Untitled Sermon (30)

The topic that we have been discussing has been on the doctrine of election. A highly controversial and debated doctrine within the church. We have discussed the controversy , both historically and contemporary. Then there is just no way to avoid controversy when discussing this subject.

So then, is the solution to the controversy is to avoid it? Absolutely not. That is not an option for god's people to do. So we as a ministry are not doing it. And while it is controversial and while it is difficult to teach through, it is essential that we understand who we are in order to understand what Paul is trying to say here.

The problem is not the word of God, and the problem is not with the doctrine of election. The problem is the pride of man. The pride of mankind. And do not think anyone of you in here are immune to this kind of pride . You are not. And chances are you are exposed to it more on a daily basis then you might imagine.

This is true of both the secular world and the church. There is just as much pride if not more within the church as there is in the secular world. So our issue here , is us. It is pride that caused the fall to begin with .

There is just far too much selfish pride in the human heart. So much so that we think Salvation begins with us . So much so we think Salvation is about us. We think the cross is about us. We say thing in churches that Jesus died to show us what we are worth.

The selfish prideful behavior is only increasing. It has always been around, and you can trace it's all throughout time. But there is most certainly in increasement of selfish pride taking place read and all you have to do is turn on your local Christian radio station and you will find it.

Some of the old hymns, not all of them, but some of the old hymns were so theologically centered. It was obvious that God was the object of worship that God was the center of the hymn writers very thoughts.

Sure some of the old hymns would say something like God you are magnificent or God you are just God you are mercy. There was this absolute focus on God. There are hymns in our hymnal where they are selfish or person might get personal in some areas but wind up magnifying God, but there, for the most part, this God centered form of songwriting.

And today, not just in music but in all areas of life, I see people using God to talk about themselves. I had a conversation with my brother in law this week about this very topic . I see people using God to talk about themselves.

And this is how we miss that selfish pride that is steadily increasing, because the name of God is pulled into it and people are not realizing that this is just a man centered approach to worship to theology, to Salvation, and in application.

So you will hear songs that will go God you have done this for me. You have rescued me, you have saved me, I was this last being you came and rescued me.

And some may ask what is the problem with that? Well in small doses nothing is the matter with that. Recognize that some of the older stuff would say God you are this God you are that God you you you.

Where versus today it is God you have done this for me you have rescued me you have saved me you have provided for me me me.

Do you see the switch . A subtle difference but a difference nonetheless. So now we are to the point where it becomes a conversation of telling your own story . Share your story, tell your story talk about yourself.

This has become so impactful on our minds that we have churchgoers wishing that they will fall into horrendous in only to be rescued out of it . You have faithful church goers who wish they had that very strong testimony so they would have a story to tell .

Is that what we have created in this man centeredness, that we have to have the better story? It is no wonder why we think Salvation begins with us. We say when I was saved verses when God saved me.

we say when I accepted Jesus instead of when Jesus accepted me . We like to begin with us. Selfish pride . And it is only selfish pride at blinds us from the truth of what we see in the pages of scripture. In the truth what we see in this chapter right here.

so now here we are and Paul is dealing with the righteousness of God. Is there any injustice with in God. Paul said of Jacob and esau before they were even born before either one of them can perform for God, before either one of them can do good or bad he said Jacob I loved the esau I hated .

And before they were born the older shall serve the younger . And now this objection is being raised, how can God find fault in me if there is no resisting god's will? Why does he still find fault? And paul fired back with who are you to answer back a God.

not that we cannot ask questions, but that the question is coming from that selfish pride point. Are we asking questions because we love God and we want to know God more or are we asking questions because we are more concerned with our rights with our position with our standing.

Where is our heart truly at? And the verses that we will be covering today we're verses that I went over last week and we're going to recover the ending portion of the verses that I covered last week .

There is just a far too important subject to cover before we can move on to the rest of this chapter. So let's look at these verses in more detail.

Romans 9:22 NASB95

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?

What we have a very important question here that Is being asked for more than just the purpose of discussing Gods Wrath. What if God although willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make his power known. We have to focus on that for a bit. We have to understand what Paul is saying here.

He is not asking what if God is willing but what if God, although willing. Meaning right now. That God is willing to bring justice now . That God is willing to make his wrath known. What if God , although he's willing to do this now, is being patient with you. Now that is the short way of explaining what Paul is saying here we need to expand on this further.

Let's talk about wrath for a second. very rarely is wrath discussed within context. We know that there are ministries out there that love to focus on the love of God, and that's good we should be focusing on the love of God we should never take our focus off the love of God.

The type of focus that I am talking about though when I say there are ministries out there that have this focus is that they have a very strict and narrow in on focus on the love of God where they tend to ignore the other attributes of God.

I think most of us are well aware that there are ministries out there like that. And so you may never hear about the wrath of God within a ministry like that but if you do it is stated just as that just wrath in passing. (If fitting discuss in Christ Alone, “on that cross where Jesus died, the wrath of God was satsisfied.

And then you have other ministries that some may call a fire and brimstone type ministry. Where the focus is strictly on the wrath of God. And just like it is good to have a focus on the love of God it is good to have a focus on the wrath of God as we're talking about God. We as the followers of Christ shall not ignore anything about God.

We have no business trying to ignore attributes or things about God. So even the wrath of God is good for us to talk about to meditate on to dwell on. But there are ministries out there that have this strict narrow focus on the wrath of God where they never proclaim love .

And here is the kicker of it all people prefer one over the other. We are talking about one God the people prefer one over the other . So wrath is rarely within context Because people refuse to tell god's whole story. People refuse to tell all of who god is.

So what is the wrath of God? The Wrath of God is the just response 2 a guilty lawbreaker who has broken divine laws. I will say it again so you all can hear me very clearly, The wrath of God is the just response to a guilty lawbreakers who has broken divine laws.

The wrath of God or the wrath that comes from God is always justified and it is always right . The wrath that comes from a man may not always be justified and may not always be right, but the wrath that comes from God is always justified and right.

It is divine judgment upon all who are declared guilty and all who are declared guilty will suffer the separation from the mighty and divine creator of all things and will spend an eternity in hell Tormented by their former sins and with an unquenchable thirst and sensation of death for all eternity.

As a matter of fact hell is everlasting death . Described as a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth it is not a place where God causes destruction upon you and you cease to exist but rather you face the full reality of your sin In torment.

It doesn't sound fun does it? It's not supposed to be. It is a terrible experience that is indescribable. I mean do you guys get that, athirst that is unquenchable ? A place of weeping and gnashing of teeth what does that mean to you?

It's an idea of misery but an indescribable misery. There is no worst place for man to be then hell. And we have so much in our culture that compares everything the hell I am going to stand here and tell you now nothing compares. There is no horror out there that any man has seen that will compare to the horror of hell.

General William Sherman Famously said war is hell, general Sherman has not the slightest clue what hell is. War is brutal, it is rough, it is bloody, and it is the direct result of sin an living in a fallen world and the most heinous atrocity of war does not compare to hell.

So this leads me to ask, who is deserving of such a punishment? Every single one of us. Every single person who has live, is living or will live. And it is this very wrath that God is willing to demonstrate make his power known.

and make no mistake about it, god's power is displayed in judgment. And it is this judgment that God is willing to make known, but, he endures with patience. He tolerates it with great patience. At any moment, at any single second of time, God can bring judgment but he is patient.

The atheist may ask why doesn't God smite me now for all the wrong that I have done because God is patient with you. And Paul has already discussed this he is patient with all of us. He is patient with all of us sinful creatures so that we will come to repentance.

Unfortunately in the context of this verse, these people described here, although God is patient with them, they are vessels of wrath. There are people in hell, people do go to hell. That is a biblical truth , not a matter of opinion.

Anyone who stands on solid biblical ground knows this to be true . God will separate the sheep from the goats. God will tell people depart from me I never knew you. And the people in verse 22 are the goats.

But there is something to point out here and that is that they are vessels of wrath prepared for destruction . Notice that they are prepared but the text does not say by God. God is not credited for the reason why they are prepared .

Another way you can translate that is that they are fitted for destruction. But this verse does not credit God for these people being fitted for destruction. I say that because we will see a contrast here.

I also make that emphasis because hyper Calvinism would have us believe that God is the one who is doing the fitting. But the text does not tell us that . The text does not tell us he fitted them . It just tells us that they are headed for destruction.

Now keep in mind the reason why Paul is asking this question is because he knows some of the objectors are objecting to the just character of God. The question is, is there injustice with God . And Paul's making the argument that if God is willing to exercise this wrath here and now today yet he doesn't, he shows great patience, how can we accuse god of injustice?

How can God ever be accused of such a thing? He is enduring the great offense that is against him. how can he be unjust?

Well that is not all Paul has to offer, because we are on the subject of salvation, we have to discuss another group of people.

Romans 9:23 NASB95

And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory,

This versus one of those Greek to English sentences that are really hard to translate. So kind of looks funny in some translations. But this is a great verse to point out that when even though translating from Greek to English may fall a little short the point is still clear.

So the context is this, mankind is this lump of clay. The creature is called a lump of clay. And God said he took some out of the main lamp to make a smaller lump and this smaller lump is being used for honorable use. It is this lump that he is now referring to in verse 23.

God is gonna make known the riches of his glory. Now if help is an indescribable wrath and the reason why it is indescribable is because we have nothing to compare the horror of hell 2. And likewise when it comes to god's glory we're talking about something that is just indescribable.

But the actions of god's glory or the actions of being exposed to God the glory is evident in the scripture. When people experience god's glory they immediately fall to their face. They immediately fall to their face and feel the heaviness of their sin. They have this great feeling of unworthiness that they should not be in the presence of god's glory.

It is described as so great that Moses had to be protected from it. The slightest exposure of this glory changes a person forever. And it is this very glory that Paul says that God is making known. Paul says to make known the riches of his glory.

A lot of people feel that is an odd word to use, rich is, but what Paul is communicating is that there is an abundant amount of this glory. It's not a poor amount it is rich. And although man experiences great fear in the presence of his glory this is the very glory God invites people to dwell in.

To be in this place for eternity. Will there be crying there most people say it is a place of no more tears. The Bible does not make that claim. The scriptures state that Jesus will wipe away the last tear. and in order for that last tear to be wiped away you have to be able to cry. And it is my belief that that very last tear is one of joy.

This is an experience of life like we have never known this is why Salvation is called everlasting life. This is a form of living that we have yet to experience that will far exceed the best day you've ever had.

And so this lump that he pulled out from the big lump these called vessels of mercy . The previous verse our vessels of wrath but the ones that God picked out an formed are called vessels of mercy. And then Paul says this, which he prepared.

Or, which he fitted . The previous verse that people were fitted for destruction. How were they fitted? Their sin, Satan, the world . It is these very things that fitted them for destruction. But it is God who fits us for mercy he is the one working. And we are told that this is something God did before hand for glory.

That it was decided before time existed in the moments you were saved is when this plan was executed in real time. And is this goodness of glory that is shared with mankind restricted to the nation of Israel? Look at the next verse

Romans 9:24 NASB95

even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.

Romans 9:

These vessles of mercy are not just Isreal, but every nation will experience this.

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Ephesians 2:3 NASB95

Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

Every single living person at one point was a child of wrath. And every single person is deserving of wrath. But we are so self centered that we think a place like hell is too much , that the punishment is too severe.

We have so much selfish pride that we think we are better than what we actually are. We do not see ourselves as bad as we truly are. Therefore, far too many of us feel that hell is an overreaction. And there may be some in here who is thinking to themselves right now, no I do not think hell is an overreaction nor do I think it's too severe.

But let me inform you all something right now hell is exactly what everyone of us deserves. Hell is exactly what we have earned. It is for that reason it never made sense to me when people ask the question why doesn't God just get rid of all evil because what that person is asking is why doesn't God get rid of them.

But selfish pride caused the person who is asking that question to exclude themselves from that scenario. When we ask the question why doesn't God get rid of all evil because we are parts of all evil. Besides, that is an unbeliever's argument to why they don't believe.

Those of us who are experiencing the mercy of God only experience it by his grace. It is not because you earned his mercy because the only thing that you have ever earned is a destination to hell. The only thing you ever earned was the just condemnation of God. Every single one of us deserves the wrath of God.

But those who experience the riches of glory experience it through the port blood of Jesus Christ. Because we have placed our absolute solid trust in the work that he did on the cross on our behalf. And the absolute solid trust that we are placing in Jesus on that cross is that he took the wrath of his father for us.

That we do not have to experience the wrath that we deserve because Jesus took upon himself the wrath that we deserve. Do you need some good news in your life? This is the best news you will ever have you were not getting what you deserve so long as you repent and place your absolute solid trust in Jesus Christ.

The Bible doesn't make the claim that you must ask Jesus the Bible makes the claim that you must repent . And repentance is a daily thing. And I think every Christian knows that . But it is so easy to get wrapped up in our own culture and it is so easy to forget what we actually deserve.

The only way you will experience the riches of his glory is if you were covered by the blood of Jesus. It is not based on your statement of faith because any fool can say that they believed . You cannot hide behind the disguise of you don't know what's in my heart because the most frightening statement I can make is your right God knows what's in your heart.

Besides you making the claim that you don't know what's in my heart are you making the claim that you know in your heart what you believe trusting in your heart is the most deceptive thing you can do trust in Jesus. Trust in his word that he is given to us. Trust in his goodness that he is daily displaying before us.

No longer live as a self centered person thinking about yourself thinking that everything begins and ends with you. Because the whole point of the 3 verses that we just covered is that it is God who is glorifying himself .

It is God who displays himself as judge upon vessels of wrath and it is God who wants to display his glory upon the vessels of glory. In other words everything that God is doing it is for god's glory alone.

Which means you're very Salvation is not for you and it's not about you it is for god's glory alone. You benefit from it, you greatly benefit from it but it's not about you . Everything that we do everything that is created every breath we take and every second we have on this earth not being judged is all for the glory of God .

And it is for this very reason that Paul is no way concerned with his personal rights or with his will but rather he is way more concerned with the free will of God. We as the people of God must share that attitude and express our gratitude in the same way.

You died with christ the moment you were justified . You died with Christ you no longer live but it is now Christ in you that lives. That old you was crucified so we no longer need to be talking about ourselves, we no longer need to have the focus on ourselves, our focus should 100% be on God and God alone . Let's pray