Latest / Voddie Baucham Sermons / Voddie Baucham - Who Do You Think You Are?

Transcript

Voddie Baucham - Who Do You Think You Are? · Voddie Baucham Sermons

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Well, as we continue our journey in Romans, we are
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: right in the middle of chapter 9, looking at verses
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: 19 through 29 today. So if you have your Bibles,
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: please open them there to Romans chapter 9, verses 19
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: through 29. This passage is not unique in that it contains...
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: Another question that Paul asks, but it is unique in that,
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: unlike the other instances in Romans where Paul raises the
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: questions of his opponents, here he does not give an answer.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: Everywhere else, the question is raised. Paul answers the question.
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: Oftentimes he answers the question, then explains his answer, and
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: then reiterates his answer. Here, the question is raised, and
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: Paul does not answer the question. In fact, he answers
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: the question with a question. And the question that he
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: asks in return is basically, who do you think you are?
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: Sometimes that is a very appropriate response to certain kinds
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: of questions. Who do you think you are? Join me
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: in Romans chapter 9, beginning at verse 19. You will
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: say to me then, why does he still find fault?
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: For who can resist his will? But who are you,
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: O man, or who do you think you are, O man,
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: to answer back to God? Will what is molded say
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: to its molder, why have you made me like this?
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: Has the potter no right over the clay to make
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: and another for dishonorable use? What if God, notice that
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: these are all questions, what if God, desiring to show
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: his wrath and to make known his power, has endured
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction in
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: order to make known the riches of his glory for
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory,
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: even us, whom he has called not from the Jews only,
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: but also from the Gentiles. As indeed, he says in Hosea,
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: Those who are not my people I will call my people,
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: and her who was not beloved I will call beloved.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: And in the very place where it was said to them,
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: You are not my people, there they will be called
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: sons of the living God. And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel,
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: Let the number of the sons of Israel be as
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: the sand of the sea. Only a remnant of them
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: will be saved, for the Lord will carry out his
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: sentence upon the earth fully and without delay. And as
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: Isaiah predicted, if the Lord of hosts had not left
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: us offspring, we would have been like Sodom and become
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: like Gomorrah. He doesn't answer the question. Now, he has
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: already answered the question numerous times in Romans. But here,
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: he doesn't answer directly this question. A couple of things
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: I'd like for us to observe before we delve more
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: deeply into this passage. Listen to this observation from Charles
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: Hodge in his commentary on Romans. There would be no room...
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: either for this objection or for that contained in the
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: 14th verse, if Paul had merely said that God chooses
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: those whom he foresees would repent and believe, or that
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: the ground of distinction was in the different conduct of men.
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: It is very evident, therefore, that he taught no such doctrine.
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: How easy and obvious an answer to the charge of
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: injustice would it have been to say, God chooses one
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: and rejects another according to their works. But teaching as
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: he does the sovereignty of God in the selection of
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: the subjects of his grace and of the objects of
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: his wrath, declaring as he does so plainly that the
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: destiny of men is determined by his sovereign pleasure, the objection,
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: how can he yet find fault, is plausible and natural.
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: Follow what Charles Hodge is saying here. There are people
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: out there who argue. That the Apostle Paul teaches that
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: God elects people based on his foreknowing who will choose him.
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: That he looks down the corridor of time and determines
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: who is going to believe and who is not going
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: to believe, and then elects people based on that kind
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: of foreknowledge. If that's what Paul was teaching, this question
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: and the question in verse 14 would never and could
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: never have been raised. But the fact that these questions
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: are being raised of the Apostle Paul is evidence of
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: the fact that Paul teaches that God is sovereign in
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: election and it has absolutely nothing to do with man.
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: He has mercy on whom he will have mercy and
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: he hardens whom he will harden. Doctrine of election and
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: reprobation has been clear here. Remember, reprobation is the idea
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: of God passing over some and electing others. It is
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: not as though God has to make people sinful. Man
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: is born in sin. Every human being on planet Earth
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: born with a sinful nature, which by the way, and
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: we've said this before and I'll probably say it again,
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: This is why the virgin birth is not something that
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: we can give up on. Because it is the virgin
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: birth that separates Christ from original sin. So those out
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: there who argue, well, it doesn't really matter all of
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: the technical stuff, as long as you just believe in Jesus... No,
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: if you believe that Jesus was not virgin born, then
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: you believe that Jesus had a sin nature. And if
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: you believe that Jesus had a sin nature, then you
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: must also believe that his death would not be sufficient
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: to cover the sins of other sinners because he would
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: have had to pay for his own sin and therefore
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: have been unable to pay for yours. The virgin birth matters.
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: Doctrine matters. And so man is born in sin. Man
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: is shaped in iniquity. And the doctrine of reprobation is
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: simply this. God passes over some and elects others for salvation.
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: And our question ought not be, how dare God save
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: some and not others? Our question ought instead to be,
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: How could God save me? Why would God save any
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: of us? But the reason we don't ask that question
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: is because we think too much of ourselves. And that's
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: right where Paul goes. Who do you think you are?
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: And the answer is, we think we're the center of
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: the universe. That's the answer. Listen to this from James
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: Montgomery Boyce. He puts an even finer point on the matter.
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: But now the wicked resourcefulness of the human heart comes in.
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: For if a person cannot deny God's sovereignty over human
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: affairs and human destinies... or even God's right to save
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: some and pass over others as God does, the person
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: will at last try to deny his or her own
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: responsibility in the matter. If I can't get at this
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: angle and attack the sovereignty of God, if I cannot
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: attack God's right to pass over some and to save others...
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: and I have to acknowledge God's sovereignty, then the next
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: way for me to alleviate this pressure that is upon me,
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: because I don't want to acknowledge the sovereignty of God,
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: the next way for me to alleviate that pressure is
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: to question God's justice and to question my own responsibility
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: or accountability for my sins. And therein lies this question
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: that Paul... faces and that you and I will face
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: as we talk to people about the doctrines of grace.
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: If you talk to people about the doctrine of God's
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: sovereign electing grace, this question is going to arise. But
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: here's the pressure that you feel when the question arises.
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: The pressure that you feel is to defend God. Can't
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: say amen, you ought to say ouch. Because people are
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: basically saying that God's a big meanie and he's not fair.
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: And we feel like we have to defend God. So
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: we go round and round and round trying to defend
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: God so that God doesn't look to them as a
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: big meanie. Whereas Paul looks him square in the face
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: and says, who do you think you are? Oh, but
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: I could never do that. Why? Why? Well, I could
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: never do that because the person wouldn't be satisfied with
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: that response. And the Lord knows I live for the
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: satisfaction of other people. Oh, I could never say that
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: because if I said that, then the person might harden
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: their heart and God might not be able to save them.
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: Let me see if I get this straight. If you
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: are pressing the point of God's sovereign election and salvation,
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: and somebody gets offended by you pressing the point of
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: God's sovereign election and salvation, then you're afraid that somehow
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: God won't be able to sovereignly elect them because you
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: offended them. That dog won't hunt. Paul's response is important.
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: And he is not merely trying to be offensive. Let's
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: examine his response more carefully. His response is all about contrast.
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: The first contrast, you are man and not God. Newsflash.
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: Look at me if you will. There in verse 19.
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: You will say to me then, who can resist his will?
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: But who are you, O man, to answer back to God?
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: Now in the Greek, this is even more poignant. Because
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: in the Greek, there is a definite article here. And
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: so basically, he's saying, who are you, man, to answer
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: back to not just God, but the God. You are
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: a man. He is the God. There is but one God.
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: And he's not you. Who are you to answer back
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: to God? Don't move past that too quickly. Because here's
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: part of our problem with sovereignty of God and election.
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: Part of our problem with the sovereignty of God and
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: election is that we think too much of ourselves. I
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: would say we think too much of mankind, but that's
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: really not the case. I don't think too much of mankind.
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: I just think too much of me. I think more
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: of myself than I do of anyone else. And it's
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: really not a problem for me that God has not
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: explained Himself to you. It's a problem that He hasn't
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: explained Himself to me. Can I get a witness? The
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: problem is I think too much of me. And I
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: think God owes it to me to explain Himself at
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: every step. And even beyond that, I think God owes
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: it to me to explain to my satisfaction at every
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: step what it is that He does. And even beyond that,
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: I think God owes it to me to explain to
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: my satisfaction everything that He does. And if I don't
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: like it, it's incumbent upon Him to fix it so
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: that I do. That's what I think of me. And
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: more correctly, that's how little I think of God. That's
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: what you think of you. And that's how little you
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: think of God. You know, our problem with the doctrine
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: of election is not that Romans 9 is unclear. It's
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: that we think it unkind. Our problem with the doctrine
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: of election is not that Romans 9 is somehow confusing
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: or cloudy. The problem is it's not what you would do.
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: That's our problem. And that is why Paul goes to
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: the heart of the issue in asking, in essence, who
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: do you think you are? You are a man. He
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: is the God of the universe. There is a distance
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: between you that is unfathomable. He is independent and unmade.
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: You are created. God is immutable. And you are ever-changing.
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: God is eternal and you are temporal. God is omnipotent
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: and you are frail and weak. God is omnipresent and
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: you are finite. God is holy and you are sinful
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: and you dare question God. Who do you think you are?
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: The psalmist said, writes in Psalm 115.3, Our God is
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: in the heavens. He does all that He pleases. Again,
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: Psalm 135.6, Whatever the Lord pleases, He does in heaven
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: and on earth, in the seas and all the deeps.
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: So again, who do you think you are? You don't
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: even like this. Some of you are uncomfortable because I
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: keep asking you that question. Because you just think that
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: that's just not the way that someone ought to respond.
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: You just think that maybe it's not pastoral. Maybe it's
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: not godly to get in someone's face and say, who
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: do you think you are when they question God? The
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: only way that that's not godly is if it's not
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: something that God himself would condone or if it's not
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: something that God himself would do. Go to Job 38
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: with me for a moment, please. Job's had some difficulties,
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: shall we say, in his life. He and his friends
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: are trying to figure things out theologically. Job comes to
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: a place where he forgets himself, questions God. And in
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: Job 38, not only in Job 38, but in Job 38,
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: God begins to respond. Let's listen to how this loving
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: God responds to being challenged and questioned by finite man.
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said,
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: Dress for action like a man. I will question you
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: and you make it known to me. Where were you
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know.
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone when the
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: morning stars sang together and all the sons of God
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: shouted for joy? Or who shut in the sea with
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: doors when it burst out from the womb, when it
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: made clouds its garment, and fit darkness its swaddling band,
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: and prescribed limits for it, and set bars and doors,
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: and said, Thus far shall you come, and no further,
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: and here shall your proud waves be stayed. Have you
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: commanded the morning since your days began and caused the
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: dawn to know its place, that it might take hold
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: of the skirts of the earth and the wicked be
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: shaken out of it? It is changed like clay under
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: the sea, and its features stand out like a garment.
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: From the wicked their light is withheld, and their uplifted
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: arm is broken. Have you entered into the springs of
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: the sea and walked in the recesses of the deep?
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: have you seen the gates of deep darkness? Have you
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: comprehended the expanse of the earth? Declare if you know
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: all this. And he continues and continues and continues and continues.
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: And in essence, he looks Job in the face and says,
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: Who do you think you are? I'm God, I answer
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: to no one. And if this answer bothers you, hear
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: me when I say, you think too much of yourself.
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: If this answer bothers you, hear me when I say,
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: you do not reverence and worship the God of the
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: universe the way you ought to. If this answer does
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: not suffice for you, be afraid. Be very afraid. Because
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: you dare challenge the God of the universe and He
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: will not share His glory with another and He will
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: not have His decrees challenged by those who borrow the
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: very breath that they use to speak to Him. He
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: is God and you are not. That's his first response. Secondly,
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: you are creature, not creator. You are creature, not creator.
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: Look as he continues in Romans 9. Will what is
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: molded say to the molder, why have you made me
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: like this? Will what is molded say to the molder,
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: why have you made me like this? God created you.
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: You did not create God. God is not a figment
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: of your imagination. God is the one who created the
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: world and He's the one who created you. So first
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: of all, He's God and you're not. Secondly, He created
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: you and not the other way around. Think about this
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: before you go questioning God. Think about this before you
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: lay charge against God because something doesn't agree with you
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: or doesn't sit right with you. God created you. That
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: means first that you exist for God's purposes. You exist
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: for God's purposes. You do not exist at your own pleasure.
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: You do not exist for your own purposes. Nor do
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: you get to determine the purpose for which you exist.
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: God has determined the purpose for which you exist. And
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: the shorthand answer is, the purpose for which you exist
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: is the glory of God, however He chooses to glorify
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: Himself in and with and through your life. Therefore, you
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: owe God worship and obedience. You owe God worship and obedience.
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: Nothing else makes sense. From the perspective of the creature
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: toward the creator. Is this not the problem that Paul
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: identifies in Romans chapter 1? Look with me at Romans
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: chapter 1 beginning in verse 18. For the wrath of
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: what can be known about God is plain to them,
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes,
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: namely His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: perceived ever since the creation of the world and the
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: For although they knew God, they did not honor Him
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: as God or give thanks to Him. But they became
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: and birds and animals and creeping things. They worshipped the
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: creature rather than the Creator. But note his statement. Claiming
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: to be wise, they became fools I don't like the
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: sovereignty of God my wisdom as a finite created being
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: is not satisfied with the way that God has decided
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: to save some and not save others therefore in my
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: finite created state I will come before God almighty because
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: I deem myself to be wise and I will demand
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: that he answer to me You fool. Thinking yourself to
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: be wise, you have become the epitome of a fool.
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: God is the creator of the universe. Bow down before Him.
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: Worship Him. That is what He deserves. That is what
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: you owe to Him. Obey Him because He made you.
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: You exist for His purposes. Worship God. Obey God. Don't
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: question God. If you do have questions for God, they
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: had better be questions that are designed for you to
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: be better equipped to worship God the way He deserves
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: to be worshipped. Questions like, what would you have me
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: to do, God? How would you have me to worship you,
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: oh God? How may I know you better, God? Those
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: are our questions. Not, here I am God, explain yourself
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: to me so that I can determine whether or not
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: you are worthy of my worship and obedience. That's the
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: wrong answer. Salvation is a gift, not a reward. It's
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: a gift, not a reward. You question God because you
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: think He owes you your salvation. Salvation is a gift.
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: You did not earn it. If Paul has said anything
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: up to this point in the book of Romans, he
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: has said that again and again and again and again
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: and again. You're fallen. You're broken. You're sinful. You're alienated
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: from God. And God has saved you. God has adopted you.
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: God has called you His own. God has wrapped His
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: saving and loving arms around you. And He has pulled
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: you to Himself. And you have the audacity to question Him.
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: It's the height of ingratitude. It's the height of ingratitude.
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: Listen to the attitude of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel chapter 4.
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: Next to Romans chapter 9. If you just want to bathe.
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: In election and predestination, just read Daniel chapter 4 and
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: the salvation of Nebuchadnezzar. God calls his shot long before
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: he takes it. Here's what I'm going to do to you,
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: and then here's what's going to happen afterwards. Here's how
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: long it's going to take. Verses 34 and 35. At
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: the end of the days. What a statement. Which days?
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: The days that God, through Daniel, told Nebuchadnezzar he was
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: going to experience. Seven years. He was going to live
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: as a wild beast. And he did. At the end
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: and my reason returned to me. Notice what he said.
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: My reason returned to me. You think you're so smart.
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: I'll take your mind from you. Do you know who
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: I am? I'll take your reason, which is finite to
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: begin with, for seven years. Then I'll give you your
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: thinking back and we'll see what happens. My reason returned
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: to me and I blessed the Most High and praised
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: and honored Him who lives forever. For His dominion is
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: an everlasting dominion. His kingdom endures from generation to generation.
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing.
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: And He does according to His will among the hosts
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: of heavens and among the inhabitants of the earth. And
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: none can say His hand or say to Him, What
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: have you done? Preach it, Nebuchadnezzar. Again, who do you
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: think you are? Really, who do you think you are?
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: I'm not saying that it's wrong to ask questions. But
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: what kind of question are you asking? And what is
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: your motivation? Thirdly, you're the clay and not the potter.
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: Paul points out that you're the clay and not the potter.
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: Here in Romans 9, back in verse 21, he says,
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: Has the potter no right over the clay? To make
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: and another for dishonorable use? This is not just a
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: great illustration. But this would have been a familiar illustration.
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: Isaiah chapter 29, verses 15 and 16. Ah, you who
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: hide deep from the Lord your counsel. whose deeds are
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: in the dark, and who say, Who sees us? Who
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: knows us? You turn things upside down. Shall the potter
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: say to its maker, He did not make me? Or
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: the thing formed say to him who formed it, He
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: has no understanding? Again, Isaiah 64, 8. But now, O Lord,
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: You are Father. We are the clay. and you are
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: our potter. We are all the work of your hands.
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: And again, in Jeremiah 18, 3-6, So I went down
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: to the potter's house, and there he was working at
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: his wheel, and the vessel he was making of clay
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: to do. Then the word of the Lord came to me,
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: O house of Israel, can I not do with you
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: as this potter has done, declares the Lord? Behold, like
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: my hand, O house of Israel. They remember the prophets.
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: God is the potter and we are the clay. This
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: goes beyond just God has created you. This is God
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: can continue to shape and mold you like the potter
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: can continue to shape and mold the clay. Our attitude
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: toward God is not God made me and then he
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: gave me my life so that I could do with
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: it as I please. No, the idea here is that
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: God not only made you, he is making you. You
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: not only exist because of God, you exist for God.
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: You not only came into being because of God, you
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: continue being because of God. This is the God whom
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: we serve. He is the potter and we are the clay.
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: So what does this mean? He draws these distinctions. Here's
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: what we take from it. Your knowledge is limited to
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: what God has revealed. Your knowledge is limited to what
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: God has revealed. Know that. Be aware of that. That
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: helps keep us in our place. Do you know and
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: understand everything that God has done? No, you don't. Your
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: knowledge is limited to what God has revealed. And even,
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: you can even put a finer point than that. Your
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: knowledge is limited to your ability to comprehend what God
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: has revealed. Amen? You don't even understand all of God's revelation.
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: In fact, you prove that to yourself. Anyone who has
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: read and re-read any portion of the Bible has already
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: proven this to himself. You read the Bible, and then
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: you come back and you read it again, and what happens?
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: You see things that you didn't see the first time.
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: And guess what will happen next year if you read
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: it again? You'll see things that you didn't see this time.
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: And what's that going to remind you of? You do
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: not have complete knowledge, even of what God has already revealed.
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: Your knowledge is limited to what God has revealed, to
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: your ability to comprehend what God has revealed, which is finite,
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: number one, and secondly, dependent upon the illumination of the
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit of God that brings
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: God's truth to your mind. That is why lost people
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: can read this same Bible and miss God altogether. It
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: is the grace of God that allows you to understand.
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: So before you gird up your loins and stand before
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: God and shake your finger in His face because you
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: don't understand Him, remember, you don't understand Him. Your knowledge
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: is limited. Listen to this, Arthur Pink, in The Sovereignty
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: of God. That this branch of the subject of God's
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: sovereignty is profoundly mysterious. We freely allow. Yet that is
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: no reason why we should reject it. The trouble is
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: that nowadays there are so many who receive the testimony
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: of God only so far as they can satisfactorily account
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: for all the reasons and grounds of his conduct. Which
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: means they will accept nothing but that which can be
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: measured in the petty scales of their own limited capacities.
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: And only... going to allow of God that which I
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: in my finite mind can comprehend. And if God dares
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: go beyond my finite mind, He must answer to me.
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: Who do you think you are? Here's what Paul does.
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: He makes this point, and then he illustrates this point.
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: First of all, if you go back to Romans chapter 9,
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: verses 3 through 5, what you see is Paul gives
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: us a brief salvation history. Look at verses 3 through 5.
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: For I can wish that I myself were accursed and
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers,
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: my kinsmen, according to the flesh. Look at verse 4.
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory,
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race,
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: over all, blessed forever. Amen. Paul just gave a brief
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: synopsis of salvation history. Don't miss that, okay? That is
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: just a brief synopsis of the history of Israel, of
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: salvation history. It's great that they have salvation history. Now,
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: Paul goes on in Romans chapter 9 to explain what
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: should have been caught through salvation history, and that is
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: God's sovereignty and election. First, in verses 10 through 13,
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: he goes through the patriarchs. Now, that would be found
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: in Genesis. So the story of Jacob and Esau is
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: in Genesis. So he uses the patriarchs in Genesis in
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: order to explain the doctrine of election. You should have
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: understood the doctrine of election because you know Genesis. Well,
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: then in verses 17 through 18, he points to Pharaoh,
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: whom we find where? In Exodus. Exodus. So he says,
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: you should have known the doctrine of election and salvation
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: and sovereignty of God and salvation through not only Genesis,
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: but also through Exodus. Now, in Romans 9, 24 to 27,
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: he points to the words of Hosea and to the
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: words of Isaiah. So now he says, not only the law,
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: but also the prophets. Did you catch that? Paul's making
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: an argument for the doctrine of election and predestination. And
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: first he says, salvation history of Israel ought to demonstrate
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: that to you. Then he says, Genesis and the patriarchs
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: ought to have proven that for you. Then he says, Exodus.
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: And Pharaoh and the crossing of the Red Sea should
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: have demonstrated that for you. And then he says, also,
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: the clear teaching of the prophets should have demonstrated that
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: for you. In other words, Paul doesn't answer the question.
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: He merely points to the fact that the question has
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: already been answered. Here's the beauty. And this is why
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: it's doubly sad for us. Paul says, you should have
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: known because you read your Old Testament. These people didn't
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: have a New Testament. Now you and I come in,
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: we have the Old Testament and the New Testament. and
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: we still can't figure this thing out because we think
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: too much of ourselves you see it's been said that
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: you know the Old Testament is like a dark room
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: filled with furniture in the New Testament the furniture doesn't
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: move The lights just come on. Amen. And Paul is
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: saying to the people who had nothing but the dark
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: room and all the furniture, you should have been able
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: to figure this out. And yet, you and I, who
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: have all the lights on, are still trying to figure
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: out why the sofa's right there. Not because we don't
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: see the sofa, but because we'd like for it to
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: be somewhere else. Who do you think you are? And so,
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: he goes to these Old Testament passages. This statement here
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: in Hosea. Those who were not my people, I will
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: call my people. And her who was not beloved, I
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: will call beloved. Isn't that great? Paul says... You should
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: have understood and not been surprised that God brought in Gentiles.
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: The very place where it was said to them, you
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: are not my people. There they will be called sons
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: of the living God. Isaiah cries out concerning Israel. Though
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: the number of the sons of Israel be as the
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: be saved. By the way, what is he going back to?
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: His argument earlier on in chapter 9. His whole argument
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: in chapter 9. People are saying, has God forgotten Israel?
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: Isaiah says there's only going to be a remnant of
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: national Israel who's going to be saved. Where have you been?
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: Where have you been? Not everyone who is born of
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: this stock is going to be saved. God has made
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: that clear. God has also made it clear that there's
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: some outsiders who are going to come in. Where have
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: you been? This is not a new teaching. This is
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: not a new message. This is the message of redemptive history.
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: It's not hidden. Therefore, your best and only hope is
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: to repent. And believe what God has revealed. That's your
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: best and only hope. To repent and believe what God
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: has revealed. Yeah, but I don't understand this. Okay. Are
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: you trusting what you do understand? Are you obeying what
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: you do understand? Have you done that? Have you? Or
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: are you so caught up with the finer technicalities that
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: that which is obvious and before your eyes is being neglected?
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: Are you so caught up with the hows and wherefores
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: of election and predestination that your ears have been dulled
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: to repent and believe. Is that the case? Are you
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: so worried about whether or not God has overstepped His
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: bounds that you are no longer fearful before Him because
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: you've overstepped yours? so caught up with the minutia that
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: you miss the neon sign that says bow the knee
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: before God. Do you realize who it is that you're
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: dealing with? Do you realize that this one whom you
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: question is not only sustaining you, but that he's coming
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: again to judge the living and the dead, and that
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: there will be no Q & A time? When he
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: shows up with fire in his eyes and a sword
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: on his thigh, you will ask him nothing. You will
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: merely bow down. And if you have not done business
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: with Him by then, you will merely beg for time
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: that no longer exists for you and for a chance
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: that has passed for you because you did not bow
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: the knee. when the opportunity was yours. Instead, you questioned
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: God because your finite mind didn't like or understand some
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: minor aspect of how He chose to save His people.
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: Who do you think you are? Am I saying there's
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: no place for questions? No, it's not what I'm saying. Look,
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: Paul's not saying that either. He's answered question after question
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: after question. He has explained the doctrine. But at this point,
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: he gets to the heart, not of the question, but
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: of the questioner. What I'm saying to you today, because
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: we've answered this again and again and again. We've answered this.
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: What I'm saying to you today is, Do you keep
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: asking questions because you can't understand that you are a
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: sinner in need of a Savior and that you desperately
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: need to bow the knee and repent? Or are you
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: asking questions because you wonder whether or not this God
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: who saved you is worthy of your worship? Do you
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: have a question because you desire to worship God in
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: the fullness of His majesty and know Him more? Or
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: do you have a question because you think He owes
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: it to you to explain Himself? Do you have a question?
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: Because you're confused. Or do you have a question? Because
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: you're arrogant. Which one is it? Are you one of
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: those people who just likes to sit up and ask
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: theological questions because you like the sound of your own
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: voice asking theological questions? Or are you a worshiper of
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: the one true and living God who is in passionate
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: pursuit of the one whom you love and whom you
• 47:17
  Speaker 1: serve and you want to love Him more deeply and
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: serve Him more passionately? Which one is it? Do you
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: recognize that He is God and you are man? Do
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: you recognize that He is creator and you are creature?
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: Do you recognize that He is potter and you are clay?
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: Are your questions born out of that recognition? Or have
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: you gotten things twisted? Have you forgotten your place? Have
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: you forgotten the fear of God? I don't know about you,
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: I don't want God coming to me like He came
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: to Job. My desire is to always come before God
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: with a bowed head and a humble heart, recognizing who
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: He is and the reverence and the honor that is
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: due to Him, that is owed to Him. Bowing before
• 48:33
  Speaker 1: God and recognizing that He killed His Son for my sin.
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: That changes what you ask God. And it changes the
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: way you ask God. You come before God in humility saying, God,
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: I don't understand how. The spotless, sinless Lamb of God
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: can be crucified for my sin. I do not comprehend
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: how you can love me and save me and redeem
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: me and receive me as your own. I do not
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: understand how you can forsake your only and eternally begotten
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: Son merely so that you can call me yours. son.
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: I don't understand that. Explain it, please. Or do you
• 49:30
  Speaker 1: stand before God whose hands figuratively speaking are red with
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: the blood of His own Son who He has crushed
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: and killed for you and dare ask Him to explain
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: why some are saved and others are not. How dare you?
• 49:55
  Speaker 1: How dare you? Who do you think you are? Who
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: do you think God is? Do you not know that
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: our God is a consuming fire? Do you not know
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: that your righteousness is but filthy rags in His sight?
• 50:23
  Speaker 1: Do you not know that it was His mercy that
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: woke you up this morning because His justice would have
• 50:30
  Speaker 1: demanded your death last night? I'm not saying you can't
• 50:37
  Speaker 1: ask questions. Just don't forget your place in the process.
• 50:44
  Speaker 1: And if you are here today, and you have never
• 50:47
  Speaker 1: bowed the knee to this great God, and yet you
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: think one day you will face Him on your own merit,
• 50:57
  Speaker 1: I ask again, who do you think you are? Yes,
• 51:06
  Speaker 1: His Son had to be crushed and killed for others,
• 51:10
  Speaker 1: but you have enough merit in yourself to stand before Him. No.
• 51:17
  Speaker 1: Run to Christ. Run to Him. Plead for mercy. Beg
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: for forgiveness. Turn from your sin. Stop trusting yourself. Trust
• 51:31
  Speaker 1: only in God. And come with a heart that is
• 51:34
  Speaker 1: all at the same time terrified of the one to
• 51:37
  Speaker 1: whom you are running, but recognizing that He is your
• 51:40
  Speaker 1: only hope. So you press on beyond the fear. He
• 51:52
  Speaker 1: is willing to save. Just come to Him. Not in arrogance,
• 52:02
  Speaker 1: but in humility. But come.