-Transcript-
00:28 Amen. Welcome to the program. Welcome to the cafe.
00:33 Pastor Clark Covington here from KJV Cafe. I’m so glad that you are joining me here today. Today we are in Romans chapter nine and we are looking at God’s sovereignty.
00:43 And man, I mean, this is a big topic. You know, we live in this world where things can look very turbulent to say the least. I mean, that is by design, by the way.
00:55 I think that is all by design because it allows us to draw closer to him. Can you imagine if we lived in a world where everything was just perfect and peaceful?
01:04 We may say to ourselves, well, what do we need God for? Everything is great as it is. But this turbulence we have in this world just naturally draws people to seek peace.
01:15 And where does peace come from? It comes from the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ alone. But while we live in this turbulent world, it’s also easy even for us Christians or especially for us Christians to get discouraged, to think, man, you know, maybe God has taken his hand off of things. Maybe God is not so concerned with the ways of the world.
01:39 Friend, God is near and God is very concerned. But at the same time, it’s not a concern born out of surprise because God knows. He knew from the beginning all this would happen.
01:48 And that’s why we’re looking at God’s sovereignty, looking at his sovereign will, understanding the power of God and his powerful preference. His powerful preference.
01:57 And as you get into this study, I believe you’ll be blessed because you’ll realize, hey, if you’ve been saved, even if you’ve just been convicted by a holy God to be saved, then how blessed are you that you have that preference on your life that many others didn’t experience, amen.
02:18 We all have the opportunity to be saved, but not all will be saved.
02:23 The Bible says many are called, but few are chosen. And I’ve still, I’ve done, try to dig deep on that verse a little bit because, wow, I mean, that’s many are called, but few are chosen. Not many are called, but few show up.
02:38 Many are called, but few are chosen. Our text verse here, Romans 9:18. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and on whom he will, he hardeneth.
02:48 So God is going to choose who he’s going to have mercy on. Now I want to contrast that with the cross at Calvary and what Jesus did for us.
02:58 I want you to think of that as a premeditated willful act from a living God, because it’s easy to get into Romans 9:18 and say, okay, now God’s just playing favorites, or maybe God doesn’t think I’m good enough.
03:12 So I’m just rejected by God. I’ll just live in sin. No, no, no.
03:16 We can’t say that because we understand that Jesus Christ died for our sins. And you say, brother Clark, well, how do you know that that was God’s plan?
03:23 Well the Bible, and just one of the many examples, studying the book of Matthew recently, Jesus telegraphs it.
03:33 Jesus spells out, I mean, he’ll be feeding folks, healing folks, teaching and preaching.
03:38 And then, oh, by the way, he’ll tell the disciples, look guys, this is what’s going to happen. I’m going to be falsely accused. I’m going to be put to death.
03:46 I’m going to be crucified. I’m going to be buried and I’m going to be resurrected. He said it multiple times.
03:50 And I’ve read through the New Testament many times. And I guess I’ve just read that and kind of been like, oh wow, and it kept going. But this time as I read it, I thought about it and said, you know what?
04:00 This is God’s sovereign will, sovereign plan, that God himself, Jesus Christ being perfect and in the flesh, not sinless, yet in the flesh, was telegraphing it, was telling it to the disciples because he knew it was going to happen.
04:14 You see? So don’t tell me that Jesus Christ wasn’t a willing participant. He was fully obedient to the Father.
04:23 You’re telling me that God in the flesh didn’t have the power to strike down those Roman soldiers? It’d be nothing for God.
04:28 In fact, the real power, I believe, was shown in the restraint, in the restraint. And why was God restraining from judgment? So that you could be saved, so that I could be saved. It’s incredible.
04:39 So with our text verse, Romans 9:18, therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy and whom he will he hardeneth.
04:49 Understand the context here that Paul is writing to the Jews and he’s telling them that he is grieved. He’s saying, you know what, I’m going to share a truth to you.
04:59 This is Romans 9, it’s 33 verses, all pointing to God’s incredible sovereignty by contrasting the Jews and the Gentiles and God’s program for salvation. But Paul is saying, I’m sorry because I love you guys. I hurt for you guys.
05:12 You are my people, amen. We grew up together. I was a Pharisee of the Pharisee. I was trained to be like you.
05:21 I was persecuting Christians. I know the law as good as anyone. And that law is not going to save you.
05:29 You have to have faith. And I’m telling you that you have to have faith. And Paul wishes the Jews to be saved, but they won’t listen to his gospel.
05:36 Where did Paul go on his missionary journeys when he first arrived in town? He went to the temple. He went to his people. Israelites, Paul points out in Romans 9, they have the pedigree to be close to God.
05:50 They have the law. How did the law come about? Moses, Mount Sinai is communicating with God directly. God says, okay, Moses, here’s my law.
06:00 Write it down. Moses writes it down. He goes, brings it to the Israelites.
06:05 He says, this is God’s law, follow it. The Israelites had proof that he was talking to the living God. Remember at one point Moses had to wear a veil because he was glowing, amen. They know he was talking to the living God.
06:14 He gives them the law. He tells them that they are his chosen people. Look at a map and look at Israel on the map.
06:21 Why did God choose Israel? It’s such a small, little, tiny place, amen? I mean, it’s like, it’s crazy. My wife’s from Kings Mountain. We live in Kings Mountain.
06:30 I met my wife. I said, we were talking one day. I knew, you know, I know Charlotte, I know I-85.
06:38 I said, Kings Mountain, where is that? You know, well, hey, it’s a little town, okay. It’s a nice place, but you know what, Israel, you know, if you don’t have a map, you’re trying to explain, it’s kind of over here, it’s kind of over there.
06:48 It is a tiny little place, amen. Why didn’t God choose Africa? Africa’s huge.
06:54 Or Russia? Russia’s huge. Or Canada? I don’t know if you know this. Canada’s actually geographically really big.
06:59 Why didn’t God choose that place for his people? No, he chose little, tiny Israel because that is God’s plan. And so God takes the little people group. He says, you have the adoption.
07:10 You’re my group. He gives them the promises. He gives them the law.
07:14 They can’t follow the law. Just like we wouldn’t be able to follow the law. And so what happens? Christ comes, Paul explains, to be king of who? The Jews.
07:22 Again, Christ didn’t come to be king of the Gentiles. He came to be king of the Jews. Think about what this means.
07:28 It’s God’s sovereign will, and here’s why. Number one, there’s proof in the Bible that Christ came to be king of the Jews. He told the disciples not to go out to the Gentiles at that time.
07:39 He also, when speaking to the woman whose daughter was ill, said, I came here to the chosen people, to the Jewish people. And she said, well, you know, please help me. So I am not going to give the bread to the dogs, so to speak.
07:51 And she said, well, even the dogs eat the crumbs. He says, great is your faith. Your daughter’s healed.
08:00 But he was giving the example that, and at that time, the Gentiles, anyone that wasn’t a Jew was viewed as in superior. They were viewed as not God’s chosen people because they weren’t. Amen.
08:05 Again, God had communicated so much through Moses. So what do we see? We see that Jesus Christ, he’s come to be king of the Jews, but they reject him. They reject him.
08:17 And that’s what’s so interesting. So through Christ’s rejection, right? What happens? He says, he comes on the donkey, he says, I’m here to be your king, right? He’s fulfilling. I believe it was Isaiah.
08:31 And they say, no, you’re not our king. You know, give us Barabbas, release him, kill you, put him on the cross, crucify him. And so not just the Jews or Romans, if we were there today, we would have been, sinful man would have been putting Christ on the cross.
08:51 So we’re not pointing out one group, but we’re just saying clearly that they didn’t accept him as king. The Jews didn’t. And so therefore, what happens? Well, now he dies.
08:56 He fulfills his own prophecy in Matthew and many other places, but also fulfills the prophecy in the Old Testament and so forth. He dies. He’s buried three days.
09:05 He’s risen again. Amen. And with that resurrection now becomes this idea that anyone can be saved.
09:10 So God’s sovereign power, God’s sovereign plan, and his preference was made known through the death of Christ and the burial resurrection. That’s our gospel. 1 Corinthians 15, one through four points it out very plainly.
09:25 That is our gospel. And through this gospel, we now have salvation. So what does that mean? That means that God’s plan is beyond our understanding.
09:34 Can you imagine seeing Christ crucified and just being mortified, terrified, and oh no, God himself is being killed. But what they didn’t realize was God himself was now going to be risen from the grave and provide that atonement for sin because man, being sinful, could not fulfill the sin debt on their own. They couldn’t pay it.
09:54 Amen. They have a debt they couldn’t pay and man couldn’t go to any other man to pay it because only a perfect holy God could atone for the sin debt of mankind. That’s why Christ was born of a virgin.
10:10 That’s why Christ lived sinless and perfect 33 and a half years here on earth. And that’s why Christ had to go to the cross. And so we see God’s sovereign plan in the midst of turmoil, in the midst of turbulence.
10:16 These bad people, if God had made no bad people, right, that you know, if he had not made anyone to do anything bad or to sin, amen.
10:27 After sin had entered through Adam and Eve, then there would have been no crucifixion. There would have been none of that.
10:34 And so for an order for that to take place, he had to allow some bad people to be there. You look at Pilate and so forth, being spineless and all these things, not willing to take a stand because he knew Christ was innocent.
10:45 I heard great preaching on that recently, but you know, if, if, if Pilate had been more compassionate or had more backbone, then we would not have the cross to be our salvation.
10:56 You see God’s sovereign plan is beyond our, our wildest understanding. It all boils down to faith. Gentiles would believe Israel wouldn’t.
11:04 And we through these two people groups can see God’s sovereign plan, power and preference. Amen. And that’s what I want you to think about today.
11:12 A sovereign God allowed this to happen then. Amen. So that we could be saved today.
11:18 And a sovereign God today is allowing things to happen now. So that what? Think about it so that we could draw close to him. Amen.
11:27 The Bible says that evil is sufficient for the day thereof. The idea that God knows there’s going to be evil in your life. He knows it will be there daily and he tells you it’s sufficient.
11:36 It’s enough. Now, God. Okay.
11:39 You love me, right? Okay. God, father, God, I’m saved. You love me.
11:43 Why do I have to have a portion of evil every day? Well, if that evil draws me closer to him, if that evil helps me to dig in a little deeper to his word, if that evil is that reminder that I need to pray, pray, pray, and pray.
11:56 If that evil is a reminder that I need to be about my father’s business. If that evil is a reminder to store treasures in heaven, not here on earth.
12:04 If that evil is a reminder to love my brothers and sisters selflessly and not be selfish. If all of those things blossom out of that, then it’s a good thing. I’ll give you an example.
12:17 As we wrap up here today, we’re going to do a multi-part series on this. My oldest son is a teenager and he has had things happen in his life, but generally speaking, he has had it good.
12:27 I grew up in a broken home and had a lot of issues growing up, a ton.
12:32 And I credit those issues to a lot of things in my life. I look at it as God’s grace and seeing his power in all these things. It’s a great testimony that I can give.
12:40 And I’m happy that he’s had somewhat of a comfortable life. But I tell him over and over again that in affliction and in adversity is where your character, your good character, is going to grow and your faith is going to grow in all these things.
12:54 And it’s weird for a parent to desire that of their child, but truly I have that desire as he is of age, he’s almost 18, next year he’ll be out of here.
13:04 Not that I’m counting, but he’s almost 18. And of course he’s welcome to stay here if he’s going to go to school or work or whatever. He’s going to do something.
13:12 I promise you that. Okay, I’m getting on this, going offside, but get this, get this. As I wish that for my son, being an earthly, sinful man, and I love, love, love this kid.
13:22 I absolutely love this kid, okay? Trust me, I love him. If I love him and I wish for him to have that challenge and that trial, how much more so does God love us?
13:31 Therefore, when we face challenges and trials, look at God and praise him and don’t look at him in a way where you feel like you’re being, you know, tortured or going through hard times for no reason.
13:44 He has a reason and trust him, have faith that God is in full control and that the evil of the day is sufficient thereof and that he is a sovereign God.
14:00 And then through what you’re going to go through, you will see his sovereign power. Just as when those that love the Lord Jesus Christ saw him at the cross, they couldn’t imagine the glory that awaited him through the resurrection
14:07 and now being at the right hand of the Father and being worshiped and praised forevermore and being the way to salvation for all mankind, for all time, amen.
14:16 It’s Jesus Christ.
14:20 And so just trust the Lord here today. Tune in next time as we go deeper into Romans 9 and we look at God’s sovereignty through his power, his plan, and his preference. Thank you for listening.
14:28 Take care. God bless and amen.