Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Straight Talk about Predestination │ Msg 2444

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Straight Talk about Predestination │ Msg 2444 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Our Lord invites us to worship him in spirit and
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  Speaker 1: in truth. I think among the meaning of that kind
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  Speaker 1: of thought is that we understand what we are doing
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  Speaker 1: when we worship him. Not only objective truth from his word,
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  Speaker 1: but an understanding of the truth of what we are singing.
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  Speaker 1: We ended with a word that is the same in
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  Speaker 1: all languages.
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  Speaker 2: Amen. It is a term that means I believe it.
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  Speaker 1: I affirm what I have just said or written, or
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  Speaker 1: in this case.
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  Speaker 2: What I have sung.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know if you paid attention to the theology
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  Speaker 1: in the hymns that we sang, but we sang.
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  Speaker 2: Of our Lord in three persons.
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  Speaker 1: And yet one in essence, undivided, And so it is
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  Speaker 1: with Father, Son, Holy Spirit. We sang of the angelic
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  Speaker 1: chorus that floods the throne of God with song. Whether
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  Speaker 1: or not that is true, it seems as though it
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  Speaker 1: may include that out of Revelation 4 and 5 and
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  Speaker 1: 12 and other sections. The angels are even named for
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  Speaker 1: us in the hymn.
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  Speaker 2: The cherubim, the seraphim.
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  Speaker 1: The cherub angels are those who minister among us in
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  Speaker 1: very special reasons for which they are dispatched.
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  Speaker 2: They are in plural with.
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  Speaker 1: The IM ending. Our English language adds S or ES
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  Speaker 1: to make it plural. A car, many cars. A song,
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  Speaker 1: many songs. If it's one cherub in Hebrew, it's cherubim
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  Speaker 1: when it's plural. If it's one seraph, which comes from
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  Speaker 1: the word meaning fire, many seraphs are seraphim. So in Hebrew,
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  Speaker 1: it would not be seraphs. It would be seraphim.
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  Speaker 2: All of this comes in the hymns we sing and.
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  Speaker 1: Keeps us thinking, helps us worship in truth, as well
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  Speaker 1: as in adoration and praise and love. Wesley once wrote
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  Speaker 1: of being lost in wonder, love, and praise. When we
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  Speaker 1: worship together, our time is not completed until we have
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  Speaker 1: heard from him. We speak to him in prayers and
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  Speaker 1: in song. We hear from him through his word. And
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  Speaker 1: that section we're looking at is out of Romans chapter 9.
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  Speaker 1: Romans 9. which addresses a very deep subject that will
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  Speaker 1: call for our most concentrated attention. All sorts of heresy
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  Speaker 1: has risen from this truth as individuals have taken it
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  Speaker 1: and abused it or misused it.
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  Speaker 2: We don't want to do either one.
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  Speaker 1: Let's pay attention to a few verses from the reading
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  Speaker 1: of the scriptures in Romans 9.
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  Speaker 2: What we're calling straight talk about predestination. I'm telling the
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  Speaker 2: truth in Christ. I am not lying.
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  Speaker 1: My conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit that
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  Speaker 1: I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart.
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  Speaker 1: For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated
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  Speaker 1: from Christ for the sake of my brethren.
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  Speaker 2: My kinsmen according to the flesh. Who are Israelites. Verse 14.
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  Speaker 2: What shall we say then? There is no injustice with
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  Speaker 2: God is there? May it never be.
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  Speaker 1: For he says to Moses I will have mercy on
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  Speaker 1: whom I have mercy. And I will have compassion on
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  Speaker 1: whom I have compassion. And then the key verse of
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  Speaker 1: the chapter. So then it does not depend on the
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  Speaker 1: man or the woman who wills or the one who runs,
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  Speaker 1: but on God.
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  Speaker 2: Who has mercy. Verse 20.
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  Speaker 1: On the contrary, who are you, O man who answers
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  Speaker 1: back to God? The thing molded will not say to
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  Speaker 1: the molder, why did you make me like this, will it? Or,
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  Speaker 1: Does not the potter have a right over the clay
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  Speaker 1: to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable
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  Speaker 1: use and another for common use? What if God, although
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  Speaker 1: willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make his power known,
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  Speaker 1: endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,
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  Speaker 1: And he did so to make known the riches of
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  Speaker 1: his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he prepared beforehand
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  Speaker 1: for glory. Such great truths. And I know at the
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  Speaker 1: first glance you go, what?
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  Speaker 2: I understand.
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  Speaker 1: And I need your prayers that we will be faithful
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  Speaker 1: to speak the word of As God has originally intended
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  Speaker 1: for it.
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  Speaker 2: To be understood. And applied.
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  Speaker 1: I have to tell you that my calling is just
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  Speaker 1: the greatest privilege on the planet. There are days I
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  Speaker 1: just cannot believe. He would allow me to do this.
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  Speaker 1: And I'm grateful too for. Ready hearts and open minds.
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  Speaker 2: Let's pray.
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  Speaker 1: We do thank you, our Father. We do thank you.
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  Speaker 1: With heart and soul and voices. We thank you with
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  Speaker 1: our gifts. We thank you with our songs. We thank
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  Speaker 1: you in silence. We thank you for a place to
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  Speaker 1: live away from the weather.
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  Speaker 2: And the harsh realities of the street.
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  Speaker 1: We thank you for the cars we drive. We thank
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  Speaker 1: you for our minds in which we're able to learn
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  Speaker 1: and grow. Thank you for giving us emotions to feel.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you for giving us the ability to articulate.
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  Speaker 2: In words thoughts that are sometimes.
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  Speaker 1: Almost too deep for words, like today. We thank you
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  Speaker 1: for those who protect us, the officers in uniform in
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  Speaker 1: our own city, people in places of danger, Those who
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  Speaker 1: watch over our things at the airport, making certain we're safe.
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  Speaker 1: Those in uniform who carry heavy and dangerous weapons. Who
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  Speaker 1: live with explosions and sleepless nights. And the heartbreaking experience
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  Speaker 1: of losing their buddies and sisters in war.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you for their families. Thank you for our church.
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  Speaker 2: We hold it loosely. It's your work. We just have
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  Speaker 2: the joy of being a part of it. How gracious
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  Speaker 2: of you.
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  Speaker 1: These are your gifts. We give them with thankful hearts.
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  Speaker 1: Now thank we all our God.
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  Speaker 2: With our gifts. In Jesus name. Everyone said. Amen. It
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  Speaker 2: was the late, great A.W.
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  Speaker 1: Tozer who referred to worship as the missing jewel. The
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  Speaker 1: missing jewel of the church today, and it has been
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  Speaker 1: for decades, is worship. True worship, deep worship, meaningful worship,
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  Speaker 1: God-centered worship, man-eclipsing worship. Worship that focuses and requires our
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  Speaker 1: best attention on things eternal. Tozer has died, but his
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  Speaker 1: words live on, thankfully. In one of his finest, The
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  Speaker 1: Knowledge of the Holy, he writes this, The church has
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  Speaker 1: surrendered her once lofty concept of God and has substituted
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  Speaker 1: for it one solo, so ignoble as to be utterly
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  Speaker 1: unworthy of thinking, worshiping men.
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  Speaker 2: This she has done.
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  Speaker 1: Not deliberately, but little by little and with her knowledge.
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  Speaker 1: And her very unawareness only makes her situation all the
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  Speaker 1: more tragic. He continues, with our loss of the sense
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  Speaker 1: of majesty has come the further loss of religious awe,
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  Speaker 1: and consciousness of the divine presence, we have lost our
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  Speaker 1: spirit of worship and our ability to withdraw inwardly to
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  Speaker 1: meet God in adoring silence. A right conception of God
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  Speaker 1: is basic not only to systematic theology, but to practical
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  Speaker 1: Christian living as well. It is to worship what the
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  Speaker 1: foundation is to the temple. Where it is inadequate or
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  Speaker 1: out of plumb, the whole structure must sooner or later collapse.
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  Speaker 1: I believe there is scarcely an error in doctrine or
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  Speaker 1: a failure in applying Christian ethics that cannot be traced
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  Speaker 1: finally to imperfect and ignoble thoughts of God.
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  Speaker 2: I commend to you thoughts of God.
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  Speaker 1: I suggest that's the way you spend some of your spare,
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  Speaker 1: quiet time.
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  Speaker 2: Thinking about your Father.
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  Speaker 1: Not earthly Father, but your heavenly Father. Most of us
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  Speaker 1: know Christ as Savior, we who worship in this place,
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  Speaker 1: but we are woefully inadequate in our understanding of.
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  Speaker 2: The Father.
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  Speaker 1: We study with fascinating interest the work of the Holy Spirit.
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  Speaker 1: We can even describe it in objective terms. But the Father,
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  Speaker 1: the Father, where is He in all of this? What
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  Speaker 1: about His plan? What about His attributes? What about His
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  Speaker 1: work among us? As a member of the Godhead, it
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  Speaker 1: was he who has.
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  Speaker 2: Planned it all.
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  Speaker 1: I find it amazing that we who live in such
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  Speaker 1: an entertainment era have substituted cheap and shallow, superficial entertainment
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  Speaker 1: for the worship of our great, great God. So when
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  Speaker 1: we come to chapter 9 of Romans, chapter 10 of Romans,
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  Speaker 1: chapter 11 of Romans, we come to a rare place.
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  Speaker 1: Many a preacher would get to the end of chapter 8,
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  Speaker 1: if he gets that far, and would jump quickly to
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  Speaker 1: chapter 12, keeping everything on the practical side. Fearing he'll
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  Speaker 1: lose his audience, quote unquote, if he doesn't dumb down religion.
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  Speaker 2: What a heresy. We come today to the ninth of
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  Speaker 2: Romans in awe of its truths.
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  Speaker 1: And we come with good company as we talk about predestination.
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  Speaker 1: I'll explain it in a moment, but let me tell
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  Speaker 1: you the good company in which we traffic. In the
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  Speaker 1: 14th century, there was John Wycliffe who embraced it. Sometime thereafter,
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  Speaker 1: there was William Tyndale, another British mind and heart. Then
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  Speaker 1: came the hymn writer Isaac Watts and his Anglican contemporary,
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  Speaker 1: John Newton. Revivalist George Whitefield, with his influence over Oxford
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  Speaker 1: and later over those unsaved groups to whom he spoke,
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  Speaker 1: along with Jonathan Edwards of what was then called Yale
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  Speaker 1: College in colonial New England. Missionaries William Carey of India
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  Speaker 1: and William Burns of China. Scottish ministers Samuel Rutherford and
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  Speaker 1: Alexander White embraced this doctrine. And the same, of course,
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  Speaker 1: as Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon in Germany, Ulrich Zwingli
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  Speaker 1: of Zurich, Switzerland, and John Calvin of Geneva, Jan Hus
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  Speaker 1: of Prague in what was then called Czechoslovakia, John Knox
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  Speaker 1: of Scotland, Girolamo Savonarola of Italy, the Welsh preacher Thomas Owen,
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  Speaker 1: and then came the theologians William Shedd and Charles Hodge
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  Speaker 1: and A.H.
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  Speaker 2: Strong, B.B.
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  Speaker 1: Warfield and Gracia Machen of Princeton in its heyday. Then
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  Speaker 1: Louis Ferry Chafer, founder of Dallas Seminary, and John F. Walvoord,
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  Speaker 1: his disciple and the president for some 34 years. Abraham
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  Speaker 1: Kuyper of the Netherlands and well-known names like John Bunyan, Charles.
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  Speaker 2: Spurgeon, Donald Barnhouse, A.W. Pink, R.C. Sproul, John Piper, J.I. Packer, S.
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  Speaker 2: Lewis Johnson, and, of course, John Stott. You're in good company.
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  Speaker 1: It may be rare to hear truths like you will
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  Speaker 1: hear today, but it certainly is not new truth. The
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  Speaker 1: simple fact is our God is in the heavens and
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  Speaker 1: he does whatever he pleases. Psalm 115, 3. And the
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  Speaker 1: fact is Christianity is all about him, not about us.
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  Speaker 2: What a great.
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  Speaker 1: Relief to know that the truths of the scriptures and
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  Speaker 1: the great theological doctrines of the faith do not revolve
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  Speaker 1: around us, though they do impact and embrace us in
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  Speaker 1: our lives.
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  Speaker 2: Now, I've given you an outline to follow.
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  Speaker 1: I've filled mine in, and hopefully by the time I'm through,
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  Speaker 1: you will have completed yours as well. In it, I
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  Speaker 1: talk about the context of Romans 9, which falls within
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  Speaker 1: the letter itself, the whole theme of the letter itself.
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  Speaker 1: understand is the righteousness of God and with it the
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  Speaker 1: unrighteousness of humanity. Oh, it has not always been that way.
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  Speaker 1: When God made Adam and Eve, coming from his creative
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  Speaker 1: hands were two perfect creatures.
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  Speaker 2: The man, his wife, they.
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  Speaker 1: Loved one another and they loved their God and they
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  Speaker 1: walked with him in the cool of the day. I
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  Speaker 1: like the way Genesis reads over there in that wonderful
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  Speaker 1: early section. But then came the enemy who tempted them,
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  Speaker 1: and Eve fell, and Adam fell. And Romans 5, 12
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  Speaker 1: tells the woeful tale. Through one man, that's Adam, sin
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  Speaker 1: entered into the world, and death through sin, so that
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  Speaker 1: death passed upon all humanity, for all have sinned. Adam
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  Speaker 1: acted as our federal head, tells us by the theologians,
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  Speaker 1: those words, the federal head of humanity, Adam acted on
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  Speaker 1: our behalf, and just as he fell into sin, so
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  Speaker 1: we are born into it. The pollution that has ruined
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  Speaker 1: the stream of life came originally from Adam and Eve.
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  Speaker 1: And that same separation from God, which is called death
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  Speaker 1: in Romans 5, verse 12, is the same today.
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  Speaker 2: We are born not right with God, but wrong with God.
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  Speaker 1: We are born not interested in God, but disinterested in God.
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  Speaker 1: We are born running from God, and were it not
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  Speaker 1: for his irresistible grace, we would never be drawn to God.
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  Speaker 2: He works to draw us to himself.
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  Speaker 1: We, of all people, we, sinners, by choice and birth
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  Speaker 1: and nature, are by God's grace chosen by him who
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  Speaker 1: loves us And Christ who gave himself for us. And
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  Speaker 1: the Spirit who illumines us with hope and truth to
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  Speaker 1: live by. It's the righteousness of God. Now, when you
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  Speaker 1: get into Romans 9, you realize that Paul is suddenly
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  Speaker 1: burdened over what he has just written. All the way
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  Speaker 1: through chapter 8 and up to it, he has covered conversion,
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  Speaker 1: and then he has covered the Christian life. It was
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  Speaker 1: Alan Redpath who says, Romans talks about both. Conversion, that's
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  Speaker 1: salvation by grace through faith apart from works. And then
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  Speaker 1: this wonderful Christian life that we live out. And in
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  Speaker 1: the process, we become more like Christ. That's all explained
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  Speaker 1: in Romans 1 through 8. Suddenly, Paul realizes that his kinsmen,
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  Speaker 1: the Jews, are on the outside looking in, not on
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  Speaker 1: the inside declaring the message of hope. And he's burdened
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  Speaker 1: for the Jews being one of them. So beginning with
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  Speaker 1: chapter 9 and then the beginning of chapter 10 and
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  Speaker 1: then the beginning of chapter 11, it's about the Jew.
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  Speaker 2: Look for yourself. Verse 3 of chapter 9.
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  Speaker 1: I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from
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  Speaker 1: Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen, according
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  Speaker 1: to the flesh, who are Israelites. He remembers his Pharisaic friends,
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  Speaker 1: his brothers from years past. And he realizes most of
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  Speaker 1: them are still lost and they will die lost. Not
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  Speaker 1: because they're not Jews, but because they're not converted Jews.
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  Speaker 1: They're Jews by blood, but they're not Jews by new birth.
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  Speaker 2: And he'll get into that. Chapter 10. 10 begins with
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  Speaker 2: another concern.
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  Speaker 1: Brethren, my heart's desire and my prayer to God for
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  Speaker 1: them is for their salvation.
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  Speaker 2: He lived to present the gospel to the Jew first.
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  Speaker 1: And then to the Gentile. Chapter 11 begins with a
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  Speaker 1: similar passion. I say then, God has not rejected his
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  Speaker 1: people as he may it never be. May it never be.
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  Speaker 2: So he's concerned about the Jews.
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  Speaker 1: What can he say to help them understand why they
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  Speaker 1: are lost, even though they have Jewish blood coursing through
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  Speaker 1: their veins and arteries?
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  Speaker 2: How could a Jew be lost? Many Jews will ask you,
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  Speaker 2: how could you tell me I'm a lost person? I
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  Speaker 2: go back to Abraham. Abraham.
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  Speaker 1: Paul's answering here, you must go back to Christ. And
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  Speaker 1: without him, you're simply a Jew by birth, not a
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  Speaker 1: true Israelite in the family of God. Knowing that all
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  Speaker 1: of that is true, he moves into some of the
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  Speaker 1: benefits that were the Jews to enjoy. Verse 4, they
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  Speaker 1: are the ones to whom belongs the adoption as sons.
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  Speaker 1: They are the ones with the glory, the ones with
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  Speaker 1: the covenants, verse 4 continues, the giving of the law.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, if it weren't for the Jews, the law
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  Speaker 1: would not have been written, nor would the law have
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  Speaker 1: been preserved. How faithful of God to work through the
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  Speaker 1: Jew to preserve the scriptures for us. And the temple
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  Speaker 1: services were all handled by Jewish priests. And the promises
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  Speaker 1: to and through the Jews. These are our fathers, another benefit.
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  Speaker 1: We look back on great lives. And almost without exception,
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  Speaker 1: they are Jews. They are Jews. They are believing Jews.
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  Speaker 1: These Jewish, this lineage goes all the way back to Abraham.
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  Speaker 1: And from whom is the Christ? It was through a
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  Speaker 1: Jewish mother and in the marvelous plan of God, through
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  Speaker 1: the virgin birth of.
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  Speaker 2: The Savior, came a Jewish baby. Given to the Jewish
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  Speaker 2: people and ultimately to the world.
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  Speaker 1: Now, when you see that and you realize such benefits,
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  Speaker 1: you say, well, how in the world could we not
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  Speaker 1: think that the Jews would be.
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  Speaker 2: Part of the plan?
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  Speaker 1: Understand you're part of the plan by decision you make
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  Speaker 1: in life, not by birth lineage, not by the traditions
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  Speaker 1: of your fathers. Every individual who lives and breathes on
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  Speaker 1: the planet must on her own or his own come
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  Speaker 1: to know Christ individually. But Paul goes back even above
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  Speaker 1: and beyond that. He goes back to the work of
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  Speaker 1: God the Father as he shapes the thinking of those
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  Speaker 1: on this earth and carries out a plan that is
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  Speaker 1: sovereignly designed for our good and for his glory. Now
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  Speaker 1: I find in Romans chapter 9 beginning at verse 6
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  Speaker 1: down to the end four great truths regarding predestination. Let
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  Speaker 1: me give them to you one at a time as
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  Speaker 1: we work our way through. And I'll do my best
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  Speaker 1: to keep it interesting. If I get boring, leave. Nobody
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  Speaker 1: ought to sit through a service bored. So you have
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  Speaker 1: my permission without, you know, just preferably not shaking your
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  Speaker 1: head and screaming, but just quietly walk out.
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  Speaker 2: That'll be fine. Let me give you four truths on.
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  Speaker 1: Predestination that I think you will find them making sense.
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  Speaker 1: Number one, predestination begins with the sovereign choice of God.
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  Speaker 1: It all begins with the sovereign choice of God. That
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  Speaker 1: will take us from verses 6 through 13. It is
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  Speaker 1: not as though the word of God has failed. For
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  Speaker 1: the Jews not to be in the family doesn't mean
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  Speaker 1: the word of God has failed. For they are not
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  Speaker 1: all Israel who are descended from Israel. You see the
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  Speaker 1: reason now. Just because you're born of Abraham's stock doesn't
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  Speaker 1: mean you're in the faithful family of the Israelites. That
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  Speaker 1: takes faith in the Messiah. nor are they all children
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  Speaker 1: because they are Abraham's descendants. Just because a person can say,
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  Speaker 1: I have Abraham as my ultimate father, being Jewish, it
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  Speaker 1: doesn't mean you're in the family of God. God's choice
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  Speaker 1: is involved here.
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  Speaker 2: Look closely now.
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  Speaker 1: Through Isaac, your descendants will be named. Now, understand, Abraham
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  Speaker 1: had two sons, not one. One was through Hagar, named Ishmael,
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  Speaker 1: and one was through Sarah, named Isaac. God sovereignly chose
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  Speaker 1: that the plan of salvation would work through Isaac, the
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: younger of the two boys. And verse 8 tells us,
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: that is, it is not the children of the flesh
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: who are the children of God, but the children of
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: the promise who are regarded as descendants. And he used
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: Isaac and Ishmael as examples.
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: This is the word of promise.
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: At this time I will come and Sarah shall have
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: a son. Not only this, there's another example. There was
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: a woman who lived and named Rebecca, and she had
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: twins conceived in her womb named Jacob and Esau. The
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: older was Esau, the younger is Jacob. But look at
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: God's choosing. Not only this, but there was Rebecca also.
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: Who when she had conceived.
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: Twins by one man, our father Isaac, for through the twins,
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: though the twins were not yet born and had not
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: done anything good or bad. Remember, they aren't even born yet.
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: So that God's purpose, according to his choice, would stand.
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: Not because of works, but because of him who calls.
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: You can't have good works if you're not even born.
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: Maybe you aren't kicking on your mother as much as
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: your brother did. But the point is, there's no works
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: of good or bad.
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: You're in the womb.
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: And in the womb, God made the decision. I'll choose Jacob.
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: Neither one of them is worth a two. When you
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: study their lives. They're both sorry individuals. Both had real problems.
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: Why? Because they're like us. We're like them. We're all sinners.
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: Just rotten slimy sinners. Verse 12. It was said to her.
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: The older will serve the younger. The mother hears this.
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: And she must have been confused. Because in those days
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: the older. Was in charge of the younger. He got
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: the double portion. When the blessing was given in Jewish homes.
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: As it is written Jacob I've loved. Esau I've hated.
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: Now that'll keep you awake all night if you just
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: sit there and stare at that and understand some of
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: this is going to be offensive. I've said to friends before,
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: when you preach on predestination, you run two risks. First,
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: that you might be misunderstood and people are offended. And second,
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: when you are fully understood, you are offending. And so
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: either way, you're going to offend the people, especially those
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: who are full of pride. And you want to take
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: some of the credit for your salvation. You want to
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: walk around with your thumbs under your suspenders saying.
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: Whoa, God, you're lucky to have me, babe.
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: That's not the way it works. That's not how it's
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: put together. God isn't lucky in any such thing. And
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: you're no great shakes. And neither am I. And so
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: if we're going to be selected as Jacob was and
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: as Isaac was, it's going to be by the sovereign
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: favor and mercy of God. Nothing because of what some
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: good thing we have done or promised to do. Predestination
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: begins with the sovereign choice of God. Here's the second fact.
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: We're going to see this now in verses 14 to 18.
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: Predestination upholds the perfect character of God. It upholds the
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: perfect character of God. Before we dig any further into
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: 14 to 18, let's understand something of our father's attributes.
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: I said, make a study of your heavenly father. Here
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: are some good places to start. God is omnipotent, meaning all-powerful.
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: God is eternal. He never had a beginning. He will
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: never have an ending. God is omniscient.
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: There is nothing he ever learns or discovers. He knows all,
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: has known all since before there was time and when
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: there is no longer earth. He knows all.
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: God is good. God is omnipresent.
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: Able to be everywhere at one time and no more
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: at one place than at any other. God is love
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: and wrath and mercy and justice. God is grace and
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: sovereign and wise and infinite and holy.
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: And faithful and self-sufficient and immutable, just to name a few.
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: It seems as though one who has that resume would
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: be qualified to make the right choices. And it seems
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: as though being sovereign means That would be his to
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: choose without one word from lumps of clay like you
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: or me. But we don't like that kind of preaching.
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: Because we don't like to think of ourselves as lumps
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: of clay. Really, that's a compliment. We start just being dirt.
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: And then clay happens when you add water. This is
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: all about the perfect character of God.
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: Look at 14. Here we go.
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God,
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: is there? May it never be. I mean, he can't
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: be unjust.
• 29:11
  Speaker 2: He's just.
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: And now he illustrates it through two other people from
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: the Old Testament. Moses first, then Pharaoh. God says to Moses,
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: I will have mercy on whom I have mercy. I
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: will have compassion on whom I have compassion. Let that
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: sink in. That's God's sovereign right. It's God's sovereign right.
• 29:32
  Speaker 2: So then.
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: It does not depend on the one who wills. It
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: does not depend on the one who runs. but on
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: God who has mercy. That's the key verse of the chapter.
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: It's all about God. It's all about upholding his character.
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: Scripture says to Pharaoh, on the other hand, unlike Moses,
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: for this very purpose I raised you up. To demonstrate
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: my power in you. That my name might be proclaimed
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: throughout the whole earth.
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: So then says Paul. He has mercy on whom he desires.
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: He hardens. Whom he desires.
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: Now I'm giving you a moment to let that sink in.
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: Because you're not going to read this in a Wall
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: Street Journal. You're not going to get this from the media.
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: You're not going to hear about it from the civic center.
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: Or the lower schools, the middle schools, the upper schools,
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: secondary schools, graduate schools, you're not going to get it there.
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: Because it's all about humanity. It's all about humanism. It's
• 30:35
  Speaker 2: all about how great we are, how great we can become.
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: Just wish it and will it, and it's going to happen.
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: This is a postmodern era. And in that world, there
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: is no such thing as right or wrong. Who has
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: the audacity to call wrong right or right wrong? So
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: the lines are blurred until you come back to theology.
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: And then the lines get clearly defined. That's why you
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: must teach your children and you must learn yourself theology.
• 31:02
  Speaker 2: You must learn it.
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: And you must give up, in your own mind, the
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: American style, which is the majority is always right. Arnold
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: Toynbee was right when he said it's doubtful the majority
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: has ever been right. We got a whole system based
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: on the majority. Who said the majority is right? Haven't
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: you been in groups where the majority was wrong? When
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: it comes to theology, the majority is wrong. Biblical theology
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: fights for existence because only the remnant communicate it. Only
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: the remnant believe it. That's why it's so hard to
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: shape yourself to think like God thinks.
• 31:39
  Speaker 2: His perfect character gives.
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: Him the right to make the choices he chooses. If
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: it's Moses on whom he will show mercy, it's Moses.
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: If it's Pharaoh on whom he will show wrath, it's
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: because Pharaoh has made those decisions that resulted in that wrath.
• 31:54
  Speaker 2: Which brings me to the third great truth.
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: The third truth is in verses 19 through 23. Predestination
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: identifies the specific responsibility of God. It identifies the specific
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: responsibility of God. Follow the logic of verse 19. You
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: will say to me then, why does he still find fault?
• 32:20
  Speaker 2: For who resists his will? Where is he going with this? Well,
• 32:23
  Speaker 2: I'll tell you. If you say that God's sovereignly in
• 32:26
  Speaker 2: charge and.
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: You take that to the extreme, you're going to ultimately
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: say God's in charge of my sin. If he's in
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: charge of everything, then he causes me to sin. Wrong.
• 32:36
  Speaker 2: Remember, God is holy.
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: That's why his character fits so beautifully in the overall plan.
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: When it comes to sin, you're on your own. You're
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: making your own choice. You're deciding it. He has nothing
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: to do with that. And when you decide, there are
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: consequences that he has a lot to do with. But
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: you're left to make that decision, just like you're left
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: with the gospel. You can choose or reject it. You'll
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: take the result of it. You'll have to live with
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: the results of it. Let me show you a verse
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: of scripture that will help you. Three of them, in fact.
• 33:06
  Speaker 2: James 1.
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: Hold your place here and go back to James 1,
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: beginning at verse 13.
• 33:13
  Speaker 2: Come on now.
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: Some of you are getting a little sluggish here. Let's
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: get to James 1, verse 13. It's going to help.
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: Let no one say when he is tempted, I am
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: being tempted by God. I am being tempted by God
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: because after all, he's sovereign. He's in charge of everything.
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: So when I'm greedy, God's responsible for that.
• 33:31
  Speaker 2: I'm not responsible for that.
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: When I when I am selfish, God's responsible because he
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: made me like I am.
• 33:39
  Speaker 2: I mean, that's the way.
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: No, it says God cannot be tempted by evil. He
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: himself does not tempt anyone. Each one is tempted when
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.
• 33:50
  Speaker 2: You're on your own there, baby.
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: The bait is dropped, you are drawn to it, you
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: decide you're going to go there, the lust is yours,
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: and by that he means the evil desire, you're carried away,
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: you're drawn into it, you're tempted, and you yield and
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: you sin, you're on your own.
• 34:08
  Speaker 2: In fact, when lust is conceived, it gives birth to sin,
• 34:10
  Speaker 2: and sin, when it is accomplished, brings forth death.
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: Those are the consequences that come. Back to Romans 9.
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: sounds like it's what he's getting at here who will
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: say then what what does he why does he still
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: find fault for who resists his will so he's going
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: to clarify what that means on the contrary who are
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: you i love this who are you claude who are
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: you oh man who answers back to god the thing
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: molded will not say to the molder why did you
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: make me like this will it isn't that a little
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: funny moment. I think Paul is kind of going, right
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: when he writes that. I think there's a little, has
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: a little, you know, elbow at the side of the
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: person listening.
• 34:59
  Speaker 2: The lump of clay isn't going to say, wait a minute,
• 35:01
  Speaker 2: I didn't want to be a vase. I wanted to
• 35:04
  Speaker 2: be a bowl, maybe a vase. It doesn't do that.
• 35:10
  Speaker 2: It just, just, I'm trying to look like a lump
• 35:13
  Speaker 2: of clay. And And he says, I'm going to make
• 35:16
  Speaker 2: a vase out of this one. Okay, I'm going to
• 35:18
  Speaker 2: make a bowl out of this one. Because that's my
• 35:22
  Speaker 2: sovereign choice. I'm the potter.
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: Look at the next verse. Does not the potter have
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: a right over the clay to make from the same
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? Yeah,
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: he's got the right. That's the artist's prerogative. And by
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: the way, he can only work with what the clay
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: is made of. He's working with sinful stuff, which we
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: got from Adam, not from God. So linking us back
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: to our federal head, living with this contamination called sin,
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: we're prone to wander, prone to leave the God we love,
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: prone to run away from him. What if God, although
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make his power known,
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared after destruction?
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: And he did so to make known the riches of
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: his glory upon vessels of mercy. And that's us, which
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: he prepared beforehand for glory. Even us, whom he also called,
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: not just from the Jews, but from the Gentiles also.
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: I said this section identifies the specific responsibility of God.
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: So let me get more specific. There are certain things
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: you choose and you're on your own to choose. You
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: make a choice whether Jesus Christ is going to be
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: your Lord and Savior or not.
• 36:46
  Speaker 2: That's your choice.
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: Nobody pushes your arm back between your shoulder blades and
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: forces you to say, I give up, I trust Christ.
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: Nobody can follow you around and fix you spiritually so
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: that you trust Christ.
• 36:58
  Speaker 2: You're on your own. You've got to make that decision.
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: When you make that decision, there are consequences that will follow,
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: especially if you die in that condition. It's called eternal
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: separation from God, hell. You made the choice, and the
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: result is that. Now, there are other things you choose
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: that God isn't, really is not involved with. I made
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: a list of a few. What to eat, that's your choice.
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: What to fix for lunch, that's your choice. What to drink,
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: what to wear. Where to drive and what to drive.
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: Where to live and how to live. You can be
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: lazy or industrious. You can be miserly or you can
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: be generous. You can be thoughtful or forgetful. You can
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: be proud or humble. You can be loud or quiet.
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: You can be hard to get along with or kind
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: and gracious. There are some things you can't choose. If
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: you're old, you can't choose to be young. If you're sick,
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: you can't.
• 38:02
  Speaker 2: Just choose to be well.
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: If you're dying, you can't choose to just live. When
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: death comes, you got it. If you're slow and uncoordinated,
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: you're not going to be a champion athlete. You can't
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: choose to be that. You can even choose to take
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: your life. God has nothing to do with that. You're
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: so miserable, you decide you're going to jump from the
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: 14th floor. So halfway down, you can't decide otherwise. You
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: can't say that was not a good decision. This is
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: not going to have a good ending because you're going
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: to have.
• 38:36
  Speaker 2: A sudden and very, very abrupt and painful landing.
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: And God's not going to stop it because there are
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: certain things that are in motion that God doesn't change.
• 38:46
  Speaker 2: You say, well, I can't put it all together. Well,
• 38:48
  Speaker 2: welcome to the club. Nobody can put it all together.
• 38:52
  Speaker 2: The names I.
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: Just read off to you, they didn't put it all together.
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: The profs I learned from at seminary, they didn't.
• 38:58
  Speaker 2: Put it all together.
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: The honest ones would say, and that was all of
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: them that I studied under, you come to this point,
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: nobody can explain it.
• 39:06
  Speaker 2: You can't reconcile all of this together. So don't try.
• 39:11
  Speaker 2: Stay away from people who do. Okay? They're goofy. They're goofy.
• 39:18
  Speaker 2: They're spooky people.
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: They carry around tracks that unfold, look like a world map,
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: and they've got charts for everything from blowing your nose
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: to going to bed at night.
• 39:29
  Speaker 2: Stay away from people like that. Where'd that come from?
• 39:32
  Speaker 2: Why don't I say something? From his perspective, we are chosen.
• 39:37
  Speaker 2: He is sovereign.
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: When we believe, there's a magnificent plan that unfolds. When
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: we don't believe, it's horror on earth and in eternity.
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: That's part of the plan. That's his plan. And by
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: his grace, he works with you and works with me
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: and brings us to the place where we have the
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: opportunity to become what he would have us be. That
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: explains why there's such variation, because there's cooperation with some
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: and there's not with others. It isn't that complicated. People
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: get all hung up on what right does God have? Well,
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: he is the potter, if.
• 40:11
  Speaker 2: You don't mind.
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: He is sovereign and you ain't. He is in charge
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: and he doesn't stop to ask permission.
• 40:22
  Speaker 2: You know why? Because you wouldn't give a good answer.
• 40:26
  Speaker 2: And I wouldn't know how to counsel him either. There's
• 40:31
  Speaker 2: a last of the four.
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: Predestination defines the consistent plan of God. It defines the
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: consistent plan of God. That's verses 20, uh, 24 through
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: the end of the chapter. He's called us even among
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: Jews and Gentiles alike. He says also in Hosea, I
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: will call those who were not my people, my people,
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: and her who was not beloved, my beloved. That's God's
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: sovereign choice. Isn't it great he included Gentiles? If he hadn't,
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: most of us would have never been able to hear.
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: Most of us were not born into Jewish families. We
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: knew nothing of tradition. We were born in Gentile homes
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: that have no spiritual roots, whatever, not even religious. And
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: by his grace, he entered into our ranks.
• 41:27
  Speaker 2: And chose us.
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: Jesus himself said, you've not chosen me, but I've chosen
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: you and ordained you. Moses said to the people of
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: Israel that God did not choose you because.
• 41:40
  Speaker 2: You were more in number than any people.
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: You were the fewest of all people, but because the
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: Lord loved you.
• 41:45
  Speaker 2: He set his love upon you. Deuteronomy 7, verses 6, 7,
• 41:49
  Speaker 2: and 8. Check it out for yourself. The reason God
• 41:52
  Speaker 2: chose you, he loves you. Why does he love you?
• 41:54
  Speaker 2: Beats me. Beats me. Why does he love me?
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: That really beats me. Why would he ever, ever, ever
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: want me? It's called grace. It's called grace. Thank God
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: he didn't number my bad stuff against my good stuff
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: because I'd always come out in the losing end. He
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: saw me as trusting his son for righteousness and he
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: accepted me. And he's now left me with choices that
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: are either healthy or unhealthy. And if they're unhealthy or healthy,
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: he sovereignly steps in with the blessings or the consequences.
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: To me, there are two responses that are extreme to
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: teaching like this. Okay, let's get these down. There are
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: two extreme responses. The first is the more common of
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: the two. I do it all myself. I'm a self-made man.
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: I got my own education. I've been on my own.
• 42:50
  Speaker 2: Since I was three. I was on the street working
• 42:53
  Speaker 2: my way.
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: When I was five, I worked uphill, walked uphill to
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: school both ways.
• 42:58
  Speaker 2: In the snow. I've done it all on my own.
• 43:01
  Speaker 2: I'm going to keep doing it on my own because
• 43:04
  Speaker 2: I'm going to show God that I am fully responsible,
• 43:08
  Speaker 2: very active, and very wrong.
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: Because in the final analysis, you're not going to spend
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: eternity with him. He doesn't care how hard you work
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: or how much effort you put forth. He cares that
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: you go with his plan.
• 43:23
  Speaker 2: Now, the other extreme is really pious. I do nothing.
• 43:29
  Speaker 2: God does it all. He does it all.
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: Really?
• 43:34
  Speaker 2: Who dressed you today? If you say God, they're going
• 43:38
  Speaker 2: to put you in a funny farm. You dressed yourself.
• 43:41
  Speaker 2: Who put gas in your tank? You did. Who balances
• 43:45
  Speaker 2: your checkbook? You do.
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: Who mows your grass? You do or somebody you hire does.
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: Who makes you disciplined or not?
• 43:56
  Speaker 2: You do.
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: You don't sovereignly make you disciplined.
• 43:59
  Speaker 2: You do it.
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: How come you're fat? Because you eat too much. How
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: come you've done these things that are wrong?
• 44:08
  Speaker 2: Because you like it. You like to do that. You're
• 44:10
  Speaker 2: a sinner. I'm a sinner. I mean, this whole idea
• 44:14
  Speaker 2: of God does it all.
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: And I just wait for him. You know, there's a
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: name for people like that. It's called unemployed.
• 44:24
  Speaker 2: It's called hungry. Hungry. You don't have a job?
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: Get your buns out there on the road and work
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: up your resume and get another job. Why?
• 44:36
  Speaker 2: Because you're responsible for that.
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: Don't hide behind sovereignty or predestination. I'm not predestined to
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: have a job.
• 44:43
  Speaker 2: Really? Well, I'm not predestined to support you. I'll tell
• 44:48
  Speaker 2: you that. We have a little fun with all of this.
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: You got to where you crack up. Let me tell
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: you about my experience. Years ago, I was an intern
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: at Dallas Seminary. I was out with Ray Stedman at
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: Peninsula Bible Church. We were between our second and third
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: year In a four year course. I remember we brought along.
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: We lived with a guy named Gibb Martin. Gibb was
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: a buddy of mine. And Gibb was a sovereignist to
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: the max. I mean every time he spit.
• 45:21
  Speaker 2: God led him to spit.
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: And every time he belched. God led him to belch.
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: And every time he sinned.
• 45:29
  Speaker 2: God was in. It was ridiculous Gibb. You're out to lunch.
• 45:33
  Speaker 2: Now I'm on the other hand. I was more Wesleyan.
• 45:36
  Speaker 2: Mine was all about what I do. So I struggled
• 45:40
  Speaker 2: and we argued. Oh, did we argue?
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: Cynthia was in the middle saying at times, please, couldn't
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: we just have supper rather than solve the sovereign issue
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: of the universe? And what Gibbs great, he's balanced out
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: today and I'm still trying to get there.
• 45:58
  Speaker 2: Anyway, I said to Ray one day, Ray, I'm going nuts.
• 46:03
  Speaker 2: He said, oh, you just now found out. No, no.
• 46:05
  Speaker 2: Ray said, Ray said to me, uh, What are you
• 46:09
  Speaker 2: afraid of? Which is a great question. I didn't say
• 46:13
  Speaker 2: I was afraid. I said, no, what are you afraid of?
• 46:15
  Speaker 2: How come you're afraid of the doctrine of God's sovereignty?
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: And I blinked and I looked out the window and
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: looked down and looked back up and I said, I'm
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: afraid I'll lose my zeal for the lost.
• 46:29
  Speaker 2: I'm afraid that I, if I.
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: Really do believe this, I'll go through life as a
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: minister and I'll just get real passive. And I won't
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: care about the loss because, after all, they're elect. And
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: he said, you need to remember Spurgeon, who said if
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: God had painted a stripe down the back of the elect,
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: I'd spend my days walking up and down the streets
• 46:52
  Speaker 1: of London lifting up shirt tails. But because he said,
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: whosoever will may come, I preach the gospel to everyone.
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: And I rely on him to lead those.
• 47:03
  Speaker 2: To faith that are his. That was a great help.
• 47:07
  Speaker 2: It was a great help. You know what? I'm going
• 47:09
  Speaker 2: to tell you something, folks.
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: To this day, I believe, right along with the grace
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: of God, one of my favorite doctrines, I love the
• 47:17
  Speaker 1: sovereignty of God.
• 47:20
  Speaker 2: Does it make me passive? Do I look passive? I'm
• 47:23
  Speaker 2: active when I sleep, so I'm not passive. But you
• 47:27
  Speaker 2: know what?
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: How many times this summer I took Cynthia in my
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: arms and I said to her through tears, God is
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: sovereign even now.
• 47:37
  Speaker 2: In this. She said, let's never forget it. Let's never
• 47:43
  Speaker 2: forget it. What we are going through is not an accident.
• 47:49
  Speaker 2: It's part of the plan. And it's mysterious. It's mysterious.
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: You think you got it all figured out? You're surprised.
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: It's like Habakkuk, the prophet. ministering to a group of
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: people who were so ornery. He says, Lord, look how
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: terrible things are. Justice is not found and priests are
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: going nuts and there's greed and there's lust.
• 48:18
  Speaker 2: And the Lord says, you know, relax, Habakkuk, I have
• 48:20
  Speaker 2: a plan. I know, Lord, but when are you going
• 48:22
  Speaker 2: to do something? How long do I have to wait?
• 48:25
  Speaker 2: Why are you doing it?
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: The Lord says to him, you know, if I told you,
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: you wouldn't believe it. Habakkuk says, oh, no, tell me.
• 48:33
  Speaker 1: He says, okay, I'm sending the Chaldeans, who are worse
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: people than your people, and I'm going to wipe them out.
• 48:38
  Speaker 2: He says, I don't believe it. I can't believe it. Why?
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: Because it's God's mysterious, sovereign plan sometime to use a
• 48:47
  Speaker 1: worse situation to deal with a bad one.
• 48:50
  Speaker 2: That's not what we do. We don't like worse. If
• 48:55
  Speaker 2: I had my way, all of you would win the lottery.
• 48:57
  Speaker 2: If I had my way, all of you would be healthy.
• 48:59
  Speaker 2: If I had my way, All of you would be
• 49:01
  Speaker 2: wonderfully generous, gracious, kind people.
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: I don't have my way. Furthermore, I'm not like that.
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: In God's sovereign plan, through all the mystery of his will,
• 49:15
  Speaker 1: he's working it out for his glory and for ours.
• 49:21
  Speaker 2: Rest in that. Relax. Okay. Unless you're not a Christian.
• 49:29
  Speaker 2: And I hope you never rest. Until you are. Hope
• 49:33
  Speaker 2: you find no sleep. No relief. Hope your food doesn't digest.
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: I hope your dreams don't happen. I hope you will
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: find misery until.
• 49:47
  Speaker 2: You discover his mercy. Let's bow together.
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: If you've never trusted Christ as your Savior, nobody here
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: is going to corner you or embarrass you. See, we
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: can't tell by looking, so all of you look saved
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: to everybody else, but you know if you're lost. You
• 50:15
  Speaker 1: know if you've never trusted Christ. I'm not talking about
• 50:18
  Speaker 1: doing good. I'm not talking about earning your way in.
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: I'm talking about trusting Christ.
• 50:23
  Speaker 2: If you've never trusted Him, you're a big part.
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: Of this subject today because you're missing out in a
• 50:32
  Speaker 1: plan that's too good for word. And somehow in God's mystery,
• 50:37
  Speaker 1: he's let you go this far, but it's getting tighter
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: and harder.
• 50:43
  Speaker 2: Your misery is intensifying. Today's the day. Trust him. Believe
• 50:50
  Speaker 2: on the Lord Jesus. You will be saved.
• 50:57
  Speaker 1: If we can help you, that's why we have the
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: prayer room and away from the crowds and the busy
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: traffic flow, you can step in there and You'll meet
• 51:06
  Speaker 1: with somebody in our soul care ministry who will treat
• 51:09
  Speaker 1: you with dignity, respect, courtesy, and will give you information
• 51:14
  Speaker 1: that will help you. Thank you, Father, that you're not
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: in a hurry. Thank you, Father, that you are in
• 51:26
  Speaker 1: charge of it all.
• 51:27
  Speaker 2: Not just the good stuff. Thank you that like a
• 51:32
  Speaker 2: good father, you let consequences run their course. Thank you, Father,
• 51:40
  Speaker 2: for being our father. Now, there are some with deep
• 51:45
  Speaker 2: wounds and bleeding, bruised bodies and hearts. Somehow, Lord, I
• 51:52
  Speaker 2: pray that you'll use the bruises and the.
• 51:55
  Speaker 1: Bleeding, the brokenness to bring them to faith. And Lord, please,
• 52:05
  Speaker 1: keep people out of their way who would be offensive
• 52:07
  Speaker 1: and pushy. Let us let you do your work. You're
• 52:16
  Speaker 1: able to do that. Through sleepless nights, heartbreaking moments. Now, Lord,
• 52:26
  Speaker 1: we rest our.
• 52:29
  Speaker 2: Souls with you.
• 52:33
  Speaker 1: We're so grateful you're the potter. So grateful you're the shepherd.
• 52:39
  Speaker 1: You're the king. In the name of Jesus, we worship you.
• 52:47
  Speaker 1: As our God and Savior, everyone said, Amen.
• 52:54
  Speaker 3: The preceding message, Straight Talk About Predestination, was copyrighted in 2007, 2010,
• 52:58
  Speaker 3: and 2025. and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2025
• 53:05
  Speaker 3: by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide.
• 53:10
  Speaker 3: Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.