Let's open our Bibles to Romans 9;18-23.

The Sovereign God has the right to deal with sinful creatures in such a way as to display His glory, both in judgment and in mercy

1. The Sovereign God has all the rights to deal with sinful creatures as He chooses; sinners have no rights (vs. 19-21)

a. It is not true that God made us to be sinners

b. We are sinners by being born "in Adam"

c. We are sinners because of the guilt of our own sin

d. To blame God's sovereignty for your sin is shameless audacity

e. From the same lump of clay God makes vessels for both honorable and dishonorable use

i. Charles Hodge: The punishment of the wicked is designed to manifest the displeasure of God against sin

ii. The Sovereign God has all the rights to deal with sinners as He chooses; sinners have no rights

2. The Sovereign God deals with sinful creatures in such a way as to display His glory (9:22-24)

a. God displays his glory by his patience, wrath, and power when he judges sinners who are prepared for destruction

i. John Piper: "The final and deepest argument Paul gives for why God acts in sovereign freedom is that this way of acting displays most fully the glory of God, including his wrath against sin and his power in judgment, so that the vessels of mercy can know him most completely and worship him with the greatest intensity for all eternity."

ii. Reprobation: God does not work directly on the heart to infuse evil

iii. He works through secondary causes to permit sin

iv. This doctrine comforts believers with the truth that no evil person can thwart the sovereign purpose of God

b. God displays his glory by making known the riches of his mercy on vessels of mercy, which he prepared beforehand for glory

i. God's unmerited grace shines more brightly against the terrible backdrop of human sin

ii. Paul uses the word "riches" to help us understand that our inheritance in God is infinitely greater than the greatest riches on earth