Romans 9_14-24 (#36.2026.02)

Scott Keffer [: 00:00:02

Hi, if you're looking for greater hope, assurance, and confidence through the shifting sands of life, then join me on today's episode as we dig deep into the Bible to discover rock-solid truth for life and living from the God of the Bible. I'm your host, Scott Keffer. Hi and welcome to today's episode. As always, for a deeper experience, you can go to the show notes and download the blank insight sheet Fill in the blanks along with the group. Depending on how you're listening to this, there will be a link to the episode website at beholdingbibletruth.com, and a sheet with the answers is included as well. Enjoy today's episode. Well, I may say the world is becoming increasingly complex. Not that it has become more complex, but in many ways it feels like that, doesn't it? And as things get more complicated, we want to make them simpler.

Scott Keffer [: 00:01:02

We look for ways to make them simpler. Albert Einstein used to say, make everything as simple as possible, but no simpler. And we're often yielding to make things simplistic. The complex is the desire to make things simpler and simpler and simpler. But they're always much more complex than we think. So we were going through, it was literally about which kind of, we try and take care of ourselves physically, which kind of water to drink. We, we drink Mountain Valley, uh, water and, uh, tests came out. They're saying the problem with the water and I was listening to the, the person who created the test and he was saying, well, here's what you understand.

Scott Keffer [: 00:01:45

Yeah, there's arsenic in all water. Every water that comes out of the ground has arsenic., right? So it's the dose that's the poison. So you need to understand. So he's explaining and explaining it. And then you need to look at this and even reverse osmosis is not totally pure. Here's why he's going through it. And I thought, oh, he knows more about this than I know. Will I ever be able to know as much as him? No, nor do I want to, right? I'm not going to go that deep.

Scott Keffer [: 00:02:13

So as could I understand this, maybe if I spent my life studying it, I could. So that's the first question. Can I understand it? Then the second thing I ask is, does he understand it? This guy who created this TAP score, and I thought, he seems to know what he's talking about. But then the third question was, most importantly, can I trust what he's saying? Can I trust what he's saying? So in today's world, you ask, number one, is it understandable by me? Many subjects, I don't have the time to be able to do that. So the second is, does that person understand it? And thirdly, can I trust them? Because the fact is, we used to tell our kids, you know, when you're small, your understanding is like a, a BB. Your BB represents what you understand. The outside of it represents what you do not understand. When your BB grows into the size of a golf ball, golf ball represents what you understand, it now touches and represents how much more you do not understand.

Scott Keffer [: 00:03:21

And the bigger your, your ball of understanding gets, the bigger you, you realize what you do not understand. And so when it comes to the character and nature and the ways and the workings of God, the more we understand should touch the more that we do not understand. And so we ask those three questions, right? Could I understand the ways and the workings of God? What's the answer? No. Number two, does he understand them? So is he asking us to understand, or is it the third question? Can I Trust him. Yes. And does he reveal his character and nature so that I can trust him? Not that I can understand him or explain him in the sense, but so that I can trust him. Does that make sense? And so as we're going through these sections of scripture, you're going to have to ask the question, is this so that I can understand him, or is this so that I can trust him. And I'm suggesting it's the latter.

Scott Keffer [: 00:04:35

So let's stand and read, if we could, from Romans 9. Aha. What shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all. For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. And let's continue. And I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, But God has mercy for, for the Scripture says to Pharaoh, for this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth. So then he has mercy on whom he has mercy, and he hardens whom he desires.

Scott Keffer [: 00:05:21

You will say to me then, why does he still find fault? For who resists his will? On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, why did you make me like this? Will it? For does not the potter have a right over the clay to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? What if God, although willing to demonstrate his wrath And to make his power known endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and he did so to make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy which he prepared beforehand for glory. The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. If you haven't been through Romans 9 before, uh, welcome. If you have been through it before, um, most want to ignore it, stay away from it, um, find another place or path because it's, um, it's got some understandable in some ways stuff, right? So let's go through there. So we ask the very question, is there injustice with God? Is there injustice with God? What's important about that question? First of all, it is the question that man asks, which means as we review and understand and, and make our way through these truths, your first and, and, and natural response going to be, well, this is not just, this is not fair, this is not right. So when the question comes up, right, it's not as if God is ignoring it. He's just saying, your natural response to this is to feel like there's injustice with me.

Scott Keffer [: 00:07:25

And so the Spirit of God, through the Apostle Paul, asks the question and answers it. Is there injustice with God? And the answer is absolutely. It's emphatically, it's kind of like exclamation, exclamation, exclamation in the Greek. Ain't no way. Why? His work is perfect. How many of his ways? All his ways are just. A God of faithfulness without injustice. So he's saying, as you go through here, your natural bent, your natural response, the human part of you will say, this is not just, this is not right, this is not true.

Scott Keffer [: 00:08:09

So it's very important to start with what is true. But then that's why we say run to the core. Oh, this is from last Run to the week. core. Right? Because you notice the bigger your ball gets, the more it touches what you do not know. Right? What you do not know. So he says, absolutely not. So then he goes to Pharaoh.

Scott Keffer [: 00:08:34

So he's saying, right, because he's asking the question. Remember, the, the question in 9, Romans 9, is in response to Romans 8, which is fundamentally, now most of those who are coming to Christ are Gentile. What about the promises to the Jews? So he says, hey, let's go back to Pharaoh. He says the purpose of God working with Pharaoh was to demonstrate God's power and to proclaim God's name throughout the whole earth, to demonstrate God's power and authority overall, and to proclaim his name. Say to the Pharaoh, he says to Moses, let my people go so that they may serve me. And he said, if I sent the plagues on you and I didn't restrain the plagues, is what he says in this verse, you would be wiped out. But he said, the Lord says, I have allowed you to remain. Why? In order to show my power, in order to proclaim my name throughout the whole earth, that God would show who he is.

Scott Keffer [: 00:09:50

He'd show his power, his authority, his sovereignty overall, and he would proclaim his name, his character, his nature, right? He's going to make himself known through the interaction of God's people with Pharaoh. So he's saying, well, what about Pharaoh? He says he— and then, then he goes on to say, um, so then, right, right after he says that, that he quotes from Scripture, he says, so then, God had— he has mercy on whom he desires, and he hardens whom he desires. What? He's saying this is God's sovereign choice. God's sovereign choice. So let's put them— the two together. So he says to Pharaoh, Moses, say to Pharaoh, Right here is how I'm interacting with you. I'm going to show my power, my authority, my sovereignty, and I'm going to show you my name. I'll show you my name.

Scott Keffer [: 00:11:07

And then directly after that, he says here that he has mercy on whom he desires and he hardens whom he desires. So he's showing that part of God's name, God, it's part of God's power is that he's sovereign in his choice. He's free to choose as he wants to choose. So of course, what's my response to that? Well, then why does God find fault? If God's sovereign, if God's sovereign over people and how they operate, then why does he find fault, right? Because he asks, who resists his will? So, oh, if God's sovereign, then you're responsible. And you're responsible for what? The evil in the world and the actions of man. That's where, that's where it's going, right? So he's saying, if you're sovereign over Pharaoh, then you're responsible for Pharaoh, what he did. So we have to deal with this hardening. He says he has mercy on whom he has mercy, and he hardens whom he will harden.

Scott Keffer [: 00:12:18

Well, the word harden means to harden, to make stiff, or to render stubborn, unyielding, or insensitive. So if we look at the verse in Exodus, it said, when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had stopped What did he do? He sinned again and he hardened his heart, he and his servants. So who, who hardened? He did. He did. So men harden their own hearts. That's that space there. Men harden their own hearts. They sin.

Scott Keffer [: 00:13:08

There's a space there where you put the word 'and.' So men harden their own hearts, right? Pharaoh hardened his heart, and God hardens their heart judiciously. Judiciously. Okay, wait a minute. How does this work? Well, it says in Exodus, and I will harden Pharaoh's heart. He will chase after them, and I will be honored through Pharaoh and his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord. So wait a minute, so who's hardening Pharaoh's heart? He is, and God is. Is there a tilt? There should be a natural tilt because that's the, that's the basis of the question. Well then, how's Pharaoh responsible if God is hardening? So what does it mean God is hardening judiciously? In other words, in response.

Scott Keffer [: 00:14:22

So what harden does not mean Underlined does not can you see mean— that? It does not mean God creates innocent unbelief, or that he injects evil into a neutral heart, or that he forces someone to sin. The scripture says God cannot tempt you to sin. Okay, so what does it mean? Judicial hardening. Hardening, stiffening, stubborn. Well, in the Book of John, it says though Jesus had performed so many signs in their sight, they were still what? Not believing. They were still— underline that— still not believing in him. So who is not believing? They were. But he says this happened.

Scott Keffer [: 00:15:33

Really? Why did it happen? Always follow 'so that.' What's the 'so that'? Exactly. What is the 'so that'? So underline 'so that.' That's important. The word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke would be fulfilled. And he says, for this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, he was— he has blinded their eyes and he hardened their heart so that they will not see with their eyes and understand with their heart and be converted, and so I will not heal them. Guilt. But wait a minute, God is hardening. They hardened, God hardened, so that they could not see, so that they could not see. Nevertheless, even the rulers, right? Nevertheless, many even of the rulers, so some did believe in him.

Scott Keffer [: 00:16:38

Okay, so we got to go through here. Men harden their own hearts, and God hardens their hearts judicially, right, in, in, in response to their hardness. Judicial hardening, right? He's blinded their eyes. He's hardened their heart. So I put down there— this is really important— no one receives injustice No one receives injustice. Some receive mercy. No one receives injustice. Some receive mercy.

Scott Keffer [: 00:17:23

Okay, so let's look at hardening judicial abandonment, deserved justice. So in other words, not God making a soft heart hard or evil, but God leaving a resistant heart— God leaving a resistant heart unsoftened See the difference? Judicial hardening is a response to a hard heart. I give them over. In other words, I give them over to the hardness of their heart. Who deserves that? Everyone. Right? Get that? Who deserves that? Everyone. Everyone gets stuck in, well, How does God only have mercy on some? No, the fact is we should be asking, how does God have mercy on anyone? We, we're stuck in why does he only have mercy on some? But understand, all deserve no mercy. Mercy is not required.

Scott Keffer [: 00:18:41

Mercy, or active grace, is undeserved favor. This is where we get stuck. It's undeserved favor. No one receives injustice. Some receive mercy. Mercy is undeserved favor. Moreover, he says in, uh, Ezekiel I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you, and I will remove your heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. So for some, God takes that heart of stone, which is resistant to him, right? All deserve to stay there, right? All deserve to stay there.

Scott Keffer [: 00:19:35

For some, God takes that heart of stone out and he replaces it with a heart of flesh. Puts his Spirit, renews your spirit, and you become born again. That's mercy. That's undeserved favor. We get stuck in the mercy without starting where we need to start, which is no one deserves mercy. Nobody says, Lord, how is it that anybody receives mercy? That's really the question. In fact, Scripture seems to indicate that the angels don't get grace. They don't understand it because they don't get it.

Scott Keffer [: 00:20:21

They don't deserve grace. Angels don't ever receive grace. Fallen angels are fallen. They're never redeemed. Um, So Gil, pastor from long ago, what God does is by leaving them to the hardness of their hearts, denying them that grace which only can soften them and which he's not obligated to give, and therefore does them no injustice and withholding it from them. So here's what happens. Everyone deserves justice. Some receive mercy.

Scott Keffer [: 00:21:11

What's our question? Well, how come some receive— why, why you only give some mercy? We don't ask the fundamental question: why does any get mercy? Because we're stuck in, so how do you decide? Like, what's the You know, what's the framework? Are they better than others, right? How do some receive mercy? All of that goes to how we think, right? Well, how does he decide? Does he have the right to decide? Who is God to decide? That doesn't seem fair. Explain it to me. Give me the power to do that. I mean, all of that stuff, right, we go through. So what God does is he leaves them in the hardness of their heart. So first of all, Men harden their own hearts, and then God hardens their hearts judicially, judiciously. In other words, he leaves them to themselves. Hey, that's what you want, go for it.

Scott Keffer [: 00:22:03

Any questions on hardening? Yeah, lots. But it says, let's go back to the phrase, right? In scripture it says that what, if you go up here, So then he has mercy on whom he desires, and he hardens whom he desires. Well, yeah, that has lots of questions to it. What's the next question? What's man's response to God's sovereignty? Okay, if, if, if God hardens whom he hardens, why does God find fault? Why does God find fault? How many are having a tilt moment? But see where the questions go, right? You can say, well, wait a minute, everyone deserves justice. God gives mercy to some. Okay, so, and if you're sovereign over that, then why do you find fault? And how can you hold man responsible, right? Isn't that where we go in our head? Why does God find fault? Old-time preacher Barnes said it is the standing objection against the doctrines of grace. I mean, if God is sovereign over it, right? If God is sovereign over it, then why does he find fault? Doesn't make sense. If he, if he has mercy on whom he had mercy, he hardens whom he had marked.

Scott Keffer [: 00:23:35

Hardens, then not our fault, right? Why does he find fault? Sovereignty and responsibility— scripture does not explain how they harmonize, it declares them true. Well, I don't understand. I don't agree. I don't like it. I don't, therefore I don't think it's true. Yeah, I don't think it's right, therefore I don't think it's true. I don't understand it, therefore I don't think it's true. But then this goes to the next question.

Scott Keffer [: 00:24:14

Well, see, that doesn't seem right. Does God have the right? Does God have the right to do that? Doesn't seem fair to me. Does God have the right to give mercy to some and not to others? That's where he goes next, right? Well, that doesn't seem right. The maker of all has the sovereign right to do as he pleases. Well, who holds— who holds God? Our God is in the heavens. What's he doing? He does whatever pleases. Is there a counsel over God? That's the next question. Okay, if he does whatever he pleases, can I, created man, judge God and call him to account? Because that's next.

Scott Keffer [: 00:25:25

I don't, I don't, I don't understand this. I don't agree with it. I don't think it's fair. I don't think it's right, right? Therefore, does God have the right to do that? So I'm going to say, what's up with God? So does created man Judge God. Well, the fact is what we do, we do, we put God on the scale, our scale. We measure him out, right? We go from understanding to evaluating to scrutinizing and going, I don't know, I don't know. So he says he has established his throne for judgment. He will judge.

Scott Keffer [: 00:26:16

Who's the judge of the world? God's the judge. He's the, he's the only and the final judge. So then he says, oh Lord, we are the clay and thou art the potter. What's the pot— what's the, the pot say to the potter? Well, imagine your— one of your kids saying, so what'd you birth me for? You didn't have the right to do that. Like, what's up with that? It's like a piece of furniture saying to you, well, you don't have a right to make me. Who are you to make me? So if the creat— the created says to the Creator, What's up? What's up? So he's asking the question, when we question God and put him on our scale and weigh him out, what is that? Presumption. Huge presumption. Arrogance and a pride.

Scott Keffer [: 00:27:22

He's saying this— there's an arrogance and a pride to saying, I don't understand, I'm evaluating, I'm scrutinizing, whether this makes sense or not. The clay and the potter, we get that, don't we? Imagine the clay on, on the wheel saying, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, what are you doing? What are you making me like this for? What are you making me at all? Who the heck are you? What right do you have, right? We assume because he breathes his spirit into clay that we have the right to call into account There's a, there's a fundamental, right, presumption and arrogance in that. So Creator and created man, what is this? Well, I wrote the Creator, the created sits in the seat of the Creator, right? And then the finite— who's that? Raise your hand. What do we do? We scrutinize and we judge the infinite. And then lastly, the accused, because at the end of the day, God's judgment on us is we all deserve justice. So now we're accused, and so the accused demands an explanation from the judge. For you to judge me, what scale do you use? What right do you have to judge me and all mankind? It's the essence of our question, isn't it? So I put on there, can man understand and instruct God? This is my— one of the, uh, favorite parts, because if you read Job— hate to read Job, don't you? I'm not studying Job. I don't want to read Job.

Scott Keffer [: 00:29:42

Because the fear is, of course, if I read that, then it's going to happen to me. So I don't read it. I just stay away from it. But he goes through a part where he and his friends are asking lots of questions of God. And Job, in some ways, right, felt like, seemed like he had the right to ask that, like, that all this evil would come upon me. And again, we see that, right? Lose their son, lose their— she loses her son, she loses her husband. There's lots of questions in that, isn't there? Lots of questions like, what is up with that? How is that good? How is that merciful? How is that right? I mean, all those questions that go. So they ask God.

Scott Keffer [: 00:30:20

So then Yahweh answers Job. And he says, who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now he says, put on your adult depends because my turn to ask some questions. I mean, you're going to be soiling your pants when I ask you these questions, because he asked him, where were you? He starts to go through all created, right? All creation. He's saying, where were you? Do you do this? Do you know that? Are you able to do this? Just walk through the earth and just say, who does all this? Do you have the ability to instruct me? And he says, now gird up your loins like a man, and now I get to ask the questions. And he says, Yeah, now I will ask you and you instruct me. You instruct me. And so there's a deep arrogance in us, isn't there? There's a deep presumption, there's a deep pride that we have the ability to scrutinize God, his ways, how he works, what's right, what's not right. And the more you know about them, the more you realize, I don't know anything.

Scott Keffer [: 00:31:35

The more I know, the more I realize I don't know. Who am I to know? I don't know how I sit in, in the summer, I sit on the beach and the ocean doesn't come up, goes in, goes out, doesn't overflow the earth. Why is that? Well, they say it's gravity and all that. They don't really know. Well, scripture says because God said you can't go further. Because God said to the water, that's as far as you go. Do I understand that? I don't understand that. We try and observe it.

Scott Keffer [: 00:32:06

Man tries to observe it, says, ah, the moon and the— right? But it's because God just said that's as far as it's going. I don't understand that. How am I going to understand the ways and the purposes of Almighty God? I don't understand how the earth doesn't spin out of control. I don't understand, right? There's so many things I don't understand. And yet there's part of me that says, okay, Lord, explain it to me. Because I want to understand it, and then I'm going to evaluate. Right? Isn't that what I'm going to do? I've always said I have a, I have a God consulting, um, business. He never calls.

Scott Keffer [: 00:32:48

Put my sign up. I've got great— I'll evaluate your plans. I'll give you ideas, right? You never go. So of course he's, he's pointing to, right, the fundamental, right, the fundamental arrogance that sits inside of us. And so again, to kind of get clarity, questioning God in humility is not sin. Lots of, lots of examples through scripture where, where people cry out to God. David cries out to God, right? Calling God to account in judgment is. There is a difference, isn't there? God says, call to me and I will answer you.

Scott Keffer [: 00:33:40

I'll tell you great mighty things which you do not know. God didn't say don't call to me, don't question me. But what's the fundamental position at which you're crying out to him. You go through the Psalms, David says, what's up with this? What's up with that? Why is that happening? But he was a man after God's own heart. There's— because he, he wraps it, he wraps it in a wrapper of humility. He starts with God's, God's awesomeness, and in the midst of it, life has questions like, what's up with that? I don't understand. I said to the Lord, I don't understand that. That seems like a lot of greed for one family.

Scott Keffer [: 00:34:16

A lot of pain, a lot of hurt for one thing. I don't understand that. But I do know, and I have to end with the rapper, but I do know that you're just and merciful and gracious and true, that you have good. I can't explain that. I can't explain Charlie Kirk. I can't explain a lot of things. There's lots of things I can't explain. But I know, what do I know to be true? I run to the core.

Scott Keffer [: 00:34:37

He's gracious. He's merciful. Right? So I have to, I have to, uh, run back to. So, Questioning God in humility is not the problem. It's when I'm calling him to account, when I put him on the scale. And I love that C.S. Lewis— and then I learned it from John Piper— but he said, when you magnify the Lord, right? Scripture says, oh, magnify the Lord with me. Magnify the Lord.

Scott Keffer [: 00:35:05

There's two ways to magnify. Number one is to put something small, teeny, under a microscope, make it bigger so you can see it. We put things under a microscope so that we can inspect them. The second way to magnify is to use a telescope, which takes the impossible universe and brings it down so that we can see it. It makes that which is right, seemingly gigantic, it makes it so we can see it. So the question is, putting God under a microscope is different than putting him— magnifying him through a telescope. One is to inspect him, the other is to stand in awe of him. So it goes back to, we're not being called to understand God.

Scott Keffer [: 00:36:03

So here he just lays out what is true. He doesn't explain it. He doesn't give, right? He doesn't give you an explanation. He just says, this is true. So here's the question as he ends. Can you trust a God who does not answer to anyone but himself? Can you trust? Can you trust? Well, the way I often do it is go, let's flip it because we think about that. So let's go to the other side. Let's assume God answers to someone.

Scott Keffer [: 00:36:36

Who does he answer to? His creation. So if God answers to man, what would that make God? Not— yeah, not God, right? So who does God answer to? If God could be, right, pushed into a corner arm twisted, pressed, pushed, right? What kind of God would he be? Scary God. He would be the gods like the Greek gods, humans with lots of power. He'd be, he'd be like the superheroes that we create, great power but filled with evil and emotion and, right, easy to corrupt. So that's the question. Can we trust him? Can we trust him? And if he answered to you, would you be able to trust him? If God answered to you or to me, would you be able to trust him? That would be scary. You think it's scary now? So he brings this to a crescendo by saying, let me tell you what my ultimate purpose is. So I have penultimate purposes that are going on, but I have an ultimate purpose, right? What did he say to Pharaoh? Make his power known and proclaim his name.

Scott Keffer [: 00:38:12

Make his power known and proclaim his name. So he's saying, here's my ultimate purpose. To make known his mercy. All of this is to make known his mercy. Okay, let's see if we can unpack that. So God, who owes mercy to no one, has provided infinite mercy for sinners in Christ. So the God who is required to provide no mercy has made infinite mercy available in Jesus Christ. So how does he say that? So he says, although willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make his power known.

Scott Keffer [: 00:39:05

What does that mean? Why, why does Here's a question. What's the consequence for sin? Every, every soul that sins should die. The minute you sin, why, why doesn't God bring judgment instantaneously? Nobody, nobody wakes up every day and says, what's up with that? You ever look around the world and wonder why does evil persist? So he's saying, although God is willing, more than willing, just like he did with Pharaoh, to bring his power, to show his power, right? How would he show his power? In his wrath. It's his judgment, right? He's willing to do that. So why does he— why does he not? It says he endures with much patience. Underline: he endures with much patience. We'll come back to that. What's he enduring? Vessels of wrath, right? He endures with much patience vessels of wrath.

Scott Keffer [: 00:40:22

We say, well, wait a minute, vessels of wrath, what is that? That means they are not morally neutral. They are sinners. Who is that? Us. Everyone. Well, what's the wrath of God against? All ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who willfully do what? Suppress the truth in righteousness. What does that mean? Everyone knows. So he's saying everyone knows whether they say they know that God exists or not. He's saying, right, in beginning of Romans, we started there.

Scott Keffer [: 00:41:01

Everyone knows. Everyone knows there's a God. Everyone knows, right? And we actively suppress the truth in unrighteousness. So his judgment— remember, righteous judgment, you can put above wrath, righteous judgment. So in 2 Peter, it— he says the Lord is patient. He's not slack in his promises. What is he wishing? Okay, so now we go back to— so God endures with much Patience. How many wake up and say, how can we— like, how can evil go Do you on? ever— right, you hear stories now and you say, how can this happen? Like, how can this happen? I mean, people are actively just lying directly and, and morally corrupt.

Scott Keffer [: 00:42:06

And I mean, now it's just out in the open. I mean, used to be they pretended and they hid it, but now it's out in the open and people are just Right? How many say, what's up? You feel that? Like, what's up with that? What's up with that? Like living outside of Sodom and Gomorrah, like what is going on there? How is that happening? Imagine if you were omniscient and you knew all the evil that's going on every second of every day, evil intent, evil desires, evil actions, and you knew them all, and you were confronted with them, and you were righteous and just. And what does that scream for? Justice. Evil screams for justice, doesn't it? Justice. So it's saying, here's God, the, the foundation of his throne, righteousness and justice. So what's What's righteousness and justice call for? Judge that, judge that, judge that, judge that, all the time. So he's every day, second upon second upon second, days, weeks, years, it's saying he is enduring this with great patience. It's hard to comprehend that, that it's against his nature His justice and righteousness cries out.

Scott Keffer [: 00:43:34

Doesn't yours cry out sometimes? Like, take those people down, make those people pay for this, right? That's his— so it's saying with great patience, these are vessels of wrath which are prepared. Well, he's saying long-suffering with sinners. Yeah, yeah, not just with us. This is not about his people, but he's long- suffering with sinners who will never come to him because of the hardness of their heart. Why? Because of the hardness of their heart. Why? Because of the hardness of their heart. That God, God, right, in the hardness of their heart will harden their heart as judgment for that, and then ultimately they'll pay, right? But he says there's a reason for this. Why would he do that? He's more than willing to demonstrate his, his power, right? He's more than willing to bring about justice.

Scott Keffer [: 00:44:38

So it says, although willing to demonstrate his wrath and make his power known, he endures. Why does he endure? Underline 'so that.' That's really important because 'so that' points to the purpose. God doesn't do this willy-nilly. He has a purpose. So that he can make known the riches of his glory. So there are vessels of wrath. What do they deserve? What do vessels of wrath deserve? Justice. Who's a vessel of wrath? Raise your hand.

Scott Keffer [: 00:45:17

Who was a vessel of wrath? See, everyone was a vessel of wrath, but he's show— he's giving the riches of his mercy to some vessels of mercy. But God, being rich in mercy— being rich in what? Because of his great love, which he loved us even when we were dead. You were, you were a vessel of wrath. You were dead in your transgressions. You were what? Dead, as in no life in you. Dead, as in no hope. Dead, as in nothing you can do. Dead, as in dead.

Scott Keffer [: 00:46:03

Dead, as in dead, right? You were dead in your— and you were dead because of your own transgressions, your own sin. What did he do? He made you alive together with Christ, and he raised you up with him and seated you with him in the heavenly places. What? What? The Son of God sits at the right hand of the Father. He seated you with him at the right hand. Who's crying out, well, that's not fair, that's not right? How are there any vessels of mercy? See, nobody's asking that, are they? Nobody's crying out, how are there anyone? And not just a vessel of mercy, not just forgiveness, but now you're seated with my Son. The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool. He's in the seat of honor, the firstborn. What— how would we get to sit with him? That's not fair.

Scott Keffer [: 00:47:11

That's not right, is it? Why did he do that? So that— so that— what's the so that? In the ages to come, what's he going to show? The surpassing riches of his grace in kindness toward you who is a vessel of mercy, who received it in Christ Jesus, in Christ Jesus. And then he says, in case you're confused, which he prepared when? God's predestination. God's predestination. Well, I don't believe in predestination. Okay, I just don't know how to explain that word which shows up in the Bible. And he says, when, when were you prepared? Beforehand. What does that mean? You— there was a predestination. I don't believe in him.

Scott Keffer [: 00:48:24

I don't agree with it. I don't think it's right. I don't think it's true. I don't understand. Okay, that's fine. I just don't know what to do with it because it's just there. What's he say? Just as he chose. He chose.

Scott Keffer [: 00:48:39

That's what his predestination is— pre-choosing, right? When did he choose? When? Oh, before the foundation of the world. In love, he— I don't believe that. Predestined— to get that out of there, like cross out predestined because it says he predestined. I don't believe in predestination, right? So can you move that? Can we get that out of there? Because I don't believe it. But he says he predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself. Well, really, how'd that happen? The kind intention of his will. Kind intention. Our God is kind, he's gracious, right? What's the purpose of that? To the praise of the glory of his grace, his mercy.

Scott Keffer [: 00:49:38

Well, how do we receive it freely? Freely chosen by God, freely given by God. Really chosen by God, freely given by God. He bestowed it on us in the Beloved. But it wasn't free, was it? It was freely chosen by God because God does what he pleases. It's freely given to us because someone paid. Who paid? The Lord Jesus Christ paid. He paid for the riches of the grace that has been upon us. So what do we do with all that? Because I don't understand it.

Scott Keffer [: 00:50:19

I don't understand it. Sometimes I don't agree with it. What do I do with it? Well, when Moses called upon God, he said, show me your glory. And the Lord said, I can't, or you'll die, but I will pass by you and you will see my goodness. And then he said, I have mercy on whom I'll have mercy, and I will, right, have compassion on whom I'll have compassion. So he's saying, I am free, I am free to choose mercy and compassion on whomever I will. And then it says, he stood there with him as he's calling upon him. The Lord descended in a cloud and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness and truth, keeping loving kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin.

Scott Keffer [: 00:51:11

All three forms of rebellion— the, the willful, the not willful, the all, all three forms of sin. Forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin. Yet he will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. So there'll be mercy For some, justice, right, right, the, the sins of the fathers to the children, to the third and fourth generation. And Moses said, I don't understand, can I do a Bible study? I don't understand, explain it to me. No, what did Moses do? Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship. So God isn't saying, I'm, I'm explaining this so that you will understand. I'm explaining it so that you will worship and trust me.

Scott Keffer [: 00:52:05

To worship and trust me, that you'll be in awe, right? Be in awe. The only response to a God who's beyond our scrutiny is worship. Just worship, trust, surrender. Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship. And that's what he's calling us to today. We're on this side of Christ. Moses was way before Christ, but it's the same thing. I'm not explaining it, right, so that you can understand it.

Scott Keffer [: 00:52:38

I'm revealing my power. I'm making my name known so that you who are mine in Christ will trust me. Trust. All right, write down an insight. If you're really seeking the God who is the God of all, you should have more questions in some ways than you do have answers. At the end of the day, he's beyond comprehension. He's infinite. His understanding is inscrutable.

Scott Keffer [: 00:53:09

His wisdom is infinite. G Hard for the finite to comprehend the infinite. Who else? Who got something from today? He's light, and in him is no darkness. I always think about, right, right? He's upright, which means if you, if you put a point here, right, and that, that, and that point went out to infinity, it would never waver. There's no wavering, there's no change. There's pure, complete purity, right? No sin, no darkness, no evil, no evil intent. He's just perfect in his wisdom. Jeremiah 33:3: Call to me, and I will answer you.

Scott Keffer [: 00:53:55

Yeah. And may the God who is beyond comprehension and rich in mercy, may he bless you, may he keep you, may he cause his face to shine upon you, may he lift up his countenance and grant you his shalom, deep in your soul as you know that you are His, you are His, you are His. May He bless you and keep you. Amen. Thanks for listening. I hope you have greater hope, assurance, and confidence in your life, and a deeper trust in the God of the Bible and His Son Jesus Christ. Until next time, may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you you and be gracious to you.

Scott Keffer [: 00:54:36

And may the Lord lift up his countenance on you and give you his peace, his shalom, in your soul and in your life. Until next time, may God bless you and keep you.