the will of man. That does not mean he can't because he most certainly can and that does not mean he hasn't because he most certainly has.

But generally speaking, God is not working against man's will. He did hard in the pharaoh's heart but his heart was already hardened. same is true of judice. Judas did not do anything that he already did not want to do.

We cannot come to the conclusion that God is working in the heart of man in order to lead man into hell. When we look at this text we're seeing God , out of pure grace choosing to show mercy to whomever he wills out of an already fallen race. And we can never call that injustice.

While we should take a strong stand against hyper Calvinism, this property of God will still be detested by man. man will feel that it is an infringement upon his freedom and that God in some way is violating him. You do not know who you are if that is how you feel.

You do not know that deep grace and mercy that was shown to you. Because the wrath of God is a very real thing and hell is a very real place were real people really go. I do not feel in any way that a person must be aware of the sovereignty of God or any idea of what the doctrine of election is in order to be saved.

I don't think man hastad know the whole order of Salvation in order to be saved. The only thing man needs to know in order to be saved is that he is a great Sinner who's guilty before the divine judge and that should he place his trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and the sacrifices that he made he will be saved.

A person does not have to know every doctrine in order to be saved. A person does not have to have a complete understanding of everything at Salvation or in order to receive Salvation. And this message that we are reading is not for unbelievers, Paul is writing to the church and he is speaking to them as the already saved.

The word of God is given to us to encourage our faith to increase our faith we learn these things because they draws closer to God and all those some of you may be wondering how is this going to draw me closer to God I guarantee that it will. Because what this is saying right here is you have to have 100% dependence upon God for any and all acts of grace in your life.

And I challenge you to start counting all the goodies you have in your life. do you have clothes, do you have food, do you have shelter , those are the basic things of grace. Count it all because one thing is for certain all have violated the law of the divine judge does not deserve a single breath and yet here we are.

Our job is not too soft in the truth but to proclaim it. Our job is not to reject truth, but to embrace it and our job is not to ignore truth but to continue on studying it. And if you can take anything away from this text that we are seeing take this, God is in control.

Despite what some people may try and do with evil intentions towards you, God is in control. Despite the sickness that overwhelms you God is in control. Despite the turmoil you may be facing emotionally in your head God is in control. Despite the chaos and ugliness we seen the Rome of politics God is in control.

Despite all the tragedies we see on the news , God is in control. if God were not in control then God would not be God. This is a truth that is meant to encourage us. so why hasn't it encouraged you. Perhaps you need time to reflect on the attributes of God. Perhaps you need to spend the season focusing on him and who he is. And when you can do that maybe you can see with more clarity what he has done for you let's pray