And I invite everyone to open your Bible and turn with me to the book of Romans, chapter 9. Tonight, we are coming to the end of the trilogy on God's purpose of election that we find here in Romans chapter 9, a doctrine that can be hard for us to understand, and a doctrine we found out that has some objections to it. At least Paul anticipates some objections, and he addresses them here in Romans chapter 9. We saw an objection last week in Romans 9:14. If you're able to turn there to Romans 9 with me. And now we'll see another one here in Romans 9:19-23, which will be our text this evening. And I want to take a moment here at the beginning of our sermon to just say hi to a bunch of our brothers and sisters who I know are sick and can't be here tonight. And so, can we give them a round of applause just to encourage them? Hey, we know some of you are watching online right now. We wish you were here. And we hope that you're feeling well enough that you can follow along in Romans 9 with us if you're able to open the Bible. I don't know if you're even able to stand up. But let's all stand for the public reading of God's Word. And let's give this our full and undivided attention. What we are going to learn together tonight is something that is truly awesome. And by that I mean it's not something that you and I could just go figure out over a cup of coffee. But what we are about to realize and have revealed to us are the deep mysteries of God. So please follow along, as I read Romans 9:19-23.
You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—
That's the reading of God's Word. Please go ahead and have your seat. And so, let's just review. Maybe you're just joining us here tonight, maybe you've been here the last two weeks, but go back to Romans 9:11, because we've been going through Romans 9 together, and that's how we like to do it is we'd like to go through a book of the Bible. We're going through Romans, and just keep picking it up at the next verse and Romans 9:9-11. It said, that in order that you could see it there in between the dashes, in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works, but because of him who calls. So, we're learning that God has chosen to set his love on his people, not because of anything his people have done, not because of where they were, where they were born, as Jews in the context here are not because of any good works that they've done. But just because that's who God is, that God sets his love on his people. And then it says this in Romans 9:13, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” And that kind of brings up the whole challenge of the doctrine of Election, which is, well, if God's choosing to love Jacob, well, what about Esau? What about that? And so, we've been addressing that concern that people have like that objection, you can see in Romans 9:14, well, I'm not sure that's right. “And then what shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part?” Is God unrighteous by just choosing Jacob and not Esau? And we saw the answer, “by no means.” But look back by the time we got to verse 18, it said that God's going to have mercy on whoever he wills, and God is going to harden whoever he wills. And then we're right back to the same problem all over again, where it's like, hey, wait a minute, why is he having mercy on some, and hardening some? And we found out that hardening doesn't mean people were soft, and then God made them hard, but that people were already hard in their sin. And they got even more hard, that was the idea there. But still, there could be an objection and maybe you're feeling this objection. Maybe not. But look where it goes right into Romans 9:19. And we get a second objection here. And it says, you will say to me, then why does he still find fault, for who can resist his will? If it's up to God? If it's really God choosing, and he can give mercy or he can harden? Well, if we're not going to accuse God of being unrighteous, well, then the question here is really, well, how can God accuse us of being unrighteous? How can God find fault with us or judge us when it's he's the one who's doing the choosing. That's the objection. Now, I just want to make this point, the fact that we got the purpose of election in verse 11. And then we got an objection in verse 14. And now we're getting another objection that we're going to address in verse 19. The two objections prove that this doctrine of Election can be a challenging doctrine for people to grasp. So, if you're having a hard time understanding how this works out with God choosing, you are not alone in feeling that way. In fact, I think the two objections actually prove that this is about God choosing because people are objecting to it. If it was saying, hey, don't worry, you're still in control, you still choose whatever you want. Well, then I don't know if we'd be going through a second round of objections if that's what it was saying. And so there is an objection to this doctrine. And Paul's a master teacher of the gospel. Paul has taught this probably in many cities at this point before he's now writing down his teaching, because he's not sure when he's going to make it to Rome. And because he hasn't gone to Rome and taught there, he writes down the teaching and sends it to them there. And so, he's already anticipating, yeah, when I bring up Election there's always objections. And he's starting to address them. And I just need everybody well, I'm just hoping you can really hear what Paul says at this point. Because after that question in verse 19, who can resist his will? How can he say we're not righteous if he's choosing? Look at Romans 9:20 with me. “But who are you, O man, to answer back to God?
See, there's a shift that needs to change, a shift that needs to happen in our thinking. Maybe our perspective needs to change here tonight. It's almost like what Paul's bringing up here is, hey, let me just put you back in your place. Like, let's just remember, who are you, and then I love the way he says, well, let's just remember who you are. And then it's like, O man, like guy who came from the dust. Right? Grasshopper. If you've seen the graphic behind me, right, like, well, wait a minute, you're going to start asking questions about what God's doing. Huh? Who are you? Like, I just think, you know, I don't know if anybody else feels this way. But I might have some problems with how America is being run right now. I don't know if anybody else can relate. Can you imagine if I just got on a plane flight, went to Washington, DC, Uber it up to the White House and said, hey, Joe, I want to talk to you. Because I think that I could tell you. See, it's just not my place. It's not my place, I don't have the authority to go in there and even tell our President that we elected to how he should do his job, if we can't even tell people how to do their job. How many people are telling God how to do his job? How many people are speaking to God like they would have a better idea of how God could use his authority? Who were you to go? And notice here in Romans 9:21. It says it “Who are you, O man to answer back? This is like, okay, well, you had a question. We gave you an answer. Now you're answering back. Now you're just kind of like saying, hey, I don't like this. I don't think this is right. And no, let's just check your heart. Let's just look at your own position here. should you really be thinking those kinds of thoughts and speaking that way, to the one who has all authority in heaven and on earth? In fact, if you look at Romans 9:21, it says, “Has the potter no right over the clay,“ or the word there is literally authority? He doesn't. The potter and this might you really might not like this analogy that the Scripture uses. Hey, back in ceramics where the Potter is working with the clay and he's molding and he's fashioning the material there. Well, doesn't the potter have the authority to mold the clay however he wants? Doesn't God, who by the way, made you, doesn't God have authority over you?
There are some passages in the Bible that when I read them, when I study them, when I've heard them preached in my life, there's this thing that happens to me that I feel like is kind of a lost art in the United States of America these days. It's called humility. And I start to actually see life for how it is, that the universe is really all about God. And I just a very small part to play in what's really going on. And there's something so good about getting put in your place. If you've been blessed with children at some point, those children have tried a mutiny on the ship of your family. Am I right about that? And at some point, and maybe the other dads want to say Amen, you had to let them know who the head of the house was. See, and that was a good thing to do, to show them that God had put you there as the authority in their life. We need to get put in our place here tonight. And I want to take you to some passages that I have found to be very helpful when answering the question, “who are you, O man?” because some of this is just the hubris that we think we should be able to figure God out. If you're thinking like that, turn with me to job 38. I just want to take you to three different passages in the Hebrew Bible. We'll start in the book of Job and if you've read through job before, it turns into a very long conversation with Job and his friends and Job's friends turn out to be accusers. Assuming that because bad things have happened to Job, Job did something bad, and Job's like defending himself from these guys, and Job didn't actually do something bad. But then God speaks all the way in Job 38. Then YHWH, then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind. And then now God's going to speak out of the whirlwind. And he said, “Who is this that darkens counsel by words, without knowledge?” Hey, you guys don't even know what you're talking about? “Dress for action, like a man. I will question you and you make it known to me.” Here's God now going to address these guys who think they have life figured out, and are telling Jobe how it is. And even at this point, Job's expressing his frustration. And so, here's what God has to say to these men, Job 38:4, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?” I mean, you want to talk about one of the biggest flex statements of all time, right? Oh, you want to talk to me about how I'm running the universe. Okay, let's go back to the beginning. “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding. Who determines its measurements? Surely, you know, or who stretched the line upon it; on what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone when the morning stars sang together? And all the sons of God shouted for joy.” Remember that? No, no, you don't remember that. You didn't even know that happened until you just read it right there. And you were like, whoa, that sounds cool. Right? See, I mean, this is the idea of, we need to get put in our place. And you could read here he goes on for the whole chapter. And one of the things you'll notice, when in some of these chapters, I'm going to turn you to right now, like God, when he speaks in these chapters, he has an edge to what he's saying, like, God doesn't like it, when the people he made out of dust, or out of a rib, when they start telling him, like, here's how you should be doing it, God ,because the way you're doing it is not right. And you're not right to even judge me. If you start talking to God with that kind of presumption, look at how God then speaks like, oh, you know how I should be doing my job. Like listen to the edge in God's voice. And in fact, it goes on not just for chapter 38 and chapter 39, I love chapter 39:1, “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?” I had to think about that for a little bit. And the answer was, I have no clue. Right? And so, then in chapter 40, it says, “YHWH said to Job, shall a fault-finder contend with the Almighty?” He who argues with God. Oh, you want to argue with me? Let him answer it. And you can see Job's already starting to get put in his place here. He's already starting to feel this humility, and Job saying, “Now behold, I am of small account, what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth. I have spoken once and I will not answer twice, but I will proceed no further.” And God's going, okay, well good, because here comes round two, verse 6, “Then YHWH, or the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, “dress for action like a man. I will question you and you make it known to me. Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right? Have you an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice?” Like, who are you, O man? That's what God's saying right here. And I think when Paul even asked that question, like, it just makes you think of God speaking to Job and the other guys, and I love… look at Job 41:1, “Can you draw out Leviathan with a fish hook?” Let's talk about the great sea creatures of the deep that I created, like God has to use even a physical created being like some kind of a megalodon shark, or some kind of huge squid or whatever this Leviathan creature exactly is. Like God has to compare even to just one of the beast that he has made for us to even have a picture of something that's so much bigger than us. Because God's like, let me just take you down to one of the things I made. Could you even tell that creature what to do?
And so, by the time you get to Job 42, “Then Job answered the Lord and said: “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. ‘Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you make it known to me.’ I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” So, here's a guy who's having his eyes opened to see God and then, see, humility is when you actually do have a high view of God, then you get an accurate view of yourself. And you see yourself from God's perspective.
Go over to Isaiah 40. Let's go to another chapter that's really helped me think about myself in a right way in relationship to God. And this is the first thing that came to my mind when there was that question, “Who are you, O man?” I thought of Isaiah, chapter 40. When it's asking all these who questions and they really take over in Isaiah 40:12, after it says, “Behold, our God, look at God have the eyes of your heart open to see who God is,” well, let's start thinking about this, “who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand?” like taking all the waters of planet earth, like if you're thirsty, and you might go to the sink, if you don't have a cup, or anything, and you cup, make a little cup with your hand and you bring the water up to your mouth, the idea of God holding the waters of the earth in the hollow of his hand, that's a picture that's meant to get in our minds and make God seem great and awesome and make us seem very small.
I had the privilege of going to Tokyo for the first time this year. It's a ten-hour flight to get to Tokyo from here, and it's mostly over the Pacific Ocean, takes me ten hours of turbulence, God's just scooping it up in the hollow of his hand. See, that's perspective. “He marked off the heavens with the span, he enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure, and he weighed the mountains and scales and the hills in a balance, who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or what man shows him count his counsel?” I love this, this thing that comes up is like, well, who's God asking for wisdom? Who's God asking for help to figure out the tough things of life? Answer, not you, right? And it keeps going down. There are so many different questions that are asked here to kind of humble us. And look down at Isaiah 40:21. “Do you not know, do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers.” See, if you want to actually start making comparisons of who we are to God, we start getting images like grasshoppers, like bugs, like things that go underneath our shoe, we start getting very low examples. And then we get this whole pottery example. So, this goes for chapters in Job. It goes for chapters here in the Isaiah 40s. I mean, if you've got some time, you could just go read these chapters, and it would help you to see God for who he is. And then to see yourself from God's perspective.
But go to Jeremiah 18, just one book of the Bible over to the right, because this is the analogy that is given to us in our text. And it's an analogy that may even bother you when you first hear it because it's talking about like nonliving objects like clay, like things means that things that just become things in your house. And it's saying here that the potter, he gets to decide what he makes, he gets to decide what he fashions and forms, and the potter, he might make this beautiful thing. And then the potter might make a toilet seat. That's the idea, something for honorable use, and then something for dishonorable use. And, and so in Jeremiah 18, God really wants to paint this picture. So just look at what happens here in Jeremiah 18. “The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words.” So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.” So, something went wrong with this vessel that he is making out of the clay. And so, he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. So the clay has a problem with it? And so, the potter has to refashion it, remake that vessel into something else. And after Jeremiah sees that, and see God, it's like God knows he has to give us physical pictures, because he's so awesome. We can't even grasp who God is in spirit. And so, he gives us a picture like this. “Then the word of the Lord came to me.” Look at Verse 6, “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.”
Let's get that down. If you're taking notes, let's get that down for point number one: “You want to see yourself from the potters perspective.” See yourself from the potters perspective. God is speaking to all of us who are willing to listen here tonight. And he's saying, who do you think you are, man. And when you hear man, you got to think that the one that God formed from the dust, and after we die, guess what everybody to dust we will return, dust that God has breathed life into dust, that God has put a soul into, that's all we are, we are made in the image of God, we are souls and this body that we're living in right now. It's just dust. I mean, it's compared here to a vessel, a vessel, a jar of clay. And just like the potter, he fashions that clay into whatever he thinks it needs to be, so God does with you, O Israel. Or now he's saying in Romans 9, hey, “Who are you, O man? You're just a piece of clay. You're just a vessel, and the potter can do whatever he wants with you. Do you embrace that about yourself? I mean, this is the real question. The real question is not just about trying to figure out how does God's election work? Or how does God choose? And what about the people that God doesn't choose? And all those questions that we're thinking about. No, there's a real question of perspective. And it's where do you see yourself? Because if you're seeing yourself as somebody big, as somebody important, as somebody with wisdom and understanding, well, maybe you need to remember who you really are. And maybe you need to seek God's wisdom and God's power. And where are you in perspective to that, O grasshopper? Where are you in perspective to that, O vessel, O jar of clay? And so, it goes on here. And look at what it goes on to say. I think Jeremiah 18 is so fascinating. Look what he says in verse 7, and we're talking here about nations that exist on planet earth. And it says, “If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it.” Here's God saying, I'm going to judge that nation. If that nation concerning which I have spoken turns from its evil, then I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. But if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will build and plant and then it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. “Now therefore, say to the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, thus says YHWH, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you return everyone from his evil way and a man your ways and your deeds. So, here's God's saying that he can fashion even the nation's even the United States of America. It's not run by a congress. It's not run by the executive branch. It's not run by the Supreme Court. The United States of America can be fashioned any way that God wants to fashion it. In fact, that's what our first president said, our first President, in his inaugural address, George Washington, he said, “The only way it even makes sense that there's the United States of America is by the divine hand of Providence.” He wasn't even a believer in Jesus Christ, and he was giving glory to God for the United States of America. So, God's saying, I can do whatever I want with the nations. And if the nations are evil, I'll come and fashion them for judgment. But then if they turn from that evil, I can then relent of my judgment. I'm the potter, you're just the vessels. That's what the scripture wants to say to you, as you come to church here tonight, that God can do whatever he wants with you. And you need to ask yourself, well, who am I? “Who are you, O man?” We need to be put into perspective that he is the potter and we are the clay Does anybody want to give an amen to being a vessel of clay here tonight? Because that's what it's saying.
And so, with that kind of hopeful humility, let's go back now to Romans chapter 9. And let's get into the content, the thought of what he says about God's purpose of election, because we don't get to answer back to God, we don't get to question God, we don't have the authority that God has over us. And see, some of us are thinking we're not like some object, that this vessel is something I buy, like a nice vase or a piece of pottery or something, and I buy it, and I turn it upside down. And it says, made in wherever. See, I think you and I, we don't think we have a made in wherever on us. But we do. We have a “Made by God.” Every single one of us made by the on the throne of heaven, fashioned and formed from our mother's womb. That's what every single one of us has. Somebody made us. And we need to humble ourselves before our maker. When people on planet earth who can say whatever they want these days, on their cell phones and social media, and people just talking so arrogantly against God all the time, when people actually meet our maker, they will be silenced before him. No one will answer back to God when they stand before him. And so, who are you, O man? You will, what is molded, say to the molder? Why did you make me like this? Like, just make sure as we talk about the doctrine of Election here at our church, let's not get it twisted. God is in charge. God sits in the heavens, God does whatever he wants, and God can do whatever he wants with your life. He made you, he has authority over you, he is your God, you don't get to make him your God. He's God, and he made you to be one of his vessels. And we need to embrace that humility.
Humility is not how so many people make it out to be in the church these days, I'm just going to think lowly of myself. Humility is when you think rightly and highly about God, and then you are lowly before him. That's what humility really is. It's a high and right view of God. And then seeing yourself from the potter’s perspective. And then it says this in Romans 9, and it continues into verse 21. “Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?” The answer to that is he does have authority over the clay. And he can make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use, and another for dishonorable use. Like, yes, some of these vessels, they can be used for glorious purposes. And some of these vessels might be used for purposes that end up getting discarded and thrown away. And guess what the potter, he can do that with the clay, he can make the clay any kind of vessel he wants. And then it begins to describe now. So, vessel becomes a key word. It kind of takes this pottery, in the clay analogy, and then it starts talking about vessels. And in fact, let's get back to the two type of things we're talking about here. The vessels verse 22, what if, hey, let's just try to think this through a little bit. What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power has endured with much patience, vessels of wrath, prepared for destruction? And then, in order, the contrast here now similar but radically different, “in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory.” So, when we go from vessels of honorable use to dishonorable use, well, it's now going to get more specific. There are vessels that will end up experiencing the wrath or the judgment of God. And then there are vessels that will experience the mercy of God and will be brought into his glory forevermore. And if God is the potter, and we are the clay, can't he make us whatever kind of vessels he wants us to be? Well, the answer to that is, yes. But look at how it actually says it. And, and I don't think we have paid close enough attention to the actual language in these two verses. What I find from talking to people, is a lot of people are just like, well, it seems like he's making people for wrath, and he's making people for mercy. And I don't like that. I hear a lot of people can even talk about this, because so many people are just right away, they see those two options, and they're like, I'm out. Can you just look at what it actually says in verse 22? “What if God, desiring to show His wrath, and to make known his power?” Now, underline this everybody, “endured with much patience,” vessels of wrath, prepared for destruction? Hey, now, I just want you to underline, circle, maybe even here on the handout, could you underline where it says, “endured with much patience?”
So, God is bearing with people who are sinning against him, people who are hardening their hearts against him, people who are saying, I don't believe you made me, I believe I can do whatever I want with my life. God's not the boss of my life. I'm in charge of my own life. God is enduring all of that that's happening all around us. Every day, God would be righteous to judge everybody who's saying those kinds of things right here right now. But you know what he's doing. Instead, he's enduring, he's bearing with, and he's being patient. God is being very long-suffering. And people don't just like, hey, I hate you, God. And then he strikes them down. No, they hate him for a long time. Some people are hating him, and speaking against him and cursing him and taking his name in vain. And they are doing that for years. And God is enduring them with much patience. So, I want you to see that the vessels of wrath are prepared for destruction, but in real time is how it describes it. And even I don't like how it says “prepared” in verse 22. And then it says, “prepared beforehand” in verse 23, because it's not the same Greek word there. And sometimes I think that's very confusing when we're using different Greek words, but then we use the same English word. So, the word here translated “prepared” next to vessels of wrath is more like restored, fitted, made perfect, formed into. So it's like, yeah, the vessels of wrath. It's like the potter's there with the clay. And then something goes wrong with that piece of clay. And so now the Potter is going to refashion that clay to dishonorable use, same picture we saw in Jeremiah 18. It's like these vessels of wrath, guess what? They're the ones doing the sin they're going to be judged for. And God is enduring with much patience. And as they sin, guess what? They're storing up for themselves, wrath on the day of judgment.

And so, like, be careful before you start saying, well, God's doing something wrong, or who is God to say, we're doing something wrong? No, no, no, people are doing all bunch of wrong. And that's who the vessels of wrath really are. Go back with me to Romans 2:4-5. Let's just review what we already learned about this. We already learned this, that people are hardening their hearts against God and storing up wrath for themselves. And God is being patient with them. While that's happening, that's what the vessels of wrath is all about. So, look what it says in Romans chapter 2. Look at verse 5. Here's a good summary statement of how this all works. But because of your hard and impenitent heart, your heart is hard against God and you are not sorry about it. You are not penitent and there's no contrition because of your heart and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be what everybody revealed. Okay, so this idea Well, well, you can't blame people because why didn't God come and save them? Why didn't God elect them or set his love upon them? No, you can't blame people. No, no, no, that is not what it says. People are hard in their hearts, they are against God, they are not sorry about what they're doing. And they're going to get the wrath that they have stored up for themselves, they're going to be judged based on what they have done.
So, this is where it gets really hard for us to understand. Because yes, God is sovereign, he is the potter, he can do whatever he wants with the clay. But somehow God is exercising absolute sovereignty. And there is still at the same time, human responsibility. God is choosing to set his love on his people. And at the same time, people will be held responsible for their own actions. Well, how does that all work? How could God choose? And how could people be judged according to what they've done? How does that all go together?
Well, that's point number two, everybody, if you could get this down, it's called an antinomy: “Embrace the antinomy between God's sovereignty and your responsibility.” Embrace the antinomy that's here. There are two things, two things that could be true at the same time, and we're trying to be like, well, how does it all work? Well, really, they are both true. They are both laws. So, I kind of put down up here, the breakdown of this word antinomy, it actually comes from the Greek and the prefix here “anti” it means things that are against one another, things that are opposite one another. And “nomy” is just short for “nomos,” for a law. So, you have two laws that seem to oppose one another, two laws that seem to be against one another. And yet somehow, both of these laws are true, laws that God is the one who has mercy on whoever he wants, and harden whoever he wants. And people they get wrath only that they deserve because they're responsible for their own actions. And you say, well, I want to figure it out. I want to reconcile that. I want to make that all make sense. No, no, no, grasshopper. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no jar of clay, no, no, no vessel, you're not going to figure out how God's operating his universe. So, it's going to seem like people used to ask Charles Spurgeon about this. And he's always good for a great quote, Charles Spurgeon was a great preacher. And people would ask him, how do you reconcile the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man? And he's like, I don't need to reconcile them. They're already friends. I don't need to have to figure this out. God is in heaven, and he's doing whatever he wants. And when somebody gets wrath, they will get that wrath after God has endured them with much patience. And they are getting the wrath according to what they deserve. The wrath that has been stored up based on their own sin against God. And you say, well, but if God's in charge, and people are also doing their own thing, like how, yeah, that's an intended me. And if you want to really learn good ways to think about God, you're going to find a lot of what I call beautiful antinomies. Throughout the Scripture, there are going to be things that God is doing, and then things that we’re called to do. And it's like, well, how does that all go together? And it's like, yeah, stop trying to figure that out. Because usually people who try to figure that out, end up a heretic, or they end up weighing on one side, or way, on the other side. These things are held in tension. But it's not the kind of tension that needs to be resolved. It's actually just this mysterious thing about God that we can't fully grasp. That's what an antinomy is. And if you can, if you can see that, if you can embrace that, that's going to help you realize that God's ways are higher than our ways. And there's going to be certain mystery about how God operates. And I'm going to decide that I'm going to think based on what God says in his Word, and I'm not going to try to make it make sense to me, because I'm going to trust what God says. That's the idea of antinomy. And so here in Romans 2:5, it said it very clear, people will get wrath because of the hardness of their own heart. But go back one verse to Romans 2:4, because here's where it brings up the patience. Look at what it says, in fact, go back to even verse 3, let's get it because this was another old man passage way back in Romans chapter 2. “Do you suppose O man,” hey, just remember who you are. Put yourself in that right humble frame of mind, you who judge those you're judging other people who are evil, you who judge those who practice such things, and yet look at you as a hypocrite, you judge others for things you do yourself? Do you suppose that you will escape the judgment of God? Here's a question, or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and what his patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to what everybody? Repentance. See, this is how it works. People are sinning against God; people are doing whatever they want. They're acting like I can live my life any way I please. And then What is God doing? He's long-suffering with them. God's being patient with them. And I'm looking at a whole room full of people that have experienced the patience of God. In fact, that's one of the regular conversations I have with some of you. And I'm seeing people in the room here who are really glad that Jesus didn't come back in 2019, because they got saved from 2020 to today, right? I mean, we got people that I know, people at this church, they're in their 60s, 70s before they get saved, I know people who've lived 40 years, 50 years, and they're like, man, when I look back on all those years of my life, God suffered long with me. Can I get an amen from anybody on this?
So, this idea of like, well, I don't know about God hardening people. Well, yeah, people are hardening themselves at the same time. In fact, those people they're going against God, and what is God being to them? Patient, long-suffering? How many people have taken God's name in vain so many times, they can't even keep track of it anymore. It's automatic. Now they don't even realize when they're doing it at this point. And what is God doing? He's being patient with them, so that they could reach repentance, so that his kindness, his forbearance, his long-suffering, so that they could turn from their sin. And if you turn from your sin, if you repent, then guess what? God relents of his judgment. In fact, everybody who repents and believes in the gospel, not one of them will be judged; every single one of them will be saved. So, before we start saying, God's doing something wrong, no, no, we're doing a whole lot of things wrong. We're doing so many things wrong. We're even losing perspective on how wrong we are. Because God has been so patient, we're now presuming on the riches of his kindness. And we're now thinking we deserve to be treated away. No, no, no, we deserve judgment for our sin. And God is enduring with much patience. So yeah, man, that person is going to be judged. Yeah. Just remember, they're going to be judged because of their human responsibility. They're going to be judged according to what they have done. So, if you're going to try to say, I blame God, God's not right to judge that person. No, God is right to judge that person, because that person has done things that are not right before a holy God.
And that's how it works. There's divine sovereignty and human responsibility. And you're like, well, but how does it all intersect? Yeah, that's the mystery. And you need to embrace that antinomy, you need to see that both of these things are true. God is choosing to give mercy or to harden. And you can also walk up to any single person, and you can tell them that if they repent and believe in the gospel, they will be saved. And this person over here may be hardening their heart, but you can pray for them to be saved. And guess what? God might save them out of that hard heart. See? And you're like, how does it all work? But no, no, no, grasshopper, these are the things of God. And we've got to take them as they are revealed to us. And when you start to see the antinomies of God throughout the Scripture, things that seem like they should oppose one another, but actually, they work together in this beautiful way that will open your eyes to the glory of God.
Go back to Romans 9 now and let me show you that that's really what this is all about. Okay, so let me just show you two things from Romans 9:23 here tonight. The first one is I want you to see the difference in the language with the vessels of mercy, the vessels of the mercy, they're going to get to see the glory. Okay. And they have been actively prepared beforehand. So, the preparation that's happening to the vessels of wrath is this passive preparation, as God is enduring with much patience, their sin, they're being fitted for wrath and destruction, but the people who are going to get mercy. See God has done something active, and God has done something to prepare the vessels of mercy, and God has prepared them beforehand is what it wants to say. And so, if you're a vessel of mercy, and we've got some vessels of mercy here at church tonight, praise the Lord. If you're a vessel of mercy will just like the vessel of wrath, they will take the blame when they get judged, they will get judged because they did it, they will get judged according to what they have done. But if you're a vessel of mercy and you get to glory, you're not going to take any of the credit for being there in glory. You're going to give all of that credit to God, because that's not what you deserve is glory. In fact, the only reason you're there in participating in glory is because he did something to prepare you beforehand. See, so people get the blame for being a vessel of wrath and hardening their own hearts, but vessels of mercy, they don't get any of the credit, all the glory goes to God. Okay?
So, this idea of prepared beforehand, go to Ephesians 2. This is the only other passage that uses this same word “have prepared beforehand.” In Ephesians 2:1-10. In Ephesians 2:1-10 may be one of the greatest descriptions of our salvation, and all of the scripture and it makes everything we're saying here, very clear. If you start in Ephesians chapter 2, verse 1, it says, “You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the courts of the world, following the prints of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and mind. And we were by nature children have… What does it say there, everybody? We, everybody, deserves to be a vessel of wrath. That's how we were born. We were by nature, children, earth, like the rest of mankind, like “Who are you, O man? See, and then it says these beautiful words right here in verse 4. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, by grace, you have been saved.” And He raised us up with him. And he seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages, he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace, you have been saved through faith, and it's not your own doing, it's the gift of God. It's not a result of works so that no one may boast. For, we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God, what does it say there everybody? “Prepared beforehand,” that we should now go walk in there. See, no, you, we all deserve wrath. That's how we were all children have that by nature, like the rest of mankind.
But let me tell you a different story. A story of God. See a God who's rich in mercy, a God who's got a great love beyond with, there's even human reckoning, a God who's got to love that even in the coming ages will be we won't get to the end of the measure of this love of God and his grace and his mercy. So, this, I think, takes it even deeper, not only to God, “prepare beforehand,” that he would fashion you to be a vessel of mercy. But God, he had this whole plan of what he was going to do in Christ Jesus, Jesus was always the plan, and he had you in Christ. And so, he's now created, you knew he's now fashioned and formed you to be a vessel of mercy. And he's prepared beforehand, he's got something for you to do with your life. He's got some good works. He has a purpose for you on this planet, and you need to go and you need to live out this purpose that God has fashioned you for, because he prepared beforehand something for you to do as a vessel of mercy. And we have this treasure in jars of clay that when we do the thing that God made us to do, the glory will belong to him and not us. Because if it weren't for his grace, and if he didn't give me mercy, I wouldn't be doing anything good with my life on a Saturday night. Anybody want to say amen to that here tonight?
See, that’s just the pompousness that we have to act like God, I don't think you're doing something right here with this whole thing. You don't want what is right. You don't want what you deserve. You don't want God to give everybody what is fair. You want to praise God for his glorious grace. And you want to be like, wow, I'm just so thankful that the potter gave his mercy to somebody like me, and the fact that he would make that an active choice. The fact, that he would prepare me beforehand, the fact that God wanted to make me one of his people, so I could bring glory to his name so I could do something that he had me to do. My life, like, I'm actually going to do something on planet earth that will echo for all of eternity, because God prepared beforehand for me to do it.
When I was growing up, my grandma had this garden at her house, and it had these stones throughout the garden. And when I was a boy, it was like, I had to kind of jump from one stone to the next stone to the next stone. And that picture comes to my mind every time I read Ephesians 2:10, that God's got like a beautiful path before my feet, God's got this step of obedience and this step of obedience, and then you're going to meet so and so. And you're going to go to Huntington Beach, and you're going to share the gospel with that person, and then this person's going to listen to this podcast, and then they're going to tell their relative, and then their relative is going to pass it on to so and so. And then, they're going to come to church on that one day when you're talking about this. And then that's when God is going to open their eyes and save them. And you just keep going to all these things, because that's what God decided you were going to do. And here we are trying to act like, hey, everybody looked at me, I did something, all you did was what was prepared beforehand. And you're just a vessel of mercy, being shaped by the potter, that's who you are. So, we just have to all buy in here tonight, that we think too highly of ourselves and not highly enough of God and his mercy. And every good thing I've ever done was already prepared before I ever did it. And so, he gets all the glory. And I don't want the credit of what I would deserve because I can remember things that I did. And I don't want to face the consequences of those things. So, you've been prepared beforehand, as a vessel of mercy.
Go back to Romans chapter 9. And you can see there the wow, he's enduring the vessels of wrath, but he's proactively preparing before they're even doing anything, the vessels of mercy. So yes, there are these two options of wrath or mercy, of being hard and or receiving grace. But notice how they get prepared by the potter seems really different. It seems like wow, the people are getting what they deserve in one case. And then wow, look at how awesome God is to the vessels of mercy. And, here's what you need to see. And I'm so glad that God allowed our church to go through three weeks of his purpose of Election in December of 2023. I'm glad we got to do this three weeks in a row, because I'm hoping that at this point, some of us at least, we can get past this question of well, why is there “Jacob I loved and Esau I hated?” Or why do some get mercy and some get hardened? And that's not really even the point of the purpose of election. Look at verses 22 and 23. And circle this. That is actually the point here. What if God, desiring to show his wrath and then underline this circle this “and to make known his power.” And then look at verse 23, “in order to make known the riches of his glory.” See, in our pride, we even think that election is about what happens to us, when election is about God making known how awesome he is. That's the purpose of election. You’ve got to stop seeing it from our perspective. And you’ve got to try to get a glimpse of it from the heavenly throne, you’ve got to try to see it from what God is saying that God is a God who is absolutely just, he is hundred percent righteous. God is holy in a way. And that is other than us, that we can't even get our minds around absolute sinlessness and perfection. That's who God is. And God wants to show you who he is. God wants to be known by his creation. So yeah, there's wrath. There's justice. There's judgment because God never compromises. Not once does he compromise. God always thinks, says, and does what is right, and that is so foreign to planet earth. But that's who he is. And he needs to make that known. He needs his glory to be shown. He wants you to get to see who he is. And so that's why there's wrath. That's why there's judgment because there is an absolute standard of perfection. And it's glorious, and it's beautiful. And it's radiant, and when you see it, you will fall on your face and be overwhelmed, like nothing you have ever experienced. And so, he's making known himself. And then against, you're like, well, that's intense. I don't know. It's pretty harsh, this wrath and this judgment will against the backdrop of that wrath. Then judgment, there emerges these brilliant colors of YHWH. And guess what? Everybody deserves that wrath. Everybody's a child of that, by nature. Everybody should get judged, like the rest of mankind. “Who are you, O man?” Some dust bucket who deserves to get judged. That's who you are. But guess what? Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be what? Guess what? He sent his one and only Son to seek and save last sinners, like you. And so yeah, that perfect standard. Jesus fulfilled it perfectly. And so now everyone who believes in Jesus, they don't get what they deserve in that judgment, they get goodness, they get the spiritual blessings of the heavenly places. The storehouses of glory are so full, we'll never get to the end of them all. Not only are you never going to get what you deserve, but you're going to get the glory that Jesus had with the father from all of eternity, and you will share in glory, because God wants to make known his love for you. See, unless there were enemies of God, and unless those enemies could be forgiven, we would never know what love was. And everybody loves love. Everybody wants people to love them. Everybody wants to be in love with somebody else. Everybody wants to be treated with kindness, and everybody wants to experience goodness, well, this is how it works. Because God wants to show you his love. But that means he's saving you out of death. See, God wants to show you mercy, and he won't judge you according to your sin. He won't give you the wrath that you deserve. But see, there is wrath. That's how he makes known to you his mercy. Take the things we love the most. The love of God, the grace of God, the mercy of God, they would not exist without evil without sin, without the wrath of God and the judgment of God. And this is not about what happens to us. This is about God making himself known. That is the purpose here. And I hope that at this point, maybe we could get past “what are the two options?” And how does it all work? And we could see, wow, someday, a vessel like me, will be in unlimited, unending glory of God. And I will see God for all that he is, and I will worship. That is the purpose, the purpose of life.
Let's get this down for number three: “Don't miss the main point of God making himself known.” God is trying to reveal himself. He's trying to show his glory. And he's doing it here. Everyone's going to see his glory. You will see his power in his wrath and judgment, or you will see his mercy in his glorious salvation and grace, but God is going to show his glory to everyone that he has created. Because the purpose is God's glory, not us. The purpose is God making himself known. And our God is so glorious, and so merciful, he wants to include us in his glory, praise God. That's what this is about. And I'm concerned that we might be so kind of looking at well, how's this going to play out for me? Or how's this going to play out for this person that I care about? Well, I hope God is someone you care about. And I hope you can see how it's going to play out for him. Because every knee is going to bow. Those who are with him in Heaven, those who are on the earth, and even those who are under the earth. Yes, every single tongue, no matter where they are, is going to confess, oh, you know what, Jesus, he's the boss. And who was I to ever think I was in charge of anything, when Jesus is in charge of everything? It's about his glory, and he's going to get it. Everyone's going to give it to him. Every eye is going to see it. And when Jesus comes, it says the world they're going to weep and mourn because they're going to know right away when they see Jesus. Oh, I should have bowed the knee a long time ago. I should have believed a long time ago. I should have made the confession a long time ago. Because he will make his glory known. And I’ve got to ask you a personal question. Are you zealous for God's glory? I mean, do you have like a passion that you want more people to know God? Because, honestly, a lot of Christians these days, they act like well, I'm going to believe it, but I don't need to share it with anybody else. Does that even make sense? Is the goal for everybody to know the glory of God? What when Jesus taught us to pray? What's the first thing we're supposed to pray? “Our Father in heaven,” what? Hallowed be your name? May your name be set apart, may your name be holy, May your name be lifted so high that everybody sees who you are, make yourself known to everyone let your glory shine for all to see, this is the purpose. And so is there a zeal like you have more people need to know who God is more of my family needs to know who God is? I have more of my neighbors need to know who God is. I want people to see his glory and his mercy. God's making himself known someday in the knowledge of who God is, is going to cover the earth as the waters cover the sea, and I want more people to know who God is this Christmas? Is that what you're thinking?
Turn with me to Luke chapter 2. Look what it says here. In Luke chapter 2. Let's just go straight to it. The Christmas Story, we're going to get more to it in the week to come. Luke chapter 2 though, it uses the same word. So here in the Greek, this verb to make known, God is going to make himself known to the vessels of wrath, God's going to make himself known to the vessels of mercy. And you know what God did on that Christmas, he made himself known to some shepherds who were out in the field keeping watch over their flock by night. And in Luke 2:15 and puts it like this. This is Luke chapter 2, verse 15. And where it says here, it right after what you all said a moment ago, when Ryan was reading, when the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherd said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and seeing this thing that has happened to us, which the Lord has made known to us.” Shepherds are like, we just got to see the glory. We just got the good news. Let's go see it. And then they go, and they with haste. I mean, they're running, these guys, and they found Mary and Joseph. And there it is, just like they said, the baby lying in a manger, this will be a sign for you. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them, so guess what the shepherds do, they get something made known to them by God, they run and check it out. And then they make it known to Mary and Joseph. And Mary here when she hears this well, all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds had told them, like everybody's like, whoa, what are those shepherds saying, this is about God's glory, and wow. “And then Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in our heart,” and guess what the shepherds did, they returned, glorifying and praising God, for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told that once God makes his glory known to the shepherds, it's like, shepherds activated, right? These guys take off. These guys, they're run and make haste to oh, there it is. And then they tell everybody and some people, they're like, I don't know, that seems a little crazy angels in the sky. And out of all people, they would choose the shepherds to talk to you, I don't know. Mary's over here, taking it all in. And these shepherds, they're just going around saying, God's glorious, he made his glory known to us, and we're going to glorify him, we're going to praise him. If God has made himself known to you, if the purpose of life is for God to make himself known, what are you doing to show your zeal that you want God to be known? See, that's the purpose. That's the passion that's supposed to unite us all together, the passion like David when he killed the giant, and he cut off his head, why did David go and fight Goliath? Because he had defied the armies of the living God. And David was zealous for God's glory, He wanted God's name to be known. Let everyone know, let all Israel know, let the whole earth know that I'm going to kill you. Because the battle belongs to the Lord. And God has glory. And then what happens right after that? Jonathan sees David and he's like, my bro right there, because he's got that same passion for God's glory.
See, we're supposed to all be the people that God has made himself known to us. And I want God to get the glory that he deserves. I want everybody to know I'm a vessel of mercy. And then you see, you want people to know, I want to know, and then we get united together, and we sing loudly. And we shout at the top of our voice, and we go, let everybody know that God has mercy. That's why he sent Jesus. See, the purpose of life is revealed to us in Romans chapter 9. The purpose of life is that there is a glorious God that no one can see, but he is making himself known to us. And so that is what we need to embrace. Some of us are missing the main point, which is God making himself known and so I want to encourage you. Please don't miss the point this Christmas. How are you going to bring glory to God? How are you going to be one of the shepherds? And we'll talk more about that next week. But let me pray for us right now.
Father, I come before you, in the name of your Son, Jesus. And Father, I just, I asked that you would make yourself known to us here tonight, I ask that you can humble us because we know that you are opposed to the proud. But you give grace to the humble. Father, I just pray that right now we could confess that yes, sometimes I'm walking around thinking more about what's going to happen to me, than God getting the glory. And I pray that you would humble us. And I pray that you would give us the right perspective on ourselves, and that we would have a high view of you. And father, I just pray that nobody would leave here blaming you, for people getting judged when people are going to get judged based on what they have done. So, I pray nobody here would accuse you of being unrighteous or say, you're not right to judge people. I pray that instead, we could see the endurance, the patience that you have towards sinners, and how your kindness is meant to lead them to repentance. And that they don't need to harden their heart, but they could turn to you. And that you would give them mercy, and you would give them grace, and you would show that you had prepared long beforehand good works for them to do in Christ Jesus. Father, I thank you for your glorious salvation that so many have experienced here in this room. And I pray that tonight you would open our eyes that we might behold our God. I pray that we could actually answer the question of “Who are you, O man,” and we could humble ourselves before you. And then we, in that place of humility, we can look up and we could see that the only reason we're not going to get what we deserve, the only reason we've got mercy instead is because of you. It has nothing to do with us. It's all about you. And it's your riches of your glory that you have made known to us in Jesus. So let us be people who know you because you make yourself known to us, who want to worship you because you've made yourself known to us, and then who want to go tell other people because you're making yourself known to them. God, please let us behold you now and let us worship you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.