Matthew 6:25-33 sermon recap: Don’t Be Anxious

Why Not
A look at the three primary questions Jesus poses in his lesson on anxiety:

1. Isn’t life more than the things you worry about? (v.25)

We don’t get anxious because our world gets too big. We get anxious because our world gets too small as we zero in on one or two or three aspects of our lives and become obsessed.

When we are anxious, we are forming a black hole within us. A black hole is an object in space with such strong gravity that no matter or energy can escape, including light. What is your black hole subject? What is it that pulls you inward in anxiety until you can’t love God or others because you’re too consumed in your own world?

Bring to mind that thing you’re anxious about. What’s the worst case scenario for this thing? If all goes as badly as it could possibly go in this area of your life, what will you be left with? Will you still have breath in your lungs? Will you still have relationships? Will you still have eternal hope in Jesus? Will you still have God?

Don’t be anxious because your life is bigger than the sum of your worries.

2. Aren’t you more valuable than birds and flowers? (v.26, 28-30)

Birds don’t work jobs or bring home paychecks. They don’t have bank accounts or investments. They don’t use the Dave Ramsey financial peace plan. Yet, God provides for them. Similarly, flowers don’t go to Concord Mills and shop for clothes. Yet, Got clothes them beautifully.

The logic here isn’t, birds don’t work and neither should you. It’s, since God provides for insignificant and momentary creatures, how much more will he provide for you, who are so valuable to him that he sent Jesus to die for you?

When a band is on tour, they’ll send information ahead about what specifications they need to be able to perform at a venue. Often, they’ll bury a minute detail in the middle of that information just to make sure their hosts are paying attention. For instance, if they ask for a bowl of brown M&M’s in the dressing room and it’s there when they arrive, they can rest assured that their hosts have paid careful attention to their requests. Since God pays careful attention to even the smallest details of his creation; you can rest assured that he is caring for you too.

What many Christians don’t realize is that anxiety is functional atheism. Anxiety says either, God doesn’t exist, or, God doesn’t care. This is what Jesus is getting at in verses 31 and 32. When we’re anxious, we’re living like people who have no God.

Don’t be anxious because you are valuable to God and God is attentive to you.

3. What have you ever accomplished by being anxious? (v.27)

Don’t confuse anxiety for thinking, planning, considering, pondering, or concern. Those things mobilize you to action. Anxiety paralyzes. Anxiety is a complete waste of time and energy. It’s a brilliant trick of Satan, because it’s so closely connected with concern that we often feel justified in our worrying (or even noble!).

Don’t be anxious because it doesn’t accomplish anything.

How To
Now, let’s address the elephant in the room. There is a major assumption underlying all this that many don’t believe: you can stop being anxious on command.

I have never been in a counseling situation with an individual struggling with anxiety and simply said, Stop it. But maybe I should change my approach, because that’s how Jesus does it in this passage. How can we stop being anxious?

So far, Jesus has informed our mindset and worldview, which feed into our anxieties. But he does offer one positive command: Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness (v.33).

Our anxiety is a result of misunderstanding our lives, ourselves, and our God. But it’s also a result of incorrect priorities. We’re seeking the wrong things first. When we feel the clinching grip of anxiety, we mustn’t wrestle with it. It’ll only get tighter if we do. Instead, we must turn from it completely and pursue the kingdom of God. Worship. Meditate on scripture. Love someone. Serve someone. Forgive someone. Give something away. Confess sin. Encourage someone. Disciple someone. Write a note to someone. Pray for someone. Do kingdom work.

Energy given to anxiety is energy hijacked from the kingdom.

Don’t do battle with your anxieties. Even if you slay one dragon, two more will enter behind it. It’s the wrong fight altogether. Your life is not an epic battle against stress. It’s an epic march into the kingdom of God.

Conclusion
Your life is bigger than your worries. You are more valuable to God than you understand. God is more attentive to you than you know. And anxiety accomplishes nothing. So when you feel its squeeze tightening, drop everything and run toward the kingdom of God.

Discussion Starters
1. How was your week? What’s the best thing that happened? What’s the worst thing? Share a bit about it with each other to get started.
2. Share with the group your experiences with anxiety. When were you most anxious in your life? When were you most at peace?
3. Read verse 25. Do you think it’s possible to stop being anxious on command? Why or why not?
4. According to this passage, is anxiety a choice or an affliction? Are anxious people victims of anxiety or perpetrators of it? How does this compare with the way our society views anxiety?
5. What do you think are the most common stressors in our culture? What specific things make us anxious?
6. Read verses 26-30. Share ways in which God has provided for you in the past. (Can be normal ways, through jobs and family, or miraculous ways, like random, perfectly timed acts of kindness.)
7. What is the difference between anxiety and concern?
8. Read verse 33. How can we seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness? Talk specifically in light of your own anxieties.
9. How can your group pray for you this week?

This is post three in a three post series. Read posts one and two.

Based on Revelation 5, Jesus is the most worthy subject of your attention, time, energy, interest, devotion, worship, and life. Here’s why:

Because of what he did.
Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain… (Revelation 5:9a)

Jesus died for you, establishing a basis for your forgiveness, cleansing, and reconciliation with God. You can’t earn all this. You don’t need to act like you have all this. You only need to receive it.

Christianity isn’t about what you need to do, but what Jesus already did. Your life is more like Extreme Makeover: Home Edition than The X-Factor.

Jesus is worthy because he was slain on our behalf.

Because of what he’s doing.
…and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation… (5:9b)

Humanity is held hostage and you might be surprised by the captor’s identity. You might at first think the captor is sin or satan; but the Bible states that it is the law that holds us (Romans 7:6 and Galatians 3:23).

Jesus sets us free from the burden of do’s and don’ts that we’re incapable of obeying fully. He sets us free from the weight of guilt and shame and failure that we’ve piled on our own backs through disobedience. And here’s the really beautiful part (and the part that connects all this to global missions): He is doing all this in every tribe and language and people and nation.

In marketing, you know you won’t get everyone; so you select your target demographic and stick with it. That’s why there are Mac people and PC people, Chevy people and Ford people. The more diverse the target demographic, the more amazing the product must be. Jesus is appealing to every demographic because is the most amazing product in the history of mankind. The diversity of the devoted reveals the divinity of the man.

Jesus is worthy because he is doing a mighty work among a complete diversity of people.

Because of what he will do.
…and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth. (5:10)

Have you ever built something? If so, was is easy or hard? My son builds with legos. Many build businesses and families. I know a man who built a house using a book titled How to Build Your Own House. Building anything of substance and endurance is hard.

Jesus is building something more difficult than a house or a family or a business. Jesus is worthy because will build a kingdom of kings and priests out of people from every tribe, tongue and nation.

There is no one like Jesus Christ. He is the King of kings.

Discussion Starters
1. Worthy means weighty, valuable, important, full of worth. What seems most worthy of your attention, energy, time, etc. in your life right now? What outweighs Jesus?
a. Why?
b. What steps of repentance can you take to put Jesus back in his rightful place in your life?

2. Read Romans 7:6 and Galatians 3:23. What does it mean to be held captive by the law?
a. How does Jesus’ blood ransom us from this captivity?

3. How does verse 9 affect your view of racism?
a. Do you feel that racism is a problem in our church?
b. If so, how can the gospel solve this problem?

4. What spoke to you most in this passage?

5. What will you do based on what you’ve heard in this passage?

Dulin’s Grove is in a unique position regarding the global mission. We are closely connected to the Advent Christian General Conference, including the World Outreach Department. It would be irresponsible to ignore this avenue of influence as we work to make disciples of all nations. Therefore, we will work with the World Outreach Department to serve in any way we can. One possible endeavor might be this: a trip to Burundi, Africa in 2014 to:

1. Establish a relationship with the Christians there that we can build on in the future.
2. Train pastors.
3. Cultivate a handful of rural churches.

Click here for more on the average Christian’s role in the global mission.

This is number two of three posts in this series. Read post one here and the big announcement here.

Picture a missionary. What do you see? Someone wearing a safari jacket or someone like the person you see in the mirror every morning?

We tend to think of missionaries as super-Christians in foreign lands; but every Christian is a missionary. We are all ambassadors for Christ and the great commission to make disciples of all nations applies to all of us.

The purpose of this post is to clearly define your missionary assignment in two stages:

Stage One: Work Where You Are
Wouldn’t it be nice if God gave each of us clearly defined missions at the beginning of every day like in the old Mission Impossible episodes? It turns out, he has.

In 1 Corinthians 7:17, Paul writes to the church in Corinth, “Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule for all the churches.”  He goes on to explain that one need not change his or her tradition or class or career in order to fulfill their assignment as a Christian. Each must work where they are.

Want to know your assignment? Want to know your calling? Look around you. This is your assignment. This is your calling. The work you’re doing now, the people you’re among now, the community you’re in now, the roles you fulfill now, the responsibilities you have now: these make up your calling and it is as important as the missionary working in another country.

Stage Two: Work From Where You Are
Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 10:15-16, “But our hope is that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be greatly enlarged, so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in another’s area of influence.”

Here’s basically how the Christian mission works:
1) A missionary brings the gospel to people who haven’t heard it.
2) Some accept it and become Christians.
3) The missionary works to cultivate them into mature Christians, establishing a church there with capable leadership.
4) This new church matures and becomes a base of operations for further outreach into lands beyond.

Jesus said to go and make disciples, not converts. As the base of a blade is thicker than the tip, the bulk of the Christian mission is cultivating disciples, not evangelising new people groups. This is why the New Testament letters read more like a church cultivation manual than a frontier missions manual. The majority of Christians will be working where they are and from where they are; not traveling to distant lands, personally delivering the gospel to the unreached.

There are three primary ways you can work from where you are to reach the lands beyond:

1. Example.
Most would say their parents’ example had a deeper impact on them than their parents’ words. Similarly, who you are is more important than what you do or say in regard to global missions. The last thing the world needs are zealous missionaries abroad who are apathetic at home.

Remember, your assignment begins where you are and your work here has ripple effects ‘over there’.

“And you became imitators of us and of the Lord… so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia… your faith in God has gone forth everywhere…” (1 Thessalonians 1:7-8)

The question to ask here is: If new Christians in the lands beyond grow to look like me, is that a success or a failure? If new churches in lands beyond grow to look like mine, is that a success or a failure?

2. Giving.
“The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” (2 Corinthians 9:6)

My backyard is green and grassy, yet my front yard is cursed with bald patches. Why? Because I’ve planted grass seeds and worked to cultivate their growth in my backyard and I’ve done nothing in the front. This same principle applies to the global mission.

Sow your resources into the soil of global missions and see fruit begin to grow.

3. Praying.
All through the New Testament we see the church praying for doors to open and the boldness to enter new lands with the gospel.

Conclusion
Work here, work hard, and work outward to make disciples here and in the lands beyond.

Stay tuned to the blog for an upcoming post about how all this applies specifically to Dulin’s Grove and our upcoming short-term foreign mission trip.

Dulin’s Grove,

As you know, we began our three-week Penny Crusade Sunday. This fundraiser supports the foreign missions endeavors of our denomination. During these three weeks we will be studying what the Bible has to say about foreign missions. You can read a recap of Sunday’s sermon here. This Sunday, we’ll look at the Biblical strategy for obeying the great commission.

A big part of this year’s Penny Crusade is the announcement that we are going on a short-term foreign mission trip in the not-so-distant future. Right now, we are in the preliminary planning phase.

What you need to know:

- The purpose of this trip is not to build a building, but to build people.
- We will be telling people about Jesus and training people to make disciples.
- We’ll lay out the details of the trip this fall.
- We expect the trip to take place in 2014.
- We are planning the trip in cooperation with the world outreach department of our denominational headquarters, led by Jeff Walsh.
- We’re not sure where we’re going yet, but Africa is the front-runner right now, as this fits well with the department’s overall strategy.

What you need to do:

- Pray for direction and guidance for us as a church as we move forward with these plans.
- Pray about your involvement.
- Save money.

Excited about what’s ahead,
Pastor Matt

Did you see the Kony 2012 video? It reveals a horrific evil taking place in Africa. Many who watched it were stirred to do something. But what? As the debate over what to do grew, the determination to do it shrank. What can we do about the darkness in the world? A lot.

Christians have the most powerful weapon against evil the world  has ever seen: the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the only hope; and only Christians posses it.

That said, here are three facts about the gospel from 1 Corinthians 1:18-31. Get to know your weapon:

1. It is merely foolish to some; but extremely powerful to others.
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (v.18)

Foolish things are easily dismissed. This is how many respond to the gospel, passing by it like I pass by The National Enquirer in the check-out line. They don’t care about it. It doesn’t apply to them. It’s folly. Powerful things are not easily dismissed. Like the ring in The Lord of the Rings, once you have it, you hold on tight. You can see a mix of both reactions in any group of people who have heard the gospel: church congregations, families, groups of friends or family, and humanity in general.

So, Christian, as you tell people about Jesus; don’t expect everyone to take it seriously. Many won’t. But some will be saved. It’s like tossing a lifesaver into a crowd of drowning people. Those who see it for what it is and cling to it will be pulled to safety.

2. It sets aside, contradicts, and surpasses human wisdom and power.
…I will destroy the wisdom of the wise… (v.19)

God’s wisdom doesn’t just surpass mankind’s, it contradicts it, destroys it, thwarts it, and turns it into foolishness (v.19-20).

The world thinks signs and wisdom are best (v.22), but God gives the preaching of Jesus as the one tool for changing the world. Just people telling people about Jesus. You may say, “That’s not going to be enough to really do anything about the Kony’s of the world.” But according to God, it can.

3. It results in the opposite of human boasting: worship.
God chose what is low and despised in the world… so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. (v.28)

Paul points out in verse 26 that Christians aren’t necessarily wise, powerful, or of high class according to worldly standards. His point isn’t that Christians are losers; but that God’s work in the world isn’t an academic, influential, lifestyle sort of movement. It’s a miracle movement.

God’s life-changing work the world is done through the gospel and the gospel isn’t spread by wisdom, power, or class influence. It’s spread only by telling people about Jesus.

What is the greatest Christian who ever lived? What is the greatest church that ever was? The fact is, we’ve probably never heard of the greatest Christian or the greatest church because their work only pointed to God, not themselves.

Think of how the gospel spreads in countries that persecute Christians. Those believers don’t have static clings on their cars and cool websites, yet the gospel moves forward with power. And we think, “Good for you, God. You did all by yourself,” like a parent speaking to their kid. But we are the children that God allows to go to work with him. We don’t realize how much our efforts actually slow him down.

When one becomes a Christian, he becomes a straight arrow pointing to God. A straight arrow cannot point to itself. This is what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:5, ”For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord…”

A Vision
Picture this: Christians engaged in epic work of evangelism and discipleship as individuals and families and communities; the gospel spreading and powerfully changing lives; and there being no explanation but this: Jesus is who he claims the be.

It begins with you and me. People telling people about Jesus.

(Next week, we discuss the specific, practical strategy for making disciples of all nations.)

Discussion Starters

1. Think back and list the primary people in your life who told you about Jesus? How did they do it? How did you respond?
2. Is the word of the cross folly to you, or is it the very power of God? Is it easy for you to dismiss, or are you fascinated by it? (v.18)
3. In what ways does the gospel destroy and thwart the wisdom of the wise? (v.19)
4. Why do you think God determined that he would not be known through signs or human wisdom, but only through Jesus? (v.21)
5. What does it look like to preach Christ crucified in real life?
6. How might we (Dulin’s Grove) proclaim not ourselves, but Jesus, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:5)?
7. Who has God placed in your life right now that needs to hear about Jesus?

Ephesians 1:15-23
“Why do I have to go and hear the same story again EVERY YEAR?” I remember my brother saying something like this one Easter Sunday morning, trying to get out of another boring church service.

Why do we talk about this same story so often? Because it isn’t like other stories. It’s like looking at one of those magic eye pictures that was popular years ago. As you gaze at it, dramatic images stand out. But these images don’t just enlighten your eyes. They enlighten the eyes of your heart, the deepest part of you, the wellspring of your life.

In this passage, three images stand out:

1. Hope
that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you…

In all of my seminary counseling classes, the teachers stressed the importance of instilling hope in the people. No matter the situation, there is always hope in Jesus.

Not lottery hope, but lunch hope. When you buy a lottery ticket, you’re wishing against the odds that you might win. When you’re hungry at work, you persevere because you know lunch time is coming. Christian hope isn’t wishing against the odds; it’s persevering because we know Jesus is alive and working for our good.

The closer you get to Jesus, the closer you get to hope.

2. Inheritance
…what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints…

When my family went to the beach, I would set up the backseat of our mini van like we were going to the moon. I had my pillow, Walkman, snacks, etc. You would have thought the three-hour van ride was the extent of the vacation. But of course there was something much more glorious on the other end of the trip.

Many live their lives like this is all there is, stocking it with as much stuff as they can. But since Jesus is alive, we have the promise of eternal life. So there is a much more glorious and weighty inheritance to come.

The closer you get to Jesus, the closer you get to a glorious inheritance of true, lasting riches.

3. Power
…and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe…

Christian, because of the resurrection, you have nothing to fear. Our King defeated death itself. So no person or thing is a threat to you.

Conclusion
The further you get from Jesus, the more hopeless, poor, and weak you become. The closer you get to Jesus, the closer you are to hope, true riches, and transcendent power.

So get close to Jesus. Stay close to Jesus.

Romans 9:24-29
For more on the context of these verses, click here.

The Call
…even us whom he has called…

This word, call, sums up Paul’s whole meditation on God’s sovereignty in selecting some for salvation in Romans 9. It is God’s call that makes the difference, not ethnicity or morality or any other human trait or endeavor.

God’s call is different from our call. When we call someone, we are at their mercy to answer and respond. When God calls someone, they are at his mercy. Our words say things. God’s words do things. He created the universe and raised dead people to life with his words. It is his call that qualifies a person to be a Christian.

Tim Keller illustrated this point well in a sermon I listened to recently: If I need a computer programmer, I find a qualified person and call them. God however scanned the horizon of humanity and found no one qualified to be his child. So he does not first find qualified people and then call them to be his children. His call qualifies them.

The Called
…even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles…

Who receives God’s call? Some Jews and some Gentiles. Both were somewhat surprising to Paul’s original audience because the assumption was that all Jews and no Gentiles would be saved.

But Paul teaches that without God’s call, even the Jews, God’s chosen people, would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah. And with God’s call, even those who were not my people I will call ’my people…’

So, who receives God’s call? Even us, as Paul states in verse 24, bringing the theological abstract idea of God’s call to our daily reality. This is how God is. As as a fish swims in water, so humanity lives in God’s sovereignty.

God’s call is the most important factor in your life. It is the most decisive reality of your experience on earth.

The Calling
“Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’
and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved,’
And in every place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’”

What is this call? What does it do? It reconciles people to God. It turns vessels of wrath into vessels of mercy. It brings spiritual orphans into God’s household.

The quotes Paul uses (and that I placed above) come from Hosea, a short book in the Old Testament in which God told a man named Hosea to marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her to illustrate to Israel how promiscuous they had become toward him. God told Hosea to name two of his children Not My People and No Mercy.

I use my children in sermon illustrations all the time; but this takes it infinitely further. Their whole identity was wrapped up in their disconnect with God. And so is ours absent his call. We are not his people without his call. We are recipients of his wrath rather than his mercy without his call.

His call is for the atheist, the addict and the abuser. It rings out to the sinner, the sick and the sorry. His call brings spiritual orphans in from all over the world and makes them sons of the living God.

After a recent sermon about how transcendently sovereign God is, a church member mentioned in conversation that they were awed by the fact that this truly divine God is her father now that she is in Jesus. This is indeed an awesome reality.

Some Questions to Consider
Here is the gospel in a nutshell based on these verses: Jesus, the only rightful son of God became forsaken so that the forsaken might become sons of God.

1. Are you still a spiritual orphan? Maybe you’re hearing God’s call as you read this passage right now. Contact me to talk about it: 704-545-5389 or matthewbroadway@gmail.com.
2. Are you a child of the living God, but living like an orphan? Are you living as though it is all up to you, you’re on your own to figure things out and provide for yourself? Or are you growing in  your acceptance of all Jesus has bought for you, beginning to live like a child of the King?
3. Can you see the people around you for what they are: orphans in need of the adopting call of God? Have you’ve received the call, but aren’t transmitting it on to others? (See Romans 10:14-15)

Romans 9:22-23

The Forest and the Trees
Studying Romans is like hiking through a forest full of fascinating trees. We’ve been studying individual trees one-by-one for weeks in chapter nine: God chose Isaac, not Ishmael; God chose Jacob, not Esau; God has mercy on whomever he wills and hardens whomever he wills, etc. Before looking at another tree, lets step back and remember the forest.

Paul is writing to the Christians in Rome who are composed of Jews and Gentiles, two very different groups of people. He hopes to unite them with a thorough teaching of the gospel. The gospel is the good news that Jesus was God in the flesh. He lived the life we’ve failed to live, died the death we deserved and rose again to give his people new and eternal life.

In the gospel, God is up to something BIG. Bigger than saving Israel. Bigger than saving people who try to be good. He’s up to something that flexes the muscles of his sovereignty.

Before we inspect these two difficult verses, we must remember that God is not explaining himself, he’s asserting himself. Paul is not explaining predestination, free will, and election. He’s relentlessly hammering the nail of God’s sovereignty until it holds firm to our hearts. (For more on how I came to this conclusion, click here.)

So the question to ask yourself as you study these verses isn’t, does all this make sense and fit neatly into my world view? The question is, will I accept the Sovereign’s sovereignty? Will I accept the Divine’s divinity? Will I accept the Lord’s lordship?

I believe this is why he begins verse 22 with: What if God…

What If?
There is much debate over the proper translation of Romans 9:22-23, including these opening words. Most experts seem to agree that ‘what if God’ is pretty accurate. However, there is no such consensus about why he begins this way. Here is my theory:

I think Paul believes what he’s about to write is true; but his purpose here isn’t to explain it. So he presents it hypothetically to make his point: ‘So what if the hardest edges of God’s sovereignty are true?’

In other words, these verses do not fill out our understanding of God’s sovereignty. They challenge our acceptance of it.

Acceptance and Understanding
We usually like understanding before we’ll accept something. But with the deepest things in life, acceptance precedes understanding.

Is it customary for a child to understand his parents’ reasons before accepting their authority? No, a child must accept his parents’ authority first, and understanding comes over time. Do a bride and groom comb through their vows to make sure they understand them and how they’ll apply to various situations before accepting them? No, they accept the vows and then find out what they mean in real life as a married couple in the years that follow.

In the deep things of life, acceptance is the doorway to understanding. Perhaps this is why many of us will never come to a comfortable understanding of God’s sovereignty. We won’t accept it. We insist on understanding it first.

Yet, the apostle Peter himself said that some of Paul’s writings “are hard to understand.” When preaching through Romans 9, John Piper said,

How God renders certain the belief and unbelief of men without undermining our accountability I do not fully understand. If this stretches your mind to the breaking point, better that your minds be broken than that the scriptures be broken. And even better yet would be to let your mind and heart be enlarged rather than broken, so that they can contain all that the scriptures teach.

Similarly, John MacArthur said during his Romans 9 sermons,

I’m not real comfortable with this in my human mind. But I’m sure clear what it says. And the rest I take by faith… [A]nd you’re still scratching your head and you’re saying, “I don’t understand that” and my friend, I’m scratching my head with you. But, I’m believing…

To put flesh on this idea of acceptance first, note the following story shared by Ligon Duncan. After preaching on a similar text as ours, a pastor named Benjamin Morgan Palmer was confronted by an angry young man from the congregation:

“You preachers are the most contradictory men in the world,” he said. “Why, you said in your sermon that sinners were perfectly helpless in themselves, utterly unable to repent or believe, and then you turned around and said we would be damned if did not.” Palmer sensed that his visitor was wrestling with the great issues of life and death, and to make sure that the man really dealt with the gospel, he gave him an indifferent response. “Well, my dear sir, there is no use in quarreling; either you can or you can’t. If you can repent and believe, all I have to say is, ‘I just hope you go and do it.’” Palmer then describes what happened next. “As I did not raise my eyes from writing, I had no means of marking the effect of these words on the gentleman until after a moment’s silence, with a choking utterance, the reply came back, ‘I have been trying my best for three whole days and I can not.’” “Ah,” I responded, “that puts a different face upon it. We will go and tell this difficulty straight to God. We knelt down and I prayed as though this was the first time in human history that this trouble had ever arisen, and that here was a soul in the most desperate extremity who must believe or perish, and hopelessly unable of it self to do it, and consequently that it was just a case of divine interposition. Upon rising I offered not one single word of comfort or advice. And so I left my friend, in his powerlessness, in the hands of God as his only helper. In a short time he came through the struggle rejoicing in the hope of eternal life.”

So, with all this in mind, let’s walk through these two verses and take in Paul’s four suggestions. What if God is this way? Will you accept it?

1. What God wants to do.
What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power…

When I used to play tennis I was pretty good. Since I was pretty good, I wanted the people I cared about to come and see me play. A good tennis player wants his tennis skills to be known. The great Being wants his entire being to be known, including his glorious wrath and power. And this desire is partly behind his sovereign choices regarding salvation.

2. What God does.
What if God… has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction…

Why does God allow Satan to continue his work? Why did God allow Pharoah to live so long? Why did God allow Hitler to live so long?  For that matter, why does God allow us to continue, since we’re born ‘children of wrath’ (Ephesians 2:3)? Is God impotent or up to something?

Remember verse 17? The reason God raised up Pharoah was to show his power to make his name famous. The answer to the above questions has to do with his desire to display his glorious wrath and power.

3. Why God does it.
What if God… has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory –

Ever wonder how the angels in Isaiah and Revelation can sing “Holy, holy, holy!” forever and not grow tired or it? Because God is unbelievably glorious. In heaven, the vessels of mercy too will be eternally captivated by God’s glory, which will shine even brighter in light of the way he deals with vessels of wrath.

4. How God does it.
What if God… has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory-

Paul’s language leaves it unclear who prepared the vessels of wrath for destruction, while it confirms that God himself prepared the vessels of mercy for glory. But it seems obvious from the potter/clay analogy that God does all the preparing for all the vessels.

God allows some to store up for themselves wrath (Romans 2:5) so that the display of his glorious power in their judgment will be more awesome.

Think of Pharoah. God didn’t end it with plague number one. Instead, he turned water to blood, sent frogs, gnats, flies, famine, boils, hail, locust, darkness, and killed all the Egyptian first-born. Then he split a sea. He worked in such a way as to maximise the display of his glory to the vessels of mercy (Israel).

Some Questions
Will you accept that God has a deep desire for the display of his glory and that this desire supercedes our desires? Will you accept that God’s glory is magnified even by the lives and actions of people who will receive wrath and destruction? Will you accept that God is up to something big, beyond our understanding? Will you say with Paul,

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:33-36)

Discussion Starters

1. What do you think is the key message of this passage?
2. What did you learn from this passage (something you didn’t previously know)?
3. Which point in this chapter spoke to you the most?
4. Why do you think God included this chapter in the Bible? What’s the point?
5. Are there truths in this passage that contradict the ideas we hear in the world? If so, what are they?
6. Is there something in this passage that surprised you? If so, how were you surprised?
7. Are there any verses in this passage that confuse you or that seem to contradict other parts of the Bible?
8. In view of what we have read, what changes do you think God would want you to make in attitude, words, or actions?

Romans 9:19-21
Romans 9 presents God’s sovereignty in extremely stark terms, which raises many objections. Paul addresses two potential objections in 9:14-29. Last week we looked at objection #1: It seems unjust for God to embrace some and reject others. This week, we’ll look at objection #2:

You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?“

The fact that Paul assumes many will have this question indicates that he did say what we were afraid he had said in verse 18:

So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

If he had meant something else, if we had merely misunderstood, if the language barrier had obscured his intended meaning; he wouldn’t have addressed this specific objection. It makes no sense for him to question man’s responsibility unless he had just claimed God’s sovereignty.

This objection gets to the heart of why many of us are so uncomfortable with this chapter. If God makes sovereign choices, doesn’t that render our choices meaningless? Doesn’t that do away with our freedom and responsibility? It’s a good question. Here’s how I might respond:

1. No, no, no. In the Bible, there is a balance between God’s sovereignty and man’s freedom. It’s both/and not either/or.

2. Check out these clues:
- Adam and Eve: They’re created and given a choice to obey or disobey. The choice was clearly meaningful and had real consequences.
- The law: God spends a lot of time in the opening books of the Bible giving law that the people were free to obey or disobey with meaningful results.
- Psalms: This book, which is meant for us to use in public worship, is filled with the emotional struggles of real people wrestling with real problems and decisions and triumphs in the context of worshipping a sovereign God. We are obviously not robotic.
- Proverbs: God gives us wisdom to live our free lives in a world in which God directs our paths (3:6) and establishes our steps (16:9).
- Prophets: God knows what’s going to happen yet he calls people to make decisions and obey.
- Jesus: He says, “No one can come to me unless the Father draws him.” Then he looks into our eyes and tells us to come to him, as though we do have some say in the matter.

3. Some suspect that it’s an antinomy. J.I. Packer teaches that sometimes there are two things that are absolutely true, even though everything we understand about the world says they can’t be true at the same time. Light is like this. Things should either be waves or particles, not both. Scientists don’t understand how light can be both but they know that it is. So they’ve made up a term for it (photon) and accept it. Like light, we don’t understand how God is sovereign and we are free; but this is reality and we have to accept it.

That’s how I might respond and I believe all this is valid. But Paul emphatically does not respond this way:

But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?”

Paul rebukes the questioner! Why? There must be a reason that Paul passes over the opportunity to teach on this highly nuanced subject. There must be a reason Paul is so relentless about God’s sovereignty here.

I’m reminded of Zechariah and Mary. Both were confronted with seemingly impossible news from angels. Both asked questions about it. But while Mary received a gentle answer, Zechariah was struck mute. What was the difference? Mary asked how it would happen. Zechariah asked how he could know that it would happen. Mary’s question came from a heart of humble acceptance. Zechariah’s question came from a heart of proud skepticism.

It seems that at this point God is more focused on stomping out proud disbelief than explaining himself. Thus this is a good place for us to stop and examine our hearts.

Are we saying, “Help me understand and accept this?” Or are we saying, “I won’t worship a God like this!” Are we moldable? Or are we “answering back”? This phrase, answering back, is the same phrase used of the Pharisees when they argued with Jesus. It’s what we do when we are arguing for a position, rather than listening and learning.

Remember, we are men and women. We are the molded. Our lives are like vapor and we would die if God revealed too much of himself to us too quickly. God is God. He is the molder. He is eternal and his ways are not our ways.

We can ask questions and discuss and think. But we cannot approach God in a pridefully skeptical way. We cannot cross our arms and tap our foot and cling to our understanding when he confronts us with something bigger. It is a call for humility. Let him mold you. Don’t try to mold him.

Paul continues this train of thought:

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?

This is the core of the issue: Does God have rights over us? If so, what rights does he have?

Can he speak to you, or can he only speak when spoken to? Can he command you, or can he only suggest? Can he judge you, or must he pat you on the back? Can he direct you, or can he only respond to  you?

Rights are not invented, they are recognized. And what God wants more than our complete understanding of election and free will is that we recognize that he has every right over all people and all aspects of his creation.

Paul could have released the pressure he’s built up in this difficult chapter, but he didn’t. He increased it by using incredibly harsh language to hammer home the point: God is God. He will not let up until we ‘say uncle’. We must relax into the reality that we are at God’s mercy.

When Moses was on the mountain receiving God’s law, the people were in the valley creating a golden calf to worship. Take a long hard look at the God you worship. Is he like the calf, molded by your own preconceived notions and desires? An idol not worthy of your worship and devotion? Or is he a great big God who often disagrees with you, confronts you, challenges you, confounds you, and overwhelms you?

Discussion Starters
(Note: Christians are planting 100’s of new churches per year in countries like South America and Africa by presenting the gospel, giving Bibles, and teaching the following five questions to ask of any passage. Thus equipped, new Christians are able to begin inviting people to their homes for simple Bible studies and the Holy Spirit is adding 1,000’s to the church.)

1. What did you like about the passage?
2.  What did you NOT like about the passage?
3. What did you not understand in the passage?
4. What did you learn about God in the passage?
5. What are you going to do with what you learned?