Dr. Cecil A. Fayard - 2001 Sermons
Sunday, October 7, 2001   

INTRODUCTION: Wrath and mercy are attributes of God. Wrath and mercy- same God and same Bible.

Yes, God is a God of wrath and a God of mercy; yet, the key word in this passage is mercy. The emphasis is on mercy because without the mercy of God all would go to hell; no one would be or could be saved. Mercy is not getting what we deserve. We all deserve hell; none deserve heaven; but God in mercy saves those who believe.

In Romans 9:14-24, we see the eight fold mercies of God:

1. Verse 15, “I will have mercy.”
   
2. Verse 15, “On whom I will have mercy.”
   
3. Verse 15, “And I will have compassion.”
   
4. Verse 15, “On whom I will have compassion.”
   
5. Verse 16, “But of God that sheweth mercy.”
   
6. Verse 18, “Therefore hath he mercy.”
   
7. Verse 18, “On whom he will have mercy.”
   
8. Verse 23, “That he might make known the riches of glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory.”

1. VERSES 14-18, GOD DOES NOT WRONG ONE BY SHOWING GRACE TO ANOTHER
   1. Verse 14, When God chose Isaac instead of lshmael, was He unjust? NO! Not at all! “God forbid!”
      
      1. When God chose Jacob instead of Esau before they were born, even telling their mother about it, was He unjust? NO! Not at all! “God forbid.”
         
         1. Esau was a child of wrath, but so was Jacob (Ephesians 2:3).
            
         2. Esau was left by God as he was; Jacob was made by God into what he became.
            
         3. If you are anything today, it is because of God.
            
      2. Shall we say that God was unrighteous in His dealings with Isaac and Ishmael? NO! Shall we say that God was unrighteous in His dealings with Jacob and Esau? NO!
         
         1. God makes no mistakes. He made no mistake in choosing Jacob over Esau.
            
         2. “Little man needs to bow his stiff neck and stubborn knees before Almighty God and say, ‘There is no unrighteousness in thee’ (John 7:18)” (McGee 713).
            
         3. God is always righteous (Psalm 116:5; 119:137, 142).

   2. Verse 15, Paul defends God’s justice by proclaiming His mercy. God saves sinners by grace and mercy. We need to carefully read Exodus 33:18-19 to better understand this verse. God showed Moses His glory not because of who Moses was, but because He is God.
      
      1. God saved me not because of who I am; but because He is God; because He showed His mercy.
         
      2. This verse speaks of pity for the wretched and pardon for the guilty.
         
         1. Where all are guilty, mercy chooses its objects.
            
         2. No lost person deserves any favor. God is obligated to no human being. All of us deserve damnation.
            
         3. God’s calling of one over another is an act of mercy not of merit (Titus 3:5).
            
         4. God does not wrong one by showing mercy to another. He is not unjust in giving one justice and the other mercy.
            
      3. This verse and others in this passage speak of election.
         
         1. Election is always positive never negative. Election cuts no one out of salvation. Man cuts himself out because of unbelief.
            
         2. God does not wrong one by showing mercy to another.
            
            1. One is saved in mercy.
               
            2. The other is lost in justice.

   3. Verse 16, Salvation does not depend on man’s effort or desire.
      
      1. “Not of him that willeth”-- God’s mercy is not extended as a recognition of human will.
         
      2. “Nor of him that runneth.” God’s mercy is not a reward for man’s effort.
         
      3. It is made plain. Human willing and human working do not motivate God to mercy (John 1:13).
         
      4. “Willing and running may indicate the possession of grace, but they are not the originating cause” (Stifler 172).

   4. Verse 17, Paul quoted God’s Word to Moses in verse 15. Now he quotes God’s Word to Pharaoh.
      
      1. God placed Pharaoh on the stage of history “raised thee up,” so that He might display His power by punishing him and the Egyptian people.
         
      2. Pharaoh thought he was in control, but he wasn’t. God was (Acts 7:36).
         
         1. Everybody knows about the Exodus; everybody knows about the wonders of God at that time: the plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, etc.
            
         2. God raised up Pharaoh for a purpose (Exodus 9:15-16; Deuteronomy 11:3-4).

   5. Verse 18,Ten times in Exodus we read of Pharaoh hardening his heart.
      
      1. In this verse, we have God’s message to Moses and His message to Pharaoh.
         
         1. To Moses: “Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy....”
            
         2. To Pharaoh: “...and whom he will he hardeneth.
      2. God’s hardening of Pharaoh was judicial. God abandoned him to his own stubbornness.
         
      3. Keep in mind that all are sinners and guilty before God (3:10, 23), and no one deserves to be saved. Hardening is what sin deserves.
         
         1. “The wonder is not that some are saved and others not, but that anybody is saved at all” (Stott 269).
            
         2. If I get what I deserve, it is judgment. If I get what I do not deserve, it is mercy.
            
         3. If a man is saved, the credit goes to God. IF a man is lost, the blame is his own.

2. VERSES 19-21, GOD AS POTTER, HAS POWER OVER THE CLAY
   1. Verse 19, How can man be held responsible when God is in charge, when God determines destiny? Again we see man challenging God’s sovereignty, justice and righteousness.

   2. Verses 20-21, Don’t question the Potter.
      
      1. Verse 20, It is not right for man to talk back to God.
         
         1. The pot has no right to challenge the potter for forming the same lump of clay into pottery for different uses.
            
         2. The potter has the right to do as He pleases.
            
      2. Verse 21, God, the potter, has the right to take the clay and make it into what He pleases. The clay is nothing; He forms it.
         
         1. Jeremiah 18:1-4.
            
         2. God can do as He pleases. He is god.
            
         3. All of us were marred, and He made us a new vessel.

3. VERSES 22-24, GOD REVEALED TO US
   1. Verse 22, God is patient with the lost. He gives opportunity after opportunity as He did with Judas Iscariot.
      
      1. God is Iongsuffering, delaying judgment’s hour.
         
      2. The objects of God’s wrath are “fitted to destruction.”
         1. They are ready for wrath.
            
         2. They are ripe for wrath; they have prepared themselves well by evil doing.
            
      3. Sinner, are you preparing for hell?

   2. Verse 23, The objects of God’s mercy are described here.
      
      1. God Himself prepares the vessels of mercy for heaven.
         
      2. The saved are prepared in advance for glory, to receive all that God has for His people.
         
      3. Without His mercy, His grace, we could never be prepared for glory. We would never see heaven (Ephesians 1:4-9).

   3. Verse 24, Even us, speaks of God’s elect as is seen here.
      
      1. “Whom he hath called.”
         
         1. Called— the Holy Spirit applying the Gospel to the hearts and minds of sinners.
            
         2. II Thessalonians 2:14a
            
      2. Jews and Gentiles
         
         1. There is a remnant of the Jews who are called to salvation (verse 27).
            
         2. He came to the Jew first; but thank God, He also came to the Gentile (Romans 1:16).