Who Are You?

August 14, 2024

Notes from Scott Sutton's sermon on Sunday, August 11, 2024.

Sermon text: Romans 9:19-29


Who are you? Who am I? We live in a culture where you will often find groups of people who gather to talk about their opinions. And you end up with generally 2 kinds of people... "I like that"... or "I don't like that". For many of us sitting here today, we may be approaching these verses in Romans 9 for the purpose of seeing if we agree or not... do I like that or not... how do I feel about election... how do I feel about predestination... to which Paul says, "Who are you?" 


1.) I am not God.

I recently had a discipleship conversation with one of my children whose behavior was out of line. As I explained to them what our expectations were, I felt like I wasn't getting through, so I asked, "Do you understand what I am saying?" And my child looked at me and said, "Well, I have my view, and you have your view."

Do we really want to do that with God? Our goal shouldn't be to figure out what our opinion of God's will is. Our God should be to figure out what God's will is. We have already established that God wishes that all would be saved and that there is free will. And you may look at these verses and say, "It sure doesn't look like there is free will!" But in asking that question you would actually be using your free will question the justice and righteousness of God! One pastor once said, "Many pastors have actually used their free will not to preach through Romans 9!" There is an irony here. But there is also a sobriety. Import yourself into this text and hear Paul saying to you, "Who are you?"

"Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?"


2.) God has complete authority over me. 

Remember: The point of this section is to prove that the Word of God has not failed! If God is unrighteous, then His Word has failed. If God is unjust, then His Word has failed. If God is out of line in any way whatsoever, and if He does not have authority over all of His creation, then His Word has failed. And Paul is emphatically saying that God's Word cannot fail. 

Paul is drawing our attention to God's power. If God wants to take one lump of humanity and out of that lump make two different vessels, one for honorable use and one for dishonorable use, then he has the absolute power to do so. 

So how does this work? Of course He has the power to do whatever he wants, but our goal is to figure out what he wants... our goal it to figure out the will of God so that we can walk in it. We cannot remove the mystery, but we can clarify confusion. 

22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— 

I'm now going to hit you with what we call a double whammy... A John Stott quote within a Tim Keller quote. It's like a super quote...

"In verse 22 Paul says that while God is the author of our salvation, we are the authors of our damnation. Notice that Paul says here that God “bore with great patience the objects of his wrath.” This shows that evil people are not made evil by God. He bears with them. He never gives anyone quite what they deserve. He is unjust to no one. And then Paul adds that these objects of wrath are “prepared for destruction”—but he doesn’t say by whom. Contrast this with verse 23, where it says clearly of the objects of God’s mercy that “he prepared [them] in advance for glory.” By implication, it appears that the vessels of wrath are prepared for destruction by themselves (remember 1:24, where God hands people over to the life and death they have chosen). In summary, in election God comes in, softens our hearts and makes us good. In hardening, God simply passes over and lets people have the way they have chosen. In John Stott’s words:

“If … anybody is lost, the blame is theirs, but if anybody is saved, the credit is God’s. This antinomy contains a mystery which our present knowledge cannot solve; but it is consistent with Scripture, history, and experience.”


I wish that I could simply say, "Well, who are we to disagree with Timothy Keller and John R.W. Stott?", but we do need to keep doing the work of understanding...

Let's use Pharaoh as the example of a vessel of destruction. God wants the world to understand both his wrath toward unrighteousness and his power to save His people. God endured Pharaoh with much patience. Why? In order to make known the riches of His glory to the Israelites who were under Pharaoh's oppression in slavery. There were generations of Israelites, 430 years worth, that were born into slavery and died in slavery. There is no doubt that to some of them, it probably looked like God's Word had failed. Can you imagine hearing only stories about God's promises? Can you imagine a point where it had been 200 or 300 years since you had a living relative who wasn't under the oppression of Egypt, but bore the name of God's people?! All for what? To show that even 430 years of oppressive slavery, racism, violence, and injustice CANNOT make God's Word fail! Who is afraid of Egypt today? Who is afraid of Rome today? Empires have fallen and become tourist attractions while the Word of God stands and His Kingdom continues to progress! There were likely times where vessels of mercy felt like they were prepared for destruction, but today they stand in the presence of a living God, because they were prepared beforehand by God for glory! And it is in glory that they stand! And those who prepared themselves for destruction stand separated from God, a sober and sad reminder that God's Word does not fail. 


People get confused and wrapped up in how all of this happened, as if perhaps God made His point that His Word cannot fail, but did He do so in a way that is above reproach? I've found an easy way to settle this once and for all... Everyone close your eyes... 

Step 1: Pretend like you are God.

Step 2: Pretend like you are God, but now outside of time. Really lean into timelessness.

Step 3: Climb into the timeless thoughts of God. 

Step 4: Now, while you are up there, consider how you would view your creation. Are they all good? Are they all bad? Do you choose which is which? What is it like to have a foreknowledge of everything that hasn't happened yet? 

Step 5: Now pay attention, this is the most important part. How does a pastor in 2024 explain to a room full of people all of the mysteries, similarities, and differences between election, predestination, double predestination, why some people mean one thing by that phrase and others mean something different, supra-lapsarianism vs. infra-lapsarianism, all of the Israel stuff, and clarity on the rapture and tribulation?

Now open your eyes... 


3.) God did not predestine innocent people to eternal damnation by causing them to do evil. 

R.C. Sproul: "Some allege that God is unjust in hardening somebody’s heart and then punishing him for doing what he couldn’t possibly stop from doing once his heart was hardened.

Such an idea is utterly repugnant to everything that the Bible teaches about the character of God. The question is, Shall the judge of all the earth ever do wrong? God is incapable of committing an unjust act. There is no dark side to his personality, by which he would commit an outrageous act of injustice, such as would be the case if he hardened somebody and then punished him for being hardened. We have to make a distinction between active hardening and passive hardening, and understand that what we are reading here in the text is an example of God’s punitive judgment against a wicked man."


As we come to the end of this challenging section of Scripture, we still have some who are saved and some who are not saved. We can see that, in mercy, God saves people. We can also see that, in wrath, God gives people over to their debased minds. And in all of it, God is just. These next verses indicate that his patience with Pharaoh was even meant for us to see the riches of His glory in Jesus Christ. 24 even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? 25 As indeed he says in Hosea, “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’ ” 26  “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’ ” 

27 And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, 28 for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” 29 And as Isaiah predicted, “If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, we would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah.” 

God's Word has not failed. And his Kingdom has grown. We see it active among Israel in the Old Testament, we see it in the prophets, and we see it among the Gentiles today. We know that not everyone will be saved, but church, that is our goal! We are are not allowed to used God's sovereignty as an excuse for our laziness. We are not allowed to use God's foreknowledge to excuse ourselves from evangelism. The Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth without delay. And until we are called to go and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey. 



Discipleship Questions:

  1. In what areas of your life do you struggle to apply the reality that “I am not God”?
  2. Why do you think Paul emphasizes that?
  3. In what areas of your life do you wish that you could control God?
  4. What are some practical steps you can take to lean into the reality that God does have complete authority over you? 
  5. What is the difference between vessels of mercy and vessels of wrath? 
  6. What was something that you found comforting by Romans 9 this week? 
  7. How does the reality that “God’s Word Cannot Fail” help us in our struggles and uncertainties? 

Freed to Serve

April 28, 2025
Notes from Scott Sutton's sermon on Sunday, April 27, 2025. Sermon text: 1 Peter 2:11-17 This is the beginning of a section addressing how God's people now function in this world. It begins with aliens and exiles and continues with servants, wives, husbands, and finally, all of you. 1.) Our identity defines our actions. We are sojourners and exiles (temporary, passing through, not at home) We have a heavenly citizenship Actions We abstain from the passions of the flesh Keep conduct among the Gentiles honorable (our conduct is for the benefit of other people) Honorable conduct wins souls… sojourners, exiles, and soul winners “Peter’s point is that believers’ behavior creates a context in which people will listen to God’s word. He is not teaching that ‘good deeds’ in themselves convert unbelievers, but they establish an environment for the Gospel-word to do so.” -Barnett 2.) Our identity defines our expectations (Unbelievers will respond to honorable conduct in 1 of 2 ways) Some will speak evil against us as though we are evildoers Some will see our good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation 3.) Our identity defines our view of authority (Does anyone here ever just want to do whatever you want to do, whenever you want to do it? That’s why laws exist) Be subject to every human institution (for the Lord's sake) This includes governors and emperors (no distinction between good/bad) The will of God... by doing good, we silence the ignorance of foolish people 4.) Our identity defines our view of freedom Don't use freedom as a cover-up for evil We are freed to serve God Honor, Love, and Fear Discipleship Questions: 1.)Why is it so important to understand our identity before talking about our behavior? 2.) How might this reality impact your parenting? For real, what are 3 ways that you can apply that this week? 3.) How is good conduct a form of evangelism? 4.) What do these verses say that we can expect from others? 5.) How can we honor a government that isn't always honorable? Seriously, what are 5 things we should immediately stop doing and 5 things we should immediately start doing? 6.) What are some tangible ways to honor others? Love the brotherhood? Fear God? Honor the Emperor? 7.) Should we fear the Emperor?

Cornerstone

April 22, 2025
Notes from Ky Martin's sermon on Sunday, April 20, 2025. Sermon text: 1 Peter 2:4-10 Everyone must accept or reject Jesus. He is the cornerstone. We choose to accept Him as the foundation of our lives or toss the truth aside. When we come to Jesus… We become part of His People 1 Pe 2:4-5 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. The cornerstone is The New Temple. From this we learn that following Christ entails joining his community, the church…The freelance Christian, who follows Jesus but is too good, too busy, or too self-sufficient for the church, is a walking contradiction. -Daniel M. Doriani We join a royal, holy, priesthood 1 Pet. 2:9 But 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. Because of who Jesus makes us. We receive God’s mercy Fallen man is not simply an imperfect creature who needs improvement: he is a rebel who must lay down his arms….Now repentance is no fun at all. It is something much harder than merely eating humble pie. It means unlearning all the self-conceit and self-will that we have been training ourselves into for thousands of years. It means undergoing a kind of death. Acts 17:30-31 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” Discipleship Questions: Why is it impossible to be neutral about Jesus? Why do you believe that Jesus truly is the Son of God? Do you ever have doubts about this? If yes, what are they? According to 1 Peter 2:9, who are we after we come to Christ? Why does Paul say (in 1 Corinthians) that if Christ is not risen, our faith is in vain?

Born Again

April 16, 2025
Notes from Scott Sutton's sermon on Sunday, April 13, 2025. Sermon text: 1 Peter 2:2-3 Why do our souls ache for certainty? We are so eager for certainty that we will look for it in all the wrong places. - Certainty in our Finances [show slide from news] - Certainty in our Jobs [Acts 17:24-27] - Certainty in our Health [Covid] - Certainty in our Abilities [Ecclesiastes 3:11 “God has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”] “Things that have never happened before are happening every day.” -Morgan Housel In these verses, God gives us what our souls ache for! 1.) You must be born again of imperishable seed - We have all been born of perishable seed o Impure souls o Disobedient to truth o Unloving insincerity toward others o Lack of loving effort o Impure hearts - We are withering grass and falling flowers - The imperishable seed is the living and abiding Word of God o Does not wither o Does not fall o Does not let us down o It remains forever o It MUST BE PREACHED! But still, how can we be certain that we have been born again? 2.) If you are born again, hope will be seen in your relationships When your relationship with God changes, God changes your relationships! - Sincere brotherly love - Love earnestly - Put away… o Malice o Deceit o Hypocrisy o Envy o All Slander 3.) If you are born again, hope will be seen in your appetite for God’s Word - Like newborn infants - Long for the pure spiritual milk Discipleship Questions: 1.) Where are some unhealthy places where you look for certainty? 2.) Why do you do that? 3.) What were some evidences of your perishable seed before you came to Christ? Any of that still lingering that needs to be repented from? 4.) Why does Peter call the Word of God the imperishable seed? 5.) In light of the text, how would you describe being "born again" to a 5-year-old? 6.) How has imperishable hope proven itself in your relationships? OR How might it if you lean into loving others earnestly? 7.) Why does Peter tell us that hope will be seen in our appetite for God's Word?
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