In this sermon, the preacher begins by discussing the importance of weeping for souls and challenges the audience's understanding of it. He then moves on to explain the connection between justification by faith and God's dealings with Israel, specifically in Romans chapters 9, 10, and 11. The preacher emphasizes the personal burden that Paul had for Israel and how it relates to God's mercy and purpose. He also references the story of Pharaoh in Exodus to illustrate how God works in people's hearts.

And we're at chapter nine this evening, the letter to the Romans, and we're at the ninth chapter, and I want you to make a special note of where in your mind that we're starting a new section in the letter to the Romans this evening. Because I'm perfectly sure that if you get this book into your mind in sections, then you'll never forget the teaching of Romans. That's how I have it in my mind. One day, you know, the Russians may come and take the Bible from us, or Rome may try to do it once again. Well, if you have it in your heart, they'll have bothered taking it away, won't they? And I know tonight that chapter one, and chapter two, and chapter three, down to the end of verse twenty, deals with the condemnation of sinners. We've gone through that. And then I know from verse twenty-one and chapter three, right through that chapter, and through chapter four and chapter five, deals with the great teaching of the doctrine of justification by faith. You know, I can lie in bed and close my eyes and go through some of those great verses on justification found in that section, and it fills your soul. And then you remember, starting chapter six, right through chapter seven, right to the end of chapter eight, we were dealing with the sanctification of faith, practical sanctification. So, there are three sections. The condemnation of sinners, the justification of believers, the sanctification of faith. And now we're starting a new section, and it goes through chapter nine, chapter ten, chapter eleven, three more chapters. And it's dealing with the explanation that Paul gives of God's dealings with Israel. That's what's here. I feel that Paul felt that after explaining justification by faith, and showing how a man can be justified without works and without the deeds of the law, you know, he had to explain something of God's dealings with Israel. And it takes time in this section, nine, ten, eleven, to give this explanation of Israel, of God's dealings with Israel. And we have some very wonderful things in the portion this evening. We're trying to do the first eighteen verses this evening. So we're at Romans, chapter nine. It's a new section. It's the explanation of God's strange, seemingly strange, dealings with Israel. And we're at the first three verses now, because these three verses bring to us the personal burden of Paul for Israel. It's very wonderful. Now, just watch the capital I's in these three verses. I say the truth in Christ. I lie not, but I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart, for I could wish to see those four capital I's. And you know, some of the expositors who have trouble with the capital I's in chapter seven, they have no trouble now. And I just don't understand their mentality, that's all. Because they try to get away that it was Paul personally in chapter seven, they try to get away from that. But they have no trouble now that the I belongs to Paul, or not at all. It doesn't disturb the pet theory they had in their mind, what chapter seven did. And so the capital I's in chapter seven, they don't want to be Paul, but they're quite prepared to accept it now. I don't understand this sort of exposition. I don't think it's honest. So I want you to notice that it is Paul personally. And I want you to notice this. He says, I say the truth in Christ. You know, this is received, Paul, isn't it? No trouble with that bit either, do you? You haven't. This is Paul in Christ. Not Paul the Pharisee, no, no. Not Paul unto the Lord, no, no. Paul in Christ. There can be no trouble with anybody here in that, that's too clear. And he not only says, I say the truth in Christ, I lie not. But he's talking not only about Christ, but about conscience. You know, he had a conscience that was really working. And this conscience was being worked by the Holy Ghost. And if you get the word Christ, and the word conscience, and the word comforter, who is the Holy Ghost before you, you'll be getting down to what was going on here. For the Holy Ghost was really working on this man's conscience. And now he's saying the truth in Christ. And here was the truth. That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. If you make the first phrase of chapter three a parenthetical one, you'll get it like this. That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh. You know, Paul had a great burden for the unsaved Jews. Great burden. I think that as well as getting the truth out of this, we must say something here. I wonder has the Holy Ghost so wrought in our lives that we have great heaviness and continual sorrow for the unsaved around us. Many of you. Man, if I made you stand to your feet, you'd be a whole crowd. You'd have to sit on. If you were saying this in Christ, if you were saying this as absolute truth tonight, how many of us could rise to our feet and say, I have great heaviness and continual sorrow. Man, some of you don't get that for so going to hell. What a pity. Now just be honest about it because we'll never get any good out of this unless we're honest. Let me say this to you. You know, there is a teaching that's going about these days. It's called by many people ultra-Calvinism. Now remember that in a certain sense and up to a certain point I'm a Calvinist. But you know, there's a crowd of people in our country now and they profess to be ultra-Calvinist and they've got election so much in the heart that they say, you know, we can sit at home and our toes in the fire and we don't need to get excited at all and we're not having any more fair meetings and we're not voting. None of you are all blind. But I'm just about fed up with some of you Calvinists. Oh, you've just got it all cut off, haven't you? All right, we'll put you beside Paul tonight. And let me tell you this. He knew more about election than you'll ever know. And with all that knowledge, I can tell you this. He has to confess this. I have great, great heaviness and continual sorrow. You boys come over to your corner to have a look at it. You know what the ultra-Calvinists mean to me in this country? I'll tell you. There are a lot of dead, proud, indifferent believers who starve their conscience by election. Let their friends go to hell and then they close their eyes and say, well, if God's going to save them, he'll save them. Well, you're not a bit like Paul. I hope you'll learn. All for a team that would say repeatedly, I have great heaviness and continual sorrow, for sure. Let's get back to my machine. Yes, let's get back. Presbyterian, yes? You old Baptists listening? Presbyterian. My dear friends, there came a bunch of Americans to this country some years ago and went over to the church where my name is. You know how they've been there, having a jolly good time because they've got a lot of money to throw. And you know, as we came into the church, the old section was brushing it up. Big fellow, leader of the party said, you here when McShane was here? Old man looked up and said, yes, sir. Praise God, I was. Oh, he said, that's just fine now. Put his arm round, give him a wee hug. Tell us about this fellow McShane, he said. He said, all right, I'll tell you, sir. Did you just come with me? Took him into the little vestry, set him down on the chair, said, see that big bible? Opened the big bible and the yank opened it with a smile. He said, now sir, put your elbow on either side and the Americans obeying everything, put his elbow on either side, smiling to the French. He said, now sir, if you can put your head in your hand and weep for the next five hours without stopping for souls, you'll make shame. I took a smirk at his face. Let us be honest this evening. What do we know about weeping? What do we know? Challenging everybody in the meeting. I'm persuaded that 99% of you know nothing. Absolutely persuaded. My God, heck your heart. For some of you old dead bounteous men. My God, heck your heart. Oh, friends, this is why we're lacking, isn't it? You can't work it out, you know. You need to just to confess to God how careless and careless and cold and icy and indifferent. Man, you'd rather have your tea on Sunday evening and wash the old dishes than get out to a prayer meeting, wouldn't you? Oh, it doesn't make a matter who goes to hell. You have to do your research the way you have it done last time. My God, heck your heart. Oh, I feel, I feel we're a thousand miles away from Paul. What a man. Great heaviness. Continual sorrow. It was put there by the Holy Ghost. It was on his conscience. He could do nothing else about it. Would to God we had it. Would to God we had it. What's this? This is Paul's burden, isn't it? Read it over again. I say the truth in Christ I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart, for I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ. That's a tremendous statement. We must get it exactly as it was said in the original, for I could wish, but it doesn't say that he did wish, because Paul was far too well instructed to know that he could never be accursed from Christ, now that he had received them by grace. Paul knew that he was placed into the body of Christ, and that body can't be mutilated by bringing about it. See, if I lost a hand, this body is mutilated. That's a member. If I lost even a little finger, if I lose an eye. And Paul knew that he had eternal life. Eternal life it can't be for six months, you know, because that would only be six months' life. And when you get eternal life, there are no buts behind it. It's eternal life. There are no more arguments. Paul knew that he was perfected forever by the work of the cross. And the idea here in the original is just this. If it were possible, if it were possible, I would be ready for it. If it were possible to take me out of the body and take me away from Christ and put me into hell and curse me forever, if they could perceive, I'd be ready for it. Say, what am I? What am I? Oh, I tell you, friends, we've got a yard or two to go in this business, haven't we? Ready to go to hell, that others could be saved. You know what's seen here? I'll get this over to you one by one. You know, there's great happiness, isn't there? And there's continual sorrow, and there's the sacrificial love of Christ in its soul. He never was so like Christ before. Isn't this what Christ was prepared for? My, he felt the burden of the man's only being like Jesus, that's all. We'll say, God, we were That's Paul's personal burden, isn't it? Now, let's go on. He says, for I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ, for my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the flesh, who are Israelites. And we must be very careful with this word, Israelites, because this is where the teaching of his steps is going to come in. Just let's hold on to that word, who are Israelites, and then go down to verse 6 and the last phrase of it. Paul's saying, for they are not all Israel which are of Israel. So we must learn to differentiate between Israelites and Israelites. That's what we'll need to be taught this evening. You know, they're not all of Israel which are of Israel. That's the bit we need to get clear this evening. So that when he says, who are Israelites, you know, he's got something special in his mind. And then he goes on to show the national blessings of Israel. We'll do them quickly. Watch them. Verse 4, who are Israelites, to whom pertaineth the adoption? So remember, we dealt with the adoption of sons last week. Yes, you know, we've received the adoption of sons, which just means that God is really manifesting to all in country that we are the children of God. But we went into that and we won't go over it again. But you know, there was a part of Israel, you remember what I said of course, there's a part of Israel that was really the elect nation. Yes, they received that adoption. That was the adoption of the nation. And then it says, to whom pertaineth the adoption and the glory? You remember, the divine presence came down and dwelt in the tabernacle, aye, and in the temple, the glory of God in the midst. And not only did they have the adoption and the glory, but the covenants. My, what a subject it would be to go through all the covenants this evening. The covenants that God made with Abraham, and the covenant that God made with Isaac, and the covenant that God made with David. My, these are covenants that God entered into, and this is what Paul's getting at. Just because I'm bringing the gospel and the Gentiles can come in and get saved and be justified by faith, I don't want you to think that God has forgotten about the covenants. He's beginning to explain what God has done to Israel. Oh, he's taking it all up all right. He said they had the covenants, and so they have, and so they have, and God doesn't break covenants. Not the bitter ones. And then they had the law, hadn't they? The giving of the law, and the service of God. Oh, what a wonderful thing this was. The temple performances. My, they were really wonderful. And then the promises. You know, God promised a lot to Israel in the Old Testament, didn't he? Promised that he'd bring them back into the land, promised that he'd make them the head and not the tail of the nations. My, and there are a thousand promises that were given only and solely to Israel, and you can't steal them, you know. Some of the expositors would love to take all the curses of the Old Testament and give them to the Jews, and take all the promises of the Old Testament and give them to the church now, but you're not allowed to do that. You'll just have to give them the promises as well as the curses. And Paul's not taking the promises off from here, is he? That's a bit of him. Not the way some people do. He said they have the adoption and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the law and the service of God and the promises. Whose are the fathers? Oh, think of all the faithful pilgrim fathers they had. Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Joseph and Moses. My, these were the foundation stones of the Jewish nation. And then he goes further. And of whom? And then he puts this little bit in as an explanation. Of concerning the flesh. Christ came. Now, that's very lovely, isn't it? Oh, how careful Paul is. And from this nation of concerning the flesh only. You know, that would teach us that the Lord Jesus had a pre-existence, you know. He says, Oh, only, only as concerning the flesh. The only person you can say a thing like that about. Because we all started at birth, you know. But only as concerning the flesh. He had everything to do with the Jewish nation. And then he said this, verse 5. And of whom? Of concerning the flesh. Christ came. Then he said this about them. Who is over all? And then he said this about them. God, blessed forever. And the rationalites want to market and wedge. Because he's God. Yes. My, he's God. He was God manifest in flesh. And as concerning the flesh, he had a connection with Israel. My, thank God that Paul was very careful. Our Lord Jesus Christ came through the virgin, who was a Jew. But only as concerning the flesh, he had that connection. But he's over all. He's God blessed forever. No wonder Paul said, Amen. No wonder. You see, these are the national blessings of Israel. Now, that's just laying the foundation for where we want to go. Now, before we start verse 6, the first phrase of it, I think that Paul was thinking like this. Now, Israel had the covenants. God made covenants with them. Real covenants. In fact, they're called everlasting covenant. And God gave them promises. And they're rich and mighty and powerful and precious promises that God gave to them. And he told them through the prophets about Christ who would come and take the nation and rule for those thousand years in the millennial world. Now, he's thinking like that. Why is Israel satisfied with all that's true? And then he goes on now. He says, Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. You know, that's just Paulism. That's very wonderful. He says, Now, I don't want you to think that all these covenants and these promises of God and everything that he said that Christ would do for this nation, I don't want you to think that it has taken none effect. God doesn't enter into a covenant and then break it around the corner, you know. He's not secular. And he doesn't give promises that he'll not keep. He just doesn't do that. He can't do that. And all that he said about Christ, he will most surely do. The word of God, it's not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. Now, he begins the explanation of the whole thing. He takes us back to the historical background of the Jews. Now, you need to follow this very closely if you're going to get the proof. We're at verse 6 and we're in the middle of the verse. Here's the explanation beginning. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel, neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children. But, and this is one of the promises God made, but in Isaac shall thy seed be called. And I want you to get the word called. There is a portion out of Israel that's really called. And in every age there hath been that portion and even tonight there is that remnant. And in the day to come there will be that remnant. And God will keep all the promises and the commandments of the remnant. For they're not all Israel that are of Israel. That's where we make the blunder, but we've got to get this right, haven't we? Now, we'll go back to see exactly where this happened. It happened in Genesis 17. And I think when you're at the spot and see it for yourself, you'll get it clear. We're in Genesis 17 and Abraham is on his face before God down the chapter there. At verse 18, that's where we'll stop. We're in Genesis 17 verse 18. And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee. You know, Ishmael was Abraham's son too, wasn't he? Oh, he was, yes? So it's quite right in saying that though they be Abraham's seed, they're not all children. Got that? You see, the trouble in Palestine just at this very moment is that the land is cut in two and on the Jordanian side you've got the Arabs who are all dated back to Ishmael. And on the other side of the border you've got the Jew who are dated back. And you know, we had some great old times with these fellows. I remember walking for half a day with an owl. And he said, but the country's ours. You know, we're Abraham's children. I said, you know, that's right. Yes, you're dated back to Ishmael. He said, yes, that's true. And Ishmael was the oldest son. And these fellows have no right to it. And they're not getting it. And they're not doing it. I said, you know, it's quite true that you're related to Abraham through Isaac. But Ishmael would never, you know, go into the promises and into the covenant. And the Ishmaelites were never called, shall thy seed be called. Now, let's get the hold of this clearer. Watch this. This is Abraham praying, O that Ishmael might live before thee. And God answered this prayer in a way that he never thought it would be answered. And God said, verse 19, Say of thy wife, shall there be a son indeed, and thou shalt call his name Isaac. And I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant. Now, just mark it in red letters. Those of you who have no time for the Jew, that God made an everlasting covenant with And don't go letting your God down. Well, there's some people say, you know, all God's finished with him. Is he? Well, he'll be in trouble if he is. Because he just happened to make an everlasting covenant, and nobody asked him to do it. He just made it on his own. He said, I will make an everlasting covenant, armed with his seed after him. Isn't that it? Ask for Ishmael. I have heard thee. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. Tell Princess Charlie to get, and I will make him a great nation. Yes, the Arabs are all over the world. But my covenant will I establish with Isaac. You can argue about it whatever way you like. You know, I nearly knocked the bottom out of the old Arabs' ideas, whenever I began to get them back to the covenant. God never made any covenant with the Arabs. Nuffer will find that out. And he won't defeat the Jew, no matter what he does. And he's going to try to do it one day. Ah, but he's in for trouble. Because God will wipe him out. And this book says he'll wipe him out. And so you can see this. You see what we're getting at when we say, they are not all of Israel, which are of Israel. And they're not all children, though they be children of the flesh. They are not children of God. And so let's get this clear. We're back at chapter nine. Now we want to get this very clear, because it will establish something for us this evening. And let's get over this again. We're at the middle of verse six. The explanation begins, For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel, neither because are they the seed of Abraham are they all children. But in Isaac, and only in Isaac, shall thy seed be called. And that's very important. That is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God. But the children of the promise are counted for the seed. For this is the word of promise, at this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son. Now, I think you've got that bit, but that's not the whole bit, you know, that's not the whole bit. Some people learn that bit, but that's easy, if you've got that, now you have to come see that now. It's not this now, it's Isaac. Now just take your time, don't roam yourself out of the reach. Take your time behind me. Now watch this wee bit. Ah, verse ten. And not only this, not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by her father Isaac. Now you know that Isaac was the called one, and then you remember how he married Rebecca, it's a beautiful story. How Elisa went away down and found Rebecca, oh you know all about it, so we needn't worry about that. Now watch this. Now she conceived by Isaac, for the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand not of works, but of him that calleth. It was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger, as it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. So you see, it's not all Isaac's seed even, that's all. Is that not the truth? So it's not all Abraham's seed, is it? Because he just threw out Ishmael, and to take Isaac. And then it's not everybody that comes from Isaac, because his wife had twins, you know that. Jacob and Esau. So you've just got to rule one of them up too. And we're having trouble with the descendants of Esau to this very day. And they think they have a whole lot to talk about too. And so it's Jacob now that's selected, and that's powerful. And you know, some people who think that God's not just being fair here, and they come along, and there's a man who came along to me the other day, and he said, the Bible says that Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated. He said, you know, this is a dreadful thing for God to hate Esau. I said, friend, is that your problem really? He said, of course it's my problem, isn't it? God hating this kid before it's even born. It hasn't done any good, and yet God just selects. I said, then you're worried about God hating Esau. I said, you know, there's nothing, no problem about a holy kid hating a condescending problem at all. Why would we realize that we're enemies in our minds, that we're totally depraved, that we're absolutes? There's nothing to keep a holy God from hating us. I said, you know, you're on the wrong end of the problem. The problem is how the problem is. And that will always be a problem. Don't worry yourself how God loved you, or how God loved me. And you know, this is not according to what we've done, or what we haven't done, or what we have said, what we haven't said. This is just the sovereignty of God's election. Some people don't like it like that, you know. But you know, if you're not going to let God be sovereign, you'll lose the promises. Because he was sovereign when he promised, so that you'll have to be, let him be sovereign in the election too. Or some people would like God to step into the middle of the road and make promises. But that would allow them just to work sovereignty in election. But let's see this clear still, you know. I know that this puzzles some people, and that's why I'm buttoning it up. I think you can see the historical background of the Jew, and for the moment you can hazily see the fundamental basis of election. Now this is what a lot of people say. We're at verse 14 now. Paul knew all that went on in people's minds, you know. He says, what do we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Because we believers would never entertain that sort of thing, would we? Or wouldn't we? Because you would be bound to know that the God who planned your salvation, who threw the world into space, who is the eternal, unchanging maker of heaven and earth, you would know that even if you couldn't puzzle it out, you would be bound to give God marks for righteousness. Well, if you didn't, it would be a pity on you. Even if you couldn't puzzle it out, you would know that your God would always do right. Our God is a righteous God. Of course, Paul doesn't entertain the question for a moment. I know that this is the critical bubble of unbelief. Is there unrighteousness with God? Listen, Paul's shouting, God forbid! Well, he's no nonsense with it. Neither have I. I know that the God that loved a thing like me so much as to send his son to the place called Calvary and not spare them, I know that he's a righteous God. Even if I can't puzzle things out, I still know he's all right. Never gives me any bother there. God forbid! Never entertain that. But Paul goes further than that, because there are minds that love to peer into things. Now watch this very carefully. We're at verse 14. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid! For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. Now, where did he say that to Moses? Now, that's just what you would need to see, isn't it? Well, that's in Exodus 32, and that's just a very important portion this evening. Now, Exodus 32, and we'll need to go as quick as we can here, and this is the place where Moses came down from the mount with the tables of stone in his hand and found them around the golden calf. You'll remember that. And here's what Moses said in verse 30. Exodus 32, verse 30, And it came to pass on the morrow that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin, and now I will go up unto the Lord, tell Him, Venture, I shall make an atonement for your sin. And Moses returned unto the Lord and said, All this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin, and I think this is the only place where you get a dash like that. You know, he just couldn't go on with it. He's making a plea. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin. And it gets sort of tough, doesn't it? And then he says, And if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written. And he was very like the Apostle Paul there, wasn't he? Or was it the Apostle Paul was very like him? Or was it that they were both like Christ? You know, he's prepared to allow God to blot his name he has written, and that nation can be saved. Very lovely thing, you know, Moses was a great fellow too. But what should God say? Verse 33, And the Lord said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee. Behold, mine angels shall go before thee. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them. And the Lord prayed the people, because they made the calf which Aaron made. And the Lord said unto Moses, Depart, go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I swear unto Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give. And I will send an angel before thee, and I will drive out the Canaanites, and so on. Bring thee into the land. Verse four, And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned. No man put on him his ornaments. For the Lord had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiff-necked people. I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee. Therefore now put off thy ornaments from me, that I may know what to do unto thee. And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by Mount Horeb. And Moses took the tabernacle, pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass that everyone which sought the Lord went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation which was without the camp. And it came to pass that Moses went out unto the tabernacle, that all the people rose up, stood every man at his tent door, looked after Moses. Came to pass as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended unto the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses. And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door. And we go on down. Here is Moses and the Lord speaking. Verse seventeen. And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing of which thou hast spoken. For thou found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name. And he said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. He said, I will make all my goodness possible for thee. I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee, and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. You know, I want you to get this. You know, the Lord had a right to you, to blot out the entire nation. My, they had sinned a grievous sin. They had made a golden calf, and they had fallen down and worshipped it and naked before it. And God had a right to blot out the entire nation, but a Savior came in to stand between him and the people. This was Moses. And you know, God looked at Moses, and he just said this, all right, all right, you have found grace in my sight. I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. Let's get the whole of it. You know, the day that I was saved was the day that I came face to face with God, I think, for the first time, as it were. My, all the shudders went away, and I found myself in the presence of a holy God. You know, at the first moment of realizing there was a God, and I was so close to him, I thought that God had come up to me and sat down me in the, and if he has, if he has, it will always be mercy. And if God, my God can damn you to make righteously, righteously damn you in the plaque of hell. And you have in the word to say, you have sinned, you know, and you have sinned grievously. Some of you have wiped your feet on the Savior. God damned you tonight, you will be damned for all eternity, and he can do it, you know. My, you have a God in the cross, you are at the mercy of God. You are at the mercy of God. Now, let's go back to Romans 9, because this is very important. Now watch, we are at verse 15. For he says to Moses, that was chapter 33, wasn't it? I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then, this is Paul summing it up now, so then, it is not of him that willeth, and not of him that willeth, but of God that shows mercy. You know, that's a great verse. Oh, we should, we should hem that verse around in gold. You know, it's not of him that willeth, he no man just doesn't will to be saved. You know, I hear about some of these preachers, and they believe that the moment they put drops of water on a baby's brow, that it's regenerated. That's what they call baptismal regeneration. And the funny thing about this, that they can put the day of this baby's birth, so they think. But I'm taught it's not of him that willeth. You know, if the mother brings the baby down, so we'll put it back to August. I'll be away all July. What rubbish from hell. Let's get the hold of this. No man wills this thing. It's not of him that willeth, and it's not of him that willeth. It's neither will nor will. It's of God that shows mercy. Let's get the hold of that, because that's a powerful phrase. But of God that shows mercy. You see, friends, I would say this, that it's the mercy of God that we're all in this meeting this evening. Mercy of God. Mind you, there's a lot of things going on in the world that keeps on teasing us all, boxing usually on Tuesday night. But I believe it's of the mercy of God that we have found on this place of this sickness evening. And I believe this, I believe it's of the mercy of God that we've got an open book tonight. We should praise God for this. You know, it's the mercy of God that in this little land, in Ireland, imagine, in pagan, popish Ireland, in Ireland's state of Rome and all its devices, we've got an open book now. The doors are open. No bars in the doors. Mercy of God. Can I say this without you thinking that I'm egotistical? It's a mercy that we've got a saved man in the pulpit who can teach the book. Mercy. Because the three-quarter of the pulpit's full of old dead fellows who don't know anything about God's will. Being taught by a man of God taught. It's the mercy of God that each holy night of this place bursts from the dark the old-fashioned message of the cross of Christ. Every Sunday. And shall be till I die. E'er since thy face I saw the stream, thy flowing wounds supply, re-blooming love hath been my fee, and shall be till I die. Mercy of God. And I want to tell you, unsaved man, that it's the mercy of God you ever came to. Some of your fellow men have never struggled like this. Never heard of us. Never been challenged in their life. Let me say this to you, unsaved man, with all the masses of God that's on your head for my... And remember, the mercy of God only leads you to the place that some of you haven't attended. Oh yes. You know, some people would love to teach a lecture like this. That God just elects, and that you haven't a say in it, you're just a machine. Let me say this to you. At this very moment in the world's history, God is commanding all men everywhere to repent. God is commanding all men, all men, everywhere, to repent. God's commanding. And God commands and God leads. You see, it works like this, that the very mercies of God are so wrought together that you're worked upon by God that at last you're willing to fall at His feet. For this of the mercy of God. You don't rule out man, you have power. Not a bit. Now watch this, and it goes deeper now. We're still at Romans 9, and we're nearly at the end. Verse 17. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Myles and Paul were great preachers, couldn't be finder places, even for the same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared through all the earth. You remember the story of Pharaoh, don't you? You know what it says in Exodus, we don't need to go back to it. It says that God hardened Pharaoh's heart. It's not a bit of a problem, isn't it? Well, I'll tell you how it was done. You know, God sent Moses to get the children of Israel out, and Pharaoh says, Who is the Lord God that I should let them go? I don't know anything about them. All right, says God, we'll take you on. And God sent the plague. Ah, and he really shook Pharaoh to the foundations, didn't he, with the first plague. And Pharaoh trembled. And then he begged for mercy. And then God gave him mercy. God took the plague away. And then when he got the plague away, you know, and the sky was taken on the ground. And then God sent another plague. It was worse. Then God scared them again. And then he trembled again. And then he begged for mercy again. And then he got it. You know the whole story, don't you? And mercy. And you know this, friends, it was the mercy of God that was hardening them. That's why I get scared about some of you older men in this meeting. And I'm really scared for you. You know, you can take so much from God, and you can bow down under the weight of the word of times and tears fill your eyes. But when you get out and give your life, like Pharaoh, you can go back to what you were up before. And you're getting harder, you know. You know, the sun in the sky, it hardens the clay. Same day, same time. And it's the mercy of God that will soften you until you come and bow and accept Christ. You'll die a hardened old sinner and go to hell. And when you go to hell, don't blame God. You know, I get fed up listening to sinners who always talk about election. It doesn't belong to you. You just leave it alone. It's perfection that belongs to you, not an action. Too often you think about receiving Christ, and the day you do, I'll say, not an action that you should be puzzled about. It's perfection. You just keep your own word, you'll be all right. Why, the Lord said he will not come, didn't he? Oh, you want to come and accept Christ. And you know, it's the mercies of God that prepare you for receiving, and coming, and trusting, and believing. And when you come, you'll find you're one of the called ones, and you're one of the elect. Here's one of the greatest verses in the book. It's our last one. Therefore, verse 18, therefore have he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will be hardness. Lots of questions come behind this. We will deal with them next week. May God teach us these virtues. Let's bow together. I'll catch you later.