Doctrines of Grace: Unconditional Election

Well, let's get going, guys. I'm glad I was able to make it. It kind of was just sort of up in the air, to be honest.

I've been just, I felt pretty rough last night, yesterday, and this morning. But we'll see if I can make it through this.

We'll see. If I just fall over, just move me out of the way, and then somebody else just pick it back up.

How's that sound? Yeah. Let's just start in prayer, and we'll kick it off.

Lord, we're grateful for just the grace to be able to gather as the body, and we're thankful that you've allowed us to be here tonight,

to spend some time together looking at things that are found in your Word, and your intended purpose for those things,

and the impact they're supposed to have on our lives.

I pray you would just help me to teach clearly, humbly, boldly, and guard us all from error.

And I pray that the result of our time tonight would just be encouraging and convicting to our souls,

and we'd have a greater understanding of what you have done for us in the work of redemption and through your election, Lord.

And I just offer this time to you as an act of worship and our teaching and our discussion,

our listening and our obeying later. So, yeah. Yeah, in Christ's name, amen.

Yeah, hated to miss this morning. This was not really with the program, but really glad to be here tonight.

Tonight we're talking about election, and here's our schedule that we've sort of been following.

So last week we talked about just sort of the introduction of where we get the terms Reformed, Calvinism,

and as I kind of can call it, like the doctrines of amazing grace.

And we talked about the shattered image of God and what sin is and what depravity is.

I hope that that was like challenging and enlightening to you.

Like, oh, I thought I was bad. I knew I was bad. I didn't think I was that bad.

It was like we're really bad. Like it's worse than we ever could actually imagine bad.

And that kind of sets us up to talk about, well, wait a minute, another review.

If you're wanting this, we can talk about it later.

But we talked about just some of the historical debate behind some of these things with Augustine and Pelagius, Luther, Erasmus,

and the Calvinists and Arminians.

So, and this week we're going to dive into the next part of this, which is election.

And I really tried to condense this. I know this seems long, but if you look at it,

I've got like some extra references of other scriptures that are at the bottom in the footnotes.

But, yeah, we will just start walking through it.

But before we do, every week I'm trying to give you just one example of a faithful brother from the past,

someone in church history who we respect and look up to that believe these particular doctrines.

And last week, I think we talked about, well, two weeks ago we did Spurgeon.

If you remember that, he talked about how he reflected on the pursuit of God in his life

and how he just took observation that God was just chasing him down and saw his grace in election.

And this week I chose George Muir.

I think I read this quite possibly during one of the Romans 9 sermons.

But if you know him, he lived in Bristol, England and started orphanages

and did a lot of really gospel ministry, missionary.

But this is what he wrote when he was confronted with the idea of Calvinism or election.

But he wrote,

I was brought to examine these precious truths by the word of God,

being made willing to have no glory of my own in the conversion of sinners,

but to consider myself merely as an instrument and being made willing to receive what the scripture said.

I went to the Lord reading the New Testament from beginning with a particular reference to these truths.

So he's basically saying, I'm going to read the New Testament and think about the doctrines of grace

while I'm reading it and see how many times I see it as I read it.

And that was actually his habit with a lot of different topics.

He said,

So I just, you know, when I began learning these things a long time ago, it made me uncomfortable.

And it made me, I guess, in some way feel secure.

This has been something that's been taught for the entire history of the church

and a lot of people that we respect and look up to.

So in addition to, or just under the scripture, it's just good to have good reminders like that.

So, but a good challenge.

Yeah, read the New Testament with thinking about these things,

see how many times it actually comes up and you'll be surprised.

So, all right.

Let's jump into it.

So, just a quick definition here for you.

Just the word itself just simply means to select out of, to pick or choose out of a group.

Because I've seen some people just try to do word somersaults with this.

Like, it just means that you chose him and then he chose you.

It actually doesn't say that.

It says that he did the choosing.

God is the one who chose.

And, but really simply, this is just a definition from Wayne Grudem,

but he has said,

Election is an act of God before creation in which he chooses some to be saved,

not on account of any foreseen merit or faith in them,

but only because of sovereign good pleasure.

Here, we'll, you know, unpack that.

So, that's just a really simple definition.

What we see the Bible teaching on it.

But really quick, let's review.

Like, this is what we went over last time.

Because I've heard people say things like,

well, I'm a three-point Calvinist or I'm a four-pointer.

I'm like, well, really, they all connect together.

So, like, they're not like separate things.

They all tie in together.

And so, when you take what we learned from what the Scripture taught about our fallenness,

our spiritual condition before Christ,

you have to connect it,

that our condition, you have to connect to election.

So, if you remember, we talked about all this.

We had all the Scriptures and everything,

but born spiritually dead.

So, not an original sin idea.

Our minds are darkened by sin.

Our hearts are corrupted by evil.

Slaves to sin.

Children of the devil.

You know, we read a bunch of Scripture on that one.

None good or righteous.

And our will is in bondage to sin.

We talked about that a couple weeks ago.

And then we're unable to improve our condition,

meaning that everything that's in this list,

we just can't wake up one day and say,

you know what?

We're going to do better.

You know what?

We're going to reform ourselves.

We're going to just cowboy up and ask God for some help.

It just doesn't happen like that.

So, we're unable to do anything unless God comes first.

So, we have to carry this idea of our fallenness

into the conversation of election.

So, let's just start walking through this.

This is for you.

We're not going to read every single Scripture.

Obviously, we'll look at a couple,

but you can go back and look at more later.

But, why it's so important to understand depravity?

Remember, I said that depravity is a description of

our condition before Christ.

It's not who you are after Christ.

You're a new creation.

You're adopted into God's family.

You're no longer worthless and useless.

You're having the image of God restored in you

through sanctification.

And so, it's very different.

But, we apply that to our first principle here.

Right?

So, a lot of people,

my big objection,

or one of them,

when I was back in my early Christian life,

was this seems just unfair.

This seems like God is not doing the right thing here.

This just doesn't sound right,

doesn't feel right.

And I had to revamp my thinking.

And that's what we talked about in Romans 9, right?

It makes God unloving, unjust,

or it implies that He's acted without any kind of reason or purpose.

Remember, we did a whole part of Romans 9 on that.

But, just to help you get,

you have to do this.

I spent some of the time in the sermon on this,

but,

you have to get out of, like,

our Western,

democratic way of thinking.

And you have to think ancient.

You have to think medieval.

You have to go back to, like,

what happened in the context of the Scripture.

And,

so back then,

as I've said before,

a king,

an emperor,

they would also serve as a judge.

Just think about,

in the Scripture,

Solomon was the king.

But guess what?

He was the judge, too.

People came and brought cases to him.

And,

what would happen a lot of the time

when a king or emperor

was confronted,

like they,

you know,

you've seen the pictures in the movies or whatever,

like they drag a bunch of guys in chains in.

And they say,

hey,

these are the guys who rebelled against you.

These are the guys who committed,

you know,

murder,

rape,

rape,

and plunder.

That's all these guys did.

And they're all guilty.

We have,

you know,

witnesses,

evidence,

everything.

And,

so a lot of the times,

what would happen is a king or emperor would say,

hey,

look,

you're all guilty.

You all deserve to die.

Like,

that's what you deserve.

You deserve to die.

But,

because I am a merciful king,

and I desire for my people to know me as merciful,

I will pardon you and you.

But the rest of you,

you get the sword.

Because the rest,

because my people also need to understand

that I take this seriously,

that I'm not a pushover.

If you do this,

there will be consequences.

And what happens is,

in those single acts,

they invoke loyalty and love,

but also fear,

in like one act.

And so what happens is,

those guys that were chosen to be spared,

they have nothing to boast about.

They're just like,

why me?

Like,

why was I different than the guy next to me?

Well,

he wasn't.

He was the same.

He was guilty.

And so,

in that way,

the king glorified his mercy and his justice

in one single act.

And I think I showed you some examples of that

in the scripture,

which we can look at,

you know,

maybe later.

But,

but just imagine coming before the king

as a guilty person.

And that ties into our first point.

All are guilty,

right?

Here on our paper.

Because all mankind

has trampled,

mocked,

and spat upon

the infinite worth of almighty God,

all are worthy

of only divine wrath.

Okay?

None are innocent

or deserving

of God's goodness and love.

Like,

that has to be,

like,

drilled into our heads.

Like,

we don't deserve it.

Because when we

have those thoughts

of,

like,

this is wrong

or this is unfair,

it's basically saying,

like,

God owes us something.

Like,

we don't really deserve this.

We deserve to be set free,

to be let go.

And sin

is just taken

very seriously

by God.

So,

Ezekiel 18,

right there,

the soul that sins

shall die.

Then you get into Romans 1,

28-32,

and it talks about

God gave us over.

That was the judgment,

right?

God gave us over,

gave them up,

to a debased mind,

to do what ought not

to be done.

And then it gives you

this list of how sin

comes out,

how sin manifests.

But pick up on this,

verse 32.

Though they know

God's decree,

it says,

those who practice

such things

deserve to die.

Right?

So,

like,

that's the part

you've got to remember.

Like,

we don't deserve mercy.

We don't deserve

salvation.

And in fact,

I remember wrangling

with one of my friends

a long time ago

when I was still

on the other side of this.

Like,

it's just,

you know,

it's just not fair.

And he goes,

well,

fair would be we all die.

Fair would be like

no mercy.

We were just all treated

the same by God.

So,

it's a miracle

that he showed mercy

at all,

right?

And,

if you think about,

I think it's in

2 Peter,

remember this?

And it said

that he basically

just immediately

brought justice to them.

He didn't send

the angels any savior.

Can you pick up on that?

Like,

he sent,

when the angels

rebelled against God,

like,

he sent them no one

to redeem them.

They were just

immediately judged.

So,

the fact that

he even sent a savior

was just astounding

for us.

So,

yep,

wages of sin is death.

Like,

you just got to get that

in your head.

That,

that'll help you

face a lot of things

in life

when you feel entitled

by God.

Like,

I don't deserve

to be going through this

or I don't deserve

why things are so hard

for me right now.

It,

it humbles you.

So,

the next principle,

I'll stop periodically too

and to see if there's

any questions,

but kind of a balance

of that and just

moving,

moving forward.

Mercy or justice?

That's kind of what I just said.

Because all are guilty of sin,

God has the sovereign right

to have mercy on whom

he desires

and justice on whom

he desires.

if he decided

to destroy

the whole human race

because of their rebellion

against him.

And therefore,

there is no injustice

with God

if he grants mercy

to some

and justice

to others.

If you look on the back,

there's a few

scriptures for you

as well as there's some

reference in the bottom.

But,

kind of understand that.

Like,

God is not

obligated

to do anything

on our behalf.

And,

if you look at,

I mean,

this is just one of those

astounding verses

in Matthew 11.

Just,

never saw it before.

Just ignore the,

the first part of that.

That was like an accidental one.

I didn't mean to copy that over.

Just cross that.

Verse 14 out.

Look at verse 27.

It says,

All these things

have been handed over

to my Father,

Jesus said,

and no one knows the Son

except the Father,

and no one knows the Father.

except the Son,

and anyone

to whom the Son chooses

to reveal to Him.

Yeah.

Pretty,

pretty crazy.

And then,

as we looked at a few weeks ago

in Romans 9,

referring to the Exodus account,

what shall I say then?

Is there any injustice

on God's part?

By no means.

The strongest negative,

like in the Greek language.

For He says to Moses,

I will have mercy

on whom I will have mercy.

I will have compassion

on whom I will have compassion.

So then,

it does not depend

on human will

or exertion,

but on God

who has mercy.

So,

pause for a couple minutes.

Like,

is there any thoughts so far

or questions so far

on the first two

little principles here

that all are guilty,

none are deserving,

God's obligated to do nothing,

and so He has the perfect right

to show mercy

to whom He wants

and to show justice

to whom He wants

and both bring Him honor.

So,

any questions

so far?

good.

All right.

Always free to come

talk to me later too.

All right.

So,

these are getting

to the Scripture

that points out

that God indeed

has a chosen people.

This is the next part

of this.

So,

there are general statements

throughout Scripture

that reveal

that God has

an elect people,

both Jews

and Gentiles,

and that He has

predestined them

unto salvation

and thus eternal life.

It is blatantly clear

that God

did the choosing

and not man.

All right.

So,

let me see.

Let me just pick

a couple out here.

Yeah,

I mean,

I'm trying to pick out

the ones that are

just sort of shockers.

Like,

wow,

I never saw that.

In Thessalonians,

there it says,

this is 1 Thessalonians,

sorry,

typo again.

It says,

for God has not

destined us for wrath,

but to obtain salvation

through our Lord Jesus Christ,

whom He died for us,

so that whenever

we are awake or asleep,

we might live with Him.

So,

there's one.

Yeah,

let's just pick one more.

Why not?

But,

yeah,

Peter,

you are,

speaking to the church,

the Christians,

you are a chosen race,

a royal priesthood,

a holy nation,

a people for His own possession,

that you may proclaim

the excellencies of Him

who called you out of darkness

into His marvelous light.

Once you were not a people,

but now you are God's people.

Once you had not received mercy,

but now you have received mercy.

And then there's a lot of scriptures,

like in Titus here,

where it mentions God's elect,

God's people.

Actually,

you know,

in Matthew 24,

where it's talking about

the last days,

like the end,

it talks about how

if it wasn't for the sake

of the elect,

like,

those days would have

kind of continued.

But God cut them short

for the sake of the elect.

Which means that God's people

probably will be here

when stuff's happening.

Right?

So it's just everywhere.

This is just that general sense

that God has,

a chosen people there,

made of Jews and Gentiles.

So,

and then here's the big surprise,

right?

Before creation.

This happened before creation.

Before the foundation of the world,

God chose to show mercy

to certain individuals

for salvation.

And their names are written

in the book of life.

So here's the really famous,

you know,

Ephesians 1.

He chose us in Him

before the foundation

of the world

that we should be holy

and blameless before Him.

In love,

He predestined us

for adoption as sons

through Jesus Christ

according to the purpose

of His will,

to the praise

of His glorious grace.

Right?

So we see all that

in Ephesians 1 there.

Pick up on this.

It says,

in love,

He predestined us.

Like,

a lot of people

want to think about this

as an arbitrary,

you know,

harsh doctrine.

And that's what it says.

In love,

He did this.

And so,

I'm trying to,

this is probably

a really poor analogy.

It's just the one

coming to my head

right now.

If you

see your child

running towards the road

into oncoming traffic,

what do you do?

Say,

hey,

come back,

come back.

You know,

or do you like

rush out there

and impose your will

on them

and bring them back?

Like,

that's,

that's what election does.

It kind of like

grabs us.

God

choosing

to reach out

and pull us away

from the danger

that we were heading towards.

So,

just in love,

He predestined us

to adoption.

As I mentioned earlier

to some people,

adoption,

like we know

that a lot of people

in our church

have adopted,

it's the parents

who do the choosing.

It's usually not the kid.

Right?

It's,

the parents initiate it,

the parents pursue it,

and the parents say,

hey,

we want you

to be in our family.

So,

it kind of mirrors

God's electing grace

in that,

that way.

Um,

all right,

so there's

2 Thessalonians.

Yeah,

but look at

Revelation 13.

This one

blew my mind

a long time ago.

Uh,

Revelation 13,

8.

It says,

and all who dwell

on the earth

will worship

everyone whose name

has not been written

before the foundation

of the world

and the book of life

of the Lamb

who was slain.

What?

Uh,

I thought,

like there was like

an angel up in heaven

with a big scroll

and a feathered pen.

Like,

every time somebody

was saved,

he went,

yay!

You know,

like,

wrote her name down

every time.

Um,

so what does it say here?

It says,

that book has been written

before the foundation

of the world.

That's,

it enforces this idea

that this is something

that God had done

already.

Um,

never picked up on that.

It actually says it again,

Revelation,

later,

later on.

So,

that,

that choosing happened

before the foundation

of the world,

so he's not making it up

as he goes.

It's like a,

a part of his plan.

Um,

then,

next point,

this is all happening

by God's good pleasure.

So why is it happening?

Because he wants to.

That's just pretty much why.

Out of his grace,

out of his goodness.

So,

God's sovereign election

is not based.

This is where a lot of people

will split,

right?

This is like the,

the split here.

Um,

and,

because you can't get around it,

like,

even people who don't believe

what we would believe here,

mostly,

they,

they see the word election,

they see the word predestined,

they have to do something with it,

so they have to figure out

how to make it work.

And I,

I did this for a solid year.

It was like,

trying to nail a,

a brown peg

in a square hole.

This wasn't working.

But,

let's read this together.

God's sovereign election

is not based

upon foreseen faith

that man would have.

Saving faith

is the result

and evidence

of God's election

and not the determining factor

of his choice.

This saving faith

does not come from man,

but as a free gift.

All right.

So,

point is,

a lot of people say,

like,

God used his omniscience

and his,

his ability

to look down

in time,

his foresight,

put it that way.

And he goes,

ooh,

you know what?

One day,

I see,

Greg Girard,

he's going to be a good guy.

He's going to,

he's going to be messed up

like all people are

before I save them.

But you know what?

He's going to get his stuff together

and he's going to place

saving faith in me.

You know what?

Therefore,

I choose him.

See that?

Like,

that's the fit.

That's like what I tried to do.

And,

it doesn't say that

because,

the Bible explicitly teaches

that saving faith

is the result

of God's election.

Like,

it's something that God gives us.

And,

I mean,

look,

this is one of those

verses that will blow your minds

in Acts 13,

48.

Paul's preaching the gospel,

right?

So,

imagine that,

like you're preaching

to a crowd of people.

You're sinners against God.

Christ came to save you

from your sin.

Put your faith in him.

Repent and believe.

And this is what it says

in verse 48.

When the Gentiles heard this,

they began rejoicing

and glorifying

the word of the Lord.

And as many who were appointed

to eternal life believed.

Interesting.

So,

their belief was a result

of their appointment

of God choosing them

before the foundation

of the world.

And,

let me see,

Ephesians 2,

just trying to pick a few here.

Yeah,

the very famous Ephesians 2.

For by grace you have been saved

through faith.

And this is not of your doing,

it is the gift of God,

not as a result of works

that no one may boast.

And so,

what he really is trying to say here

is both the grace

and the faith

are from God.

Like God gave them

the ability.

This gets into next week

a little bit,

or the week after,

about how God

actually saves us,

how he actually regenerates us,

in the relationship

to faith.

Ephesians 1.39,

it has been granted to you

so that for the sake of Christ

you should not only believe in him,

but also suffer

for his sake.

So,

wow,

so not only believe in him,

we believe because God

granted us that belief.

God's choice is not based on any

foreseen merit residing in us,

right?

Nor any good works.

So that's just important.

And so,

when we're talking about works,

we're also talking about

just like spiritual things too.

Anything spiritually good

that we think

we could contribute

to make God want to save us.

Like it just doesn't work.

He's saying it's only,

only God

has done this.

And,

and let's pick a,

pick a verse here.

And let's just look at

2 Timothy 1.9 down there.

It says that

God saved us

and called us

with a holy calling,

not because of works,

but because of his own purpose

and grace,

which he gave us

in Christ Jesus.

There it is.

Before ages began.

It's crazy.

So,

pause.

Any

questions?

Any

comments?

Before we get to the next part.

Crazy.

Yeah.

Insane.

Oh,

yeah.

I get it.

Yep.

Love it.

for people who are listening

to this recording.

All one of you,

maybe,

in the future,

when I'm dead.

The question was,

like,

how should you pray

for somebody

and their salvation,

someone to be saved,

if God has already

chosen,

right?

If God has already

chosen.

Yeah.

I'll have a whole

night on that

when we get to,

like,

the saving act

of the Holy Spirit.

But,

I can tell you

what,

you're not praying.

You're not praying,

like,

God,

please just help them

to pull their lives

together.

Please just help them

just to use their free will

to become a better person

and choose you.

You're praying,

like,

Lord,

save them.

Like,

Lord,

open their eyes.

Like,

Lord,

soften their hearts.

Like,

God,

help them to believe.

Like,

show them grace.

That's like how we pray

for people.

We pray like we believe

what we're talking about.

We don't pray for them

to kind of,

like,

use their own ability.

We pray like,

God,

they don't have the ability.

Please help them.

That's like,

sort of,

it aligns with that.

But I guess,

really quickly,

like,

you know,

again,

I definitely want to get

into this more

in the future.

Like,

I,

what you see in the

Scripture,

thankfully,

is like God

hunting down people.

You see,

he's not a lonely

old man in the sky,

just like hoping

someone will be his buddy.

You know,

like,

he's like,

I'm after that person.

So,

that brings me

to great confidence.

So,

I have some family members

who are unbelievers,

and,

election

pushes me to pray

because I'm like,

Lord,

you know,

like,

just save them.

I know you can.

Like,

if they're,

you have the power

to completely deliver them,

like,

you can do it

if you want to.

Like,

please,

like,

just open their eyes.

Please help them to

believe.

Give them,

give them eyes to see

and ears to hear.

And,

again,

like,

but if I just felt like

it was just up to them,

it'd be kind of a sad prayer.

It'd be like,

Lord,

they're lost.

Like,

Lord,

they don't see it.

They don't have the ability

to do this.

Why is it that so many

smart people in the world

haven't quite figured

this out yet?

You know?

If it was up for smart people,

we would,

they would figure it out

and we wouldn't.

And it's really just like

praying that,

like,

to a God with confidence

that He has the ability

and when He's ready,

He'll do it.

Like,

I've told my brother before,

like,

you can run from Him

but you can't hide.

Like,

He's going to find you

and when He does,

like,

there's nothing you're going

to be able to do.

He's going to corner you.

He's going to kick down the door

and He's going to make you His.

Like,

I talk to my brother like that,

you know,

sometimes.

But again,

if their salvation

was tied to,

like,

their own ability

to,

like,

get it together,

that'd be a really sad prayer.

But if it's like,

no,

no,

God's the one in charge

and God can do it,

you know?

So,

and God uses

the prayers

and intercessions

of His people

to accomplish His will.

So,

as you're praying that,

like,

that should actually

just give us confidence

that God is like,

He's hearing you,

you know?

And we're pleading

on their behalf.

So,

short answer to that,

I guess.

Anything else?

All right.

Now we get into

another controversial

part of this,

which is the question,

like,

if God has chosen

some for salvation,

that also means,

on the flip side,

that He's also chosen

not to save

other people.

And,

remember,

that the king,

I pardon you and you,

but you I don't.

It's the inevitable

other side of this.

And,

it's what's referred to

as reprobation.

And,

it's the opposite

of election,

if you look here.

It's the sovereign

decision of God

before creation

to pass over

some persons.

In sorrow,

deciding not

to save them

and to punish them

for their sins

and thereby manifest

His justice.

In other words,

God gives them over

to their already

sinful devices.

All right?

And,

let me just tell you

where we see this

in the scripture first

and then we'll talk

about it.

But,

the first scripture

I have here

is in Isaiah.

So,

remember,

unbelief

is

a judgment.

People

not able

to see and hear.

And,

it says this

in verse 9.

He said,

Go and say to those people,

this is after the great

commission of Isaiah,

right?

Keep on hearing,

but do not understand.

Keep on seeing,

but do not perceive.

Make the heart

of this people

dull and their eyes

heavy,

and blind their eyes,

lest they see

with their eyes

and hear with their ears

and understand

with their hearts

and turn and be healed.

That's like a sad

commission.

That's what he said

to Isaiah right after.

He said,

Here am I.

Send me.

So,

basically go and preach,

but they're not

going to hear.

And,

and reflecting on that

in John,

John 12,

it sucks,

you know,

talking about the Lord

here,

talking about Jesus

after he did these

miracles and things.

So,

though he had done

so many signs

before them,

they still did not

believe in him.

So that,

so,

so why didn't they

believe in him?

That's the question.

Why didn't they believe?

So that the word

spoken by the prophet

Isaiah might be

fulfilled.

Lord,

who has believed

what he heard from us

and to whom has the

arm of the Lord

been revealed?

They could not

believe.

For again,

Isaiah said,

he has blinded

their eyes

and hardened

their heart

unless they see

with their eyes

and understand

with their heart

and turn

and I would heal

them.

So,

wow,

like judgment.

And then,

we looked at this one.

We did Romans 9,

but very clearly.

But it talks about

Pharaoh.

God said to him,

for this very purpose

I've raised you up

that I might show

my power in you

that my name

might be proclaimed

in all the earth.

So then he has mercy

in whom he desires

and he hardens

whom he desires.

If you read

Exodus,

it talks about how

I think it's three times

that

that says

that the Lord

hardened Pharaoh's heart.

And then,

and then lastly,

you know,

you have 1 Peter there,

chapter 2.

The stone,

the builders rejected

to become the cornerstone,

a stumbling of,

a stone of stumbling,

a rock of offense.

They stumble

because they disobeyed

the word

and as they were

destined to do.

Like,

wow.

So,

I know those are

hard words,

but it just really

just means,

like,

so what does it mean

to harden somebody?

It's important

to understand this,

but it doesn't mean

like God

just zaps somebody

and,

and like,

evil comes out

of his finger

and it hits them

and they become bad

because that means

that evil,

God's the source,

is coming from him.

what it really means

is he just does this,

he just goes,

like,

okay.

Like,

that's what it says

in Romans 1,

he gave them over,

he gave them up

and it says that

three times,

I think,

in Romans 1.

It just means

that he leaves them

to their already

existing depravity.

right?

And,

it,

uh,

so what we would call

common grace,

there's these restraints

of God on man

that keep them

from becoming,

we talked about this

two weeks ago,

the difference between

utter depravity

and total depravity,

right?

Like,

if God removes

some of those things,

we become more evil,

like we,

our depravity gets worse,

and so we're already

sinful

on our own,

and any goodness

that we have in us

at all

is because of God's

grace in our lives.

What he does,

he just backs off,

he goes,

okay,

I'm abandoning,

abandoning you

to the consequences

of your sin.

So,

Jonathan Edwards here

wrote,

um,

about hardening

of the heart.

He said,

God is said

to harden men

in two ways.

First,

is by withholding

the powerful influences

of his Holy Spirit,

without which their hearts

remain hardened

and grow harder.

In this sense,

he hardens them

and leads them

to their hardness.

He does it also

by ordering those things

in his providence,

which through the abuse

of their corruption

become the occasion

of their hardening.

Thus,

God sends his word

and ordinances

to men,

which by their abuse

prove on occasion

of their hardening.

So,

does that make sense?

So,

so,

providentially,

God arranged the Exodus,

arranged the people

leaving Egypt,

and arranged the Red Sea

encounter

to be the circumstances

of Pharaoh's hardening.

So,

God knows what it takes

to put us

in that position.

another thing that

Jonathan Edwards wrote

that I don't have a quote

for here,

if this is helpful.

I found it helpful.

I want you to think

about the sun

and the earth.

People have already

heard this in the room.

but,

like the sun

and the earth.

The sun

just gives two things

to the earth,

right?

It gives light

and it gives heat.

And,

if you took away light

or if you took away heat,

you just,

everything would die here.

We would have no life.

So,

kind of follow me there.

So,

while the sun

is in its right place,

we have life.

We're getting light

and we're getting heat.

But,

if the sun just went,

like they were just,

certain things would happen

because of an absence

of the sun's presence.

And,

it's very similar with God.

Like,

when God is being gracious

to us,

we have life.

We have good things.

We have health,

et cetera.

And,

at very best,

salvation.

But,

if he was to,

like,

back away,

certain things happen

out of want

of his presence.

Does that make sense?

As,

as the idea of hardening

comes into play.

So,

anything on that

before we do some

closing things?

Anything else?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Can the

reprimand

ever be saved?

No.

Because,

that means

they would put them

in the category

of the elect

if they were

going to be saved.

So,

the question

that was from...

So,

don't hold me...

Answer that question.

Yeah.

But,

Nathan talked about

the mention of

the reprobate

in the passage.

When it says,

what then is there

fail to obtain

what he's seeking?

They left the weakness

of the rest of the heart.

And so,

he mentions that

those who were reprobate.

I guess my confusion

comes in

when

verse 11

says,

so I ask

that they stumble

in order that

they might fall

by no means.

Rather,

through their trespasses

they say,

salvation has come

to the Gentiles

so as to make

this a little

point.

All that means

some of Israel

who,

that it just says

was hardened

or broken off.

He also says,

maybe grab the back.

And later

in the first time.

I know what

he's talking about.

Like I,

preach the rest

of Romans 11

for us tonight.

Oh,

okay.

No.

We'll record it

and play it

next week.

No.

John,

we'll get into

that one next.

The,

uh,

from the place

he's standing

he's saying

what we're seeing

some place

may be right

but others not.

And he goes on

to say in Romans 11

but,

but they can,

right,

they can place

faith in Christ.

Sorry,

the one,

um,

yeah,

but I wouldn't

get yourself

wrapped into

the categories

because those

categories

would be

quietly confined

to the end

of all things.

Hmm.

Yeah.

I mean,

it's just basically

when you say

elected

or reprobate,

it's just another

way of saying

believer,

unbeliever,

saved,

unsaved.

but yeah,

like,

in that,

in that particular

text,

like,

if you get

stuck in a,

um,

the terms

themselves,

like,

yeah,

you'll get

kind of

confused there.

So,

yeah,

but,

yeah,

I mean,

that's what's

just crazy.

It's just

everywhere.

I just never

saw a lot

of this

so long ago.

I also just

didn't really

read my Bible

much either.

Um,

enough to,

like,

make people

happy.

But,

yep,

Romans 11.

You thought

we would get

out of that

in Romans 9,

but,

oh no,

there's more

to come.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Um,

like,

the,

let me think

here.

In the last,

like,

few years,

last couple

years particularly,

um,

I would,

I would

probably say

since Russia

invaded Ukraine,

Hamas

invaded Israel,

like,

we haven't

seen,

there's that

kind of stuff

that goes on

in the world,

but it's just

not for us

to see very

well.

And,

it's like

made us

wake up

like,

wow,

there's some

bad stuff

out there.

Like,

you mean

that not

everything's

just the way

it is in my

own little

world where

everybody's

mostly nice,

mostly polite.

Um,

I don't know

if it was a

mistake or

not.

Maybe it

wasn't,

but I,

I watched

some of the

videos that

Hamas made.

just brutal.

Anyway,

it tears you

up to

watch.

I'd actually

just recommend

that some

of you

don't.

If you,

but just

the blood,

the carnage,

the depravity

of what

man can

do to

other men.

and,

and even

if,

um,

Israel and

any other

allies,

like,

bring them

to justice

or,

or kill

them,

like,

the wickedness

of man,

when God

judges that

one day,

it'll be a

beautiful thing.

Like,

like,

my point is,

like,

he will be

magnified in

his justice.

Like,

it'll be

something that

we give him

great glory

for.

Like,

for being

a God

that,

like,

lets no

evil go

unpunished.

Like,

zero.

And he'll

do it

perfectly.

Like,

no injustice.

Not,

we all

will,

will see

him display

that.

And any

sin that

has,

that people

thought they

got away

with,

um,

he will

bring it

to perfect

justice.

And that's

why it says

that God

made everything

for a purpose,

even the

wicked,

for the

day of

evil.

Right?

Like,

he,

and,

and so,

while he's

destroying the

wicked,

you know,

and magnifying

his holiness

and his

righteousness,

simultaneously,

those of us

on the other

side will

just be going

like,

what?

You know,

why,

why aren't I

over there?

I,

I'm sinful.

Like,

I've rebelled

against God.

Why,

why has he

chosen

to save me?

And the

answer is like,

nothing,

there's no

reason.

Like,

there's no

reason that

in you

that he

did it.

So he

will

simultaneously

be bringing

glory to his

name by

sparing you

and showing

you mercy

and that

you are in

Christ

like Noah's

ark,

you know,

the,

you know,

you go out of the

nurseries with

kids and it's like

the little boat

with all the

animals on and

people going,

you know,

like in Noah's

ark.

I always,

I had to play the

jokes that if I

ever paint that in

my kids' room,

I'm going to paint

the people drowning

outside the boat

and to show them

that like,

yeah,

in Christ we're

saved,

but outside of

Christ we are

only going to be

destroyed,