Understanding God's Sovereignty in Mercy and Election

"I think we established this point we said there were two main things before us the first is what had the Apostle been saying from verse 6 to verse 13 and we came to the conclusion that what he had been saying was this that God in the carrying out of his great and eternal purpose does so through the process of election or selection and that in this method of election God is governed by nothing but by his own sovereign will and that in the exercise of that sovereign will he chooses some to salvation and rejects others." [00:01:04]

"Now what does he mean Willy what he's saying is this to show mercy to some introducing in the way that God does it cannot be unrighteous as PO because God himself has said that he does though God said that to mirth you'll find that in exodus 33:19 he's quoting from exodus 33:19 but the apostles argument usually is this he said you can't say that this is unrighteous because God himself has told us in what he said to Moses on that occasion that he does this very thing and says the Apostle by implication that is sufficient in and of itself what God says is always final what God says is always just and it is always righteous." [00:12:16]

"Mercy represents the desire to relieve suffering compassion or graciousness of the other hand refers to the feelings which are experienced in the view of suffering in other words compassion generally comes before mercy this is what is meant by compassion that when you see a case of suffering well there are certain feelings that are kindled within you immediately a sense of sorrow and a sense of pity now mercy is what puts that into practice mercy is more practical than compassion compassion is the feeling experienced in view of suffering mercy is the desire to relieve the suffering to do something about it and to remove it." [00:16:18]

"If God dealt with any one of us in justice and in righteousness well then we would everyone of us be damned eternally because that is what we deserve very well you see it's important to understand the return we are not dealing with justice and righteousness as the Apostle we are dealing with mercy we are dealing with compassion don't think of it in terms of justice and of righteousness at all otherwise there's no hope for anybody the whole world lieth guilty before God there is none righteous no not one everyone deserves hell and eternal punishment this is the Apostle I'm talking about passion I'm talking about mercy." [00:18:13]

"God is always just God is always wise God is always true God is always holy God is always powerful but here God Himself tells us that he is not always merciful there is a distinction here everything God does is just God is just in his dealings with all people but he has himself said quite deliberately that he shows mercy not to all but only to some now I am making this point of course because there is a doctrine which goes by the name of universalism and there is a doctrine which believes that ultimately everybody is going to be saved and their argument for that is that God is love and that God is merciful." [00:20:27]

"The teaching of universalism is not merely a contradiction of the teaching of the Apostle Paul it is a contradiction of the teaching of the Son of God it is a contradiction of the plain teaching of God himself well now my friends we are ending very high and important and serious metals you see in the end it comes to this on what are you basing your position and there are only two ultimate pieces you either believe this to be the inspired Word of God and trust yourself entirely to what it says or else you base your position upon what you think and what other people think with you it's got to be one or the other." [00:28:09]

"Now there is nothing I say that can possibly be more explicit than this we must never say that our salvation depends upon anything whatsoever in us the willing and the running exclude every activity on the sight of men it is as the apostle puts it then at the end it is our God that showeth mercy which is just another way of saying what he said there at the end of verse 11 it is of him that calleth it is entirely utterly absolutely altogether from God it is God's will it is God's choice it is entirely of God." [00:37:02]

"God has a right to show mercy to whom he will show mercy God has a right to have compassion upon those and whom he will have compassion there is no ground of complaint whatsoever there is no legal opposition that we can checked against us there is no charge that we can bring against God if he did nothing but allowed the whole of mankind to go to everlasting perdition no one would have the slightest ground of complaint so God is absolutely free to do as he likes and as he pleases and what he told nurses was and what is repeated by Paul is that he chooses to show mercy to some and not to others." [00:45:04]

"Don't talk about right and justice and righteousness it doesn't come in at all this is mercy this is compassion it's altogether a free gift of God and he has a right to do anything he likes when mystery I say is this that he should ever have chosen to give it to me and to you that's the thing that we ought to be amazed about not that he does have mercy upon something not upon others but that he has mercy on anybody at all and especially that he has had mercy upon us we are not told anywhere in the Bible as to what determines this in God we are not meant to know obviously it's too big for us God is in heaven my friends and you and I are on earth." [00:46:06]

"Recognize what he says what he does recognize his right to do so recognize his justice in doing so and if you have ever received mercy and know you've had it then I say if you really examine the whole position you won't feel there's any unrighteousness or injustice in God in this I say you'll be filled with this sense of wonder and amazement that he's been able to have mercy to anybody above all to you when you consider the way we contrived in order to show this mercy and to make it actual and practical even in delivering his only begotten Son up to the death of the cross and Calvinism." [00:51:26]

"Now what is the message of the parable well surely it's quite plain you're a man you see they come they say they won't work and the master agrees with them yes if you go work in my vineyard today I'll give you a penny for doing so but then you remember later on in the day and even at the very end levant hour he went out and he saw some people standing idle in the market he said you go and work in my vineyard why standing idle all the day so he said to them go ye also into the vineyard and whatsoever is right let Jill he received he made no bargain with him he just said to them if you are prepared to trust me well I'll give you that which is right." [00:38:01]

"God owes nothing to anybody but if he like this lord of the vineyard chooses to do something with what is his own should I be evil because he is good God has a right to show mercy to whom he will show mercy God has a right to have compassion upon those and whom he will have compassion there is no ground of complaint whatsoever there is no legal opposition that we can checked against us there is no charge that we can bring against God if he did nothing but allowed the whole of mankind to go to everlasting perdition no one would have the slightest ground of complaint so God is absolutely free to do as he likes and as he pleases." [00:45:04]