with me in God's Holy Word to the book of Romans chapter 9 and we'll continue our study together in the book of Romans and we come now Romans chapter 9 and we'll begin reading in verse 1. Hear now the living God I am speaking the truth in Christ. I am not lying. My conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart, for I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen, according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever, amen. But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham, because they are his offspring. But through Isaac shall your offspring be named." This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. For this is what the promise said, about this time next year, I will return and Sarah shall have a son. And not only so, but also when Rebecca had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, Though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad in order that God's purpose of election might continue. Not because of works, but because of him who calls, she was told, the older will serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means, for he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy. For the scripture says to Pharaoh, for this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever. he wills. 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, even us, whom he has called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles. As indeed he says in Hosea, those who were not my people, I call my people. And her who was not beloved, I will call beloved. And in the very place where it was said to them, you are not my people, there they will be called sons of the living God. And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved. For the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay. And as Isaiah predicted, if the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, we would have been like Sodom and become like Amaral. What shall we say then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith, but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone as it is written, behold, I'm laying in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame. Thus ends the reading of God's very word. Let's pray. Oh Lord, we ask that you would come now by your blessed Holy Spirit and take this, the very word of your mouth, and open it to us that we would rightly understand your word as you intend it, and that, Lord, we would not only understand it rightly, but that, Lord, we would respond, running to you, Lord Jesus, embracing you, worshiping you, giving ourselves anew to you, that you would revive our hearts to have hope and joy in this fallen, messed up world because of who you are, because of your work of redemption to save lost, helpless, hopeless sinners like us. Lord, come and walk in our midst now. And open your word to us, we beg. In Jesus we pray. Amen. Well, last Lord's Day, we ended looking at this section as it is written, Jacob I love, but Esau I hate it. We saw that both Jacob and Esau were men who had done wrong in God's sight. An amazing change took place in Jacob toward that end recorded for us in Holy Scripture of him coming back home now to meet his brother that he had wronged. And what do we see? We see Jacob wrestling. with an appearance of God himself, wrestling with the angel. And Hosea chapter 12 tells us that it was none other than God that he was wrestling with. Jacob has been brought to a place where he says, I must have your blessing or I have nothing. I must have your blessing. I must have your smile. I must have your mercy and forgiveness. I will not let go no matter what. And the Lord reached out toward the break of day and touched his hip and put it out of joint. The Lord demonstrated to Jacob that he could have destroyed him all night long, but he was being gracious to him. And Jacob now is a changed man. From that day forward, he is a man who understands and walks by grace through faith in the Lamb of God. Esau is left in his unbelief. And so that begs the question in verse 14. And you remember this whole section now is seeking to answer the question, well, if the gospel is so powerful and great, then what do we do with Israel's unbelief? The vast majority in that day and even down to this day of those who are physical descendants of Abraham have rejected Messiah. And this section of the book of Romans addresses that objection. And in Romans chapter 9, the Apostle Paul, writing with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, says, well, first of all, you need to understand God sovereignly saves those He is pleased to save. Romans chapter 10, and God is gracious and has offered the gospel to those around him. All day long I've stretched out my hands to a stiff necked and obstinate people. And then Romans chapter 11. You would think that therefore the Lord's just finished with dealing with them, but no. Romans chapter 11, the Lord has a marvelous plan that he will yet bring to pass in history. And the Lord is going to so bless Gentiles, as they believe in Jesus by the grace of God and are grafted into the olive tree of God's people, these natural branches that have been broken off for their unbelief, before history ends, will be stirred to jealousy. And they will be brought to the realization, oh, Can you believe it? Jesus of Nazareth is Messiah. He is the Lord and will confess his name and by the grace of God be grafted back in to the tree of God's people. And the Lord describes that that day there will be a revival that will sweep the world it will be astounding. And so we come now in that argument to this question in light of God declaring, Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated. Verse 14, what shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? It looks like God's not being fair. When you think about some people are saved and some are not saved, is that fair? And I'm going to ask you a question. No one disputes God saves some and some are judged. That is agreed to by most everyone. And here's the question. Is that the case, God saves some, judges others, but we all deserve salvation? Or is it God saves some and judges others, but we all deserve judgment? That is the question now that is being dealt with in our text. Is there injustice on God's part? to set his love upon one like Jacob and leave Esau in his unbelief. And the Apostle Paul, writing by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, answers the question, by no means, or the old King James says, God forbid. By no means, of course not. Another translation says, of course not. It is an emphatic answer, by no means. God is not being unjust. How is that the case? And the Lord brings forth two examples for us to chew on. as we think about this thing of some people are saved and some are judged. Is that right? Is God dealing justly? The term fair is really a unbiblical concept. The term and the concept that we need to zero in on is the term justice. Doing what's right. Has God done what's right to save some but not everybody? That's the question. Is there injustice on God's part? And so the first example that he gives is the whole nation of Israel. Look at the first example we see in verse 15, for he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy. This quote, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion, is found in the book of Exodus chapter 33. And if you'll turn there with me, Exodus 33, we want to look at the context. Whenever you see a quote in the New Testament of an Old Testament passage, it's not that that passage has been wrested out of context and twisted and used in a way that is kind of bizarre. No, it's always in keeping with what was going on in the context back even in the Old Testament. We see in chapter 33 Moses being commissioned again. The commission of God is repeated to him to take God's people into the Promised Land. In verse 12, Moses said to the Lord, See, you say to me, bring up this people, but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight. Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me your ways that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider, too, that this nation is your people." And he said, My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest. And he said to him, If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth? And the Lord said to Moses, this very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name. And Moses said, please show me your glory. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you my name, the Lord. And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious. and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But he said, You cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live. And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock. And while my glory passes by, I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I pass by. And then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen." And so here we have this declaration, and it would be easy for us to read this. What's going on here? Well, the Lord is being gracious to Moses and to the whole of the people of God. How gracious? Turn to the chapter before. Turn to chapter 32. The context of this repeating of Moses' commission and of God reminding Moses now, I have called you to bring my people into the promised land is in the context of God having brought his people to Mount Sinai. And the Lord took Moses up on the mountain. And while Moses was up on the mountain being given a tour of the throne room of heaven, and Hebrews chapter 8 tells us that God was instructing His servant Moses on all of the details of what the tent of meeting, the tabernacle, the tent, The place where people could go and meet God and get right with God. Where the sacrifices would be brought. Where God would make atonement so that His people could be close to Him. While Moses is doing that, God gives the law and He gives Moses this tour of the throne room of heaven, and what do the people do? Well, look at chapter 32 of Exodus. When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him. 40 days and 40 nights. That's a long time. What were you doing 40 days ago? You go, I don't know, that's a long time ago. That was over a month ago. So Aaron said to them, take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me. So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, these are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord. And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. And the Lord said to Moses, Go down, for your people whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshipped it and sacrificed to it and said, These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. And the Lord said to Moses, I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. And now therefore let me alone that my wrath may burn hot against them, and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you. But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth. Turn from your burning anger, and relent from this disaster against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever. And the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people. Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets that were written on both sides. On the front and on the back they were written. The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets. And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, There's a noise of war in the camp. But he said, it is not the sound of shouting for victory or the sound of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing that I hear. And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses' anger burned hot and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. He took the calf that they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the people of Israel drink it. And Moses said to Aaron, what did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them? And Aaron said, let not the anger of my Lord burn hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. For they said to me, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him. So I said to them, let any who have gold take it off. So they gave it to me, and I throw it into the fire, and out came this calf. And when Moses saw that the people had broken loose, for Aaron had let them break loose, to the derision of their enemies, then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, Who is on the Lord's side? Come to me. And the sons of Levi gathered around him, and he said to them, Thus says the Lord God of Israel, Put your sword on your side at each of you, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill his brother and his companion and his neighbor. So the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And that day about three thousand men of the people fell. And Moses said, Today you have been ordained for the service of the Lord, each one at the cost of his son and of his brothers, so that he might bestow a blessing upon you this day. The next day Moses said to the people, You have sinned a great sin, and now I will go up to the Lord. Perhaps I can make atonement for you. So Moses returned to the Lord and said, alas, this people has sinned a great sin. They have made for themselves gods of gold, but now if you will forgive their sin, but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written. But the Lord said to Moses, whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book. But now go, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you. Behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them." And then the Lord sent a plague on the people because they made the calf the one that Aaron had made. Well, we could go on reading in chapter 33. We see the tent of meeting. That is their hope. And it was a shadow, a picture of the Christ. And we see Moses now saying, Lord, you've told me to bring this people up, but if you don't go with us, I can't do it. Lord, show me your glory. And the Lord passed by and declared his name. And the Lord hid Moses as he was declaring his glory, showing his glory, declaring his name, hid Moses in the cleft of the rock. And that great old hymn that we love to sing, Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me, let me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood from thy riven side which flowed be of sin the double cure. Save me from its guilt and power. And so here we see, here we see this example of God's incredible mercy. He doesn't destroy This people, even though they deserve what? They deserve His judgment and His wrath, but God shows mercy. He spares this people, and God moves in Moses' heart. to be the mediator to be the one who would go and pray and plead on behalf and Moses was just a man but oh what a glorious shadow that is of the mediator who unlike Moses is without sin Moses wasn't permitted to take the people into the promised land. Why? Because of his sin. But we have a mediator who is perfect and holy and undefiled and who shed his blood, his own blood, so that we might be brought into the presence of God, so that we might receive mercy. So that's the first example that God gives to us through the pen of his apostle Paul. Is God unjust? Is God not being fair? Well, we see God declaring, look, I will show mercy on whom I show mercy. I'll show compassion on whom I show compassion. And notice his commentary in verse 16, so then it depends not on human will or on exertion, but on God. Had Moses earned standing with God? No. Had the children of Israel earned their standing with God? No. It is very plain from this context hear of our quote that it is a display of God's amazing undeserved mercy. And so you see the people who would say, well, God's not being fair. You remember our question. Some are saved, some are judged. How do we understand this? Is God being unjust? To even ask that question, it is putting forth this idea that all deserve, or at least some deserve salvation. But here we see in this example, God is stressing to us, of course God is not unjust. God sovereignly is showing mercy to whom He is pleased to show mercy. And all are undeserving. Then he brings forth another example. Look at verse 17. For the scripture says to Pharaoh, for this very purpose I have raised you up that I might show my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. So then, he has mercy on whomever he wills and he hardens whomever he wills. And again, we need to understand What's going on? Turn back to the book of Exodus. And I want us to look at a couple of passages. First of all, in Exodus chapter 3, the Lord tells Moses, his servant, that God is going to do a mighty work. I want you to look in Exodus chapter 3 in verse 16. Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, the Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob has appeared to me saying, I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt, and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey. and they will listen to your voice. And you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, The Lord the God of the Hebrews has met with us and now please let us go a three days journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God. But I know that the King of Egypt will not let you go even by a strong hand, even by a mighty hand. The ESV says, unless compelled, but literally the Hebrew says, even by a strong hand, Pharaoh will not let you go. And then look at the next verse. So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt and all the wonders that I will do in it. And after that, he will let you go. The plagues, there were 10 of them. And as each of these plagues unfold, we see a recurring theme. We see that Pharaoh hardened his heart. And then we see other examples where it says God hardened Pharaoh's heart. What's going on? Look with me in the book of Exodus chapter 8. Exodus chapter 8, and here we see in verse 13. We've got a bunch of frogs, okay? Frogs are everywhere. They're in your bed. When you open the oven, they come hopping out of your oven. I mean, frogs everywhere. Look at verse 11. The frogs shall go away from you and your houses and your servants and your people, they shall be left only in the Nile. So Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh and Moses cried to the Lord about the frogs as he had agreed with Pharaoh. And the Lord did according to the word of Moses. The frogs died out in the houses, the courtyards and the fields. And they gathered them together in heaps and the land stank. But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them as the Lord had said. On down just a few verses, look at verse 16. Then the Lord said to Moses, say to Aaron, stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth so that it may become gnats in all the land of Egypt. And they did so. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth and there were gnats on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became gnats, and all the land of Egypt. And the magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not. So there were gnats on man and beast, and then the magician said to Pharaoh, This is the finger of God. But Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them as the Lord had said." Well, In chapter 9, the Bible tells us that it was not just Pharaoh at work. One more verse in chapter 8. Here we have at the end of the fourth plague, the flies, and we read in verse 32, But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also and did not let the people go. In chapter 9, we see in the context of the seventh plague is getting ready to unfold at the end of that sixth plague, the boils. Verse 12, but the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh and he did not listen to them as the Lord had spoken to Moses. In chapter 10, we have the same language. In verse 27, the end of the ninth plague, but the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart. And he would not let them go. And then in chapter 11, the final plague, the Lord warned Pharaoh, here's what's going to happen. In verse 4, so Moses said, Thus says the Lord about midnight, I will go out in the midst of Egypt, and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die. From the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl, who is behind the hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle, there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again. but not a dog shall growl against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. And all these your servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, Get out, you and all the people who follow you, and after that I will go out.' And he went out from Pharaoh in hot anger. And then the Lord said to Moses, Pharaoh will not listen to you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt. Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and He did not let the people go. We see in chapter 9, in the midst of all of this, in the plague, the Lord declaring to Pharaoh why all of this is happening. God says, Pharaoh, I have raised you up for this purpose, to show you my power, and so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. And here's the question. What does it mean for God to harden a heart? Well, the book of Romans chapter 1 gives us insight. We've already looked at this so we will not belabor it, but in Romans chapter 1 we see that God's wrath is being revealed from heaven against all of the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who even though they know the truth and are confronted with clear irrefutable evidence that God is And He is the Creator and Sustainer and they ought to worship and obey and love and serve Him. Yet, even in the face of all of that evidence, of that irrefutable truth, what does wicked mankind do? Shakes the fist. in the face of the creator and sustainer. That's why God's wrath is being revealed. It's not talking about the great day of judgment. That will be the day of wrath. But this is talking present tense. Is being revealed from heaven. And what does that wrath of God look like? And the language of scripture is chilling. God doesn't make people do wrong. The book of James tells us that God is never the author of evil. He tempts no one with evil. Nobody can say when they sin, I have just done what God made me to do. No. Each person sins because they are in rebellion against Almighty God. They choose to sin because their hearts are bent to doing what is wrong. And what does God do when He judges sinful man in history? Look at the language of Scripture in verse 21. They are without excuse, verse 20 of Romans 1, for although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. The Lord turns people over to their own wicked desires. They say, we don't want God, and God says, okay. I'll give you what you are begging for. I'll give you what you want. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore, God gave them up. God gave them up. God says, you don't want me, you don't want my word, you don't want my Christ, you don't want my standard of right and wrong. And as judgment, righteous judgment, the judge of all the earth says, okay, I'll give you what you want. And he turns them over. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among them, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions. And so what's happening with Pharaoh? God tells him up front, listen, Let my people go. Israel is my firstborn son. And if you don't let my children go, I'm going to do something to your children. Israel is my firstborn son. And if you don't let them go, the culmination of all these plagues is I'm going to put my hand on your firstborn of both animals All the way up, all the people, all the way up including you. All of your firstborn will die. And what does Pharaoh do? God did not make Pharaoh do wrong. God did not violate Pharaoh's will. But God judged Pharaoh by turning Pharaoh over to what he wanted. That's how God hardens a person's heart. And so in Romans chapter 9, turn back with me. Is there injustice with God? Does it bother you for the scripture, for God to tell us that He set His love upon a rascal like Jacob? Judged Esau? Does that bother you? Do you say, no, that doesn't seem fair to me. That's unjust. And God brings forth these examples to remind us if God were just, what would happen? Well, God could have sent every one of us to judgment. Every single one of us, God could have sent. He would be just to put forth His wrath upon me, upon you, because that's what I deserve. But wonder of wonders, and God could have saved everybody. He could have. But He tells us in His Word it was not His good pleasure to do so. And He is not unjust to give people what they deserve. Is God unjust to give a person what they deserve? And the answer is no. But the wonder is that God in the fullness of time would give His own Son to die and take our hell upon himself to rescue his people. For the scripture says to Pharaoh, for this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. So then he has mercy on whomever he wills. And He hardens whomever He wills. And if you love Jesus here today, you know what? God did not owe you mercy. You didn't earn it. It's not that God looked down and He said, That Henry, oh yeah, I could really do something with that one. He's a good one. No. The book of 1 Corinthians, God says that he chose the weak and the despised. And the Bible says not many among you are noble, many are wise. God has chosen the weak and the frail and the foolish to demonstrate that it's all of His doing. But by His doing, we are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and justification, so that we would boast of what? Let him who boasts, boast of the Lord. So what do we say? We say, Lord, why would you set your love on somebody like me? That's amazing. John Newton had it right. Amazing grace. Amazing. It's humbling, isn't it? But oh, how sweet it is that God has planned to save a multitude that no man can number. God's at work. And we say, Lord, take me and use me for your glory. Lord, you are the one who has reached down and plucked me as a bran from the burning. What then shall we say? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means. For He says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy. For the scripture says to Pharaoh, for this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. Let's pray. Those of us who are trusting in you, Lord Jesus, we confess that it is just your mercy. It is your sovereign good pleasure. Oh Lord, it is not because we are smarter than others or better than others, it is because you, even before the foundation of the world as you declared to us in Ephesians chapter 1, you chose to set your love upon us. And as we read in the Gospel of John, Lord Jesus, you declared In verse 37, all that the Father gives me shall come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never cast. Oh Lord, you have a people that you have given to your son. And we, Lord, give praise and thanks and we stand in amazement in awe of you that you have set your love upon us. And we thank you, oh Lord, for the joy that we have to be offering that message of forgiveness and life to all people around us. And Lord, you are going to take that gospel and draw your lost sheep unto yourself. As we read in Matthew 11 earlier, Father, you're the one who makes People experience mercy. And those who go to their death rejecting your gospel. It is their hardness. And you are just giving them what they desire. O Lord God, if there be any in this place apart from Christ, Lord, humble them this day. Open their eyes to see that their only hope is to run to you, Lord Jesus, by your grace. Do that mighty work of making dead people alive. And we thank you, O Lord, that you are powerful and mighty to save. And we love you, Lord. And we are not only humbled, but we are full of amazement in the power of your gospel. Bless now as we sing and conclude our worship this day. In Jesus we pray, amen.