WEBVTT 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:03.759 Man, I don't know if Hannah was reading my notes when she prayed that. 00:00:03.919 --> 00:00:05.040 She might have been. 00:00:05.519 --> 00:00:10.320 So I want to start by showing you guys a picture of a beautiful woman in my life. 00:00:10.560 --> 00:00:11.439 Her name is Lily. 00:00:11.679 --> 00:00:12.400 This is Lily. 00:00:12.560 --> 00:00:14.880 It's my daughter right there, my only girl. 00:00:15.199 --> 00:00:18.000 How many of you have daughters, just out of curiosity, alright? 00:00:18.480 --> 00:00:22.480 Keep your hand raised if you're a man and you have a daughter, okay? 00:00:23.519 --> 00:00:31.120 There is something about being a dad with a daughter that's just it can simultaneously just melt you. 00:00:31.359 --> 00:00:32.880 Little moments just melt you. 00:00:33.039 --> 00:00:36.799 And then at the same time, there's like this protective anger that you feel. 00:00:36.960 --> 00:00:46.159 Where, like I've always made the joke that the difference between being a dad of boys and a girl is I would die for my boys in a heartbeat, but I would kill for my daughter. 00:00:46.320 --> 00:00:46.880 Alright? 00:00:47.280 --> 00:00:49.119 And so just know this. 00:00:49.200 --> 00:00:50.399 We had an opportunity together. 00:00:50.479 --> 00:00:52.320 I took this picture, I'll always remember this night. 00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:57.359 She tagged along with me as I dropped my oldest off at a basketball practice, and I said, Hey, let's go get ice cream together. 00:00:57.439 --> 00:00:59.520 Let's have like a father-daughter time together. 00:00:59.600 --> 00:01:02.479 So we went uh to racetrack, because that's where she wanted to go. 00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:04.400 She said, Can we go to racetrack? 00:01:04.560 --> 00:01:08.400 And I'm like, I like the price tag on your date night idea. 00:01:08.560 --> 00:01:12.239 And so we went to racetrack and she made her own, she made her own little ice cream thing. 00:01:12.319 --> 00:01:17.519 And what that is, oh if you guys put that back up for a second, because I want to focus on the ice cream for just a moment, I apologize. 00:01:17.680 --> 00:01:21.599 Um the ice cream she picked was uh peanut butter chocolate swirl. 00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:23.120 It's a good choice, right? 00:01:23.680 --> 00:01:32.239 Reese's pieces on top of that, gummy bears, nerds, covered in chocolate syrup. 00:01:32.799 --> 00:01:35.280 And I was like, interesting, okay. 00:01:35.439 --> 00:01:42.959 And she took the first bite and then she made this face, and I was like, probably gonna have to go buy another one because of that combination, and she went, delicious, you know? 00:01:43.200 --> 00:01:44.079 It was good. 00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:55.519 So we sit down to talk, and within about 30 seconds, she just looks at me, and she's seven years old, she's in the first grade, she says, Dad, what do I do if I think a boy has a crush on me? 00:01:56.239 --> 00:02:01.040 And I was like, I don't want to have this conversation at all. 00:02:01.519 --> 00:02:03.760 This is not something I I want to talk about. 00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:04.959 And I said, Why? 00:02:05.120 --> 00:02:06.079 Explain. 00:02:06.400 --> 00:02:07.280 What's going on? 00:02:07.439 --> 00:02:08.240 You're first grader. 00:02:08.400 --> 00:02:11.759 She's like, Well, there's a boy, and I think he has a crush on me at school. 00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:12.639 And I was like, Well, how do you know? 00:02:12.719 --> 00:02:14.639 And she's like, Well, he blew a kiss at me. 00:02:15.599 --> 00:02:17.439 I'm like, what's his name? 00:02:17.840 --> 00:02:19.120 Let's have this name. 00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:20.000 What's his name? 00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:21.360 Who are his parents? 00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:22.879 She's like, What do I do? 00:02:22.960 --> 00:02:25.439 And I and now I actually said this like half-joking. 00:02:25.520 --> 00:02:28.080 I was like, oh, next time that happens, he blows the kiss. 00:02:28.159 --> 00:02:28.719 This is what you do. 00:02:28.879 --> 00:02:29.919 You should grab it. 00:02:30.080 --> 00:02:31.759 I want you to look him in the eyes. 00:02:31.919 --> 00:02:33.919 I want you to throw it on the ground. 00:02:34.479 --> 00:02:35.199 Stumble. 00:02:35.919 --> 00:02:36.560 Walk away. 00:02:36.719 --> 00:02:39.039 And you're like, oh, that poor boy, I don't care about that boy. 00:02:39.199 --> 00:02:41.039 He's not gonna marry my he's in first grade. 00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:42.319 He'll get over it. 00:02:42.800 --> 00:02:44.960 Blowing kisses to my daughter. 00:02:47.120 --> 00:02:51.360 But there was something inside of me that really, like, I don't like this. 00:02:51.520 --> 00:02:52.719 I don't want to have this conversation. 00:02:52.879 --> 00:02:59.199 Sometimes in life, when you least expect it, you find yourself having a conversation that you don't really want to have. 00:02:59.360 --> 00:02:59.680 Right? 00:02:59.759 --> 00:03:03.680 It's like I don't, I would rather talk about anything other than this. 00:03:04.240 --> 00:03:07.039 And that's kind of where we're at right now in the Bible, which is exciting. 00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:10.639 If you're new, we've been going through uh the book of Romans. 00:03:10.879 --> 00:03:15.439 And if you're if you know anything about the book of Romans, it's a letter in the New Testament written by a man named Paul. 00:03:15.599 --> 00:03:26.719 It is probably the most comprehensive, um, some would say complicated, even explanation of who Jesus is and what he does for us and what it means for us to have him in our lives, what that changes, how we live in response to that. 00:03:26.800 --> 00:03:28.560 It's it's intense stuff. 00:03:28.800 --> 00:03:32.719 And we've been going through it bit by bit, and every once in a while we kind of I liken it to scuba diving. 00:03:32.800 --> 00:03:36.240 We've got to come up for air every once in a while, talk about something else, then we dive back into Romans. 00:03:36.400 --> 00:03:44.479 And we find ourselves right now in Romans chapters 9 through 11, which is just filled with things that I don't want to talk about. 00:03:44.800 --> 00:03:51.439 I don't, these are not the things that I would choose as the topics, because they're they're really, they're kind of like landmines. 00:03:51.759 --> 00:03:56.080 In fact, the title of the series that we're in right now as we explore this is called Wait What? 00:03:56.240 --> 00:03:59.120 Like, like you might say to yourself, you read it and go, wait, what? 00:03:59.280 --> 00:04:00.879 Like that's I don't like that. 00:04:01.039 --> 00:04:02.639 I wish that wasn't in there. 00:04:02.879 --> 00:04:08.800 And it's hard because we just got done with Romans chapter 8, like a little over a month ago, and Romans chapter 8 is amazing. 00:04:09.039 --> 00:04:14.800 There's so many, there's so many scriptures in Romans 8 that people literally get like tattoos of those verses on their body. 00:04:15.039 --> 00:04:17.759 Things like Romans chapter 8, verse 18. 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:23.199 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory that He will reveal to us later. 00:04:23.279 --> 00:04:24.399 That's a great verse. 00:04:24.639 --> 00:04:25.600 That's awesome. 00:04:25.759 --> 00:04:27.279 I like talking about things like that. 00:04:27.439 --> 00:04:33.279 No matter what you're going through right now, no matter how much suffering you're experiencing, it is nothing compared to what God has for you. 00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:33.839 That's good. 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:35.600 That's a tattoo verse. 00:04:35.839 --> 00:04:37.199 Romans 8 28. 00:04:37.279 --> 00:04:43.279 We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. 00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:45.920 I know that there are people in the room that is your favorite verse. 00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:47.759 It's a tattoo verse. 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:48.560 You get it? 00:04:48.959 --> 00:04:52.800 I'm not saying that all of us go get tattoos, although that would be an interesting Sunday. 00:04:53.040 --> 00:04:57.759 Um got a tattoo artist in the lobby, and pick your favorite verse. 00:04:57.839 --> 00:05:01.680 It's gonna but commit, you know, it's it's it's happening today. 00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:03.680 But that's one of those verses. 00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:05.279 That's a verse. 00:05:05.600 --> 00:05:06.879 Romans 8 38. 00:05:06.959 --> 00:05:09.600 I'm convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. 00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:11.199 That's a tattoo verse. 00:05:12.079 --> 00:05:15.120 No tattoo verses in Romans chapter 9, 10. 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:17.120 Maybe 1 at the most. 00:05:17.199 --> 00:05:19.040 It's just it's filled with a lot of like, what? 00:05:20.079 --> 00:05:27.120 For example, last week, we were in Romans 9.13, just as it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. 00:05:27.600 --> 00:05:29.120 And you're like, wait, what? 00:05:29.680 --> 00:05:30.879 What happened to the whole? 00:05:31.279 --> 00:05:33.199 Let's go back to Romans chapter 8. 00:05:33.519 --> 00:05:35.040 That's what this section is. 00:05:35.360 --> 00:05:39.199 And so there's part of me, just as a human being, that's like, I'd rather not talk about this stuff. 00:05:39.279 --> 00:05:43.279 This is this is hard stuff to talk about, but I'm excited that we are, I really am. 00:05:44.079 --> 00:05:51.839 And even going back to that conversation with Lily, all jokes aside, I'm so glad that my daughter wanted to talk with me about that. 00:05:52.879 --> 00:05:55.040 Because that's an important conversation. 00:05:55.360 --> 00:05:58.560 Hey dad, what do I do if I think a boy has a crush on me? 00:05:58.879 --> 00:06:00.560 I'm glad she came to me. 00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:09.439 Sometimes there's conversations that guys we need to have as Jesus followers because they're the conversations that grow up our faith. 00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:26.000 They're the conversations that help us overcome the questions that we might have, the questions that sort of linger in the back of our minds, the questions that we deal with either externally by a culture that values very different things than our faith values, or those questions that we just wrestle with as individuals. 00:06:26.959 --> 00:06:28.959 Questions like, is God really good? 00:06:30.720 --> 00:06:33.360 Is God really fair and just? 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:37.120 Can I really trust him? 00:06:37.920 --> 00:06:41.199 Does he really have my best interest at heart? 00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:47.680 Those are questions that we wrestle with, and those are the kind of questions that give us the opportunity for our faith to grow and mature. 00:06:47.759 --> 00:06:51.920 And listen, in this room we have a ton of different people in a ton of different places in life. 00:06:52.079 --> 00:06:55.360 Watching at home right now, a lot of different people in a lot of different places in life. 00:06:55.519 --> 00:06:58.240 Some of you have been following Jesus for decades. 00:06:58.879 --> 00:07:02.800 And I'm sure that even if that's you, you still have some questions that you wrestle with. 00:07:03.439 --> 00:07:05.519 Your faith can still grow, it can still mature. 00:07:05.600 --> 00:07:07.519 If you want more of God, there is always more. 00:07:07.759 --> 00:07:08.639 Always. 00:07:09.040 --> 00:07:14.639 And some of us, maybe we were just brand new to this whole Jesus thing, or you're still figuring out whether or not this is for you. 00:07:14.879 --> 00:07:16.560 Doesn't matter where you're at. 00:07:16.800 --> 00:07:22.879 I've never met a person who said, you know, I'm thinking about being a Jesus follower, but I just want to be like one of those real shallow ones. 00:07:23.040 --> 00:07:23.519 You know? 00:07:23.759 --> 00:07:27.279 Like I want to I want to have a relationship with God, but not a very deep one. 00:07:27.439 --> 00:07:30.800 Um, I'd really like to give my life to Jesus, but just a little bit of it. 00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:32.639 Like I've never heard someone say that. 00:07:32.800 --> 00:07:41.199 I think that deep down inside, whether you've been doing this for years or you're brand new to this whole following Jesus thing, there's a desire in our hearts to say, I want to go deep. 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:42.399 I want to know God. 00:07:42.480 --> 00:07:49.600 I I want to have a mature, strong faith that can hold up to anything. 00:07:50.399 --> 00:07:56.319 And the questions that we wrestle with because of the things talked about in Romans 9 through 11, they do that for us. 00:07:56.399 --> 00:07:59.040 So with that said, let's wrestle. 00:07:59.279 --> 00:08:01.600 Romans chapter 9, verses 13 through 24. 00:08:01.759 --> 00:08:05.920 Starting with what we ended on last week, if you weren't here last week, I encourage you to listen to it. 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:10.000 Just as it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. 00:08:10.319 --> 00:08:11.519 What then shall we say? 00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:13.360 Is God unjust? 00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:15.199 Not at all. 00:08:15.519 --> 00:08:22.800 For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and have compassion on whom I have compassion. 00:08:23.279 --> 00:08:26.240 And some of us are like, I don't like the answer to that question. 00:08:27.040 --> 00:08:28.240 He keeps going. 00:08:28.720 --> 00:08:32.159 It does not therefore depend on human desire or effort, but on God's mercy. 00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:38.399 For Scripture says to Pharaoh, I raised you up for this very purpose. 00:08:38.799 --> 00:08:44.320 That I might display my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. 00:08:44.399 --> 00:08:49.360 Therefore, God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. 00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:52.799 One of you will say to me, Well, then why does God still blame us? 00:08:52.960 --> 00:08:54.480 For who is able to resist his will? 00:08:54.559 --> 00:08:57.360 But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? 00:08:58.080 --> 00:09:01.440 Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, Why did you make me like this? 00:09:01.600 --> 00:09:07.840 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use? 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:15.440 What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath prepared for destruction? 00:09:15.679 --> 00:09:27.840 What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory, even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles? 00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:32.240 Again, I won't have this conversation, but I'm excited to. 00:09:32.879 --> 00:09:34.960 There's a lot of, can we just be honest for a second? 00:09:35.039 --> 00:09:36.960 There's a lot of stuff in there that kind of makes you pause. 00:09:37.120 --> 00:09:40.639 No, no one clapped, no one said woo, one time as I read that. 00:09:42.240 --> 00:09:44.240 Because it's intense. 00:09:44.720 --> 00:09:46.399 So what do we make of this? 00:09:46.720 --> 00:09:53.840 Now, last week we we looked at three things that we use, three filters that help us deal with difficult scriptures. 00:09:54.159 --> 00:09:56.080 And if you weren't here, I can sum this up for really fast. 00:09:56.240 --> 00:10:00.000 Anytime we're we're opening up our Bibles and we read something and we're like, ah, wait, what? 00:10:00.480 --> 00:10:02.720 I don't like any of that. 00:10:03.279 --> 00:10:04.399 What do we do? 00:10:04.720 --> 00:10:10.320 Well, we we look at three filters: the context of the scripture, the whole of scripture. 00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:16.799 You can't just take one thing from one spot and something else from another and develop an idea about who God really is. 00:10:16.879 --> 00:10:18.399 You've got to look at the whole of it. 00:10:18.720 --> 00:10:20.320 And then you look at the person of Jesus. 00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:22.480 Jesus is where everything becomes really clear. 00:10:22.559 --> 00:10:31.440 In fact, Hebrews chapter 1, verse 3 says that the Son radiates God's own glory and expresses the very character of God. 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:34.240 Jesus is the clearest picture of God we can ever have. 00:10:34.399 --> 00:10:36.480 He was not God in a good mood. 00:10:36.799 --> 00:10:39.840 He wasn't God on his best behavior for a few years. 00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:42.639 Jesus is the perfect representation of God. 00:10:42.720 --> 00:10:45.840 So if we want to know what God the Father is like, we look at Jesus. 00:10:46.240 --> 00:10:52.399 And when we encounter Scripture and ideas in Scripture that are really hard, like, ah, what is this about? 00:10:52.639 --> 00:10:55.279 We have to look at the context, the whole, and the person Jesus. 00:10:55.519 --> 00:11:03.200 So today as we discuss this, we're going to look at all of it, but I do want to remind us of the context, because most people who read this immediately start thinking about heaven and hell. 00:11:03.440 --> 00:11:12.639 They start thinking about, you know, objects of destruction, and can't God just do what he pleases and use something for this purpose and something else for another purpose? 00:11:12.720 --> 00:11:22.879 And we're like, whoa, this is talking about God choosing some people to go to heaven, to know him, to have a relationship with him, and he's choosing other people to send to hell. 00:11:22.960 --> 00:11:28.639 And that's the way a lot of people over the years have interpreted this, but but understand the context that this is talking about. 00:11:28.720 --> 00:11:30.000 We went through this a little bit last week. 00:11:30.080 --> 00:11:33.120 It's not talking at all about personal salvation. 00:11:33.919 --> 00:12:00.080 And if you're familiar with that phrase, salvation, that term, that's a phrase that in our faith means someone who has committed their life to Jesus, they've submitted their life to him, accepted the sacrifice that Jesus made for them, and in doing so, there's confidence that our sins and our shortcomings, those are all forgiven and covered by the sacrifice of Jesus, and we've been saved from any consequence of that whatsoever when it comes to our relationship with God. 00:12:00.799 --> 00:12:02.799 Most people, yeah, we can clap for that. 00:12:02.879 --> 00:12:05.200 That's that's clap, yeah, clap for salvation. 00:12:05.360 --> 00:12:06.000 All right. 00:12:07.600 --> 00:12:09.519 It's always that side of the room. 00:12:09.919 --> 00:12:10.559 You know? 00:12:12.799 --> 00:12:14.480 But this is not talking about salvation. 00:12:14.639 --> 00:12:16.000 The context here is really simple. 00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:19.840 Paul has been talking about the Jewish people as a whole. 00:12:20.240 --> 00:12:26.080 Because what's happening right now in the history of our faith, this is kind of an interesting moment to look back on in the history of our faith. 00:12:26.159 --> 00:12:32.799 Here we are 2,000 years later, billions of people worship Jesus, but at the time that Paul is writing this, it's it's early on. 00:12:33.039 --> 00:12:38.559 And for the first time ever, people are putting their faith in Jesus, but they're not they're not Jewish. 00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:49.279 In fact, at this point in history, the movement of Jesus is growing for the first time ever faster in non-Jewish communities than it was growing in Jewish communities, and this is a very odd occurrence. 00:12:49.360 --> 00:12:59.360 Because up to this point in history, anyone who had worshiped the God that Jesus told us to worship, the God that Jesus is, would have been Jewish. 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:05.039 Almost almost exclusively, for centuries and centuries, this had been an ethnic faith. 00:13:06.240 --> 00:13:10.720 And so Jesus was the Jewish Messiah talking about the Jewish God. 00:13:10.799 --> 00:13:19.279 And if you were alive in Jesus' time and you were not Jewish, chances are you would have barely even heard about the Jewish faith. 00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:23.840 And so now for the first time, this is no longer a Jewish faith. 00:13:23.919 --> 00:13:28.879 This is it's expanding, it's going to everyone, and there's a lot of questions about that. 00:13:29.039 --> 00:13:36.559 And so the question Paul begins answering at the beginning of Romans 9, it has nothing to do with personal salvation, whether or not you know Jesus individually. 00:13:36.639 --> 00:13:39.279 He's answering this question about, well, what about the Jewish people? 00:13:39.440 --> 00:13:41.679 Does this mean that God has abandoned them? 00:13:41.919 --> 00:13:48.720 Because this faith is now spreading and expanding outside of Jerusalem, does this mean that God is leaving those people behind? 00:13:49.039 --> 00:13:51.279 Can we not trust God to keep his promises? 00:13:52.320 --> 00:13:58.639 And this takes us all the way back to Genesis chapter 12, when God called Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation, to follow him. 00:13:58.879 --> 00:14:07.200 What he said, verses 1 through 3 is the Lord said to Abraham, Leave your native country, your relatives, your father's family, and go to the land that I will show you. 00:14:07.360 --> 00:14:13.200 I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you and make you famous, and you'll be a blessing to others. 00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:19.360 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt, and all the families on the earth will be blessed through you. 00:14:19.440 --> 00:14:25.039 That initial promise to Abraham was not just for one group of people, it was for everybody. 00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:27.679 And so, Paul, he's he's addressing this. 00:14:27.919 --> 00:14:34.000 And he's talking about the fact that the Jewish people up to this point in history had played this incredible role. 00:14:34.799 --> 00:14:51.279 That they got to be the ones that God revealed himself to, and he used this nation, he grew this nation ultimately to show the world who he was, to show his power, but also to show his love and his grace and his mercy, and ultimately to bring Jesus into the world to bless all the families of the earth. 00:14:53.679 --> 00:14:58.159 But but for some, this would have been a real issue because it just didn't seem right to them. 00:14:59.039 --> 00:15:12.399 It didn't seem right that all these people who had never put their faith in God for generation upon generation upon generation, many of whom had actually been like the enemies of the Jewish people, now of a sudden salvation and following Jesus is open to them too. 00:15:12.480 --> 00:15:14.720 Is this is this this doesn't seem fair. 00:15:15.519 --> 00:15:17.039 And so Paul begins to address this. 00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:18.080 He begins to talk about it. 00:15:18.159 --> 00:15:29.120 And in doing so, he just happens to write down this particular phrase that people who have followed Jesus for 2,000 plus years have struggled with mightily. 00:15:29.919 --> 00:15:34.399 He references this idea of God hardening hearts. 00:15:36.559 --> 00:15:41.200 That God hardens the hearts of some, he says. 00:15:41.440 --> 00:15:44.000 And people go, ah, I don't like I don't like that. 00:15:44.240 --> 00:15:45.519 What is that all about? 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:49.039 That's the question that I want us to ultimately answer today. 00:15:49.279 --> 00:15:54.559 Understanding again that this is not specifically talking about salvation. 00:15:54.720 --> 00:16:01.279 This is talking about God's purposes and history, the way God is doing things on the earth, what God is up to. 00:16:02.720 --> 00:16:07.120 But it says it, it's really clear that He He hardens the heart. 00:16:07.600 --> 00:16:09.120 So I want us to leave today. 00:16:09.200 --> 00:16:14.000 The hope is that we can all have peace and understand what that means? 00:16:14.399 --> 00:16:16.320 Does God harden the hearts of people? 00:16:16.399 --> 00:16:17.759 Is that some random thing that he does? 00:16:17.840 --> 00:16:19.919 As you go like iny meeny miny harden. 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:21.919 Uh is that how this works? 00:16:22.080 --> 00:16:23.919 Is he gonna harden my heart? 00:16:25.360 --> 00:16:26.480 What does that mean? 00:16:26.799 --> 00:16:29.759 And all of this helps us speak to the character of our God. 00:16:29.840 --> 00:16:33.360 It's vital that we understand as best as we can the God whom we follow. 00:16:34.159 --> 00:16:38.159 We need to know what he's like, what he values, who is he? 00:16:38.240 --> 00:16:42.000 And these are really important things and ideas to tackle to help us with that. 00:16:42.080 --> 00:16:43.200 So here's where I want to start. 00:16:43.440 --> 00:16:51.919 I want to kind of work backwards because Paul uses this example early on of, or right after he mentions the whole hardening art, of a potter and clay. 00:16:52.159 --> 00:16:55.200 How many of you here are experienced in pottery making? 00:16:55.279 --> 00:16:56.159 I would love to just see this. 00:16:56.240 --> 00:16:58.000 Maybe we can start a class, pottery making. 00:16:58.159 --> 00:16:59.519 Fred, I know Fred raised his hand. 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:01.039 Fred, you're all by yourself. 00:17:01.120 --> 00:17:02.399 You're the only potter in the room. 00:17:02.559 --> 00:17:02.960 There's another. 00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:04.559 Oh, hey, you guys. 00:17:04.880 --> 00:17:07.119 Potter, pottery group, his hands pottery. 00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:11.599 His hands, oh, it works! His his hand his handmade pottery, I don't know. 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:18.960 Um when he says this, he's referencing uh a scripture that the Jewish people of his time would have been very familiar with. 00:17:19.039 --> 00:17:20.880 It's Jeremiah chapter 18. 00:17:21.359 --> 00:17:22.319 Verses 1 through 4. 00:17:22.400 --> 00:17:27.440 It says, The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord saying, Arise and go down to the potter's house. 00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:30.480 And there I will announce my words to you. 00:17:30.720 --> 00:17:34.640 So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was making something on the wheel. 00:17:34.799 --> 00:17:43.359 But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter, so he remade it into another vessel as it pleased the potter to make. 00:17:44.720 --> 00:17:47.920 That phrase at the end, as it pleased the potter to make. 00:17:48.079 --> 00:18:09.119 This idea of God hardening hearts and God having a purpose and a plan for the world, and actually what Paul's referencing is this thing that throughout history God has sort of raised up certain people, even certain nations, to accomplish his purposes, and at other times he has used other nations, other groups of people as like an obstacle, and like, okay, if you're gonna be an obstacle, here's how that's gonna go. 00:18:09.359 --> 00:18:15.039 And Paul's basically making this really strong statement that does not God have the right to do that? 00:18:15.440 --> 00:18:19.680 It's vital for us, we're gonna move from God's rights to God's nature. 00:18:19.920 --> 00:18:25.119 But it's really important if we're gonna be people who follow God that we understand who he is and what he has the right to do. 00:18:25.359 --> 00:18:27.279 This is an idea called sovereignty. 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:33.359 God is sovereign, God has total authority, total rulership. 00:18:34.640 --> 00:18:37.920 In other words, God can do what God wants to do. 00:18:38.160 --> 00:18:40.079 He has that right. 00:18:41.599 --> 00:18:46.559 We live in a nation of rights, and we as people are often very comfortable talking about our rights. 00:18:46.799 --> 00:18:49.839 Like, that's that's not okay because I have a right to do that. 00:18:49.920 --> 00:18:51.680 But it's not very often that we think about God's rights. 00:18:51.759 --> 00:18:54.000 Like, what does God have the right to do? 00:18:54.960 --> 00:19:05.440 Because I have four children, I spent a lot of time at home with them and engaged in very interesting situations that ultimately don't amount to much but but are big deals at the time. 00:19:05.599 --> 00:19:08.160 You know, like injustices happen all around me at home. 00:19:08.319 --> 00:19:17.200 Yesterday, one of my children had the audacity to play a video game that one of my other children had been playing, and that child got to another level in the video game. 00:19:17.359 --> 00:19:22.559 And when the other child found out that they had gotten to the other level, they lost their minds because they wanted to get to the other level. 00:19:22.799 --> 00:19:30.240 And an injustice had been done, a grave injustice that I had to reconcile by shutting off the game for everybody. 00:19:30.799 --> 00:19:33.440 Like, we're not gonna fight about video games. 00:19:35.039 --> 00:19:42.799 So I have these moments where something silly will happen in my home, but God will use it to go, oh, that helped that helped me make sense of something in my faith. 00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:46.480 Deep theological ideas connected to silly moments with my children. 00:19:46.880 --> 00:19:53.440 So, about a year ago, my third child Judah was building a Lego tower in our living room. 00:19:53.599 --> 00:19:55.200 And he was, you could tell he was proud of it. 00:19:55.359 --> 00:20:00.720 Like it was getting really tall, and he's building it up, and I'm I'm sitting on the couch and I'm watching, and he's like, Dad, you see this? 00:20:00.799 --> 00:20:02.079 And I'm like, dude, that's awesome. 00:20:02.240 --> 00:20:07.599 And then my youngest, Eli, came in the room and just destroyed it totally on purpose. 00:20:07.680 --> 00:20:13.839 He just walks up and is like, Whoa, bam! And it's gone, and Judah's losing his mind, and I'm like, Eli, you can't do that. 00:20:14.160 --> 00:20:16.720 Judah was building that Lego tower and you destroyed it. 00:20:16.799 --> 00:20:18.240 And no, don't do that. 00:20:18.319 --> 00:20:19.920 And Judah, it's okay, why don't you rebuild it? 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:21.359 And Judah's like, I don't want to rebuild it. 00:20:21.440 --> 00:20:24.720 And I'm like, you do whatever you want, but I'm sorry this happened. 00:20:24.799 --> 00:20:25.839 Let's just let's move on. 00:20:26.079 --> 00:20:30.880 So Judah finally settles down, he starts to rebuild the Lego Tower, and he gets it right back to where it was. 00:20:31.119 --> 00:20:33.119 And he's like, Dad, cool, huh? 00:20:33.200 --> 00:20:34.400 I'm like, oh Judah, you've done it. 00:20:34.720 --> 00:20:35.759 I'm so proud of you, you built it back. 00:20:35.920 --> 00:20:36.559 He's like, I know. 00:20:36.640 --> 00:20:38.559 And then he destroyed it on purpose. 00:20:40.559 --> 00:20:45.440 But you know what's interesting is when he destroyed it, it was fine. 00:20:45.920 --> 00:20:46.559 Why? 00:20:47.200 --> 00:20:48.319 Because he built it. 00:20:48.480 --> 00:20:49.839 It was his Lego tower. 00:20:50.400 --> 00:20:53.279 He had the right to destroy the Lego tower that he built. 00:20:53.680 --> 00:20:56.000 Eli did not have that right because Eli didn't build it. 00:20:56.079 --> 00:20:59.440 Even though the same result happened, the destruction of the tower. 00:20:59.759 --> 00:21:02.400 When Judah did it, it was totally fine because that was his. 00:21:03.119 --> 00:21:04.960 When Eli did it, it was not. 00:21:06.079 --> 00:21:10.160 It's an issue of authority, of sovereignty. 00:21:11.039 --> 00:21:16.400 We have to understand that God is over all. 00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:18.799 The whole world is his Lego tower. 00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:19.759 You might say that. 00:21:20.079 --> 00:21:25.200 The entire earth, everything on it, every person, every nation, it is, it is all God's. 00:21:25.519 --> 00:21:29.039 There is nothing that he does not have the right to do. 00:21:29.119 --> 00:21:35.039 And Paul is not saying that God is a three-year-old who destroys Lego towers for the heck of it. 00:21:35.279 --> 00:21:40.160 He is not saying that God is a five-year-old who builds Lego towers just to watch them fall. 00:21:41.039 --> 00:21:44.160 But he is, he's trying to get us to understand something vital. 00:21:44.319 --> 00:21:55.839 And it's something that many Jesus followers just don't like to think about or aren't at peace with, but we have to be that God has the right to do whatever he wants to do. 00:21:56.960 --> 00:21:59.759 So if God were, this is what Paul's. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:00.240 Saying. 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:01.599 He actually uses the phrase, what if? 00:22:01.680 --> 00:22:04.000 And it's important to understand that that's a question. 00:22:04.079 --> 00:22:06.480 Like, hey, what if God just decided, hey, you know what? 00:22:06.559 --> 00:22:09.359 I'm going to raise this one up so I can tear it down and display my glory. 00:22:09.519 --> 00:22:10.319 Would that be wrong? 00:22:10.480 --> 00:22:13.359 And from our perspective, maybe, but no. 00:22:14.319 --> 00:22:15.839 Because God is God. 00:22:16.799 --> 00:22:21.359 And he has the right to do whatever he wants to do. 00:22:21.759 --> 00:22:27.039 Now, at some level, at some level, and look, if you're new to his hands, like this is kind of intense. 00:22:27.200 --> 00:22:34.000 I don't know a church that talks as much about the love of God and the forgiveness of God and the grace of God as much as our church. 00:22:35.839 --> 00:22:36.640 That is our focus. 00:22:36.720 --> 00:22:37.359 That is who God is. 00:22:37.519 --> 00:22:39.599 In fact, 1 John 4.8 says, God is love. 00:22:39.680 --> 00:22:42.880 Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. 00:22:43.200 --> 00:22:46.799 Paul is not saying that God is tyrannical, that he loves to destroy things. 00:22:46.960 --> 00:22:55.359 What Paul is helping us understand is we have to accept at a base level that God is over all and he can do whatever he wants to do. 00:22:56.240 --> 00:22:56.559 Amen. 00:22:56.960 --> 00:23:00.799 So then the question becomes, well then what does he want to do? 00:23:02.559 --> 00:23:18.400 If God has the right to do anything, if God can do whatever he wants, just as it says with that potter and clay, whatever pleases the potter, if God can do whatever he wants, because he's over all, then it would be very important for us as his followers to have some type of understanding of, well, then what does he want to do? 00:23:18.640 --> 00:23:20.480 If he can do whatever he wants, what does he want? 00:23:20.640 --> 00:23:25.359 Well, thankfully we see so often in scripture his heart, what he desires, what he wants. 00:23:25.680 --> 00:23:27.119 2 Peter 3:9. 00:23:28.400 --> 00:23:34.640 He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. 00:23:34.799 --> 00:23:36.160 He wants everyone to know him. 00:23:36.319 --> 00:23:40.559 He wants everyone to experience his love and his grace and his mercy. 00:23:40.720 --> 00:23:42.079 That's his desire. 00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:51.839 Ephesians 1, 4 through 5, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 00:23:52.000 --> 00:23:57.759 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. 00:23:57.920 --> 00:24:00.160 This is what he wanted to do. 00:24:00.400 --> 00:24:02.640 And it gave him great pleasure. 00:24:03.039 --> 00:24:07.119 When Eli destroyed his older brother's Lego Tower, it gave him great pleasure. 00:24:07.200 --> 00:24:07.680 He enjoyed it. 00:24:07.839 --> 00:24:08.559 I watched it. 00:24:08.799 --> 00:24:09.440 He was evil. 00:24:09.519 --> 00:24:10.400 It was very evil. 00:24:10.640 --> 00:24:11.839 He needs Jesus. 00:24:12.079 --> 00:24:13.759 That's why we bring him every Sunday. 00:24:14.079 --> 00:24:15.359 It's going to take. 00:24:17.119 --> 00:24:18.079 It gave him pleasure. 00:24:18.319 --> 00:24:19.200 What does it say here? 00:24:19.359 --> 00:24:21.599 What does God get pleasure from? 00:24:21.920 --> 00:24:22.880 Destruction? 00:24:23.200 --> 00:24:23.519 No. 00:24:25.279 --> 00:24:26.240 Salvation. 00:24:27.119 --> 00:24:28.079 Forgiveness. 00:24:28.880 --> 00:24:34.799 Before he even made the world, God decided I'm going to do something spectacular to display my love for people. 00:24:37.680 --> 00:24:38.799 That's what he wants to do. 00:24:38.880 --> 00:24:41.119 Now, he's God, he's sovereign, he's the potter. 00:24:41.279 --> 00:24:45.359 He can do whatever he wants, and we've got to be okay with that. 00:24:47.279 --> 00:24:51.440 But we also have to be familiar with what he actually wants. 00:24:52.160 --> 00:24:58.480 And what he wants is for every person to know him and to experience the love that he has. 00:24:58.799 --> 00:25:02.400 Now, working backwards, we go, well, then what about Pharaoh? 00:25:03.119 --> 00:25:09.759 Like, if that's the case, what about this whole thing he hardened Pharaoh's heart so that his purpose is, like, I help, let's figure this out. 00:25:09.839 --> 00:25:10.960 This is very nuanced. 00:25:11.119 --> 00:25:14.400 Okay, what this is doing is taking us back to a story in the Old Testament. 00:25:14.559 --> 00:25:15.680 Many of you are familiar with this story. 00:25:15.759 --> 00:25:19.440 It's the story of Moses and the people of Israel, and they escaped slavery in Egypt. 00:25:19.519 --> 00:25:21.119 It's a classic Bible story. 00:25:21.359 --> 00:25:26.799 And there's a character in the story, Pharaoh, who's the king of the Egyptian people. 00:25:27.599 --> 00:25:33.119 And the way the story goes is God raises up Moses and says, Hey, Moses, go to Pharaoh, tell them to let my people go. 00:25:33.200 --> 00:25:41.200 And then a bunch of stuff happens, and things are falling from the sky, and there's like frogs and blood rivers, and it's crazy and it's insane. 00:25:41.279 --> 00:25:45.599 And then finally Pharaoh relents and lets the people go, and they go into the water, you know, the sea splits. 00:25:45.680 --> 00:25:46.640 You guys know the story? 00:25:46.880 --> 00:25:48.079 The Red Sea splits. 00:25:48.160 --> 00:25:53.440 By the way, one of my favorite stories, I had someone make fun of me not that long ago because I don't like swimming in the ocean. 00:25:53.680 --> 00:25:57.279 And I made sure that they understood that nothing good ever happens in the ocean. 00:25:57.519 --> 00:25:59.359 And in the Bible, no one swims. 00:25:59.599 --> 00:26:00.079 Ever. 00:26:00.400 --> 00:26:01.200 Not really. 00:26:01.440 --> 00:26:07.680 Moses is put on a basket, God parts the Red Sea, Jesus walks on top of the water because nothing good happens in water. 00:26:07.839 --> 00:26:09.519 So that story helps me with that. 00:26:09.599 --> 00:26:09.759 Okay? 00:26:09.920 --> 00:26:10.880 Just important to remember. 00:26:11.119 --> 00:26:13.119 And so the people of Israel, they escape, right? 00:26:13.200 --> 00:26:17.200 And in Egypt at the time, Egypt is the most powerful nation in the world. 00:26:17.839 --> 00:26:25.519 And they're slaves, empowered by a miracle-working God, just like we sang this morning, a God who does miracles. 00:26:25.759 --> 00:26:34.160