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We Are Sinners

  • | Oliver James
  • Psalm 58:3
  • Audio: Length: 49:57 Size: 8.6 MB

Let us turn to Psalm 58. This talks about how we all come into this world. When we come into this world, we are all on the same ground. We will look at passages today that speak of sin and why we need payment for our sin. In Psalm 58:3, we read:

The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.

This verse is referring to every human being. Every human being was conceived and born in sin.

Let us go to Jeremiah 17:9-10. It says:

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I JEHOVAH search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

This verse is parallel to the verse that we just read. This tells us that man’s heart is deceitful. God is speaking to every human being. There are no exceptions.

Let us go to Mark 7. We read in Mark 7:21-23:

For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

God is giving us a picture. When we are born in this world, we are born with a heart that is wicked. We are born with a heart that deceives us and a heart that we cannot trust. We look to God because God says, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” We are not to trust in ourselves. We know that the world would have us to think that we are the only person whom we can trust. God, however, teaches contrary to this.

Let us look at the Apostle Paul. He was a true believer who acknowledged himself as a sinner. Let us turn to 1 Timothy 1:15-16. We read:

This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.

We can see that the Apostle Paul, who was a true believer, was admitting that he was a sinner. Paul says that he was a sinner, a sinner “of whom I am chief.” As we come into this world and as we are born in sin, I believe that God is teaching us that we are to cry out to Him and to acknowledge our sins.

Let us look at Luke 18. This is the story about the Pharisee and the publican. The Pharisees were the teachers of the Old Testament who believed that they were all chosen of God, but the publican came very humbly before God. This is how we should come before God. We should come very humbly. We read in Luke 18:9-13:

And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:

We see just in this verse alone that He is speaking about people who trust in themselves.

It continues:

Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

We see that this publican was very low. He was very meek. He acknowledged that he was a sinner and he was asking for the mercy of God. But the Pharisee is making a comparison of himself to this publican and saying:

…I am not as other men are

He is exalting himself, and we know that the Bible says that those “which art exalted…shalt be brought down.” We are to come low and meek and we are to beseech God for His mercy.

God has demonstrated throughout the Bible how merciful He is. People have continued to rebel against Him, and yet He has been merciful. In the Old Testament, for example, He appointed judges to rule over His people even after they continued to rebel against Him.

Let us look at Luke 7. We read in Luke 7:37-48:

And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner. And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on. There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.

The Pharisee was acknowledging that this woman was a sinner, but he was not acknowledging that he was a sinner. We can see that this woman anointed Him (Jesus) with oil and that she was worshipping and glorifying Him, while the Pharisee was proudly not acknowledging that he was a sinner. We must acknowledge that we are sinners.

Let us go to Luke 5. We read in Luke 5:27-32:

And after these things he went forth, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he said unto him, Follow me. And he left all, rose up, and followed him. And Levi made him a great feast in his own house: and there was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with them. But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners? And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

These verses are describing that the Pharisees did not believe that they were in need of a Saviour, but Christ said to them:

…They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick.

We all have this infirmity, this sickness of sin that we are infested with as we come into this world; and Christ said:

I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

We are in the time of repentance right now when God is instructing mankind that He is not winking at sin anymore. He says, “Because he hath appointed a day,” which will be May 21, 2011, “in the which he will judge the world” and that He “now commandeth all men every where to repent.” God says, “The times of this ignorance God winked at,” but He is not winking anymore.

By nature, we do not like to acknowledge sin and we always seem to want to place the blame on someone else. So let us look at the account of Adam in Genesis 3 where we will see this. This is in the beginning of days when Adam, who was the first man, sinned. We will see that mankind, by nature, does not like to acknowledge his sin.

Let us go to Genesis 3:8-12:

And they heard the voice of JEHOVAH God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of JEHOVAH God amongst the trees of the garden. And JEHOVAH God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

We can see right here that as soon as God had asked Adam about his transgression, Adam said:

…The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

Right away, Adam was looking to place the blame on Eve, but we are all accountable for our own sins; and yet by nature we do not want to acknowledge our sins because we are full of pride. This is just part of the nature that we are born with. We are born with a wicked heart. By nature, unless God works in us, we do not like to acknowledge our sins; but the Law of God demands payment for our sins. Unless we have a Saviour, unless Christ has paid for our sins, the Law of God says, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.”

Let us look at Ezekiel 18:4 where the Law of God talks about sin. It says:

Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

We can also go to Romans 6:23. It says:

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

So we see that “the soul that sinneth, it shall die” and that “the wages of sin is death.” This is our future unless our sins have been paid for.

God is bound by His Law. He says in the Psalms, “For thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.” So God is bound by His Law and He says that “the soul that sinneth, it shall die.” Our sins must be paid for.

Let us look at Exodus 30 where God sets the Law that our sins must be paid for; atonement must be paid for our sins. We read in Exodus 30:11-15:

And JEHOVAH spake unto Moses, saying, When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto JEHOVAH, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them. This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of JEHOVAH. Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto JEHOVAH. The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto JEHOVAH, to make an atonement for your souls.

We see that there must be an atonement made for our souls. In the Old Testament, the way that they illustrated this was that they paid “half a shekel.” This points to the number five. When we look at the number five spiritually, it is in reference to the atonement. “Atonement” means “to cover,” “to purge,” “to make reconciliation,” “to forgive,” “to pardon,” “to disannul.”

An atonement must be paid for our sins, and yet there are those in the prosperity gospel who read these verses and try to make a literal application to them. They teach that as a means of giving money to the congregation, they will receive some type of salvation.

I have seen this for myself, but we do not have to name names. I watched a pastor being interviewed who was asked, “Do you think that these people will receive salvation because they give money?” He said, “Yes.” They believe this because they take what they read in Exodus 30 literally.

Let us take a look at Simon the sorcerer. He also tried to purchase salvation with money, but we will see how he was rebuked by Peter. We read in Acts 8:17-22:

Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.

Simon thought that he could purchase the gift of God with money. We know that this is not possible because Ephesians 2:8-9 says:

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Anything that we do is a work, so we should not be deceived when we read these verses in Exodus. Many people believe that they can receive some type of salvation by giving, and yet the Bible does not teach this.

Some also believe that they can escape the judgment of God through ignorance. I actually had a person say to me, “Some will be forgiven because they do not know anything about the Word of God,” but the Bible says that the Law of God is “written in their hearts.” Intuitively, we know that there is a God.

God talks about sin that is “committed by ignorance” in Numbers 15. God covers all bases. He knows the heart of man and that man is always trying to have an alibi for his sin and to make a way out for himself. We read in Numbers 15:27-28:

And if any soul sin through ignorance, then he shall bring a she goat of the first year for a sin offering. And the priest shall make an atonement [a sin covering] for the soul that sinneth ignorantly, when he sinneth by ignorance before JEHOVAH, to make an atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him.

So God covers all bases. If we sin “through ignorance,” this does not excuse us of our sins at all.

Let us look at Romans 2 where it talks about the Law of God written on our hearts. By nature, we intuitively know that there is a God. We intuitively know that there will be a Judgment Day and we intuitively know that we have to answer for our sins. We read in Romans 2:14-15:

For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;

We can see here that the law is written in our hearts. Even though He talks about the Gentiles “which have not the law,” there is no excuse for sin because He says that the Law of God is “written in their hearts.” God made us this way. Intuitively, we know right from wrong. Without anyone telling us, we know right from wrong because the Law of God is placed in our hearts.

Some people like to make an excuse for their sin and they like to make excuses so that they can continue in their sin. In this respect, let us look at a couple of passages that talk about Old Testament Israel. Turn to Jeremiah 2:21-25. It says.

Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?

God is saying that He made all provisions for His people. He says that He planted them as “a noble vine, wholly a right seed.” Then He says:

…how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me? For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord JEHOVAH. How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways; A wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure; in her occasion who can turn her away? all they that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her. Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst: but thou saidst, There is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go.

So these people are saying here:

…There is no hope: no…

They are making an excuse to continue in their sin by saying:

…There is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go.

I have talked to some people who have said, “There is no hope; God is not going to save me”; but God is teaching us in this verse that they are just making excuses in order to continue in their sin.

We see the account of the thief on the cross who actually had no appearance of someone who might become saved. He had lived his whole life in rebellion against God, and yet God saved him at his last hour before death.

What great hope this is! We can rest in this hope right here, that God would save a person who was certainly undeserving of being saved, and yet none of us deserve salvation. We are all “unprofitable servants.” That God would have mercy on any of us is something that I just cannot comprehend.

Let us look now at Jeremiah 18. This is illustrating this same point. We read in Jeremiah 18:8-12:

If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them. Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith JEHOVAH; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good. And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.

This is illustrating the same point. God was telling them how they have been transgressing and rebelling against Him, and their response was:

…There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.

They again are saying that there is no hope so that they can continue in their sin. It is like God was pleading with them, but they were saying, “There is no hope.”

We can see that we need to acknowledge our sins and that we are not to make excuses for them. The Apostle Paul, who was a true believer, said, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” We are to acknowledge our sins.

We know that God is a merciful God. He has demonstrated all throughout His Word how He has been merciful, and so let us look at some accounts where God has shown mercy on people. Let us look at Genesis 19. This is the account of Sodom and Gomorrah. We read in Genesis 19:15-19:

And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; JEHOVAH being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city. And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord: Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast showed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain…

We can see here that God had extended mercy to Lot and to his wife and daughters. Lot tried to extend this to his sons-in-law, “but he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.” Yet even as they fled, Lot’s wife turned back and was turned into a pillar of salt because her heart was still set on Sodom. She did not receive the mercy of God.

So God shows how He is merciful to people. He warned Lot of the impending destruction that He was going to bring upon Sodom and Gomorrah. He instructed them to flee the city. Lot was saved and we see that he was grateful. Lot said in thankfulness to the Lord:

…thou hast showed unto me in saving my life…

Let us now read Exodus 15:9:

The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.

This is talking about the account of when Pharaoh and his army were pursuing the Israelites. Then we read in Exodus 15:10-13:

Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters. Who is like unto thee, O JEHOVAH, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them. Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation.

We can see how merciful God was. We know the account of Him parting the Red Sea right at the point when it seemed like there was no hope for the Israelites. They were up against the Red Sea when Pharaoh’s army was bearing down on them. We see the mercy of God as He parted the Red Sea and allowed them to safely go through the Red Sea, and we know the accounts of how Pharaoh’s army was destroyed. This is just one more account, but we can find numerous accounts in the Bible where God was merciful to people.

Let us look at Jonah 4. This is Jonah speaking after God had saved the Ninevites. Nineveh was a wicked city of 120,000 people. It was a city of great wickedness, and yet God displayed His mercy upon them, similar to the thief on the cross. These people were just living their lives without any recourse. They were sinning greatly on a daily basis, and so we read in Jonah 4:1-2:

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. And he prayed unto JEHOVAH, and said, I pray thee, O JEHOVAH, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.

Jonah was actually in rebellion against God because he had tried to flee as far away as he could from God. He fled to Tarshish because he knew:

…that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness…

I do not know all of the spiritual implications of this, but he knew that God would be merciful unto them.

We continue to be blessed by God’s mercy. We will read a few more of these accounts where God shows mercy upon mankind. Let us look at Matthew 15. This account is of the Syrophenician woman who was beseeching God because of her daughter. We read in Matthew 15:22-24:

And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a word…

How many of us can relate to this situation? We have been beseeching God and we sometimes feel like God is not hearing us.

It continues:

But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Imagine Christ saying this to you. This women was not an Israelite. She was a Greek. Mark 7 tells us, “The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation.” Christ told her:

…I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Then we read in Matthew 15:25-26:

Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and cast it to dogs.

She received further humiliation, right? He said that this would be like casting it to a dog. God used dogs in the Old Testament as an unclean animal. We are all unclean. When we first come into this world, we are wicked. We have wicked hearts and we are like the dog.

Then Matthew 15:26-28 says:

But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord…

In saying, “Truth, Lord,” she was acknowledging that she was a “dog,” that she was unclean. In that beginning state, we are all unclean. It continues:

And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

It seemed as if God was not going to help her at all. She was beseeching Him and He “answered her not a word”; but yet the whole while, He was drawing her and holding her.

God holds us like this sometimes. We feel like when we are praying to God that He is not answering us, when all the while He is going to hold His true believers and not let them go.

Let us read Luke 11:6-13. It says:

For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

So we see in this account that this person came to a friend in the wee hours of the night because he needed some assistance, but his friend said:

Trouble me not…yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.

This person was persistent. He never gave up. He continued knocking at his friend’s door.

We need to also continue in this way and “faint not.” When things are at their lowest point for us, “we faint not.” We continue in persistence and in prayer to God.

Luke 11:13 says again in relation to how evil fathers even know how to give “good gifts” to their children:

If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

God has put it in us to want to take care of our families and our children. He is asking since we, who are evil, know how to give good gifts, how much more will our heavenly Father be willing to give to us?

We can take comfort in this. We know that God is an infinite God. He is a Father far and above any father on this earth, and so we can take comfort that He will hear us.

Let us look at Philippians 4:6. It says:

Be careful [or anxious] for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

There are times when we are troubled by a lot of things. There are times when we might question our salvation. We can always pray to God and know that God hears our prayers. God tells us to “pray without ceasing.”

Let us look at Hebrews 4:16:

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

We come boldly. We beseech God that we might obtain mercy, that God might grant us His mercy. We beseech God, but we do not dictate to God. We have to be patient.

Lamentations 3:26 says:

It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of JEHOVAH.

So we just rest in the hope that God gives us. God will have mercy “on whom he will have mercy.”

I also wanted to look at Hosea 14. This is another verse that talks about how we are to come to God. When we are troubled, God tells to “take with you words,” which means that we are to beseech God with His own words. Chris did a study on this recently. This is a way that the Bible can help us in our prayers. We read in Hosea 14:1-2:

O Israel, return unto JEHOVAH thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you words…

We are to take to Him the words of the Bible and beseech Him with His own words.

We read in the Bible the account of the woman who had an infirmity for eighteen years. How many of us can relate to this? The Bible tells us that she could “in no wise lift up herself.” All of us can relate to this. We all have this infirmity. It says that God touched her and made her whole. It says afterwards that “immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.”

We can relate to this as well as other accounts in the Bible. For example, David in Psalm 51 was beseeching the Lord. He had committed fornication and was asking the Lord to have mercy on him. We can read these accounts and we can relate to them because we have come down the same paths as these others have come. David was no different than any of us. He was born with a wicked heart, just like any one of us.

So we can beseech God. We can use all of these examples throughout the Bible and we can beseech God with His own words, but never are we to try to dictate to God or say that anything that God does is unfair. There are those who think, “Why would God save others and not save me?” God is a righteous God and He would be just if He condemned all of us. I cannot even comprehend in my mind why He would save any of us.

We will close with Romans 9. We read in Romans 9:15-21:

For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

We can see that God is in charge. We do not understand a lot of things. We do not understand why God would save anyone or just some, but we do understand that God is in charge and that we are not to reply against God. God is a God who is righteous and He is a God who does everything perfectly, and He tells us that He will have mercy on whom He will have mercy.

Let us close.