[Note: Incomplete audio file. A full transcript is provided below.]
Let us go to Romans 9. This is where we were last week. We read in Romans 9:13-23:
As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
I will stop reading there.
As God is explaining His salvation plan in Romans 9, He is making it very clear that He does everything in the matter of salvation. It is His work that brings salvation, not man’s work. Man cannot become saved in any way through any action that he does.
Is there free will? Is there a decision involved in salvation? If someone asks you this, the answer is, “Yes, there is; but it is not man’s free will. It is not his will that brings salvation. It is God’s will.”
God is the One who has freedom of will to choose Jacob and to not choose Esau. He is the One who makes the decision on which one out of mankind, here and there, will become saved and which one will not become saved.
The Bible says this very clearly, as we read in verse 15, Romans 9:15:
For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
This is God’s will. This is His choice.
Jesus said in John 15:16:
Ye have not chosen me…
So here we see the choice. It is not our choice. Actually, the Bible says that no man will come to the Father. No one will of their own. This is the choice and the will of God.
There is a good verse in John 1 that tells us this. This is a verse that many like to quote, but then they stop at this verse. We read in John 1:12:
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
This is where the churches stop. They stop here and believe that man can receive Christ. How does one do this? They are to “believe on his name.”
Well, we even have to be careful with this word “receive.” We read in John 3:27:
John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.
Even receiving Christ is not something that man can do on his own. This is a gift that God has to give. God has to give the gift of this reception, but this is not presented this way in many churches. The idea here is that man can receive Christ, that God is giving mankind a gift. The belief is that one must reach out his hand in order to accept this gift. This is done by one’s faith, as they read: “believe on his name.”
But let us continue reading in John. We read in John 1:13. This is speaking of believing on His name. Then it says:
Which were born…
This is speaking of being “born again.” The Bible says, “Ye must be born again.” This is what is in view here: spiritual birth. It continues:
Which were born, not of blood…
No one is born again because they are a Jew from the line of Abraham. No one is born again because they come from a family of Christians. Maybe their father is a pastor or a minister. This never saved anybody and it never will; and so we are not born “of blood.”
It continues:
…nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man…
This is answering the question, “Does man have the freedom of will that he can exercise to make himself born again?” No; we are not born again by:
…the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man…
I am too sure of the difference here or of the distinction between “the will of the flesh” and “the will of man.” It could be that God is just emphasizing and re-emphasizing that this is not anything that a person can do. This has nothing to do with salvation and being born again.
So how can anyone be born again? The answer is that it is not:
…of the will of man, but of God.
“With men this is impossible.” This is what Jesus said to the disciples who had asked the question, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus said to them, “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”
Again, we see the difference. No; man cannot save himself. I cannot save myself. No one can save themselves, but there is a Saviour. There is a God who is merciful and He has this power. He certainly has the merciful characteristic to extend mercy to those who do not deserve it.
This is a definition of mercy, is it not? It is mercy that is given to someone who is guilty. Someone who is condemned and deserves to die can be spared. They can be pardoned. Their sentence can be commuted.
In the case of salvation, this is not how things are. The reason that God spares and has mercy is because all of one’s sins were paid for by Christ before the foundation of the world. This is how He is able to have mercy, but we do not know whom Christ died for before the foundation of the world. We do not know if He died for this one or for that one. We do not know, so we bring the Gospel to everyone; and God is speaking to everyone when He says in Hebrews 4:16:
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
This is God encouraging every human being, everybody, “Come to Me.” He is not a miser who grudgingly grants forgiveness and pardon. It is not like He really does not want to do this but that He will extend the scepter of His grace anyway.
No; God is not mean. He is not evil, but He tells us that we are evil. We are also fathers. When our children ask us for things, even though we are evil, we desire to give them these things if we can. God uses this comparison in order to tell us, “How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?”
We cannot say that God is obligated in any way to grant us salvation, to give us the Holy Spirit, which is what is meant by salvation. If the Holy Spirit enters into someone, this means that they are saved; but He is not obligated to give us this. He certainly has revealed Himself to be very charitable and kind. He has “abundant mercy.” We can know that this is His nature. We can know that this is what He is like. He allows us to go to Him and to beseech Him for salvation.
Going back to Romans 9, it says again in Romans 9:16:
So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth…
If you remember, we looked at Psalm 119:32 last week. It says:
I will run the way of thy commandments…
God tells us to “walk after his commandments.” He tells us to “walk in truth” and to “walk in my statutes.” The Bible has a lot to say about walking in spiritual terms; that is, we are to seek to do the will of God.
We also use the language of falling into sin. People say, “I fell into sin last week.” What they mean is that they were walking according to the Law of God and that they then fell and broke the Law of God. It is actually a pretty good description to say that we fell into sin. We will continue to fall into sin and we will continue to not be able to walk if we are lame. If we are spiritually lame, we cannot walk. It takes a miracle for someone who is lame to finally stand on their feet and walk.
In the Bible, we read of a man who “sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple.” It says that he had been lame “from his mother’s womb,” but there was a miracle that God granted him so that he was able to stand. His ankle bones were strengthened. It was then that he could walk and leap and jump for joy, all because of a miracle.
This is what it takes for us. We are so conditioned in our sins. This is the atmosphere of the world, and we fit right in. We also go the way of the world. When we hear the Bible, which we do as God gives us commands that He expects us to walk in and to adhere to and to obey, we try to obey; but if there has been no new birth, there is going to be failure. There is going to be a falling into sin. When we do, we should really cry out, “O God, have mercy on me. Strengthen me and make me someone who can walk.”
This is why Christ did these types of miracles, like the man with palsy who was on his bed and could not walk and was lame. This is all by the will, the work, and the action of God; and so it is not “of him that runneth.”
We can get so caught up in trying to keep the commandments of God and to do the will of God. We are so busy at this time getting the Word out. There is so little time. It certainly seems like we are running in the commandments of God, but we should never think that this will save anyone. It does not. We can hand out tons of tracts. We can do all kinds of activities that are good in and of themselves, but remember Cain. There was nothing wrong with his offering until he started trusting in his offering. It was then that his offering became an “evil work.”
There is nothing wrong with giving out tracts and with praying and giving financially so that the Gospel can go out, as well as any other way that is good in and of itself; but the moment that we think that any of this obligates God to look favorably towards us, then we are in trouble. We are in trouble and we have polluted the Sabbath, that Sabbath rest where there must be no work of any kind, not even a little stick. If we do spiritually violate the Sabbath, then the sentence upon us is that we are to die. This is because “the wages of sin is death” and we are still in our sin.
Then Romans 9:17-18 says:
For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
It is interesting how God is speaking of showing mercy, but then He sort of interrupts this thought and speaks of Pharaoh:
For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh…
This is kind of an unusual way of putting this, is it not? He is telling us that Scripture itself was addressing a man; it was addressing Pharaoh. This is because “the word of God is quick.” It is alive and Christ is the Word. Basically, it was as if “Christ saith unto Pharaoh.”
The Lord Jesus said to Pharaoh and He says to a great many whom Pharaoh represents that there was a purpose in Pharaoh being raised up, and this is referring to his whole life up to the point when it was time for the Exodus and for God’s people to finally leave Egypt and to be delivered, as God’s plan was to free His people, the Israelites.
So God raised this man up. This man lived his life just like anyone else. He was a child. He was taught in school; of course, he was royalty. He was probably learning all of the wisdom of Egypt in order to be a good Pharaoh. Then God gave him a kingdom that was mighty and vast and powerful, and yet this was all to serve a particular purpose. This was done in order that God might show His power and that His name “be declared throughout all the earth.”
Notice what God says in verse 18, Romans 9:18:
Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy…
Actually, “have mercy” is in italics, and so the text says:
Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will, and whom he will he hardeneth.
We are very familiar with this language in relationship to Pharaoh.
If we go back to Exodus 7:10-14, it says:
And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as JEHOVAH had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments. For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods. And he hardened Pharaoh’s heart, that he hearkened not unto them; as JEHOVAH had said. And JEHOVAH said unto Moses, Pharaoh’s heart is hardened, he refuseth to let the people go.
This is very familiar if you have read the book of Exodus, especially the account of the deliverance of the Jews from Egypt. God sent Moses and Aaron to work a wonder or a miracle. We would think this a small thing, but God thought this important enough to include this along with all of the other miracles that He would do, and they would perform these right in the sight of Pharaoh. Pharaoh would see a miracle happen and then he would harden his heart. This is really typical of what would happen later.
Exodus 7:13 says again:
And he hardened Pharaoh’s heart…
This personal pronoun “he” is referring to God. God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. As a result of Pharaoh having his heart hardened, it says:
…he hearkened not unto them…
He did not listen. He did not listen to what Moses and Aaron were saying to him on behalf of God, which was, “Let my people go.”
Pharaoh heard this with his physical ears. We can hear something on one level where we understand it, our ears hear it and record it, our mind deciphers the words and we know what it means. We hear on this level; but then when we walk away from hearing, in this case, the Word of God, and we go away and do not obey, this is not hearkening. God’s definition of hearkening is when there is action following the hearing. To hear and not do is the same as not hearkening, because we did not hear on the level that God intended.
Is this familiar in our present day? Do people hear the Word of God? Do they hear the message of God? Yes; they do. Are they responding? Are they taking action? For instance, Judgment Day will be May 21, 2011, which is just a few days away. How many people are hearing about this? A great many people are hearing about this. Actually, the whole world is going to hear, especially in our country and especially in this area of Philadelphia.
God has really blessed our area. We have a local Family Radio station. He has blessed this area with many individuals who are believers and who are getting the Gospel out to the people of this area. This is really being declared again and again and again; and yet it seems that out of this great number of people, very few are hearkening, very few are listening.
This was Pharaoh’s problem. Go to verse 20 in this same chapter. We read in Exodus 7:20-22:
And Moses and Aaron did so, as JEHOVAH commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, neither did he hearken unto them; as JEHOVAH had said.
So we see this again. Something even bigger was tried. The next thing would be bigger than Moses’ rod swallowing up the magicians’ rods. The water of the river would be turned to blood, but then the magicians could also appear to turn water into blood with one of their tricks. God, however, did not do any tricks. He literally turned the water to blood. This resulted in the death of the fish, and yet what was Pharaoh’s reaction? Pharaoh’s reaction was, “Well, maybe what I just saw was improved upon and on a greater level,” but he just saw this as a magician’s trick; and so Pharaoh just went away and hearkened not. He hardened his heart.
It says again in Exodus 7:22:
…Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, neither did he hearken unto them…
In this case, it does not say who did the hardening. It does not say if Pharaoh hardened his own heart or if God hardened it. This just says that his heart was hardened.
So Pharaoh saw something that was very unusual and very strange, something that was a demonstration of God’s power, but he hardened his heart. He was not about to listen. Then we read in Exodus 8:8-15:
Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Entreat JEHOVAH, that he may take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may do sacrifice unto JEHOVAH. And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Glory over me: when shall I entreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses, that they may remain in the river only? And he said, To morrow. And he said, Be it according to thy word: that thou mayest know that there is none like unto JEHOVAH our God. And the frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy houses, and from thy servants, and from thy people; they shall remain in the river only. And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh: and Moses cried unto JEHOVAH because of the frogs which he had brought against Pharaoh. And LORD did according to the word of Moses; and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the villages, and out of the fields. And they gathered them together upon heaps: and the land stank. But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as JEHOVAH had said.
Here we go again, but this one was affecting him a little bit more and he was actually willing to make some concessions concerning the people; but after the problem of the frogs went away, Pharaoh hardened his heart once again and he did not hearken.
Then in Exodus 8:16-19, it says:
And JEHOVAH said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt. And they did so; for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man, and in beast; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt. And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man, and upon beast. Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as JEHOVAH had said.
Sometimes you wonder what it would take for someone to listen to the Bible, to listen to the Word of God, to hearken. What would God have to do? Some think that it is not enough for Him to just speak through His Word, the Scripture. They do not think that it is enough that we can discern “time and judgment” from the Bible. They might say something like, “If God spoke to me directly, like He spoke to Noah, and told me that May 21st would be Judgment Day, then I would listen.”
Is this true? No; this is not true. They would harden their hearts and they would not hearken. We can be sure of this.
Do you remember the parable of the rich man in torment? He wanted to warn his brethren. He wanted to warn his brothers about the judgment of God. He wanted Lazarus to go to them. The rich man said, “But if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.” The answer to him was, “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.”
“Moses and the prophets” was a reference to the Scripture. If they are not going to hear from the Bible, do not think that some sort of dramatic event from the hand of God would cause anyone to listen. After all, look at what happened to Pharaoh. He saw rods swallowing up other rods. He saw the river turned to blood. He saw a plague of frogs. Remember also that these things were happening at the command of the Lord as Moses and Aaron went before Pharaoh. There was also the plague of lice, and yet Pharaoh hardened his heart again and again and again.
Let us go to Exodus 8:29-32. It says:
And Moses said, Behold, I go out from thee, and I will entreat JEHOVAH that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, to morrow: but let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to JEHOVAH. And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and entreated JEHOVAH. And JEHOVAH did according to the word of Moses; and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; there remained not one. And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.
He hardened his heart once again, which is the response of the natural man, of unsaved man. God hardened the heart of Pharaoh to where he did not listen.
Let us go into chapter 9 of Exodus. We read in Exodus 9:7-12:
And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go. And JEHOVAH said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh. And it shall become small dust in all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt. And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast. And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians. And JEHOVAH hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them; as JEHOVAH had spoken unto Moses.
He hearkened not.
Is there any relationship between Pharaoh and you? First of all, what is your impression of Pharaoh? Maybe you think that he was not very smart, but he was. He was actually a very intelligent man. He was very wise in relation to the wisdom of Egypt. However, when he encountered God, it seems that his intelligence went from him. He became a fool and God began demonstrating to him the mighty power of God. Again and again and again, after each demonstration, he hardened his heart and he hearkened not unto the Lord.
Is this the case today with maybe someone here or maybe with someone listening on Paltalk or maybe with someone else? Have you been hearing that Judgment Day is coming on May 21st? Are you hearing this again and again and again but not listening? Are you hearkening? Is there any change in your life? Are you taking any action, like the Ninevites? God sent Jonah to Nineveh to proclaim, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” Did the Ninevites say, “Okay; thank you for telling us” and then just go about their business? Did they continue eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage, like the days before the flood when the people of Noah’s day heard?
No; the Ninevites allowed this message to interrupt their lives. They sat in sackcloth and ashes. They fasted and cried mightily unto God that He would spare them, that He would have mercy upon them; and God worked a great work of salvation amongst the Ninevites.
This is what God is looking for when He sends forth His Word. He is looking for a response. He is looking for repentance. It is not that anyone could repent unto salvation, because no one can do this; but we can turn away from the sins that are in our hands and cry to the Lord that He would grant us true repentance, which is a turning away of the sin that flows out of the heart. Only God can work this kind of repentance.
Then in Exodus 9:13-16, we read:
And JEHOVAH said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith JEHOVAH God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth. For now I will stretch out my hand, that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shalt be cut off from the earth. And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to show in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.
In Romans 9, where we started, this is what it said. We read again in Romans 9:17:
For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up…
God is indicating here that Pharaoh was able to advance to the throne and become a great king at the allowance of God in order for God to one day demonstrate His power to the whole world, as He would deliver His people out of the bondage to Egypt.
I have a question for all of us. Are you hardening your heart? Are you doing this? The Bible has nothing good to say about someone who hardens their heart. What does it mean to harden your heart?
If we look at this word in the Hebrew, as this is used of Pharaoh repeatedly, after God would work a miracle and show him His power, Pharaoh did not respond. Instead, “he hardened his heart, and hearkened not.” He did not listen or act upon it. He took no action. Instead, he stubbornly refused to let the people go.
This word for “harden” is a Hebrew word that is often translated as “strong” or “courageous” or “courage.” This is a word that we actually find in Deuteronomy 31:6, where it says:
Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them…
So in saying “Be strong,” He is saying, “Be hardened.” This is the identical Hebrew word.
Go to 2 Chronicles 32:7. It says:
Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him:
This is also the same word.
It tells us in Psalm 27:14:
Wait on JEHOVAH: be of good courage…
In many cases, this has to do with not fearing, not fearing the enemy, which is when this word is used in a positive sense; but this is also used in relation to Pharaoh when he hardened his heart. His heart became “strong” and he did not fear God. He did not fear the power of God. He did not fear the threats of God. He simply did not fear God. After each occasion, he continued to be hardened. After all, he was king, “I am king of Egypt!”
Do you remember what he said at the beginning when Moses and Aaron came to him? Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice?” Upon seeing the things that God did, Pharaoh should have fallen to his knees and he should have cried out to God, “Have mercy upon me. Have mercy! You are the true God. I know this and I see this.” Instead, he became strong in himself, he hardened his heart, and he did not humble himself before God. He did not become lowly at all before God.
Again, what about you? Are you humbling yourself or are you telling yourself that you do not have to worry about May 21st? Have you decided that you do not have to listen to this, that you are also going to be strong?
Why is there so much mockery? Why is there so much reviling? What is this a demonstration of?
These things are a demonstration that man is not afraid of God. Man is not afraid of what the Bible says. Man is not afraid of an appointed day of judgment. Really, this is people saying, “I am strong! I am stronger than anything that you can tell me from the Bible. I am even stronger than the God of the Bible!”
Whoa! Are they? I do not think so.
Let us go back to Romans 9. It says again in Romans 9:17-18:
For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
God says that He does the hardening, because He can leave a person to themselves. If any of us are left to ourselves, then we are left to a heart of stone, and stone is very hard. We will not fear God. We will not turn to Him in any way. We will not turn away from our sins. We will be hardened. This is what God did with Pharaoh and this is what He is doing with a great many people in the world today.
Then it says in Romans 9:19-20:
Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
How do you answer this? Who are you, “O man,” to reply against God? Pharaoh at least was a king. Who are you to say, “Oh no; this will not happen! Judgment Day will not come. I can guarantee this!” Who are you? You are a little, tiny, finite creature whom God formed, and He is the Creator. He is infinite and eternal. He is all-knowing and all-powerful. Dare any of us pit ourselves against this infinite God?
Yes; all kinds of people are doing this. All sorts of people are basically shaking their fist and God and saying, “Bring it on! I am ready!” This is because they just do not think that this is a real possibility.
God gets into His response to them in the next verses. We read in Romans 9:21-22:
Hath not the potter power over the clay…
He is the Potter; we are the clay. It continues:
…of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
The day is coming soon when He is going to deal with all of the people whom He made, like a potter does with clay. He had to, of course, die for these individuals whom He had created and whom He chose to turn into “vessel(s) unto honour.” Then all of the rest whom He also created are marred. They are broken. They are not good pottery because of sin. Therefore, God the Potter, as the clay is in His hands, as the thing that He made is right there in His hands, is going to destroy the vessels made or those turned “unto dishonor.”
Lord willing, we will pick up here next week when we will look more at the Potter and the pottery. We are the pottery, and so we will look at how God has a sovereign right over the pottery. He is the Maker and He has the sovereign right to do what He wills with what He makes.
Let us stop here.