God’s Sovereign Choice: A Theological Review of ‘Predestined for Hell?’

The sermon attempts to defend God's character by refuting the idea of predestination to damnation. However, in doing so, it systematically reinterprets Romans 9 to deny God's sovereign election unto salvation, promoting a synergistic model where man's will is the decisive factor. This fundamentally misrepresents the doctrines of grace and total inability, constituting a significant theological error.

🔴
Theological Status: Critical Concern Biblical Parallel(Archetype): Thyatira
❓ What do these grades mean?
🔍 Biblical Discernment: The 7 Church Parallels
The Faithful Parallels Smyrna • Philadelphia
Teaching that parallels the churches that endure suffering with true spiritual riches (Rev 2:9) and keep the Word of Christ without denial despite having "little strength" (Rev 3:8).
The Cold Orthodox Parallel Ephesus
Teaching that upholds doctrinal precision yet parallels the loss of the "first love"—the vital, motivating power of the Gospel (Rev 2:4).
The Formalist Parallels Sardis • Laodicea
Teaching that parallels churches relying on a reputation of being alive while being spiritually dead (Rev 3:1), or resting in lukewarm self-sufficiency, claiming to be "rich" while spiritually bankrupt (Rev 3:17).
The Compromised Parallels Pergamum • Thyatira
Teaching that parallels churches tolerating the "doctrine of Balaam" through cultural accommodation (Rev 2:14), or allowing seductive teachings that lead the flock into false gospels and immorality (Rev 2:20).
Date: 2017-02-22 | Church: Love Worth Finding Ministries | Speaker: Adrian Rogers

📺 Media: Watch Sermon on YouTube

🧐 Overview

Sermon Summary: This sermon addresses the difficult topic of predestination in Romans 9, arguing passionately that God does not predestine anyone to hell and that salvation is available to anyone who chooses to accept it through a decision of their own will.

Big Idea: Predestined for h*ll? Answer? No. You are not predestined to h*ll. [00:01:10 ▶️ 📄]

Pastoral Analysis: The sermon attempts to defend God's character by refuting the idea of predestination to damnation. However, in doing so, it systematically reinterprets Romans 9 to deny God's sovereign election unto salvation, promoting a synergistic model where man's will is the decisive factor. This fundamentally misrepresents the doctrines of grace and total inability, constituting a significant theological error.

Biblical Parallel(Archetype): Thyatira — The sermon actively teaches a synergistic view of salvation that seduces listeners away from the biblical doctrine of God's sovereign grace, which is a form of corrupting ('Jezebel') teaching.

🧭 Biblical Alignment Dashboard

Overall Verdict: Fundamentally in Error

CategoryStatusReasoning
Soteriology ❌ FAIL The sermon promotes a synergistic model of salvation, where the human will ('whosoever will,' 'if you want it') is the decisive factor, effectively denying the biblical doctrines of total inability and God's monergistic work in regeneration.
Bibliology ⚠️ WEAK While affirming the Bible's authority, the sermon's interpretation of a key doctrinal chapter is driven by a presupposition (denial of sovereign election) rather than allowing the text to establish the doctrine, leading to a flawed conclusion.
Hermeneutic ❌ FAIL The sermon employs a pretextual hermeneutic, using Romans 9 as a launchpad to argue against a specific theological position, rather than exegeting the chapter's actual argument for God's sovereign freedom in election. It consistently redefines key terms to fit a preconceived theological system.
Theology Proper ❌ FAIL By subordinating God's sovereign will in salvation to man's autonomous choice, the sermon presents a diminished view of God's sovereignty, reducing Him to a respondent to human decisions rather than the ultimate initiator and author of salvation.
Sacramentology ⚪ N/A No sacraments were observed or discussed in the provided transcript.

📖 How they Handle Scripture & Jesus

Primary Text: Romans 9 (Pretextual (Thin))

Scripture Saturation: Verses Read: 44 | Referenced: 1 | Alluded: 1

Key References: Romans 5:8

Christological Connection: None (Moralistic): Christ's sacrifice and propitiation are mentioned as the basis for salvation, but the primary connection is to Christ as the object of individual decision for salvation ('whosoever will'), rather than a deep exposition of Christ's role within the Romans 9 argument or a redemptive trajectory.

🧱 Sermon Outline

  • God is the God of sovereign choices. [00:06:39 ▶️ 📄] : Explains God's choice of Israel, Isaac over Ishmael, and Jacob over Esau, emphasizing national and service-oriented election, not personal salvation.
  • God's spotless character. [00:17:39 ▶️ 📄] : Addresses the question of God's righteousness, stating God is just, not necessarily fair, and His mercy is rooted in His character, not human merit. Discusses Pharaoh's hardened heart as a result of his own wickedness.
  • God's steadfast concern. [00:34:29 ▶️ 📄] : Highlights God's desire for all people (Jews and Gentiles) to be saved, citing numerous scriptures that emphasize God's universal love and willingness for all to come to repentance.

🗝️ Key Topics & Themes

  • Predestination : Refutation of predestination to hell, emphasizing God's desire for all to be saved.
  • God's Sovereignty : God's right to choose for service and His ultimate authority.
  • God's Character : God's justice, mercy, and righteousness.
  • Evangelism : The church's mission to win souls and preach the gospel.
  • Election : Distinction between national/service-oriented election and personal salvation.

✅ Commendations

Pastoral Heart | Passionate Concern for the Lost

The speaker demonstrates a genuine and fervent desire for the salvation of the lost, echoing Paul's own heart cry in the opening of Romans 9. His zeal for evangelism is commendable.

⚠️ Theological Concerns

🔴 Synergistic View of Salvation

Root Cause: Semi-Pelagianism / Synergism. This view violates the doctrine of Total Depravity by assuming man is not spiritually dead but merely 'sick' and possesses an inherent ability to initiate or cooperate with God's grace for salvation.

"Friend, that's the reason I can say to anybody, any place, anywhere, if you want mercy, you can have mercy. If you want salvation, you can have salvation. If you want to be saved, I'm telling you on the authority of the word of God that you can be saved." [00:37:41 ▶️ 📄]

Correction: John 6:44 states, 'No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him.' Ephesians 2:1, 4-5 teaches that we were 'dead in trespasses and sins' and God, being rich in mercy, 'made us alive together with Christ.' This demonstrates that salvation is an act of divine resurrection, not human decision.

🟠 Redefinition of Divine Election

Root Cause: Hermeneutical Fragmentation (Missed Typology). This approach fails to see how the specific historical choices in the Old Testament establish the overarching principle of God's sovereign, unconditional election that finds its ultimate expression in the salvation of the church.

"What we're talking about here is national and not personal. And God here is not talking about salvation. God is talking about service." [00:12:47 ▶️ 📄]

Correction: Romans 9:11, 15-16 states that the choice was made before birth, 'that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of him that calleth... Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy.' The context is God's freedom in bestowing saving mercy, not assigning tasks.

🟠 Misrepresentation of Divine Hardening

Root Cause: Anthropocentric Teleology (The Manager Fallacy). This error subordinates God's sovereign actions to human choices and motivations, making man the primary actor and God the reactor. This is done to make God's justice seem more palatable by human standards, but it compromises His stated sovereignty.

"Now you have to understand this, that Pharaoh first hardened his own heart before God hardened his heart." [00:24:53 ▶️ 📄]

Correction: Romans 9:17-18 clearly presents God's hardening as a proactive and sovereign choice for the purpose of demonstrating His power: 'For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee... Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.'

📜 Full Sermon Transcript (Audit)

Use the 📄 icons next to quotes above to automatically jump to their location in this raw transcript.

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:00:00] Welcome to Love Worth Finding with pastor, teacher, and author, Adrian Rogers.
[00:00:07] Reaching out with God's love, bringing people to Christ, touching lives around the world, and helping you find the answers you need today.
[00:00:16] Join us as we prepare to open God's Word and discover how your life can be changed forever by His great love worth finding.

[00:00:25] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:00:25] Would you take your Bibles and, uh, turn to Romans, uh, chapter nine?
[00:00:31] And when you found Romans chapter nine, would you look up here?
[00:00:35] Let me ask you a very serious and a very somber question.
[00:00:40] Has God created, has God predestined, has God ordained that some people are born to go to hell?
[00:00:54] That there's nothing they can do about it?
[00:00:57] It is all settled.
[00:01:00] They are a pawn on the chessboard of faith.
[00:01:06] Is that what the Bible teaches?
[00:01:08] Absolutely not.
[00:01:10] The title of our message today is, Predestined for Hell?
[00:01:17] Predestined for Hell?
[00:01:22] Answer?
[00:01:23] No.
[00:01:24] Exclamation point.
[00:01:26] You are not predestined to hell.
[00:01:29] Let's read here in Romans chapter nine, the first three verses.
[00:01:33] I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart, for I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the flesh.
[00:01:53] I say this, friend, that ours is the greatest mission on the face of this earth.
[00:01:59] That is the salvation of lost souls.
[00:02:03] Our message is the greatest message.
[00:02:06] That is the glorious gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
[00:02:11] And our master is the greatest master.
[00:02:14] That is Jesus Christ himself.
[00:02:18] The church that's not interested in evangelism and soul winning is worthy of the ground that it occupies.
[00:02:25] We are to evangelize or we will fossilize.
[00:02:30] Our mandate is to preach the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ to every creature.
[00:02:37] The Bible says of that early church, in those days the number of the disciples was multiplied.
[00:02:43] In many churches it doesn't even make good addition.
[00:02:47] We do so little with so much.
[00:02:50] They did so much.
[00:02:51] With so little.
[00:02:53] They didn't have any colleges.
[00:02:54] They didn't have any seminaries.
[00:02:56] They didn't have any radio and television stations.
[00:02:58] They had no printing presses.
[00:03:00] They had no finances.
[00:03:01] They had no prestige.
[00:03:03] They went out to tell the message of a Galilean peasant, a carpenter's son who was crucified.
[00:03:11] And they went out against the imperial might of Rome.
[00:03:15] They went out against the intellectual sophistry of, of Greece.
[00:03:19] They, they went out.
[00:03:21] They went out against the stiff-necked bigotry of the Jewish religion.
[00:03:26] And it was said of them that they turned that world upside down.
[00:03:34] Now, one of the leaders of that, uh, crew was a little Jew named Paul.
[00:03:40] And what you have here in the Scripture that I just read to you is the heartbeat of a soul winner.
[00:03:47] The heartbeat of a man who is interested in evangelism, and getting souls saved.
[00:03:51] And, and I want you to notice the concern that he had.
[00:03:54] Look, if you will, in verse one of this chapter.
[00:03:56] He says, I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost.
[00:04:03] Uh, the Apostle Paul had a sincere concern for souls.
[00:04:07] He said, I, I, I'm telling you the truth.
[00:04:10] I'm not telling a lie.
[00:04:11] If I would ask, lift up your hands, how many of you have a concern for souls?
[00:04:15] Almost every one of you would lift up your hand.
[00:04:18] But you would have a twinge of conscience, because your conscience would not bear you witness.
[00:04:23] He had a sincere concern for souls.
[00:04:26] And look, if you will, he had a steadfast concern for souls.
[00:04:29] Verse two, I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.
[00:04:36] The Apostle Paul didn't blow hot and then blow cold.
[00:04:39] He wasn't up and down.
[00:04:41] He didn't get under conviction when the preacher preached about it, and then forgot about it when he got home, and, uh, turned on the television.
[00:04:48] He had a steadfast concern for souls, and he had a sacrificial concern for souls.
[00:04:53] Look, if you will, in verse three, for I could wish that myself were cursed from Christ, my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the flesh.
[00:05:01] If I understand plain English, what the Apostle Paul was saying is this, I would be willing to die and go to hell if my Jewish brothers and sisters could get saved.
[00:05:13] That's sacrifice.
[00:05:15] Now, I don't believe I could say that.
[00:05:16] I don't believe I've come to that place.
[00:05:18] I don't believe Paul was so full of Jesus.
[00:05:20] That's what Paul said.
[00:05:22] Paul said, I'd be willing to take their hell if they could take my heaven.
[00:05:26] That's exactly what Jesus did on the cross.
[00:05:28] Jesus had a sacrificial concern for souls, and, and Paul is so full of Jesus that he is concerned about lost souls.
[00:05:36] But notice as we tighten the focus, he's talking about his brethren, his kinsmen, according to the flesh.
[00:05:43] He's talking about the Jewish nation.
[00:05:46] Because the Jews, when they heard about God, uh, saving the Gentiles, they were saying, well, what happened?
[00:05:52] What happened to all the promises to the Jews?
[00:05:55] We're the chosen people.
[00:05:58] Has God forgotten us?
[00:06:00] Or has God failed to keep His Word and His covenant?
[00:06:04] And Paul is going to address that.
[00:06:07] But when Paul addresses this message to the Jew, he has a great message to those of us who are Gentiles and to the church of the living God.
[00:06:15] Because in this, we learn something of the character and the nature of God.
[00:06:22] All true theology has to learn something, it has to know something about the nature of God.
[00:06:29] So that's what we're going to learn today as we look in this passage of Scripture, three things about God.
[00:06:34] And when you learn those three things about God, your theology will come into a focus.
[00:06:39] Number one, you need to recognize that God is the God of sovereign choices.
[00:06:49] Now write that down, sovereign choices.
[00:06:52] Beginning, now look, if you will, in verses three through five.
[00:06:55] He says, For I could wish that myself were cursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertaineth 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 Father's and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever.
[00:07:27] Now what Paul is just simply saying is that the Jews are the chosen people.
[00:07:32] God chose the Jews.
[00:07:34] Whether you like it or not, whether you believe it or not, it is absolutely true, there is a special people chosen and blessed of Almighty God.
[00:07:46] They were chosen for purpose and they were given privilege.
[00:07:50] And I want you to see the nine special privileges that they had.
[00:07:54] Number one, he calls them Israelites.
[00:07:57] That's, that's a name of honor.
[00:08:00] Israel means prince.
[00:08:02] And then it says, they have the adoption.
[00:08:05] That is, God said of this nation, God spoke of Israel as a son.
[00:08:10] And then it says they had the glory.
[00:08:12] That's speaking of the Shekinah, glory of God that led them out of Egypt and into the land of Canaan and the Shekinah glory that dwelt in the tabernacle and in the temple.
[00:08:21] Then they had the covenants.
[00:08:23] That is, the, the special agreements that God made with Abraham and God made with Isaac and God made with David.
[00:08:31] Uh, God has made solemn promises to the Jews.
[00:08:35] And then they have, were given the law.
[00:08:38] Uh, that's the, the Old Testament law that is still today the standard for all good jurisprudence and, and the foundation of all true law.
[00:08:49] And then they were given the service.
[00:08:52] That is, the service of God, the Levitical rituals and all of this that pointed toward the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:08:59] And they were given the promises.
[00:09:01] God made great and wonderful promises to the Jews.
[00:09:05] And then, uh, last of all, as he, as he saves the best, uh, for last, uh, they were given the Messiah of whom Christ came, the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:09:17] In verse five, he's just saving the, the best for the last.
[00:09:21] I want to tell you the Jews are God's chosen people.
[00:09:24] The Jewish nation is a God-ordained, God-decreed, God-blessed, God-preserved, God-protected nation.
[00:09:32] Never forget it.
[00:09:33] And God is not through with the Jew.
[00:09:35] We're going to see more about that in chapter 10 and chapter 11.
[00:09:39] The Jew is God.
[00:09:41] He's God's chosen people.
[00:09:43] If you want to know what God is doing in the world today, just put your eyes on Israel.
[00:09:48] Uh, the Jew is God's yardstick, God's blueprint, God's program, uh, God's prophecy of what he is doing in the world.
[00:09:56] Now, uh, they are the ones that gave us the Messiah.
[00:10:00] I was talking to some Jewish rabbis and they said, , we don't believe that you ought to be trying to win Jews to Jesus Christ.
[00:10:08] And I said, now wait a minute.
[00:10:10] I said, my Savior has commanded me to witness.
[00:10:13] Are you telling me I can't practice my religion?
[00:10:15] If so, that's religious persecution.
[00:10:17] Don't tell me that I can't practice my religion.
[00:10:20] I said, by the way, I'm not trying to proselytize you.
[00:10:24] The Jews proselytize me.
[00:10:25] I worship a Jewish Messiah.
[00:10:27] He is the one that came into the world.
[00:10:29] He is the Messiah, Israel's Messiah that I love and worship.
[00:10:34] So God chose the Jew.
[00:10:37] Now, we're talking about God's sovereign choices.
[00:10:41] Uh, notice how God chose, uh, the Jew.
[00:10:45] Beginning now in verse seven, Neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children, but in Isaac thy seed shall be called.
[00:10:55] Now, what he's saying is that, um, not all the children of Abraham, uh, were chosen because Abraham had Ishmael and he had Isaac.
[00:11:06] And what he's saying is that God, when God sovereignly chose Isaac, uh, God did not choose Ishmael.
[00:11:14] And then, go on, uh, God did not choose all the sons of Isaac, uh, but Isaac, uh, had two sons, Jacob and Esau, and God chose Jacob.
[00:11:26] Look, if you will, as we continue to read, uh, in this passage of Scripture, where, look in, in verses 10 through 13, and not only this, but when Rebekah also had conceived by one, uh, father Isaac, for the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, uh, but him that calleth, it was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger.
[00:11:52] As it is written, Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated.
[00:11:56] So God, uh, God didn't choose all of the sons of Abraham.
[00:12:00] He chose one son, Isaac.
[00:12:02] God didn't choose all the sons of Isaac.
[00:12:05] He chose one son, that was, uh, Jacob.
[00:12:09] Now, let's just pause right here, because some people are going to get blown out of the water right here.
[00:12:15] Heh, heh.
[00:12:17] When God says, before these children were born, having done neither good nor evil, God chose one of them.
[00:12:23] And God says, uh, uh, Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated.
[00:12:30] Now, somebody says, now wait a minute, pastor.
[00:12:34] You're telling me, before these little babies, before they were born, God said, I love this one and I hate that one?
[00:12:39] And, uh, that God chose one to go to heaven and one to go to hell?
[00:12:43] No, that isn't what it says.
[00:12:45] Now listen very carefully and pay attention.
[00:12:47] What we're talking about here is national and not personal.
[00:12:52] God, when He's talking about Jacob and Esau, God is not talking about one boy or another boy.
[00:13:00] God is talking about two whole nations.
[00:13:02] Put this in the margin of your Bible, Genesis chapter 25 and verse 23, AND THE LORD SAID UNTO HER, TWO NATIONS ARE IN THY WOMB, AND TWO MANNER OF PEOPLE SHALL BE SEPARATED FROM THY BOWELS, AND THE ONE PEOPLE SHALL BE STRONGER THAN THE OTHER PEOPLE, AND THE ELDER SHALL SERVE THE YOUNGER.
[00:13:28] THAT IS, THOSE DESCENDANTS OF ESAU ARE GOING TO BE ONE NATION THAT WILL SERVE ANOTHER NATION, THE DESCENDANTS OF, UH, OF JACOB, WHICH IS THE FATHER OF THE TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL.
[00:13:41] NOW HE'S NOT TALKING ABOUT JUST TWO LITTLE BABIES.
[00:13:44] GOD HERE IS TALKING NOT PERSONAL, BUT NATIONAL.
[00:13:48] AND GOD HERE IS NOT TALKING ABOUT SALVATION.
[00:13:51] GOD IS TALKING ABOUT SERVICE.
[00:13:54] LOOK, IF YOU WILL, IN VERSE 12, IT WAS SAID UNTO HER, THE ELDER SHALL SERVE THE YOUNGER.
[00:13:59] DOESN'T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT SAVED OR LOST, ONE GOING TO HEAVEN AND ONE GOING TO HELL.
[00:14:04] IT IS NATIONAL, NOT PERSONAL.
[00:14:07] IT IS SERVICE, NOT SALVATION.
[00:14:11] WELL, YOU SAY, BUT WHAT ABOUT THAT WHERE IT SAYS THAT HE HATES ONE AND LOVES, UH, THE OTHER?
[00:14:17] WELL, I WANT YOU TO PAY ATTENTION TO THAT ALSO.
[00:14:19] LOOK IN VERSE 13, JACOB HAVE I LOVED, AND ESAU HAVE I HATED.
[00:14:23] NOW FOLKS, THE WAY WE USE THE WORD HATE TODAY IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FROM THE WAY THEY USE THE WORD HATE IN BIBLE TIMES.
[00:14:31] WHAT HE IS SAYING IS, I HAVE PREFERRED, ONE, NOT THAT I ABHOR, THE OTHER.
[00:14:38] NOW LISTEN VERY CAREFULLY.
[00:14:39] I WANT TO GIVE YOU A SCRIPTURE.
[00:14:40] I WANT YOU TO JOT IT DOWN IN LUKE CHAPTER 14.
[00:14:42] AND JESUS IS TALKING ABOUT OUR BEING DISCIPLES OF, OF HIMSELF.
[00:14:46] AND HE SAYS THIS, IF ANY MAN COME TO ME, AND HATE NOT HIS FATHER, AND MOTHER, AND WIFE, AND CHILDREN, AND BROTHERS, AND SISTERS, YEA, IN HIS OWN LIFE ALSO, HE CANNOT BE MY DISCIPLE.
[00:15:01] NOW, COME UP CLOSE, AND I WANT TO ASK YOU A QUESTION.
[00:15:04] DO YOU THINK THAT JESUS IS TEACHING US TO DESPISE OUR FATHERS AND MOTHERS, OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS?
[00:15:12] DO YOU THINK THAT JESUS IS TELLING US TO DESPISE OUR LITTLE CHILDREN IN ORDER TO BE HIS DISCIPLES?
[00:15:19] HA, NO.
[00:15:21] LISTEN, I LOVE JOYCE MORE THAN I COULD EVER LOVE JOYCE BECAUSE I LOVE JESUS.
[00:15:28] I MEAN, I LOVE JOYCE WITH A LOVE I COULD NOT LOVE HER WITH IF I DID NOT LOVE JESUS.
[00:15:33] THE WORD HATE, AS IT IS USED IN THE BIBLE, SIMPLY MEANS PREFERENCE.
[00:15:37] UH, GOD HAD A PREFERENCE, GOD HAD A SOVEREIGN CHOICE, UH, FOR THIS MAN JACOB, AND HE DID NOT HAVE A PREFERENCE FOR ESAU.
[00:15:49] IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT HE DESPISED ESAU.
[00:15:51] HE DOESN'T MEAN THAT IT SAYS, ESAU, I CREATED YOU TO GO TO HELL.
[00:15:55] I HATE YOU.
[00:15:56] NO, THAT'S NOT WHAT IT'S MEANING AT ALL.
[00:15:59] FRIEND, NUMBER ONE, THIS IS NATIONAL, NUMBER TWO, IT DEALS WITH SERVICE, NOT SALVATION.
[00:16:05] NUMBER THREE, IT DEALS WITH PREFERENCE, NOT DESPITE.
[00:16:08] NOW, IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THAT, YOU'RE GONNA GET ALL MIXED UP AND ALL CONFUSED.
[00:16:13] BUT GOD IS A SOVEREIGN GOD, AND GOD LOVES LOST SINNERS.
[00:16:18] YOU'VE JUST READ THERE, IN ROMANS CHAPTER FIVE VERSE EIGHT, BUT GOD COMMENDETH HIS LOVE TOWARD US, IN THAT WHILE WE WERE YET SINNERS, CHRIST DIED FOR US.
[00:16:27] GOD LOVES SINNERS.
[00:16:30] DON'T GET THE IDEA THAT ESAU IS PREDESTINED FOR HELL AND, UH, OR ANYBODY ELSE IS PREDESTINED FOR HELL.
[00:16:37] GOD CHOOSES INDIVIDUALS.
[00:16:41] GOD HAS PREFERENCES FOR NATIONS.
[00:16:44] UH, AND IT DEALS IN THE REALM OF SERVICE.
[00:16:47] GOD, I HAVE TWO BROTHERS.
[00:16:50] GOD CALLED ME TO PREACH.
[00:16:52] GOD DID NOT CALL, SO FAR AS I KNOW, EITHER ONE OF MY TWO BROTHERS TO PREACH.
[00:16:56] GOD SAID, I WANT ADRIAN TO PREACH.
[00:16:58] NOW THAT'S GOD'S CHOICE.
[00:17:00] GOD CHOSE ME.
[00:17:01] I DIDN'T CHOOSE TO PREACH.
[00:17:02] I'VE BEEN CALLED TO PREACH.
[00:17:03] DOES THAT MEAN BECAUSE GOD CALLED ME TO PREACH, THAT GOD'S GONNA SEND MY TWO BROTHERS TO HELL?
[00:17:08] NO.
[00:17:09] HE CALLED ME INTO HIS SERVICE.
[00:17:10] HE SAID, YOU'VE NOT CHOSEN ME, BUT I'VE CHOSEN YOU AND ORDAINED YOU THAT YOU SHOULD GO AND BRING FORTH FRUIT.
[00:17:16] UH, WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HERE, FRIEND, I WANT TO TELL YOU, IS NATIONAL, NOT PERSONAL.
[00:17:22] IT IS SERVICE, NOT SALVATION.
[00:17:24] IT IS PREFERENCE, NOT DESPITE.
[00:17:27] NOW, IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THAT, YOU'RE GONNA GET MIXED UP.
[00:17:30] AND SO, WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HERE IS GOD'S SOVEREIGN CHOICES.
[00:17:36] GOT IT?
[00:17:37] ALL RIGHT, LET'S MOVE TO THE SECOND THING.
[00:17:39] THE SECOND THING I WANT YOU TO SEE IS NOT ONLY GOD'S SOVEREIGN CHOICES, BUT I WANT YOU TO SEE GOD'S SPOTLESS CHARACTER.
[00:17:45] GOD'S SPOTLESS CHARACTER.
[00:17:46] BEGIN READING NOW IN VERSE 14.
[00:17:49] WHAT SHALL WE SAY THEN?
[00:17:51] IS THERE UNRIGHTEOUSNESS WITH GOD?
[00:17:55] GOD FORBID.
[00:17:57] FOR HE SAITH TO MOSES, I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I WILL HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I WILL HAVE COMPASSION.
[00:18:07] SO THEN, IT IS NOT OF HIM THAT WILLETH, NOR OF HIM THAT RUNNETH, BUT OF GOD THAT SHOWETH MERCY.
[00:18:14] FOR THE SCRIPTURE SAITH UNTO PHARAOH, EVEN FOR THIS SAME PURPOSE HAVE I RAISED THEE UP, THAT I MIGHT SHOW MY POWER IN THEE, THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE DECLARED THROUGHOUT ALL THE EARTH.
[00:18:25] THEREFORE HATH HE MERCY ON WHOM HE WILL HAVE MERCY, AND WHOM HE WILL, AND WHOM HE PARDONETH.
[00:18:32] WILT THOU SAY THEN UNTO ME, WHY DOETH HE YET FIND FAULT?
[00:18:37] FOR WHO HATH RESISTED HIS WILL?
[00:18:39] BUT NAY, O MAN, WHO ART THOU THAT REPLIEST AGAINST GOD?
[00:18:44] SHALL THE THING FORMED SAY UNTO HIM THAT FORMED IT, WHY HAST THOU MADE ME THUS?
[00:18:49] HATH NOT THE POTTER POWER OVER THE CLAY OF THE SAME LUMP TO MAKE ONE VESSEL UNTO HONOR, AND ANOTHER UNTO DISHONOR?
[00:18:57] WHAT IF GOD, WILLING TO SHOW HIS WRATH AND TO MAKE HIS POWER KNOWN, ENDURED WITH MUCH LONG SUFFERING THE VESSELS OF WRATH FITTED TO DESTRUCTION, AND THAT HE MIGHT MAKE KNOWN THE RICHES OF HIS GLORY ON THE VESSELS OF MERCY WHICH HE HATH AFORE PREPARED UNTO GLORY?
[00:19:13] WELL, LET'S JUST PAUSE RIGHT THERE AND TALK ABOUT GOD'S CHARACTER.
[00:19:17] SOMEBODY MIGHT NOT LIKE GOD'S, AH, CHOICES IN ANY REALM, AND THE JEWS MIGHT SAY, WHAT RIGHT DOES GOD HAVE, AH, TO BREAK HIS PROMISES TO US?
[00:19:27] WE'RE THE CHOSEN NATION.
[00:19:29] AS ONE, AH, PREACHER SAID, YOUR ARMS ARE TOO SHORT TO BOX WITH GOD.
[00:19:33] WHO ARE YOU THAT REPLIES TO GOD?
[00:19:35] NOW LISTEN TO ME, FOLKS.
[00:19:36] GOD IS SOVEREIGN.
[00:19:39] GOD DOES AS HE PLEASES.
[00:19:41] GOD ANSWERS TO NO ONE.
[00:19:43] RESPECT THIS, THAT GOD IS GOD.
[00:19:46] AND ALSO REMEMBER THIS, THAT GOD IS NOT FAIR.
[00:19:51] GOD IS JUST.
[00:19:53] IF YOU THINK THAT GOD HAS TO BE FAIR, YOU'RE THINKING THAT GOD OWS YOU SOMETHING.
[00:19:58] AND, AH, IF YOU DON'T GET IT, YOU'RE ALL UPSET IF YOU DON'T GET IT.
[00:20:02] AND IF SOMEBODY ELSE GETS IT BEFORE YOU DO, OR GETS MORE THAN YOU DO, THEN YOU'RE UPSET, BECAUSE YOU THINK THAT GOD OWS YOU SOMETHING.
[00:20:08] GOD DOESN'T OW US ANYTHING BUT JUDGMENT.
[00:20:10] GOD IS NOT FAIR.
[00:20:12] GOD IS JUST.
[00:20:13] AND WHEN YOU REALIZE THAT GOD IS JUST, THEN MERCY IS GOING TO MEAN SOMETHING, AH, TO YOU.
[00:20:18] NOW WHAT, WHAT IS HE SAYING HERE?
[00:20:20] HE'S SAYING, LISTEN, I AM FREE TO PARDON, AND I AM FREE TO PUNISH.
[00:20:25] I AM GOD, AND I WILL PARDON WHOM I WILL PARDON, AND I WILL PUNISH WHOM I WILL PUNISH.
[00:20:33] NOW, DOES THAT MEAN THAT GOD DOES THAT ARBITRARILY?
[00:20:36] NO.
[00:20:37] GOD DOES AS HE PLEASES, BUT HE ALWAYS PLEASES TO DO RIGHT.
[00:20:41] THERE IS NO UNRIGHTEOUSNESS WITH GOD.
[00:20:45] NOW, GOD PARDONS ACCORDING TO HIS SOVEREIGN WILL.
[00:20:49] LOOK AGAIN, IF YOU WILL, IN, IN THIS PASSAGE OF SCRIPTURE, VERSES 15 AND 16, FOR HE SAYETH UNTO MOSES, I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I WILL HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I WILL HAVE COMPASSION.
[00:21:05] SO THEN IT IS NOT OF HIM THAT WILLETH, NOR OF HIM THAT RUNNETH, BUT OF GOD THAT SHOWETH MERCY.
[00:21:09] NOW, WHAT IS HE SAYING HERE?
[00:21:11] DOES THAT MEAN THAT GOD SAYS, I'M NOT GOING TO HAVE MERCY IF YOU ASK FOR MERCY?
[00:21:15] NO.
[00:21:16] DOES THAT MEAN THAT IF YOU ASK ME FOR MERCY, I'LL NOT GIVE YOU MERCY?
[00:21:19] NO, NOT AT ALL.
[00:21:21] GOD IS JUST SIMPLY SAYING THAT IF YOU'RE SAVED, YOU'RE GOING TO BE SAVED BY GRACE.
[00:21:25] IT'S NOT BECAUSE YOU WILL TO HAVE, THAT I SHOULD BE MERCIFUL TO YOU.
[00:21:29] IT'S BECAUSE I WILL IT.
[00:21:30] IT'S NOT TO HIM THAT WILLETH, BUT OF GOD THAT HAS MERCY.
[00:21:35] YOU SEE, LISTEN, GOD'S MERCY IS NOT ROOTED IN MAN'S MERIT.
[00:21:39] PAY ATTENTION.
[00:21:40] GOD'S MERCY IS FOUND IN GOD BECAUSE GOD IS A MERCIFUL GOD.
[00:21:45] PUT THESE VERSES DOWN, TITUS CHAPTER THREE AND VERSE FIVE.
[00:21:49] IT IS NOT BY WORKS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS THAT WE HAVE DONE, BUT ACCORDING TO HIS MERCY HE SAVED US.
[00:21:55] NOW THAT'S, THAT'S THAT'S WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT HERE.
[00:21:59] PUT THIS VERSE DOWN, PSALM 32 VERSE 10, MANY SORROWS SHALL BE TO THE WICKED, BUT TO HIM THAT TRUSTETH THE LORD, MERCY SHALL COME PASS HIM ABOUT.
[00:22:08] IF YOU TRUST GOD, HE'LL GIVE YOU MERCY.
[00:22:11] NOW LOOK AT THIS ONE, PROVERBS 28 VERSE 13, HE THAT COVERETH HIS SIN SHALL NOT PROSPER, BUT WHOSO CONFESSETH AND FORSAKETH THEM SHALL HAVE MERCY.
[00:22:20] LOOK UP HERE AND LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING.
[00:22:22] IF YOU WANT MERCY, YOU CAN HAVE IT.
[00:22:24] YOU SAY, WELL, GOD WILLS TO HAVE, TO SHOW MERCY.
[00:22:28] THAT'S RIGHT.
[00:22:29] AND GOD WILLS TO SHOW YOU MERCY.
[00:22:31] GOD IS A MERCIFUL GOD.
[00:22:33] NOW, NOW LISTEN TO ME.
[00:22:35] PARDON IS ACCORDING TO GOD'S SOVEREIGN WILL.
[00:22:39] GOD HAS DECIDED THAT HE WILL SHOW US MERCY WHEN WE DON'T DESERVE IT.
[00:22:43] UH, IT, IT DOESN'T RATE, UH, ROOT IN OUR MERIT, BUT IN HIS MERCY.
[00:22:49] BUT PUNISHMENT IS ACCORDING TO MAN'S STUBBORN WICKEDNESS.
[00:22:52] BEGIN TO READ NOW IN VERSE 17, FOR THE SCRIPTURE SAYETH ALSO, TO PHARAOH, NOW YOU KNOW WHO PHARAOH WAS.
[00:22:58] HE WAS THE, THE VILE, WICKED KING OF EGYPT.
[00:23:02] AND GOD NOW IS SPEAKING TO PHARAOH.
[00:23:04] EVEN FOR THIS SAME PURPOSE HAVE I RAISED THEE UP, THAT I MIGHT SHOW MY POWER IN THEE, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE DECLARED THROUGHOUT ALL THE EARTH.
[00:23:14] THEREFORE HATH HE MERCY ON WHOM HE WILL HAVE MERCY, AND WHOM HE WILL HE HARDENETH.
[00:23:20] NOW PEOPLE HAVE RACED THEIR THEOLOGICAL MOTORS ON THIS.
[00:23:23] THEY SAY, UH OH, GOD MADE PHARAOH, GOD RAISED HIM UP SO HE COULD KNOCK HIM DOWN.
[00:23:28] UH, GOD CREATED HIM SO HE COULD SEND HIM TO HELL.
[00:23:31] NO, THAT'S NOT WHAT THIS SAYS AT ALL.
[00:23:34] NOW LISTEN, WHEN THE BIBLE SAYS THAT GOD RAISED UP PHARAOH, THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT GOD GREW HIM FROM A CHILD.
[00:23:40] THAT'S NOT WHAT THE, THE, THE LANGUAGE MEANS.
[00:23:43] IT MEANS THAT GOD PUT HIM ON THE HIGHEST THRONE.
[00:23:46] GOD GAVE HIM PLACE AND POWER AND PRESTIGE THAT HE MIGHT BRING HIM DOWN.
[00:23:52] GOD SET HIM UP IN ORDER TO BRING HIM DOWN.
[00:23:55] GOD RAISED HIM UP TO THE VERY HIGHEST THRONE.
[00:24:00] NOW, NOW, WHAT HE'S TALKING ABOUT IS THAT HE'S GOING TO BE GLORIFIED BY HIS JUDGMENT ON THIS MAN.
[00:24:07] PUT IN YOUR MARGIN EXODUS 9 VERSE 16, AND HERE'S WHAT GOD SAYS TO PHARAOH, AND IN VERY DEED AND FOR THIS CAUSE HAVE I RAISED THEE UP, FOR TO SHOW IN THEE MY POWER, THAT MY NAME MAY BE DECLARED THROUGHOUT ALL THE EARTH.
[00:24:22] AND BY THE WAY, UH, PETER MILL MADE A MOVIE OF THIS, UH, CALLED THE TEN COMMANDMENTS AND, AND, UH, GOD JUDGING PHARAOH.
[00:24:31] AND IT'S BEEN SEEN ALL OVER THE WORLD.
[00:24:32] MANY PEOPLE HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE.
[00:24:34] UH, NOW GOD DID NOT OVERRIDE PHARAOH'S, UH, WILL.
[00:24:39] EIGHTEEN TIMES IN THIS PASSAGE IN EXODUS WE, WE FIND THIS PHRASE THAT, AND PHARAOH HARDENED HIS HEART, OR PHARAOH'S HEART WAS HARDENED.
[00:24:48] EIGHTEEN TIMES, ABOUT HALF OF THOSE TIMES PHARAOH HARDENED HIS OWN HEART.
[00:24:53] NOW YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THIS, THAT PHARAOH FIRST HARDENED HIS OWN HEART BEFORE GOD HARDENED HIS HEART.
[00:25:01] PUT THESE VERSES DOWN.
[00:25:02] FOR EXAMPLE, EXODUS CHAPTER EIGHT AND VERSE FIFTEEN, BUT WHEN PHARAOH SAW THAT THERE WAS RESPITE, HE HARDENED HIS HEART AND HARKENED NOT UNTO THEM.
[00:25:13] OR EXODUS CHAPTER EIGHT AND VERSE THIRTY-TWO, AND PHARAOH HARDENED HIS HEART AT THIS TIME ALSO, NEITHER WOULD HE LET THE PEOPLE GO.
[00:25:21] NOW WHAT HAPPENED IS THIS, THAT PHARAOH WAS ALREADY LOST.
[00:25:26] GOD DIDN'T MAKE HIM LOST.
[00:25:29] PHARAOH WAS VILE, WICKED, CRUEL.
[00:25:32] HE WAS A DESPOT.
[00:25:34] HE HAD MURDERED THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE.
[00:25:36] HE HAD A HEART SET AGAINST GOD.
[00:25:39] ALL THE JUDGMENTS OF GOD UPON PHARAOH, ALL THEY DID WAS TO CRYSTALLIZE PHARAOH IN HIS SIN.
[00:25:47] UH, LISTEN, GOD DID NOT HARDEN HIS HEART WHEN HE WAS YOUNG AND TENDER, WHEN HE WAS A CHILD.
[00:25:53] GOD WITNESSED TO HIM.
[00:25:55] GOD WARNED HIM.
[00:25:56] GOD SENT A MESSENGER TO HIM.
[00:25:58] GOD SENT THE PLAGUES, BUT PHARAOH HIMSELF HARDENED HIS OWN HEART.
[00:26:03] GOD DID NOT CREATE PHARAOH AND SAY, I HAVE CHOSEN YOU THAT I'M GOING TO SEND YOU TO HELL.
[00:26:11] NO.
[00:26:12] GOD SAID, I'M GOING TO MAKE AN EXAMPLE OUT OF YOU.
[00:26:15] I AM GOING TO SHOW MY POWER IN YOU.
[00:26:19] UH, YOU HARDENED YOUR OWN HEART.
[00:26:21] NOW AS A RECIPROCAL ACTOR, I'M GOING TO SEND, UH, PLAGUES THAT WILL EVEN FURTHER HARDEN YOUR HEART, WILL CRYSTALLIZE YOU IN SIN, AND I'M GOING TO USE YOU AS AN EXAMPLE OF MY PUNISHMENT.
[00:26:32] NOW LISTEN TO ME, FOLKS.
[00:26:34] GOD IS IN THE BUSINESS OF GETTING GLORY TO HIMSELF.
[00:26:39] GOD IS IN THE BUSINESS OF GETTING GLORY TO HIMSELF.
[00:26:42] GOD'S LOVE WILL BE MAGNIFIED IN HEAVEN, AND GOD'S JUSTICE IS GOING TO BE MANIFEST IN HELL.
[00:26:50] GOD SAID, I RAISED YOU UP, THAT I MIGHT SHOW MY POWER IN YOU.
[00:26:56] BUT THE ONLY REASON THAT GOD HARDENED PHARAOH'S HEART IS THAT PHARAOH HAD ALREADY HARDENED HIS OWN HEART.
[00:27:03] NOW, UH, GOD HAS EVERY RIGHT TO PUNISH SIN.
[00:27:08] GOD SAYS, I WILL HAVE MERCY UPON WHOM I WILL HAVE MERCY, AND, UH, AND WHOM I WILL, I WILL HARDEN.
[00:27:15] OF COURSE HE DOES.
[00:27:17] BECAUSE HE IS THE GOD WHO WILL GIVE TO US.
[00:27:20] IF WE WANT MERCY, GOD WILL GIVE US MERCY.
[00:27:22] IF WE HARDEN OUR HEARTS, GOD WILL FURTHER HARDEN OUR HEARTS.
[00:27:27] NOW, LET'S GIVE ANOTHER ILLUSTRATION HERE.
[00:27:29] UH, BEGIN IN VERSE 19, AND, AND THIS IS ONE THAT HAS CAUSED MANY PEOPLE, UH, TO HAVE DIFFICULTY.
[00:27:36] UH, THOU WILT, UH, THOU WILT SAY THEN UNTO ME, WHY DOTH HE YET FIND FAULT?
[00:27:42] FOR WHO HAS RESISTED HIS WILL?
[00:27:44] IF GOD IS SOVEREIGN, HUH, HUH, WE'RE JUST, WE'RE JUST, UH, VICTIMS.
[00:27:49] THERE'S NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IT.
[00:27:51] NOTICE VERSE 20, NAY, BUT, O MAN, WHO ART THOU THAT REPLIEST AGAINST GOD?
[00:27:56] SHALL THE THING FORM, SAYING TO HIM THAT FORMED IT, WHY HAST THOU MADE ME THUS?
[00:28:01] HATH NOT THE POTTER POWER OVER THE CLAY OF THE SAME LUMP TO MAKE ONE VESSEL UNTO HONOR AND ANOTHER UNTO DISHONOR?
[00:28:09] WHAT IF GOD, WILLING TO SHOW HIS WRATH AND TO MAKE HIS POWER KNOWN, ENDURED WITH MUCH LONG SUFFERING THE VESSELS OF WRATH FITTED TO DESTRUCTION, AND THAT HE MIGHT MAKE KNOWN THE RICHES OF HIS GLORY ON THE VESSELS OF MERCY WHICH HE HATH AFORE PREPARED UNTO GLORY?
[00:28:25] NOW HERE'S THE IDEA.
[00:28:26] SOME PEOPLE HAVE THE IDEA THAT GOD SAYS, I'M GONNA MAKE TWO VESSELS.
[00:28:30] I'M GONNA MAKE A VESSEL AND SEND THAT VESSEL TO HEAVEN.
[00:28:32] I'M GONNA MAKE ANOTHER VESSEL AND SEND IT TO HELL.
[00:28:35] PEOPLE ARE JUST LIKE CLAY, WEAK, HELPLESS, UH, INSENSIBLE CLAY.
[00:28:43] AND I'M THE POTTER, SO I'M JUST TAKE A LUMP OF CLAY AND I'M GONNA MAKE A VESSEL.
[00:28:47] UH, GOD MADE ADRIAN FOR HEAVEN.
[00:28:50] GOD MADE YOU FOR HELL.
[00:28:52] NOTHING YOU KNOW ABOUT IT.
[00:28:54] IT, IS, IS THAT, IS THAT THE KIND OF A GOD THAT IS DISPLAYED IN THE BIBLE OR IN THE BOOK OF ROMANS?
[00:29:01] LISTEN CAREFULLY, FOLKS, AND, AND UNDERSTAND WHAT THE APOSTLE PAUL IS SAYING HERE.
[00:29:07] UH, GOD DID NOT ORDAIN SOME FOR HELL.
[00:29:12] WHAT POTTER, WHAT POTTER WOULD EVER MAKE A VESSEL JUST SO HE COULD DESTROY IT?
[00:29:20] CAN YOU IMAGINE A POTTER IN A POTTER SHOP MAKING A BUNCH OF VESSELS AND SENDING THEM ON A, ON A SHELF AND THEN MAKING A BUNCH OF OTHER VESSELS AND SENDING THEM ON A SHELF AND THEN TAKING A, A STICK AND JUST BREAKING THEM ALL TO PIECES?
[00:29:32] I MEAN, THAT HE SET OUT TO DO THAT?
[00:29:34] OF COURSE NOT.
[00:29:35] UH, GOD DID NOT ORDAIN SOME PEOPLE TO HELL.
[00:29:38] NO. LISTEN.
[00:29:40] THE REASON THAT SOME VESSELS WERE DESTROYED IS THEY DID NOT REALIZE THE PURPOSE OF THE POTTER.
[00:29:47] LOOK IN VERSE 20, IF YOU WILL, OF THIS SAME CHAPTER.
[00:29:50] UH, SHALL THE THING FORM, SAYING TO HIM THAT FORMED IT, WHY HAST THOU MADE ME THUS?
[00:29:56] IT DOESN'T SAY THE THING CREATED, BUT THE THING FORMED.
[00:30:00] HERE GOD IS SHAPING AND SOME WILL NOT TAKE THE SHAPING.
[00:30:05] LOOK IN VERSE 22.
[00:30:07] WHAT IF GOD, WILLING TO SHOW HIS WRATH AND TO MAKE HIS POWER KNOWN, ENDURED WITH MUCH LONG SUFFERING THE VESSELS OF WRATH?
[00:30:18] GOD, IT WAS LONG SUFFERING.
[00:30:20] GOD IS FORMING, WORKING, FORMING, BUT THESE VESSELS OF WRATH ARE NOT YIELDING TO THE HANDS OF THE POTTER.
[00:30:30] PUT DOWN THIS VERSE.
[00:30:32] SECOND PETER CHAPTER THREE VERSE NINE, THE LORD IS NOT SLACK CONCERNING HIS PROMISES, SOME MEN COUNT SLACKNESS, BUT IS LONG SUFFERING, SAME WORD THAT'S USED OVER HERE IN ROMANS NINE, IS LONG SUFFERING TO USWARD, NOT WILLING THAT ANY SHOULD PERISH, BUT THAT ALL SHOULD COME TO REPENT.
[00:30:50] BUT YOU SAY, PASTOR, IT SAYS HERE THAT THEY WERE FITTED FOR DESTRUCTION.
[00:30:54] LOOK AT, LOOK AT THIS VERSE AGAIN, UH, AND HE, HE TALKS ABOUT, UH, SOME, UH, VESSELS OF WRATH FITTED TO DESTRUCTION IN VERSE 22.
[00:31:04] LET ME TELL YOU WHAT W.E. VINE IN HIS EXPOSITORY, EXPOSITORY DICTIONARY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT WORDS SAYS, AND LISTEN CAREFULLY TO THIS.
[00:31:13] THE MIDDLE VOICE, I KNOW YOU'VE BEEN WARDING ALL MORNING TO HEAR SOMETHING ABOUT THE MIDDLE VOICE, BUT NOW LISTEN CAREFULLY.
[00:31:21] THE MIDDLE VOICE INDICATES THAT THE VESSELS OF WRATH FITTED THEMSELVES FOR DESTRUCTION.
[00:31:28] IT IS NOT THE POTTER WHO FITS THEM FOR DESTRUCTION.
[00:31:33] THEY FITTED THEMSELVES FOR DESTRUCTION.
[00:31:36] THE POTTER WAS LONG SUFFERING.
[00:31:39] HE DID NOT CREATE THEM, HE FORMED THEM.
[00:31:43] BUT THEY WERE FITTED, THAT IS, THEY MADE THEMSELVES FIT FOR DESTRUCTION.
[00:31:51] GOD DOES NOT CREATE PEOPLE IN ORDER TO DAMN THEM.
[00:31:57] GOD DOES NOT CREATE PEOPLE IN ORDER TO DESTROY THEM.
[00:32:04] GOD IS A GOD OF LOVE.
[00:32:07] NOW IF YOU THINK THAT I'M NOT, IF YOU THINK THAT GOD WANTS SOME TO GO TO HELL, JUST LISTEN TO THIS SCRIPTURE.
[00:32:13] IT SPEAKS OF GOD WHO WILL HAVE ALL MEN TO BE SAVED AND TO COME UNTO THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH.
[00:32:18] NOW, YOU CAN HARDEN YOUR HEART.
[00:32:21] THE BIBLE WARNS AGAINST PEOPLE BEING HARDENED BY THE DECEITFULNESS OF SIN.
[00:32:25] PUT THIS VERSE DOWN, HEBREWS CHAPTER 3 VERSE 15, TODAY IF YOU WILL HEAR HIS VOICE, HARDEN NOT YOUR HEART.
[00:32:33] I'M TELLING YOU, IF YOU HARDEN YOUR HEART AGAINST GOD, YOU WILL CRYSTALLIZE IN YOUR SIN AND GOD'S JUDGMENT UPON YOU WILL EVEN HARDEN YOUR HEART EVEN MORE.
[00:32:42] BUT GOD HARDENED PHARAOH'S HEART AFTER PHARAOH FIRST HARDENED HIS OWN HEART AGAINST THE LORD.
[00:32:49] AND, AND, AND GOD DESTROYED PHARAOH.
[00:32:51] YES, HE DID.
[00:32:52] BECAUSE IN THE LONG SUFFERING OF GOD AND THE WARNINGS THAT GOD SENT TO PHARAOH, PHARAOH WOULD NOT ACCEPT THOSE WARNINGS.
[00:32:59] AND YES, INDEED, HE WAS MADE AN EXAMPLE OF GOD'S WRATH.
[00:33:04] AND REMEMBER THIS, GOD IS GOING TO GET GLORY WITH THOSE IN HEAVEN.
[00:33:09] AND GOD IS GOING TO GET GLORY BY JUDGMENT AND THOSE WHO GO TO HELL.
[00:33:13] NOW, HERE'S THE THIRD THING I WANT YOU TO SEE TODAY.
[00:33:16] REMEMBER GOD'S SOVEREIGN CHOICES.
[00:33:18] GOD IS SOVEREIGN.
[00:33:20] GOD CAN CHOOSE WHOMEVER HE WANTS FOR HIS SERVICE.
[00:33:25] GOD CHOSE ABRAHAM.
[00:33:28] GOD CHOSE ISAAC OVER ISHMEL.
[00:33:31] AND GOD CHOSE, UH, UH, JACOB OVER ESAU.
[00:33:37] GOD CHOSE THESE FOR SERVICE, NOT SALVATION.
[00:33:41] THAT'S NOT WHAT HE'S TALKING ABOUT.
[00:33:43] AND, AND HE'S NOT TALKING ABOUT INDIVIDUALS.
[00:33:46] PER SE, HE'S TALKING ABOUT NATIONS.
[00:33:49] GOD IS MOVING.
[00:33:50] THERE'S GOD'S SOVEREIGN CHOICES.
[00:33:52] FRIEND, THE SECOND THING I WANT YOU TO SEE IS GOD'S SPOTLESS CHARACTER.
[00:33:56] YOU'LL NEVER POINT A FINGER AT GOD AND SAY, GOD IS UNRIGHTEOUS.
[00:34:00] NO, GOD IS NOT UNRIGHTEOUS.
[00:34:02] GOD SHOWS MERCY UPON WHOM HE WILL SHOW MERCY.
[00:34:05] TO WHOM WILL GOD SHOW MERCY?
[00:34:07] TO THOSE WHO REPENT OF THE SIN?
[00:34:09] TO THOSE WHO WANT MERCY?
[00:34:11] IF YOU WANT MERCY, YOU CAN HAVE IT.
[00:34:13] AND, AND, AND GOD GIVES JUDGMENT TO THOSE TO WHOM HE WILL GIVE JUDGMENT, THOSE WHO REFUSE HIM.
[00:34:19] GOD IS A SOVEREIGN GOD.
[00:34:21] AND SOME PEOPLE SAY, WELL, GOD IS TOO GOOD TO PUNISH SIN.
[00:34:23] NO, GOD IS TOO GOOD NOT TO PUNISH SIN.
[00:34:25] GOD IS RIGHTEOUS.
[00:34:27] NOW HERE'S THE THIRD AND THE FINAL THING I WANT YOU TO SEE.
[00:34:29] NOT ONLY GOD'S SOVEREIGN CHOICES, AND NOT ONLY GOD'S SPOTLESS CHARACTER, BUT I WANT YOU TO SEE GOD'S STEADFAST CONCERN.
[00:34:37] WHAT IS GOD'S STEADFAST CONCERN?
[00:34:40] WELL, NOTICE IN VERSE 23, WHAT IS GOD ALL ABOUT?
[00:34:44] AND THAT HE MIGHT MAKE KNOWN THE RICHES OF HIS GLORY ON THE VESSELS OF MERCY, THAT IS, THE PEOPLE WHO ARE SAVED, WHICH HE HATH AFORE PREPARED UNTO GLORY.
[00:34:54] THAT'S WHAT HE'S DOING.
[00:34:55] HE'S PREPARING US FOR GLORY.
[00:34:57] HE'S, ALL THINGS ARE WORKING TOGETHER FOR GOOD TO MAKE US LIKE THE LORD JESUS.
[00:35:01] EVEN US, WHOM HE HATH CALLED, NOT OF THE JEWS ONLY, HE'S TRYING TO SAY TO THE JEWS, LOOK, YOU DON'T, YOU'VE NOT CORNERED THE MARKET OF THE, ON THIS THING, BUT ALSO OF THE GENTILES.
[00:35:11] AS HE SAITH ALSO IN OSE, THAT IS IN HOSEA, I WILL, I WILL CALL THEM MY PEOPLE, WHICH WERE NOT MY PEOPLE.
[00:35:17] HE'S TALKING ABOUT US, GENTILES.
[00:35:19] AND ON HER BELOVED, WHICH WAS NOT BELOVED.
[00:35:23] GOD IS SAYING, I'M JUST GOING TO TAKE A BUNCH OF FOLKS THAT ARE NOT PART OF THE COVENANT PROMISES OF ISRAEL AND I'M GOING TO INCLUDE THEM IN.
[00:35:31] AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS THAT IN THE PLACE WHERE IT WAS SAID UNTO THEM, YE ARE NOT MY PEOPLE, THERE SHALL THEY BE CALLED THE CHILDREN OF THE LIVING GOD.
[00:35:39] HE'S TALKING ABOUT US, FOLKS.
[00:35:41] WHAT HE'S SAYING IS, I AM IN THE PURPOSE OF TAKING BOTH JEWS AND GENTILES AND MAKING THEM CHILDREN OF GOD.
[00:35:48] THIS IS GOD'S, THIS IS GOD'S STEADFAST PURPOSE.
[00:35:52] THE HIGHEST PRIVILEGE ON EARTH IS TO BE A SON, A DAUGHTER OF GOD.
[00:35:55] NOW I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU A LOT OF SCRIPTURES.
[00:35:57] YOU WRITE THEM DOWN ON THE MARGIN OF YOUR, OF YOUR, UH, BULLETIN, VERY CAREFULLY.
[00:36:03] I'M JUST GOING TO SHOW YOU THAT GOD WANTS ALL PEOPLE SAVED, THAT GOD DIDN'T CREATE ANYBODY TO GO TO HELL.
[00:36:07] THE FIRST ONE YOU'VE KNOWN SINCE YOU WERE A CHILD, JOHN 3 16.
[00:36:12] LISTEN TO IT, FOR GOD SO LOVED THE ELECT, SOMETHING WRONG THERE, ISN'T IT?
[00:36:17] FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD, THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, THAT IF A CERTAIN NUMBER WOULD BELIEVE ON HIM, NO, THAT IF WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM, SHOULD NOT PERISH, BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE.
[00:36:28] FOR GOD SENT NOT HIS SON INTO THE WORLD TO CONDEMN THE WORLD, BUT THAT THE WORLD THROUGH HIM MIGHT BE SAVED.
[00:36:34] PUT THIS SCRIPTURE DOWN, ISAIAH 53 VERSE SIX, ALL WE LIKE SHEEP HAVE GONE ASTRAY.
[00:36:39] WE HAVE TURNED EVERY ONE TO HIS OWN WAY, AND THE LORD HATH LAID ON HIM, ON JESUS, THE INIQUITY OF US ALL.
[00:36:45] JESUS DIED FOR US ALL.
[00:36:47] ROMANS 8 VERSE 32, HE THAT SPARED NOT HIS OWN SON, BUT DELIVERED HIM UP FOR US ALL, HOW SHALL HE NOT WITH HIM ALSO FREELY GIVE US ALL THINGS?
[00:36:58] NOW SOME PEOPLE SAY, JESUS DIDN'T DIE FOR EVERYBODY.
[00:37:01] HE DID!
[00:37:02] HE DID!
[00:37:04] FIRST TIMOTHY 2 4, IT SPEAKS OF GOD WHO WILL HAVE ALL MEN TO BE SAVED.
[00:37:09] FIRST JOHN 4 VERSE 14, AND WE HAVE SEEN AND DO TESTIFY THAT THE FATHER SENT THE SON TO BE THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD.
[00:37:17] FIRST JOHN 2 VERSES 1 AND 2, MY LITTLE CHILDREN, THESE THINGS WRITE I UNTO YOU THAT YOU SIN NOT.
[00:37:22] AND IF ANY MAN SIN, WE HAVE AN ADVOCATE WITH THE FATHER, JESUS CHRIST THE RIGHTEOUS.
[00:37:26] AND HE IS THE PROPITIATION, THAT IS THE SATISFACTION FOR OUR SINS, AND NOT FOR OURS ONLY, BUT ALSO FOR THE SINS OF THE WHOLE WORLD.
[00:37:37] THAT'S THE REASON I AM GLAD THAT I'M A GOSPEL PREACHER.
[00:37:41] FRIEND, THAT'S THE REASON I CAN SAY TO ANYBODY, ANY PLACE, ANYWHERE, IF YOU WANT MERCY, YOU CAN HAVE MERCY.
[00:37:47] IF YOU WANT SALVATION, YOU CAN HAVE SALVATION.
[00:37:50] IF YOU WANT TO BE SAVED, I'M TELLING YOU ON THE AUTHORITY OF THE WORD OF GOD THAT YOU CAN BE SAVED.
[00:37:54] AND GOD CLOSES THE BLESSED BOOK, THE BOOK OF THE REVELATION IN CHAPTER 22 VERSE 17, AND THE SPIRIT AND THE BRIDE SAY, COME, AND LET HIM THAT HEARETH SAY, COME, AND LET HIM THAT IS ATHIRST, COME, AND WHOSOEVER WILL, LET HIM TAKE OF THE WATER OF LIFE FREELY.
[00:38:12] NOW FRIEND, WHOSOEVER WILL, WHOSOEVER HEARETH, SHOUT, SHOUT THE SOUND, SPREAD THE BLESSED TIDINGS ALL THE WORLD AROUND.
[00:38:23] TELL THE JOYFUL NEWS, WHEREVER MAN BE FOUND, WHOSOEVER WILL MAY COME, AND WHOSOEVER COMETH NEED NOT DELAY.
[00:38:32] NOW THE DOOR IS OPEN.
[00:38:34] ENTER WHILE YOU MAY.
[00:38:36] JESUS IS THE TRUE, THE ONLY LIVING WAY.
[00:38:39] WHOSOEVER WILL MAY COME, WHOSOEVER WILL, THE PROMISE IS SECURE.
[00:38:47] WHOSOEVER WILL FOREVER MUST ENDURE.
[00:38:51] WHOSOEVER WILL TIS LIFE FOREVER MORE.
[00:38:57] WHOSOEVER WILL MAY COME, WHOSOEVER WILL, WHOSOEVER WILL.
[00:39:06] SEND THE PROCLAMATION OVER, VEIL AND HEAL, TIS A LOVING FATHER, CALLS THE WANDERER HOME.
[00:39:16] WHOSOEVER WILL MAY COME, IT IS A LIABLE TO THE CHARACTER OF GOD, THAT GOD WOULD SAY TO A LITTLE BABY, NEVER EVER HAVING BEEN BORN, DONE GOOD NOR EVIL, YOU ARE GOING TO HELL.
[00:39:29] AND THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT.
[00:39:31] I DON'T BELIEVE THAT FOR ONE SKINNY MINUTE.
[00:39:35] I PREACH A GOSPEL OF WHOSOEVER WILL.
[00:39:38] GOD IS A SOVEREIGN GOD.
[00:39:41] AND THERE'S GOD'S SOVEREIGN CHOICE.
[00:39:43] THERE'S GOD'S SPOTLESS CHARACTER.
[00:39:46] BUT FRIEND, THERE IS GOD'S STEADFAST CONCERN.
[00:39:51] HE WANTS PEOPLE SAVED.
[00:39:55] AND HE WANTS YOU SAVED.
[00:39:57] AND IF YOU WANT TO BE SAVED, I'M TELLING YOU HE WILL SAVE YOU TODAY.
[00:40:02] AND HE'LL KEEP YOU AND PRESENT YOU SPOTLESS BEFORE HIS THRONE.
[00:40:08] AND HE'LL BOW YOUR HEADS IN PRAYER.
[00:40:11] HEADS ARE BOWED AND EYES ARE CLOSED.
[00:40:17] WOULD YOU BEGIN TO PRAY FOR THOSE AROUND YOU WHO MAY NOT KNOW JESUS?
[00:40:21] HOW MANY WOULD SAY TODAY, PASTOR ROGERS, I'VE GIVEN MY HEART TO JESUS AND BY HIS GRACE, AND I THANK HIM FOR IT, BUT BY HIS GRACE, I KNOW THAT I'M SAVED.
[00:40:35] GOD'S SPIRIT BEARS WITNESS WITH MINE THAT I'M A CHILD OF GOD.
[00:40:37] AND I HAVE A BIBLE REASON FOR BELIEVING IT ALSO.
[00:40:40] IF YOU CAN GIVE ME THAT TESTIMONY, WOULD YOU JUST SLIP UP YOUR HAND?
[00:40:44] THANK YOU, A GREAT NUMBER OF YOU.
[00:40:46] TAKE YOUR HAND DOWN.
[00:40:48] NOW IF YOU DID NOT HAVE THAT FULL ASSURANCE, I WANT TO PRAY FOR YOU RIGHT NOW.
[00:40:52] FATHER, I PRAY.
[00:40:54] I PRAY THAT YOU JUST OPEN HEARTS.
[00:40:56] AND I PRAY, GOD, THAT MANY TODAY WILL SAY AN EVERLASTING YES TO JESUS CHRIST.
[00:41:02] THANK YOU, LORD.
[00:41:04] AND FRIEND, RIGHT NOW, I WANT TO INVITE YOU TO BE ONE OF THOSE WHOSOEVER WILLS.
[00:41:10] I WANT TO INVITE YOU RIGHT NOW TO RECEIVE JESUS.
[00:41:14] WOULD YOU PRAY A PRAYER LIKE THIS?
[00:41:16] DEAR GOD, I NEED YOU.
[00:41:20] MY SIN DESERVES JUDGMENT, BUT I WANT MERCY.
[00:41:24] AND LORD, YOU SAID YOU WILL SHOW MERCY UPON WHOM YOU WILL SHOW MERCY.
[00:41:30] SHOW IT TO ME, LORD.
[00:41:32] COME INTO MY HEART.
[00:41:34] FORGIVE ME.
[00:41:36] CLEANSE ME.
[00:41:38] SAVE ME, JESUS.
[00:41:40] PRAY THAT AND MEAN IT.
[00:41:42] SAVE ME, LORD JESUS.
[00:41:44] AND IF YOU ASK HIM TO SAVE YOU, I'M GOING TO ASK YOU TO DO SOMETHING RIGHT NOW, IN JUST A MOMENT.
[00:41:50] I'M GOING TO ASK YOU TO LEAVE YOUR SEAT AND COME FORWARD AND MAKE IT PUBLIC.
[00:41:54] FATHER, GIVE PEOPLE THE COURAGE TO DO THIS.
[00:41:56] IN JESUS' NAME, AMEN.

[00:42:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
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[00:42:36] AND MAY GOD RICHLY BLESS YOU.