Salvation Is Up to God’s Discretion

Transcript

GR 1450
11/14/10
Salvation Is up to God's Discretion
Romans 9:14-17
Gil Rugh

We're in Romans 9 together today. We're talking about the matter of the sovereignty of God. It's a subject that causes many people concern and frustration, but when you stop and think about it, what other kind of God could there be than a God that is totally sovereign. Would He truly be God if He weren't a sovereign God? If by definition God isn't the One who is sovereign over all, who rules over all, who controls all, would He really be God? And that's what we're looking at in Romans 9.

How we got here is simple. Paul has unfolded the gospel of Jesus Christ, God's message of salvation, starting out showing we are sinners. All of us, Jew and Gentile alike are sinners, guilty and under the condemnation of a holy God and destined for judgment. But in mercy and grace God has sent His Son to this earth to suffer and die on the cross to pay the penalty for sin. So Paul moved from talking about our sin and condemnation to God's provision of righteousness, justification in Jesus Christ.

In this a question has been raised, a question that would be on the mind of Jewish believers who heard this, as well as Gentiles who would be familiar with the Old Testament promises of God. God had promised Israel a special place in His eternal plan. He had promised them a kingdom, He had promised them earthly blessings, He had promised them His salvation. But at this point in time, as Paul writes to the church at Rome, even though there seems to be a strong Jewish contingent there, the bulk of people hearing and responding to the gospel are Gentiles. What about the plans and programs of God revealed in the Old Testament? Have they come to naught? Has Israel's unfaithfulness resulted in God being unable to fulfill the promises He had given?

Paul started chapter 9 by expressing his deep love for Israel and burden for their salvation. He reiterated in just a concise summary some of the privileges God bestowed upon the Israelites, verses 4-5 in particular. Then he started verse 6 by saying: “But it is not as though the word of God has failed.” We noted that statement becomes the governing theme, if you will, of chapters 9-11. It is not as though the word of God has failed. You have to understand the purposes of God are being carried out exactly as God intended. We are right on schedule, we are right on track. Nothing has changed. The sin of Israel has not frustrated the purposes and plans of God. His sovereignty has included their sin, their rebellion, and His judgment on them.

What He proceeds to do is show that God's intention has always been to fulfill His covenantal promises to the nation Israel. But everyone who is a physical descendant of Abraham, unless a physical part of the nation Israel, is not included in the promises of God and never was. So we start with Abraham, he's the one that God called, gave His covenantal promises to the Abrahamic Covenant. The covenant with Abraham is the foundational promise of scripture. Then He promised to his seed, his descendants these covenantal promises would be passed on and ultimately fulfilled. But God made a choice, a sovereign choice. It would not be all of Abraham's descendants, it would be Abraham's descendants through his son, Isaac. Abraham has another son, Ishmael, and the covenantal promises will not go that way, they'll just go through Isaac. God made a sovereign choice. Furthermore, Isaac had two son, twins, Jacob and Esau. But they will not share equally in the covenantal promises, because God has chosen Jacob to be the recipient of the covenantal promises and rejected Esau. The point in this is God is sovereign, it is His choice and His decision that is being carried out.

Now we've noted in this context you must not forget how we started. In the first three chapters of Romans basically, we have man presented as a sinner and God has established and demonstrated clearly that every single person is a sinner, the Gentiles and the Jews. There is no partiality with God. Sinners are sinners and sinners will be judged by God. We are demonstrated to be sinners by our actions, our thoughts, what we do. In chapter 5, Paul made clear that every descendant of Adam has been corrupted by the sin of Adam, is found guilty before God as a descendant of Adam. We are sinners by birth and by choice. That's where we are.

So these are the people that God is dealing with. And to understand God's sovereign action, God's choices, you must understand that these choices are being made from among sinful human beings. Furthermore, you must understand that God is required by His very character and nature to deal justly with sinners. He is not obligated to show mercy to sinners. He is obligated to dispense justice to sinners.

Turn over to Hebrews 2:14: “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood [the children, those that God will intend to redeem are human beings], He Himself likewise also partook of the same [Christ Himself partook of flesh and blood, became a human being, was born into the human race at Bethlehem. Why?], that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.” Christ became a human being to become the Savior of human beings. Now, note verse 16: “For assuredly He does not give help to angels.”That's an important statement. Angels are personal beings created by God. At a point in time a large number of angels rebelled against God, sinned and they immediately came under the judgment of God, a judgment that will be finalized when they are sentenced to hell. For Jesus said in Matthew 25, that hell was prepared for the devil and his angels. What we want to note is, there was never any salvation provided for the angels who sinned, never an opportunity for an angel who sinned to repent of his sin and be forgiven, and escape eternity in hell. Jesus Christ did not become an angel.

The point of this for us is that God is not obligated to save sinful beings. He is obligated to dispense justice to sinful beings. That's demonstrated by the angels. Every single angel who sinned will be sentenced to an eternal hell. He will never be offered mercy and grace to be forgiven. Is that fair? Yes! The judge is not required to dispense mercy, he is required to dispense justice. Mercy is something He is free to bestow if He can do it within the framework of justice. That's what we saw in Romans 3, where God provided Christ so that He could be both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Christ.

So if you keep that in mind as we come back to Romans 9. We see God's sovereign action that occurs on the basis of decisions that He makes within Himself, and that is the only thing determining His decision. So, we had some statements made that we sometimes find hard to deal with. Down in verse 13, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” That's a quote from the book of Malachi (1:2), we noted. To read a statement where God declares He loved one person and hated the other makes us uncomfortable. Most people never think of the fact that God hates people. Many people talk about the love of God, we sing of the love of God, that it is magnificent and wonderful and amazing, but what makes that love so amazing and wonderful and overwhelming is God is demonstrating that love to the people that He also hates. God hates sinners, but in mercy and grace He has chosen to bestow His love on sinners.

He has demonstrated His love to all men by having His Son die. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, in order that whosoever believes in Him might not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16). But He has also chosen to select some from among sinful human beings to be the recipients of His special redeeming love and grace. Right away we say, “That doesn't sound fair.” Well, wait a minute, what did we already decide? No one deserves mercy, we all deserve judgment. We are all under condemnation, we are all by nature children of wrath. We looked at that in Ephesians 2. There are no exceptions here.

Now when we read about the hatred of God, “Esau I have hated,” we noted and looked at some verses. That is the same thing as being the object of God's wrath. To be the object of God's hatred is the same thing as to be the object of God's wrath. Do any of us doubt that sinners are the objects of God's wrath? Romans 1:18 started us out, “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” We say, “The wrath of God is.” But you understand that's a manifestation of the hatred of God. Those who will be doomed to an eternal hell will be experiencing His hatred and His wrath.

We also noted, and I realize this is a lot of review, that God not only hates the sin, He hates the sinner. It's important that we don't come up with clever statements that confuse our theology. God hates the sin and loves the sinner. There's an element of truth in that, but it's not correct theologically.

Back up to Mark 7. We must be careful about making a distinction between sin and the sinner as though sin is something out here and people are somewhat neutral until sin impacts them or influences them. Jesus addressed this matter here as well as many other passages, Old and New Testament. But look at Mark 7:15, Jesus says: “There is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man.” It's not the food you eat or the drink you drink that defiles you spiritually. Some Christians are confused on that today. But it's not the external things that go into your body physically that defile you. The end of verse 18: “Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from the outside cannot defile him because it does not go into his heart.” It just passes through the digestive system. It doesn't enter into the spiritual part of man. Verse 20, He was saying: “That which proceeds out of a man, that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adultery, deeds of coveting and wickenedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness, [and that's just a sampling]. All of these evil things proceed from within and defile the man” (vv. 21-23). So you take away the heart of man, there is no sin. That's where sin comes from. It's not something floating around in the air that you might catch like the flu or something like that. Sin has an origin, it's in the heart of man.

So God not only hates the sinful acts, He hates the sinner who commits the sinful acts. That's a given. We looked at passages on that. And that's why sinners will be sentenced to hell, not just sin. Sinners will be sentenced to an eternal hell.

We have to go to one more passage. Ephesians 1:11: “Also, we have obtained an inheritance, having predestined according to His purpose [now note this] who worked all things after the counsel of His will.” God is acting, always consistently with His character, but always in counsel with Himself—Father, Son and Holy Spirit, after the counsel of His own will. He makes His sovereign decisions. Part of the problem we have with the doctrine of the sovereignty of God, man is fighting to hold on to some control, to some authority. We have the song I refer to often, I Did it My Way, as though man was saying something significant. It is always, always done God's way. That does not mean man always does what would be consistent with the commands of God, but man is always doing what is consistent with the purpose of God. And we're going to see that, even in the sin of a man that will be used as an example.

Come back to Romans 9. So what we're dealing with is sinful people and God is making a selection from among sinful human beings, that some will experience His saving grace, His mercy and come to believe in the salvation He provides. But having come through this section down through verse 13, where God has made choices, a choice between Isaac over Ishmael, Jacob over and Esau. “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” Verse 14: “What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there?” And if we're honest as we just read this, that would be the first question, we'd say “that doesn't sound right, that doesn't sound fair. He loved Jacob, He hated Esau? That doesn't sound like the just thing to do.” Is there injustice with God? “May it never be!”

This connects back to Romans 3:5: “But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? [What shall we say? There is our question again.] The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? May it never be!” Same response. Can God be in unrighteous? Over in chapter 9 verse 14” “There is no injustice [no unrighteousness] with God, is there? May it never be!” Such a thought is impossible, inconceivable, could never happen. So then, what is the answer? And it's not the kind of answer we might expect. He quotes from the Old Testament, what God said to Moses back in Exodus 33:19. And He said, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, 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.” Do you know what God says? I am absolutely sovereign, I dispense my compassion, my mercy at my discretion. That's it. We say, “I wonder whether there is any injustice with God and you're telling me God says, 'I do what I want.'” Do you know the difficulty men have? He is God and we are not.

Now the context of that quote. In Exodus 32 you have the issue where Israel, while Moses is absent communing with God, builds a golden calf and falls down and worships the golden calf. When Moses comes back he says, “You have committed a great sin. I'll have to go before the Lord and see if atonement can be made for your sin.” Moses realizes they deserve destruction, but I'll go see if God will accept an atoning sacrifice and if He will spare you. So Moses goes before God and pleads the case. And he asks if God will confirm His mercy and compassion to him (to Moses) by allowing him to see God. God told him, “You cannot see my face, for no man can see Me and live!” (Exodus 33:20). But He tells him, “I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy.” You see, in the context it comes out. When you are dealing with sinful human beings God, consistent with His character could withhold any mercy and any compassion. That's why we looked again at His dealing with the angels. He did not provide a Savior for angels, He did not provide an opportunity for angels who sinned to experience mercy and salvation. He is not obligated to. He is obligated to do that which is consistent with justice, righteousness, His character. So He can say, “I will have mercy.” By that very statement we're talking about mercy, we're talking about compassion, it's an indication we're dealing with people who are sinners. We're not dealing with neutral people, we're not dealing with innocent people, we are dealing with guilty people. Innocent people, people who have done nothing wrong don't need mercy. If you have committed no crime, have done nothing wrong, you don't have to go to court and stand before the judge and say, I'm pleading for mercy. Guilty people go and ask the court to be merciful, have compassion. I have a family, I didn't mean to do it. I'm guilty, but could you provide a way that I would not have to pay the full penalty for my guilt. But when you talk about mercy and compassion, you're talking about guilty people.

So when He says, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, I will have compassion on whom I have compassion” (Romans 9:15), back up and say, that's what Isaac the son of Abraham experienced and Ishmael didn't experience, the mercy of God, the compassion of God. Was God free to bestow His mercy and compassion on one, and not the other? Yes! He is God, it's His mercy, it's His compassion. Was God free to bestow His mercy on Jacob and not Esau? Yes, unless you say God is obligated to bestow mercy to them. And then there is, what? No mercy, because how can mercy be obligatory? When we get further on in this section in these chapters, God will explain grace to us. And it cannot be earned or merited.

So then, the follow-up on that statement (Romans 9:16): “It does not depend on the man who wills or on the man who runs, but on God who shows mercy.” Back up to verse 11: “For 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.” Now, when it says they hadn't done good or bad, it's explained by the last part of that, that they weren't saved by their works, chosen on the basis of their works. Doesn't mean they are not sinners, that has already been established. Everyone is. But you cannot escape the penalty for your sin by your works. Don't we all agree on that as believers in Jesus Christ? You can't be saved by works. That was proved clearly in the first three chapters of Romans. We would tell a person that, wouldn't we? A person says, “I go to church, I try to be a good person, I try to do my best at my job, be a faithful worker, treat my wife properly, and be a good father to my children, and. . .” We say, “Yes, we understand, you can't be saved by your works.”

Well, that's what verse 16 is saying in Romans 9: “It does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who shows mercy.” Again, this word “mercy,” remember, it's a key word through these chapters. We're dealing with sinners, already shown to be guilty and condemned. We need mercy. God is sovereign in the exercising of His judgment upon whom He will display His mercy. We say, “I don't think it's right that He makes a choice.” Why isn't it? As long as He makes the choice and provides for it consistently with His own righteous character. That's why in chapter 3, we moved to talk about the righteousness of God provided in Christ was done, so that He would be just, righteous, and the justifier, the one who declares righteous, the one who would say He's the Christ. So He's not obligated to save anyone. And if He saves one or two or four or ten, it's not unfair to the others, unless He saves them in a way that is not consistent with justice, righteousness, His holy character.

“So it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.” You cannot earn your salvation. We talk about when you run, you are exerting your effort to try to do something, or your will. This is what I decided to do. You can't get there that way. Why? We are already condemned, we're guilty. I mean, it's like a man who has committed mass murder, he stands before the judge. “Well I've made up my mind to do better, I'm going to expend all my energy to be a better person.” You don't understand, you stand here guilty, condemned. So any true believer has to agree with verse 16, you can't be saved by works. Anyone who would try to add works to the gospel is anathema. Paul will show you can't talk about salvation by grace if you add works to it as we move further along in these chapters.

“So it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.” That's what we need. Isn't that what you claimed when you recognized you were a sinner? You came under the conviction of the Spirit of God that you were a sinner, the recognition of your guilt was overwhelming. What did you do? You cast yourself on the mercy of God. “God, I'm a sinner, I'm guilty, I'm undeserving, but I believe Christ died for me.” I'm claiming mercy. I can't come and say, “God, I'll do better, you'll save me, right?” No, the penalty for sin is death. “But I'm going to try harder.” But the penalty for sin is death, you are already guilty, you are already condemned. I mean, Romans 5, we are the descendants of Adam, and in Adam all sinned and all died (v. 15). Too late, too late apart from the mercy of God.

That's a display of God's mercy. Moses was a recipient of God's mercy. The preceding people—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—were the recipients of God's mercy. I mean, why did God choose Abraham? He was part of an idol worshiping family in Ur of the Chaldees, his father Terah was an idol worshiper, the scripture tells us. God chose him and bestowed on him His special blessings, His mercy. Then his son Isaac, then his son Jacob. Why? Because God says I can have mercy and I do have mercy on whom I will have mercy.

What about the other side? Jacob received mercy. “Jacob I have loved, Esau I have hated.” The scripture speaks to that, too. Verse 17: “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, 'For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.'” Here is an example of God's ministry of hardening, of hating, in action, Pharaoh. The quote is from the book of Exodus again, Exodus 9:16, look at what God said to Pharaoh. “For this purpose,” here is the purpose of God again. Remember back in Romans 9:11, God is acting in His sovereign choice here, so that God's purpose according to election would stand. Now we have in verse 17, quoting the scripture, “For this very purpose I raised you up [I raised you up, your birth, your life, your present position on the throne of Egypt—I did it. Why?], to demonstrate My power in you, that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.” I did it to bring glory to Myself, I did it to bring honor to Myself, I did it to magnify Myself before all creation. I am God, My name, My power might be proclaimed throughout all the earth. You are an instrument, sitting on the throne of Egypt, a mighty empire, dealing with Jewish slaves. Pharaoh thought of them as nothing, but he was nothing. He was just an instrument that God was using to bring honor to Himself.

Come back again to Daniel 4, what God is going to do in dealing with Nebuchadnezzar, who is the most powerful man on earth at the time. He is the ruling person in the ruling empire, the head of gold in the image of chapter 2. Look at Daniel 4:17, God is going to act, “in order that the living may know that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whom He wishes and sets over it the lowliest of men.” You see God is acting so that it will be driven home to men that He is sovereign. He will take the most powerful man ruling the mighty empire, and God says, I'm going to reduce him to an animal-like person eating grass because he doesn't rule, I rule. Down in verse 25, this will go on “until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes. [Verse 26] Your kingdom will be assured to you after you recognize that it is Heaven that rules.” He says, I'm going to give you your kingdom back after you spend seven years eating grass like an ox and thinking you are sovereign and I am not. Verse 32: “Until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.” Do you think God is repeating Himself because He forgot He said it? It better be a point that you get.

Christians today forget it. They get all upset over the election. “What are we going to do now? So-and-so got voted in. Where is Christianity going to go with the future?” What do you mean? Who is setting up rulers and taking them down?

Look at verse 34, Nebuchadnezzar has a lesson to learn. After seven years of insanity God restores his mind, restores the kingdom. Verse 34: “I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever; for His dominion is an everlasting dominion, His kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, but He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth; and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, 'What have you done?'” What a turnaround for Nebuchadnezzar, from the arrogant man who cast Shadrach, Meshech and Abednego into the fiery furnace, to recognize that God is sovereign over all. Salvation changes you completely, now I see things as they are. Why would I as a Christian have a problem with the absolute sovereignty of God? Nebuchadnezzar grabbed onto it right away. And He says He can do anything He wants on this earth and no one has a right to question Him. Here is a man who understood sovereignty. And if He truly is God, He is truly totally sovereign, and I am nothing.

That's the point God is driving home with Pharaoh. Pharaoh won't ever experience the salvation of God because the mercy of God is withheld from Pharaoh, so his heart is hardened.

Come back to Romans 9:17: “For this very purpose I raised you up.” There was the sovereign choice of God—I raised you up. Why this one and not someone else? Because, “I raised you up to demonstrate [not your power, but] My power in you, that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.” Pharaoh is trying to build a name for himself. I mean, we still look at the monuments in Egypt and the ruins, building a name for themselves, trying to immortalize themselves. Pharaoh, I raised you up for this purpose, to bring honor and glory to Myself.

“So then He has mercy on whom He desires, [v. 18, such as Moses and the others we talked about] He hardens whom He desires.” We don't have so much of a problem with “mercy,” we have a problem with “hardens.” Just like we have a problem with the hatred. God hardens those that He hates. That shouldn't be difficult to understand.

We go back now to the Old Testament, Exodus 4. Here God is instructing Moses in what he is going to do when He sends him back to Egypt. Moses, here will be your responsibility. Moses hasn't returned to Egypt yet, to appear before Pharaoh and to begin to call for the deliverance of the Jews. And in Exodus 4:21: “The Lord said to Moses, when you go back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your power; [note this] but I will harden his heart so he will not let My people go.” “I will harden his heart.” Before anything has been done here, God tells Moses what He is going to do. You are going to go back to tell Pharaoh these messages from God, do these miracles from God, but he won't respond because I am going to harden his heart and that assures he won't.

Look in Exodus 7:3, further instructions to Moses regarding Moses and Aaron: “But I will harden Pharaoh's heart that I may multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt.” We think, well, the plagues of Egypt...and they build and build. Good thing we got to the death of the firstborn, or maybe Pharaoh would never have yielded. No. God says, everyone of them are part of My plan, part of My purpose until it is time for deliverance to come. Because I want to multiply My signs and wonders in Egypt.

Come over to Exodus 9:12: “And the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had spoken to Moses.” Down in 10:1: “Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may perform these signs of Mine among them, and that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and your grandson, how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and how I performed My signs among them, that you may know that I am the Lord.'” Go do another miracle, but I have hardened Pharaoh's heart and he won't respond. And you're going to be able to tell your children the greatness of the God of Israel, and your grandchildren, because of what I have done. Down in chapter 10:20: “But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the sons of Israel go.” Down in verse 27: “But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he was not willing to let them go.”

Over in chapter 14:4: “Thus I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will chase after them.” So even when you have the death of the firstborn, now Pharaoh is coming after the Israelites after they have left Egypt. “I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will chase after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” Verse 8: “The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he chased after the sons of Israel as the sons of Israel were going out.” That repeated emphasis—God did it, God hardened.

Now it's also true in this that we're told that Pharaoh hardened his own heart. To be fair, turn to Exodus 8:32: “But Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also,” which indicated he had hardened his heart previously. In 9:34: “But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had ceased, he sinned again and hardened his heart.” Some say the explanation of this is, God knew that Pharaoh would harden his heart, so because Pharaoh would harden his heart God responded accordingly and hardened Pharaoh's heart. But that's not the point in scripture. Scripture's point is that God is sovereign, He is doing this for His purpose. Now to say, He hardened Pharaoh's heart is different than saying He made Pharaoh sin. We know that because the Bible tells us that God is never tempted with sin and He never tempts anyone to sin.

Romans 9 doesn't go exactly into the details of how He hardened Pharaoh's heart, He just did it. He hardened his heart by exposing him to truth and withholding mercy. You know what? When a person is exposed to the truth of God and it is not accompanied with the mercy of God, that person is hardened. Serious thing to reject truth, because every time you do you are further steeled against it, hardened against it. So God can harden a person's heart by just choosing to withdraw all His mercy, and yet the more a person is exposed to truth, and not softened by that truth by the mercy of God, the harder that person gets. It's a serious thing, a serious thing.

Turn over to Romans 1. There is a tension here that we will not resolve, and we're going into deeper waters as we move on in our future studies on this issue of sovereignty. But in Romans 1, where “the wrath of God was revealed from heaven,” from verse 18, we've noted earlier and in previous studies that the wrath of God and the hatred of God are basically saying the same thing. Those that are under the wrath of God are objects of God's hatred, and vice versa. And you see what God did, verse 24: “God gave them over in the lust of their hearts to impurity. [Verse 26] God gave them over to degrading passions. [Verse 28] God gave them over to a depraved mind.” In the judgment of God, He just withholds His mercy and turns them over. He withdraws mercy, withholds mercy and they become more consumed in their sin and more hardened by their sin. And He doesn't have to show mercy and compassion. And He can further harden them by providing more truth.

Come to 2 Corinthians 2:14: “Thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.” The picture is as we go everywhere and tell people about Jesus Christ, the good news of Christ, that's like a pleasing fragrance ascending to heaven before the throne of God. Verse 15: “For we are a fragrance of Christ to God, among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life.” Now you note that, “we are a fragrance of Christ to God [verse 15] among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.” This pleasing fragrance ascends, whether people are being saved or they are perishing. And giving off this knowledge of Christ is “an aroma from death to death, [those who do not respond and believe are further hardened and confirmed in their lostness] or life to life,” those who believe and enter into the life God has provided in Christ.

The natural question comes. “Who is adequate for these things?” (end of v. 16). What an awesome responsibility that every time you talk to someone about Jesus Christ something of spiritual significance and importance happens, either the mercy of God takes the truth of God and further works in that heart and life, maybe at that point they believe, maybe as part of God's ongoing work bringing them to a place of salvation, or it is a time of hardening. I don't know. A person may be very adamant and opposed and hostile to the gospel when it is presented to them, but it may be part of the convicting work of the Spirit that ultimately, in a week, a month, a year, twenty years, fifty years a person will be saved. We don't know. But that is always going on. So, it's never correct to say: we're out sharing the gospel. What happened? Nothing, no one believed. Well, maybe no one believed at that point, but something happened. You are a fragrance of life to life or death to death, and the fragrance is what was pleasing to God. Whether God chooses to bestow mercy and compassion on the one who heard that message is a matter of God's determination, not mine. That's why we do not want to be like the many who are peddling the word of God, so we take on ourselves to get the salvation of people done. My part in the process is to give off the message of life, and I don't adulterate the word of God to make it more palatable to people, as though the work was something I carried out, and this person hearing me is carrying it out. It is God's work. And if they don't respond to God's word it is because they are hardened in their sin. So that work of hardening and softening.

Come back to Isaiah 6. Isaiah has had a great revelation of the glory of God seated on His throne with the seraphim crying out, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.” (v. 3). And Isaiah realizes his sinful condition: “Woe is me, for I am ruined. [Isaiah 6:5] Because I am a man of unclean lips, I live [in the midst] among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. [Verse 8] Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?' Then I said, 'Here am I. Send me!' He said, 'Go, and tell this people: “Keep on listening, but do not perceive; keep on looking, but do not understand.” 'Render the hearts of this people insensitive, their ears dull, and their eyes dim, otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and return and be healed.'” Awesome thing. Do you know what God is saying here? The time of salvation, deliverance is past for them. They won't be able to hear it, they won't be able to understand, they won't be able to accept it. Their day of opportunity is past. He is withholding His mercy so their heart, their ears, their eyes, they can't see, they can't hear, they can't receive it. It's a hardening.

I wouldn't want you to go away without understanding, God is a merciful God. And this is the tension point. God is merciful, He desires our salvation. Come to 1 Timothy 2. I do not believe these matters are completely resolvable. We like to put it in a nice complete package, so we decide we will either downplay the sovereignty of God and emphasize the responsibility of man, or we'll downplay the responsibility of man and emphasize the sovereignty. . .we mix them. No. Both are true, and I can't get them just perfectly aligned. I was reading a sermon on election by Charles Haddon Spurgeon, and he said, “I don't believe in eternity we will ever understand fully these truths of God's total sovereignty and man's complete responsibility.”

In 1 Timothy 2:1: “First of all, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all.” You see God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. He provided a Savior for all men. What's the problem? Men won't come, they're stubborn, their sinful heart. That reveals how sinful we are. We say, “God didn't choose them, they can't come.” You know what the scripture says, they won't come. Jesus, during His earthly ministry said to the people He ministered to, “You will not come to Me that you may have life” (John 5:40). But He also said in John 6:44: “No one can come to Me unless [except] the Father who sent Me draws him.” You see men won't come, that's their own stubborn sinfulness. God, in grace, chooses from among sinful men, some to come to Himself.

One more passage, 2 Peter 3. This context is some people mock the idea that Jesus Christ is coming again. I mean, nothing has changed, there is not going to be a day of judgment, people have been saying this for milleniums, and it hasn't happened. But then in verse 9 we are reminded: “The Lord is not slow about His promise, [His promise to come, exercise judgment, set up the kingdom] as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.” There is a day of salvation. If God had intervened and shut down the day of mercy yesterday, there would not be a day of opportunity today for salvation. Why didn't He come and wipe out sinful people? I can hardly put up with it. You need the patience of God, who understands the seriousness of man's condition. Every day is another day of opportunity for men, women and young people to experience His salvation, to recognize their sin, their guilt, turn and claim the mercy of God. A person may say, “I don't think God chose me, I can't be saved.” Well, He said if you call on Him you will be saved. Do it. You want to shift the blame to God. If you're not saved, you know why? You don't want to be. That's the only answer. He has provided a Savior. “There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all.” (1 Timothy 2:5, 6). If you call upon the name of the Lord you'll be saved. Why don't you do it? Well God didn't choose me. You can't put the blame on God. You won't, you refuse in your sinful stubbornness and every time you say “no,” the danger is you will be further hardened, further hardened. It makes no difference.

That's why the Bible says, “Today is the day of salvation.” You don't want to sin against God's grace. His mercy has been bestowed upon you to a certain degree. You are here hearing the gospel today, you are here today hearing what God says. That's His mercy, that's His compassion, that's His grace. Call upon Him and you will be saved. That's the message we present. I recognize that apart from the sovereign work of God sinners are so hardened in their sin, stubborn in their rebellion that they will not unless God bestows His mercy, His grace that they might turn from their sin and believe in Him.

So if we are lost, there is no one to blame but us. But if we are saved, all the credit and glory goes to the God who bestowed on us His mercy, His compassion, His grace that brought us salvation.

Let's pray together. Thank You, Lord, for Your great sovereignty. Lord, our confidence, our security, our hope is in the fact that You are the sovereign God. You rule over all. Every detail of life is under Your authority and Your ultimate control. Nothing, nothing can ever frustrate Your purposes. And Lord, as Your children we rest secure in that. Lord, we thank You for Your mercy, Your compassion that provides for the giving out of the gospel day by day, even this day in this place men, women and young people have the honor and privilege of hearing that Jesus Christ, the Son of God is the Savior. If they will repent of their sin and place their faith in Him, they will experience the wonder of Your saving grace. And may some experience that privilege today. We pray in Christ's name. Amen.