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? 

Arm Yourselves

June 11, 2025
Notes from Ky Martin's sermon on Sunday, June 8, 2025. Sermon text: 1 Peter 4:1-6 Prepare to suffer Is. 50:6-8a I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting. 7 But the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame. 8 He who vindicates me is near. The martial language indicates that discipline and grit are needed to live the Christian life, particularly in view of the suffering believers encounter. -Thomas R. Schreiner Some people won’t like you if you follow Jesus When a culture abandons biblical standards, when extramarital sex, cohabitation, and birth outside of marriage become normal, people attack the church for its moral snobbery and judgmentalism. Peter warns us that if we do take a stand, we need to expect slander, not applause. -Daniel M. Dorian This is one of the hardest things a new Christian has to face. Your friends liked you because you shared in “the same flood of debauchery.” It seemed great fun at times, but then you came to embrace Christ… But your friends have not… They will be surprised when you say “No.” -Juan Sanchez. Keep an eternal perspective Our outcome is glorious Suffering is good for us Let’s remember that suffering accomplishes God’s purposes. It exposes what or whom we are trusting (1 Peter 1:6–7). - Juan Sanchez Ecc. 7:2 It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. Discipleship Questions: Verse 1 tell us to arm ourselves by thinking as Christ did about suffering. How did Christ arm himself for and against sufferings? What does it look like for us to do that? Have you ever lost friendships (or had them change) because you were following Jesus? Do you fear that we (or our kids) will experience greater persecution in the future? If yes, how should we handle that fear?

I Believe That We Will Win

June 3, 2025
Notes from Lance Shumake's sermon on Sunday, June 1, 2025. Sermon text: 1 Peter 3:18-22 Jesus suffered and died in order to bring us to God Jesus conquered death by his resurrection “A wonderful text is this, and a more obscure passage perhaps than any other in the New Testament, so that I do not know for a certainty just what Peter means.” —Martin Luther Problem #1 - he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison —Jesus preached through Noah to those who lived at that time (1 Peter 1:10–12) —Jesus proclaimed His victory to evil angels (see Genesis 6:1-4) Problem #2 - baptism now saves you —Scripture is clear - we are saved by grace not works —baptism pictures our salvation from God’s judgment through the resurrection of Christ “The waters of baptism, like the waters of the flood, demonstrate that destruction is at hand, but believers are rescued from these waters in that they are baptized with Christ, who has also emerged from the waters of death through his resurrection. Just as Noah was delivered through the stormy waters of the flood, believers have been saved through the stormy waters of baptism by virtue of Christ’s triumph over death.” —Thomas R. Schreiner, 1, 2 Peter, Jude —in baptism we are appealing to God for a good conscience "This appeal is an act of the heart looking away from itself and from all human instruments and calling on God, appealing to God, for grace to save.” —John Piper —in baptism we are pledging to God to live in a manner worthy of the gospel Jesus ascended to heaven and now reigns over everything “We can face suffering as Christians with confidence rather than panic, and hope rather than despair, because the road marked with Christian suffering is, no matter what its twists and turns are, the road to vindication and glory. The God who vindicated Jesus will vindicate you, and he will sustain your faith until that day.” –Juan R. Sanchez, 1 Peter For You Discipleship Questions: How does Jesus’ death and resurrection encourage us when we suffer? Why did we need Jesus to suffer and die to bring us to God? How does Jesus’ victory over death give us eternal hope? What are your thoughts regarding some of the problems in this passage? How does what Peter says about baptism elevate the importance of baptism? When were you baptized and how does this passage inform your understanding of baptism? How does knowing our victory is secured help us with all the things this life throws at us?

Who Can Be Against Us?

May 27, 2025
Notes from Ky Martin's sermon on Sunday, May 25, 2025. Sermon text: 1 Peter 3:13-17 Nobody can (truly) hurt Christians Psalm 118:6 The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? Rom. 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? The train of thought is as follows: “No one will be able to harm believers on the future day if they are zealous for good” (v. 13). Indeed, even present suffering is not a sign of punishment but of blessing both now and especially in the future, on the day when God rewards his people with eternal life. -Thomas R. Schreiner Honoring Christ Erases Fear Share your faith with strength and gentleness Embrace balance Be prepared to share The truth of the gospel is a public truth that can be defended in the public arena. This does not mean, of course, that every Christian is to be a highly skilled apologist for the faith. It does mean that every believer should grasp the essentials of the faith and should have the ability to explain to others why they think the Christian faith is true. -Thomas R. Schreiner Be prepared to suffer “I’ve spent a number of years in India and Africa where I found much righteous endeavor undertaken by Christians of all denominations; but I never, as it happens, came across a hospital or orphanage run by the Fabian Society [a British socialist organization], or a humanist leper colony.” -Malcolm Muggeridge Be bold! We will likely suffer as Christians in this world, but that suffering is slight and temporary compared to the eternal inheritance that awaits us. The worst thing that can happen to us is that we die and receive our promised inheritance. Can you imagine how emboldened Christians would be if we only believed what Peter is saying? -Juan R. Sanchez Discipleship Questions: Does the fact that nobody can (truly) harm us comfort you? What would change if we lived like we really believe that? Are you a more confident person as someone who knows Christ? Does your security in Christ embolden you to take some risks in life, knowing that the worst that could happen is death? How equipped / prepared are you to give a reason for the hope that you have? What would grow your confidence and competence in that? Have you considered joining Michael Clark one day for evangelism at the harbor? Well….you should….
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