Who Are We To Talk Back?
Walk Through Romans • Sermon • Submitted
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· 3 viewsEven though God is a loving and merciful God, God is still the creator of the Universe and all things happen according to His divine will and power. What right do we have to question God's motives or "talk back" to God?
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Good evening and welcome back!
It is good to see everyone out this evening.
If you will, start turning in your Bibles to .
We are going to pick up right where we left off last month with our “Walk Through Romans” and we are going to continue to push the conversation forward a bit.
If you remember where we left off, we actually left off in a good spot.
The last thing we read and talked about was actually an encouraging word from Paul.
In the end of chapter 8, he writes . . .
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:
And if you back up just a few verses before that even, Paul asks the question . . .
31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?
And the point that Paul is trying to make and what he wants the Romans to realize—as well as us— is that when we are God’s child, we are God’s child.
God is always with us.
God will never abandon us.
God will always keep His promises, like we talked about this morning.
And we can stand on God’s promises.
And we can put our faith in God and in God keeping His promises.
Which are all things we have talked about for several weeks.
And you may be getting tired of hearing me say the same things over and over again, but the reality is, we need to hear it.
I have pastored this church for almost 8 years and have been a part of this church for years before that.
And never, since I have been part of this church—and I will take it even further, never since I have been part of any church— have I seen so many people sick at one time.
And with that much sickness going around, it is easy for us to get discouraged and to get down.
Which is exactly why God wants us constantly reminded that He is here.
He is right here with us.
And He wants us to lean on Him and put our burdens squarely on His shoulders.
Which is all Paul is saying here in the end of chapter 8.
He says again . . .
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Do we believe that tonight?
Do we really and truly understand and believe that to be true, tonight?
Good—because in the next chapter Paul is going to have to somewhat defend his stance on this to the Jews and the Jewish converts.
But first, let’s look at our focus passage.
Again, , and I will be reading verses 14-21.
Paul writes this . . .
Scripture Focus
Scripture Focus
14 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. 19 One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?” 20 But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ ”21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?
Passage Background (vs 1-13)
Passage Background (vs 1-13)
Now, so we find Pau here, addressing the people in typical Paul fashion.
He had told them all of this about the Gentiles being just as equal and important to God as the Jews.
And in fact, he had already renounced the Jewish elitist attitude that prevailed during this time.
And now though, in chapter 8, Paul has the audacity to tell them that God was even for and even with this unclean and filthy Gentiles.
Which exposed the true nature of their version of racism.
You see, today people are racist because the color of somebody’s skin is different.
And they were that way in Paul’s day as well.
But they also extended it further beyond that to include all aspects of the person.
If the person was not born a Jew, they were “less than.”
Even if they converted to Judaism, they were still viewed as unequal, not chosen by God and not “good enough.”
And by Paul telling them that this is not correct and that this is not so, it destroyed every excuse they had made up for treating other people badly.
Do you know why racism persists today?
It’s the same reason, we had slavery in our nation in the early days.
It’s the same reason that slavery exists in other places in the world today.
It’s the same reason why there is genocide and mass killings.
Those who think and believe that way, will convince themselves that the people they are hating are less than human.
That they are not people.
And folks, that is absolutely, 100% untrue.
People are people—all people—from everywhere.
And there are bad people in every race on earth, but there are also good people as well.
You get beneath the surface and we are all made the same way.
Shaped by the very hand of God in His image and His likeness.
God’s love and God’s salvation is for everyone, regardless of where they come from or the color of their skin.
And to believe and think otherwise is not a Christian viewpoint and not of God.
And that is harsh, but it is true, and it is also exactly the same thing Paul is dealing with her.
In the first part of the chapter, all he is doing is defending his position.
He starts out . . .
1 I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit— 2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, 4 the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. 5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, for ever praised! Amen.
Romans 9:
And this is the great revelation that came to Paul when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus.
He was just like the other Jews.
He was probably the worst of them all.
Christians feared him.
In fact, anyone who was not a Jew feared him.
He had presided over arrests and stonings of people.
And now he is confirming two things.
First, that everything he is telling them is true and has been confirmed by the Holy Spirit.
Second, he has great sorrow and regret for his former self.
And he goes on to give a short breakdown of their heritage and and history with God.
But then he goes on to say . . .
6 It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7 Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”8 In other words, it is not the natural children who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring. 9 For this was how the promise was stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.” 10 Not only that, but Rebekah’s children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. 11 Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God’s purpose in election might stand:
Romans 9:6-
And the point is God’s word did not fail with the bringing in of the Gentiles.
In fact the bringing in of the Gentiles was the plan all along.
And it was actually a confirmation of the promise God made to Abraham, all of those generations past.
The problem was not with God and was not with God’s word and not with God’s promise.
The problem was how we, as humans, took God’s promises and transformed and manipulated it to fit our own wants and desires.
It was how we mis-interpreted what God was saying.
Not because God was being unclear, but because we are not listening.
And because we were letting sin dictate our actions and lead our hearts astray.
And it is not just with the Jews, that this holds true.
It is with all of us.
When there is something in God’s word that doesn’t suit our agenda, we “re-interpret it” to fit.
And we tend to adopt church tradition over Biblical truth.
Our version of things become more important than what the Word actually says.
Our ideas about things override what God actually says.
And we don’t know that we are wrong because we don’t practice critical thinking.
We don’t question or even challenge what has become tradition for the church.
When people do this, when they challenge long held traditions, they end up either splitting off into their own church or are chased out with torches and pitchforks.
We, however can be different.
We can move past that, but we also have to not be lazy.
We have to study God’s word and we have to have a deep relationship with God.
If all of God’s word and God’s wisdom you get is when you come in here and hear Robert teach Sunday school, me or Dennis preach, or Dennis teach on Wednesday night, you are failing in your relationship with God.
You are being lazy about it.
Which was the habit of the Jews in that day.
So Paul correct them here, to which they don’t take very well.
Who Are We To Talk Back (vs 14-21)
Who Are We To Talk Back (vs 14-21)
Which is where our passage picks up.
And he says . . .
14 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.
Romans 9:
Not the most encouraging thing to hear is it!
Basically Paul is telling them to “get over it.”
God is God and God is going to do what God is going to do.
Regardless of what we think we want, we desire, or we believe, God is going to be God.
Which is a hard thing sometimes to understand and accept.
We are used to having influence on others and in some instances even, manipulating others into doing and think what we do and what we think.
We want it all done our way.
And now here is Paul telling them, “you have no power or control over God.”
You can talk but God doesn’t have to listen.
And it all goes back to the way we think about God.
We have a tendency to think about God in human terms, which God is not.
But we try to limit God to our understanding of things.
And well, we end up disappointed and disillusioned when things don’t go the way we think they should or the way we expected them to.
But there is more. Paul continues . . .
19 One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?” 20 But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ ”21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?
Point 3
Point 3
Altar Call
Altar Call
And that is the million dollar question.
Who are we to think that we can talk back to God?
Did He not form us?
Has He not been with us?
Do we not trust God?
Now, that doesn’t mean we can’t ask God questions, or bear or heart to God.
That also doesn’t mean we can’t ask God for understanding or clarification on things.
What it means is that we have to realize who God is and allow God to be God.
We have to trust that . . .
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
And make sure that we are His and that we are called according to His purposes.
It is all about giving ourselves to God and trusting God with our lives, with ourselves.
Which is where we are tonight.
There is a lot going on with a lot of people.
And we may feel like the Jews did, slighted by God because things are not working out how they had hoped or planned.
But Paul is telling us that God is here, which is where we end.
God is here, do you trust Him?
If so, release yourself to Him tonight. Can we do that?