I would like us to return this morning to Romans chapter 9. We have been away from our consecutive study of the book of Romans now for a number of weeks, and I would like us to come back and take up that study in Romans chapter 9, and we come this morning to Romans chapter 9 and verse 19. Because we have been away from the passage for a few weeks, and because this passage is somewhat complicated, And because every part is necessarily connected to the other parts, because of all that, I would like us to take a little more time than we would ordinarily take for the sake of review. I'd like us to read the first 18 verses, and then I would like us to go over the major parts of this chapter. Now you remember that Romans chapter 9, chapter 10, and chapter 11 are all one unit. Those three chapters are all one unit. And those chapters, in those chapters, the Apostle Paul is addressing the relationship of God to the Jews and to the Gentiles, and he's also addressing himself to the relationship which the Jews, as an ethnic body, sustain to the Gentiles, as an ethnic body. Let us begin to read in Romans chapter 9, verse 1. I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience bearing witness with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing pain in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were anathema from Christ for my brethren's sake, my kinsmen according to the flesh. who are Israelites, whose is the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises, whose are the fathers, and of whom is Christ as concerning the flesh, who is over all God blessed forever. Amen. But it is not as though the word of God hath come to naught. For they are not all Israel that are of Israel, neither because they are Abraham's seed are they all children. But in Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, it is not the children of the flesh that are children of God, but the children of the promise are reckoned for a seed. For this is a word of promise. According to this season will I come and Sarah shall have a son. And not only so, but Rebecca also, having conceived by one, even by our father Isaac, for the children being not yet born, neither having done anything good or bad, that the purpose of God, according to election, might stand not of works, but of him that calleth. It was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger, even as it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that hath mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, for this very purpose did I raise thee up that I might show in thee my power, and that my name might be published abroad in all the earth. So then, he hath mercy on whom he will, and whom he will, he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, why doth he still find fault? For who withstandeth his will? No, but O man, who art thou that replyest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, why didst thou make me thus? Or hath not the potter a right over the clay from the same lump to make one part a vessel unto honour and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing to show his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much long-suffering vessels of wrath fitted unto destruction? and that he might make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he aforeprepared unto glory, even us, whom he also called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles. Now probably, as you followed with me in the reading, you were silently saying an amen to what was earlier said, that this is a difficult passage. It's hard to hold all the parts together. There are phrases that don't immediately make sense. There are some things that you almost don't want to believe because it doesn't seem to be in accord with what you think ought to be true. It is a difficult passage. Perhaps it would be helpful if we go over briefly the major lines of thought which the Apostle Paul develops in this passage. I'd like to do this. I'd like to ask you to bear with me because it is most important to me that we understand what this passage is saying. It is more important to me that we have an understanding of what the Apostle Paul is saying than I care that you go away thinking that you've heard a great sermon. It would be easier and more attractive to you if I would just give you a three-point sermon and try to drive it home and make it clear and leave it at that. But I fear that if I did that, you would only get a part of what the Apostle Paul is setting forth here, and it's important for us to understand the passage. and after an understanding of the passage to make applications of it to ourselves. So let me go over the seven major lines of thought that are in this passage and then we'll come back to the passage that we'll consider in detail this morning. The first line of thought is in verses 1 through 3, where Paul expresses his heart attitude in reference to the Jews. They are his kinsmen. He loves them. He is pained for them. He is in anguish for them. He would willingly give up his soul for them if it were possible. The second line of thought is in verses 4 through 5, where Paul makes a statement concerning the present condition of the Jews. They are, he says in verse 4, those who are Israelites, theirs is the adoption, the glory, the covenants, and so forth. He is saying that those things are true of them in the present. Not that they did in the past have these things, but these things are true of them in the present. And in conjunction with them having these blessings, It is also apparent that they are apostate, and that is why he is so grieved for them. They are lost. They are under hardening, in part. They have apostatized from God, and God is against them. So that's the present state of the Jews. In the third place, in verses 6 through 13, Paul states that God's word God's purposes, God's word has not failed in reference to Israel. You remember the question that can be raised. If they have such blessings, if they are the people of God and it's theirs is the adoption and the covenants and so forth. If all that's true and now they're apostate and God has hardened their hearts and God is against them. If that's true, is it not so that God's purposes have failed? Have not all of God's promises in reference to them failed? And in these verses, Paul makes it clear that God's Word has absolutely not failed. And in establishing that point, he demonstrates that God has chosen to save only some of ethnic Israel. God has never given salvation to each and every one of Abraham's physical descendants. God has elected some according to his own purposes and desire. These elect he will certainly save. God's purposes, which are expressed in this election, will stand. God's word cannot fail. The problem is that many have misunderstood what God's promises are. Many have misunderstood them to believe that everybody descended from Abraham's loins was in some special position of certainty for salvation. Paul says, no, it has always been that God has chosen an elect group even out of the descendants of Abraham to be his children. Now, the fourth line of thought is in verses 14 through 18, where you have an objection to God's sovereign election. Number one. An objection to God's sovereign election. Number one. There are two objections. Paul has stated in no uncertain terms that God has chosen some according to his own choices, according to his own mind. He has chosen to love some and not to love others. And Paul, having asserted that so strongly, understands, perhaps he's even reflecting upon his own experience, he understands the objections that are going to come to these assertions. And so he raises them. The first objection is in verses 19 through 23, I'm sorry, verses 14 through 18. Is this fair? That's the objection. Is there unrighteousness with God? How can it possibly be fair, righteous, right, for God to choose some and not to choose others, to love some and to hate others? How can this possibly be fair? And Paul answers that by saying, absolutely, God is not unfair. But then he turns the tables and changes the ground, and he says the whole issue is not a matter of fairness. It's a matter of mercy. It's not a matter of fairness. That's not the subject that should be considered. If God were fair, if God were only righteous, everyone would be lost. There would be no election. There would be no salvation. It is a matter of mercy, that God has chosen to have mercy upon some. And then the fifth major line of thought is in verses 19 through 23, the objection to God's sovereign election number two. Paul knew that there would be others who would prevail. And the second objection to God's sovereign election is this question, how can God hold men accountable? If it is that God chooses some and doesn't choose others, if God has mercy upon some and hardens others, if no one can resist his will, then how can God hold men accountable? How can he hold them at fault if he sovereignly decides who will be the recipients of mercy and who will not? How can God find fault with those who do not believe? That's the objection that some would raise against the doctrine of God's sovereign election. Paul answers that. We'll just pass over that for now. The sixth line of thought in this passage is in verses 25 through 29, where Paul gives a series of Old Testament quotations which establish that some Gentiles and some Jews have always been considered by God the objects of his salvation. God has always exercised the right of election. God has always exercised his sovereign prerogative to choose whom he would and to love whom he would. And furthermore, he has stated in the Old Testament prophets that that's what he would do in the future in reference to the Gentiles. And now the last line of thought is in verses 30 through 33, and I simply called it Paul's conclusions to all that he has said. What is the outcome of all of this? Well, number one, the Gentiles obtained righteousness and the Jews did not. Number two, the Gentiles obtained righteousness because they sought it by faith. And number three, the Jews stumbled upon the Lord Jesus. They would not believe him. They would not receive the righteousness that was given through him. And they stumbled. And I think it is important if you followed through the line of Paul's thought, it's important to appreciate that in this passage where he speaks so much about the sovereignty of God in election, God choosing whom he will, God loving whom he will. When he gets to the end and he says, what's the conclusion of all this? And he says that the Gentiles obtained righteousness through faith and the Jews did not. And he asks, why? He does not answer in terms of God's decrees. He does not answer and say, well, God just made it so. He answers in terms of men's responsibility. The Jews would not believe. They would not. The Gentiles did believe, and therefore they obtained what the Jews lost. And it's important that whenever we come face to face with these plain, clear statements of God's sovereignty in salvation, that we not follow unaided human logic and come to the wrong conclusions. Paul's conclusions about why some obtained salvation and some didn't is in reference to human responsibility. Some believed as they should have. Others refused and were lost. All right, with all of that as an overview to the chapter, now come back please and we'll plug in to verses 19 through 23. 19 through 23, the second objection to God's sovereign election. As we've already stated the objection in verse 19, thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he still find fault for who withstands his will? How can God hold men accountable? How can he hold men at fault if he sovereignly decides who will have mercy and who will not? How can God find fault with those who do not believe? How can it possibly be their fault? And the implication that lies behind these questions is this, is it really not God's fault? How can God find fault with people if he chooses and he shows mercy and he hardens? Isn't it God's fault that some don't believe? How can he find fault? How can men be considered responsible when God is the one who exercises his sovereign choices. Well, in the verses that follow, Paul makes some rather stinging responses to that question. You'll notice that in the verses that follow, Paul's answer is in terms of challenging questions. Challenging questions. In verse 20, he says, who art thou, O man, to reply against God? In verse 21, he says, hath not the potter a right over the clay? And in verse 22, he asks, what if God is willing to do thus and thus? Whose business is it of yours? Who are you? What if God wants to do thus and thus? In these verses that follow the statement of the objection I think the Apostle Paul follows three overlapping but still distinct lines of thought in giving his answer to the objection. And I would like us to look at them this morning and this evening. The first response to this question, how can God hold men responsible? The first response is simply an assertion. We men must bow in silence. before God's majesty and accept his statements without challenge. We as men must bow before God's majesty and accept his statements without challenge. The second response is that we must appreciate that God has the right and authority to do whatever he deems correct with his creation. And the third response is that we must understand that there is nothing unrighteous or inappropriate in God's preparing some as vessels of wrath and others as vessels of mercy. Let us take up the first point then in verse 20. The objection, how can God hold men accountable? The response? We must bow in silence before God's majesty and accept his statements without challenge. Verse 20. Nay, but, O man, who art thou that replyest against God? Men do not have the right to challenge God. Paul puts the matter into proper perspective. The translation that I'm reading from says, nay, but. It might well be translated, rather. There's a point of contradiction here. The challenge is, who is God to do this? The response is, hey, let's turn it around. Let's see it in the right perspective. Yay, rather. Who are you to challenge God? The issue is not who is God to do thus and thus. The issue is who are you, O man, to challenge God? Who are you to receive something that God says and cavail with it? Who are you, O man, to take the posture of an arguer or debater with God? You do not have the right to question God. You do not have the right to speak back to God or to be insolent to God or to sass God. You have only the right to bow before his majesty without challenge, receiving whatever he says. Now, I think that it is right to say that Paul's answer assumes that this question is usually not a humble attempt to understand God and his ways. Usually when this question is asked, and you've probably heard it asked, usually it is not asked as a humble, serious, genuine attempt to gain knowledge. Usually it is asked as some kind of a challenge against the assertion, how can this possibly be so? How can God hold men accountable if he does thus and thus? And the whole point of the question is to challenge the idea. The whole point of the question is to prove that the idea is absurd, that God couldn't possibly do that. Well, I think Paul is pointing that out. The question itself is an act of insubordination, an act of insubordination which Paul will not allow to pass. He anticipates this question will be asked. And he doesn't answer it in a calculated, calm, logical series of statements. He answers it in the first place with an admonition. He answers it in the first place with a reproof. This is insubordination to ask such a question. It will not be tolerated. The point is we must accept what God says. It is right. It is absolutely right for men to inquire and ask questions in order to know the mind of God and the revelation of God. God commends people. God commends people for seriously trying to understand his mind as it is recorded in the Bible. We often refer to Paul's statements about the Bereans, how they were more noble than the Thessalonians, especially in this, that they were eager to know what the Bible said. They listened to the preachers with all readiness of mind. They went home. They studied to see if what they were saying was true. That's commendable. This passage is not saying, oh, you must be mindless. This passage is not saying whatever anybody asserts about God, you just say, no, no. The Bible commends people to seek out what the Scriptures say. The Bible commends and encourages and perhaps even demands that people give themselves to study and to knowing what the mind of God is. But there must be an attitude of reverent submission to whatever God does say in the quest of trying to find out what the Scriptures say about a subject. When you do find out what they say, it is no longer honest then to challenge. It is honest to inquire. It is honest to try and understand. It is honest to try to come to grips with what seem to be inconsistencies. But when you've found the clear statements of the Scriptures, It is insubordination to doubt them or to challenge them. When the scriptures are known, they must be accepted. We must bow before the majesty of God without challenge. When God speaks on subjects which we do not understand or on subjects which we find natively hard to accept, and that's the case here, When God speaks on subjects which we do not understand, on subjects which we find natively hard to accept, we must see that He is God, that He is correct, and that our proper posture is simply to bow before Him and to accept what He says as truth. I'd like to quote a rather difficult statement. I'm not trying to be difficult. I'm not trying to make the sermon difficult. But I would like to quote this because I think it captures something that we all need to appreciate. It's a statement by the commentator John Murray, and he says this, when we are dealing with ultimate facts, ultimate facts, when we are dealing with ultimate facts, categorical affirmation must content us. You know, categorical affirmations. When we're dealing with ultimate facts, And God makes a categorical statement, a statement of certainty, a statement that is clear, a statement that is absolute. That statement must content us. We must not allow ourselves to want and to expect and to demand something more or different than what God says. There are ultimate truths about God and ultimate truths about His ways and ultimate truths about reality which we cannot know apart from God's own statements. There are ultimate truths that are not discovered by scientific observation. There are ultimate truths that are not made known to us by study of the creation. There are ultimate truths that are not discoverable to us through philosophy or some kind of social sciences. There are ultimate truths that are not known to us at all except by the statements of God. There are some things which God does not explain simply because he chooses not to. There are other things which we could not even understand if he chose to explain, such as the subject of the Trinity. But there are many ultimate truths which he has declared without explanation. He has declared them without explanation. Some such as these. You have these kind of questions. How could God have no beginning? Now he says he has no beginning, but he doesn't explain that. So we have the question, how could God have no beginning? Why did God create the world? Why did God create human beings? Why did God allow evil in the world? Why did God choose eternal punishment as opposed to annihilation? Why did God determine to bring salvation to people who did not want or love him? Why has God chosen to save me and pass over others that were really in many ways more moral than me? God has not explained himself in reference to any one of these questions. There are absolute truths which he has stated, which in our minds may raise those questions, but he's not given the answer. He's not given the explanation. What are we to do? In dealing with ultimate truths, we must allow God's categorical absolute statements to content us. There is no way to know more than God has revealed about these things, because they are not discoverable through any other means than God's special revelation. When we're dealing with ultimate truths, we must be content with the absolute statements which God makes. And that is very relevant to this argument which Paul is anticipating. It is understandable that we should be curious about the kind of questions which I just asked. And it is not wrong to reverently consider those questions. But it is wrong to have such a preoccupation with those questions that we begin to challenge the clear assertions which God has made in the Scriptures. Some people get so carried away with those questions, with things that God has not explained, that they challenge biblical principles that are very clearly stated. We are not God's peers. We are men. He is God. We are creatures. He is the creator. We are dependent. He is independent. He is self-contained. We are not. He is self-determined. We are not. He is omniscient. We are not. There are certain ultimate truths which will not be known to us apart from what God chooses to reveal. Now we should learn these three things from this text and from this statement which the Apostle Paul makes. Number one, we should learn that we do not have a right to know what God chooses to conceal. We do not have a right to know what God chooses to conceal. despite all of the assertion of rights in our society and in the present time, despite all the demands that religious thinkers want to make upon God, we do not have a right to know what God has concealed. Number two, we do not have the right or standing to challenge what God has clearly revealed. We don't have that right. We don't have standing. You know what the term standing means in legal terms? You want to bring a suit against somebody, you can't just go out and do it. You have to have standing, you have to have a legal posture, you have to have a legal position from which to appropriately make the suit. If there's some business that is committing some sin against a few individuals, and you're not one of those individuals, you can't say, well, I'll just sue the company for them. You can't do that. You've got to have standing. You've got to represent those individuals or be one of those individuals before you have the right to come to the company with a challenge. But we need to learn from this. Human beings don't have standing. We don't have the right. We don't have the place to challenge God. He's the creator. We're not. The third thing that we need to learn is that we must humbly accept and obey everything which God has revealed. There's a text in the Old Testament which may be coming to some of your minds which is so appropriate for the concern that the Apostle Paul is raising. The text is in Deuteronomy chapter 29 and verse 29. I ask you to turn there. It's easy to remember. Deuteronomy 29, chapter 29, and verse 29. It's a passage that should be written large in our memories. It should form the substance of many meditations. Deuteronomy chapter 29 and verse 29. It's not absolutely clear what the connection of this verse is with the context. It may be that because in this context Moses, under the Inspiration of God is writing things which are hard to understand, hard to explain. It may be that it's because of that context, but at any rate, in verse 29 of chapter 29, you have this statement. The secret things belong unto the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever. that we may do all the works of this law. The secret things belong unto God, but the things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. God does not explain everything to us. God does not explain everything that we might be curious about. The secret things do not belong to us. The things which are secret to God, the things which he has not revealed to us, do not belong to us. But God has explained a great amount to us. God has said a very great deal to us. And what he has said to us, he's said to us so that we would obey what he says. The point is there's lots that we'll never know because God has chosen to keep them secrets. We are not to be diverted by what we do not know. There is much that we do know, and that which we do know is to occupy our souls and our thoughts and our obedience. We must focus, the passage says, upon what he has explained to us, not upon what he has concealed. We must show our reverence for God by sincerely accepting what he reveals and quietly bowing before his right to conceal what he chooses. Now, the natural tendency of human beings is to not do that. The natural tendency of human beings is to reject all of these assertions. Men do not want to be in submission to God's word. Men do not want to say, okay, whatever he says, that'll be enough for me. Men want to press and press and demand God to say certain things. Men do not like the things which God's law says to them. They do not like to receive what he requires of them to do. And so one of the easiest ways for them to avoid doing what he says is to challenge him in the areas where he's not spoken. That, of course, is the whole thrust of this objection here that Paul is concerned with in Romans chapter 9. The devil uses this natural tendency to great advantage. The devil would like us, the devil would like this whole principle to be a stumbling block to us. The devil would like us to major upon the things that have been concealed. so that we will not do the things that have been made clear to us. The devil would like to do that in a whole host of areas. Let me illustrate what I'm trying to say to you from the passage in Romans chapter 9. Satan would like many people to focus upon what you cannot know Satan would like many of you here this morning to focus upon what you cannot know about God's reasons and God's decrees and God's eternal thoughts. He would like to make you focus upon those things and follow me carefully. I'd like to expose his scheme. I'd like to rescue some of you from what he's done so well. Satan would like to make you think upon all the things which God has not revealed and you cannot know and keep you from thinking upon the things that are clear and certain and which he's revealed to you so that you would act upon them. He would like you to focus upon things which God has not revealed and upon things which you will not know. He would like you to think about how you can know whether or not you're one of the elect. He would like you to think about how unfair it is for God not to give you an equal chance with everyone else. He would like it for you to be that you're thinking upon how you can't come to Christ because you don't know whether he will draw you or not. You don't know whether he'll work faith in you or not. You don't know whether he'll work repentance in you or not. You are saying to yourself that I may not be one of the elect for this reason and this reason and this reason. I cannot come to God because I don't know if God's chosen me. You may be saying, I've tried to come, but I haven't succeeded. Therefore, I must be rejected. And doesn't this passage teach that God hardens some? I must be hardened. Some of you would like, Satan would like some of you to be thinking about how it's just not right. It's just not right for God to make my life so hard and then hold me accountable. It's just not right to do that. That's exactly what Paul is referring to here. Somebody else might make another deduction from this passage and say, well, it says, doesn't it? It doesn't say that God is the potter and I'm the clay. It doesn't say that. You're saying to yourself, well, God's going to give me faith and God's not going to give... That's the kind of thing that the devil would like to have your thoughts on. things that create questions and doubts in your mind that will not be answered. But much more importantly, he wants you to focus upon these false deductions and questions and thoughts which he has not answered in order to keep you from believing the things which he has clearly said. Are you following me? Some of you are thinking, am I elect or not? God hasn't told you, has he? Stop thinking about it. Some of you are thinking, am I hardened or not? I must be hardened. There must be no hope for me because I prayed all this. God doesn't address that, has he? He hasn't given us a clear statement about that, has he? But that's what's occupying some of your minds. And because that is occupying your minds, you're not holding close and tight the kind of things that are clearly stated in the scriptures which you can rest your souls upon. Some of the things that we spoke about last time, last Lord's Day morning, It is certain clear that God requires everyone in this room to come to Jesus and to believe the gospel and to repent of their sins. That's certain. There's no ambiguity about that, nothing concealed, nothing secret, nothing hard to understand or mysterious about that. It's also true that God welcomes you to come. He invites you, He yearns for you, He commands you, but He invites you, He welcomes you to come. It's also true, beyond doubt it's true, from the statements of the Bible, that he will not turn away any person that comes to him through Jesus. Absolutely clear. It is not possible to doubt that in terms of finding passages that would make you doubt. God requires you to come. He welcomes you to come. He will not turn away any who come through Christ. You are called to come to Jesus and you are called to come to Jesus in faith and in repentance today. Now those things are clear. You are not called to wait. Some people act as if they're called to wait. Some people act as if Some people act as if the gospel is a call to become a seeker. Some people act as if all God wants is for you to seek him and wait to see what will happen. God doesn't call you to be a seeker. God doesn't call you to be a waiter. God calls you to come and to repent and to believe and to take and to apply gospel promises to yourself. He calls you to leave sin and to believe that you're forgiven if you come in Jesus' name. He never calls you to wait and see what happens. Some of you are deluded and on your way to hell because you think all you can do is pray and wait. You're told to take and believe and receive today. Well, those things are clear. But what's happened to some of you? He's set your minds. The devil has pressed your minds. unto things which God has chosen to conceal. And you, setting your minds there, will not take hold of the things which is plainly declared. And some of your doubts are just a cover-up, just a cover-up, because you really don't want to leave your sins. It is important that we understand the principle of this passage. Who are you to reply against God? Who are you to raise all these objections to God about the subject of election? Who are you to raise all of these doubts and objections, whether it's just academic or whether it's in reference to your own standing? Who are you to do this? Don't do this! Don't allow yourself to be given to those things which God has concealed. Grasp hold of the things that God has made clear. Don't challenge God. Accept what God says, especially you that are unconverted. Don't challenge God on this matter. Don't hang back and say, well, if God's like this, I won't have nothing to do with this God. You don't have any choice. There's only one God. Don't challenge God. Bow before his majesty. Don't challenge him. Accept what he said. You don't understand election? That's fine. That's fine. Do you understand this? All that come unto me, I will know I is cast. Do you understand that? Do you understand what he says? That you must come and take the yoke and learn of me and he'll give you rest? That's clear. Don't focus any longer upon what you can't know. Don't flatter yourself. Don't excuse yourself by all these intellectual things. Come to grips with what God has said and lay aside what God has chosen to conceal. Now there is application of this principle to Christians as well, and I think it would be the better part of wisdom simply to to give the rest of the time to the application of this principle to Christians and to come back to the passage in Romans 9 this evening. This principle of our simply bowing before the majesty of God and not challenging what he says has to be applied in the specific way that Paul applies it in this passage. Don't challenge God about his statements, about his eternal decrees. You have no right, you have no standing. We just talked about how that applies to unbelievers. Don't challenge God. Don't put yourself on those things which God has concealed. Lay hold of the things which are clear and true for the sake of your eternal welfare. Another principle should be applied to believers as well. We must not challenge God, we who are Christians. We must not reply against God. We must not resist God in the areas where he has spoken. We must simply bow before his majesty without challenge. And we must do that both in the realm of ethics and in the realm of doctrine. We must do that in the realm of ethics. Whatever God has required, we must simply bow to that without challenge. In the realm of doctrine, whatever God has stated, we must simply bow to that without challenge. In reference to ethics, There are many things which God has chosen to conceal from us. Now follow me. I realize this is something of a heavy sermon, but there's a vital principle involved in this. God has chosen to conceal many things from us who are his people. We must not allow ourselves to be diverted from the things which he has revealed to the things which he has not revealed. Let me illustrate some of those things that are not revealed to us. We may often question, God, why did you let this happen to me? Some providence comes, some plan that's frustrated. Why did you let this happen to me? God doesn't answer. We may ask, why has God given this background to me? Why has God given these experiences to me? Why has God let me have this affection for this non-Christian person? Why did God not give me these jobs? Why? Why? There are lots of things in God's providence that he simply does not reveal to us. He has chosen to conceal them. They are the secret things. But Satan will try to make us focus on those things which God has not revealed in order to keep us from doing those things which he has clearly revealed. And let me illustrate the point. Satan will try to make us focus on the things which are a secret known only to God in order to keep us from doing those things that are clearly revealed. Let me just give you some illustrations. They may not be the best, they may not be pertinent to you, but I hope the general point at least would be clear to you as we go through these illustrations. God clearly reveals certain principles in the Bible in reference to business. God clearly reveals certain principles concerning debt, concerning improper partnerships with men of worldly ethics, concerning principles with reference to work on the Lord's day, and the priority of worship, and the priority of the family, and the necessity to balance family and church and work responsibilities. God has clearly revealed things in those areas. But men who profess to be Christians will too often see things in providence which are not clear to them and they will see that God has given them in providence some unusual relationship with an unconverted businessman or they will see that there is some unusual amount of money to be made if there is a sacrifice in terms of principles concerning family or principles concerning worship or principles concerning the Lord's day And some men will look at these things which God has not chosen to explain to them, why He's given this opportunity, why He's given this business friend, those things which God has concealed and does not... Some men will look at those things and allow themselves to say, well, God has given me these providences, I must go in the direction of this job, I must go in the direction of this partnership, I must go in the direction of this path of procedure, regardless of the fact that God requires me to do thus and thus and thus, because look what God's done, look at his providences. Another illustration of the same point is the Bible is very clear in stating the roles of men and women in the spheres of the family and in the sphere of ministry. In some cases, a man will see that he is not succeeding in leading his wife and ministering to her as he would like. Perhaps in God's providence, she's just superior to him in everything. Truly, perhaps in God's providence, she's more spiritually minded. Perhaps in God's providence, she's been a Christian longer. Perhaps in God's providence, she's more intelligent. Perhaps in God's providence, she's more quick of mind. Perhaps in God's providence, she's more practical. Perhaps in God's providence, she has business skills that would enable her to make more money than he's able to make. Perhaps for all of those reasons, he just feels incompetent and has not been able to give her the kind of guidance that he would like. Perhaps, though, he's tried to give her the kind of guidance, not like this at all. Perhaps she's the carnal woman. Perhaps she's not willing to receive guidance, but for whatever reason just failed again and again. Years have gone by in that failure. And he begins to look at God's providence. Why has God given me this kind of wife? Why has God given me this wife with all this intelligence and who knows the Bible so much better, etc., etc.? It must be that God really doesn't mean for me to be her leader. It must mean that I'm supposed to profit from her. She better lead me. Or it may be that, why has God given me such a wife? Maybe she's not even a Christian. It must be that God doesn't really expect me to exert myself for this woman. This is hopeless. I just have to... It must be that God just wants me to live in peace, meaning that I just withdraw. Don't exert anything. Don't try to be a leader. Just live in peace. It must be... You see what the point is? What's happened? People look at the things which are known only to God. Why did God give me this wife? Why am I in this situation? Why, why, why? And they make conclusions that run dramatically opposed to what God has said. God requires, in that case, that the husband lead his wife. It doesn't matter if she's better than him in every conceivable category. It's still his duty. It doesn't matter if she resists him because she's carnal. It's still his duty to pray and to work in ways that are appropriate to be what he should be in that place. You could illustrate the point again and again. I'm simply trying to make what I hope is a simple observation. We must not challenge God. We must not allow ourselves to set our thoughts upon the things which are secret and are not revealed to us, and so be occupied with them that we fail to do the things that He has clearly revealed. The secret things belong to God. Let us not occupy ourselves with them. But the things that he has revealed to us, he's revealed to us so that we would obey him. Let us be sure that we do in terms of doctrine. I'm sorry, in terms of ethics. But this principle must also apply to doctrine. Of course, that's where Paul is applying it in Romans chapter 9. There are many things which God says about himself and about reality which he does not choose to explain. There are many things which he says about himself and about reality which really do seem to be contrary. Contrary to our experience and contrary to our inclinations. A lot of things he says that natively and apart from grace we would resist. It would not be what we would do. You may have said if I were God, thus and thus and thus, I would have done it differently if I were God. You might have said that. You might have thought that if I were God I would never have ordained a place of eternal, unending, unendurable punishment. You may have said that. If I were God, I would have saved everybody. If I were God, I would have done thus and thus. There are many things which God says which are contrary to our experience and which are contrary to our native desires apart from grace. But we are not competent to know what God should be like, and we are not competent to know what God should do. We are sinful. Our reasoning powers are ruined. Now, they still work, but their principles are askew. They will not lead us to right conclusions. We are not competent to know. We simply are not competent to know what God should do, or what God should be like, or what is true. And it is the height of foolishness and arrogance for us to try to make God accountable to our ways and our inclinations and our views. The objections which Paul raises in this passage in Romans 9 are today raised by, quote, believers. Have you not heard professing Christians raise these objections? Have you not heard professing Christians say, well, it can't be true. This idea of election can't be true because if it were true, that would make God unrighteous. Haven't you heard professing believers raising that objection? Haven't you heard professing believers raise this objection in verse 19 that if these things are true, it can't be true. It can't be true because how could God find fault then? God does find fault. They know that. And they say, well, it cannot be true that he chooses whom he will because we know he finds fault. Wouldn't be fair if he found fault unless they made their own choices. Haven't you heard believers saying that? Isn't it somehow, doesn't it seem inappropriate to call them believers? They're not believers, they're debaters. They're not willing to believe what the scriptures say. They want to cavail, they want to argue, they want to resist, they want to challenge. They're not believers. Believers are people who realize they are human beings spoiled by sin and God is God. And they're committed to believing. whatever he says. They don't challenge what he says. They may not understand what he says. They may inquire honestly and seriously. They may run up against the doctrine of election so contrary to what they've been taught and so contrary to what they feel. It may take them a long time to sort it out, and they may ask lots of questions about it, but they don't challenge God. Their immediate thought is, if this is in the Bible, it must be true. If this is what God says, it must be right. They put their mind under God. They're believers. They believe. They submissively accept whatever God says. We must not determine a logical consistency and then try to force that logical consistency upon what God has said. Some do this in many ways. Some decide that if God is loving, They decide that in accord with logical consistency of God is loving, he must love all people equally. And they will not believe that God has a special love for some. They force their logical consistency upon God. Some people decide that God cannot love anyone that he is not going to save. Some people decide that. The Bible doesn't say it, but they decide that. That God cannot love anyone that he's not going to save. And so they press their logical consistency upon God, and they will not allow their children to think that God loves them unless their children show some evidence of effectual calling. Now, God doesn't say anything like that, but their logical consistency requires it. You see the point I'm trying to make. The Bible doesn't say this, but logical consistency in some people's minds say that God cannot love anyone that he's not going to save. And therefore they won't even teach their children that God loves them unless and until they see some evidence of effectual calling in that child's life. Some people decide that God would be insincere if he offers the gospel to those who are not elect. And so they conclude they will not make earnest entreaties with the gospel unless, again, unless they see some irrefutable signs of effectual calling that individual. They won't prostitute the gospel, they say, by throwing their pearls before swine. They will only urge the gospel upon those that are showing a hungering for it. Well, the Bible doesn't bring us any place like that. Logical consistencies may, but the Bible doesn't. We must not allow ourselves to decide things on the basis of our logic or on the basis of our inclinations and impose them upon God. We don't have the right to do it. We don't have the right to challenge God and make him subservient to our views of logical consistency. You see, all of these things that I've just used as illustrations fly in the face of biblical statements about what God is really like. But all of these things that I've used as illustrations find their source in thinking about things which God has not revealed. We must not allow ourselves to be diverted from the things that are clear to the things which He has not revealed. We must leave those things and gladly Confidently assert and believe the things that he has revealed. If there seems to be some logical inconsistency in the things that he has stated, let us assert them with all their inconsistencies. If there are apparent inconsistencies, which there hardly are, but if there seem to be, let them stand. Believe, hold to, assert, rest your soul upon. the things which God has clearly stated. Do not let Satan divert you to the things that he has chosen to conceal. some of you will lose your soul because you're only thinking about what is concealed and you will not do the things that he's required the things that are clear to you for the sake of your soul get a hold of your mind get a hold of your mind and hold fast to what is stated and do not be dissuaded by doubts that arise from the collection of those things which God has chosen to keep secret May God give us help to not be challengers, but believers, accepting everything which God has stated. Let us stand together, pray, and be dismissed. Our Father, we openly acknowledge our smallness before you. We gladly acknowledge that we are your creatures. We gladly acknowledge that you are the only creator, the only God, that you rule over all things. And we gladly thank you that you have revealed yourself in the scriptures. We thank you for what you have made known of yourself in the creation and the trees and the oceans and the skies But we most thank you for what you have made known of yourself in the Bible And we pray that you would give us great help to not challenge you that when we find our ignorance arising, but especially when we find our native indisposition to believe the things that you have written, when we find that arising, we pray that you would give us grace and discernment to put that aside and simply, simply to submit our minds to the statements of the Scriptures. We who are your people do together lift up our prayer to you for some of the children, some of the adults that are in this room, and we pray to you on their behalf that you please would keep them from stumbling over the great secrets that you have concealed, that you would keep them from doubting the things that you have not said, that you would keep them from running upon the that you would keep them from the shipwreck of those things which you have not revealed, that you would please bring them to understand and to embrace and to believe the things which you have clearly stated. Please deliver them from the bondage of the evil one. Please deliver them from the influence of the God of this age who blinds the eyes of the unbelieving lest they should see the glory of your Son and of yourself. Please deliver them. Please this day deliver them. And for us who are your people who have been forgiven by your grace, we pray that you would deliver us from any insubordination to your word. And we pray that you would help us to be those who sincerely are molded in mind and thought by the channels of your word. We ask you in Jesus' name. Amen.