The message of Sovereign Grace is the systematic doctrine of the Bible as is simply and clearly defined in Romans 9:15-16, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.” The message of Sovereign Grace gives all the glory to God in the salvation of sinners, this in accordance to Psalm 115:1, “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake.” The message of Sovereign Grace is not new, the angel declared in Matthew 1:21 when he announced the coming birth of Jesus the Messiah, “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS; for he shall save his people from their sins.” When Jesus came preaching he declared, as we read in Matthew 11:25-27, “At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.” The Apostles declared it [see Romans 9:13-16; Ephesians 1:4-11; 2 Timothy 1:9; etc.]. It was the message of the 16th century Protestant Reformation and the Puritans in Europe and early America. And it was the message to which many refer to as the “Prince of Preachers” of the 19th century, Charles Haddon Spurgeon. The following is an excerpt from a sermon of Mr. Spurgeon’s titled Sovereign Grace Hated by the Modern Religionist... “If anything is hated bitterly, it is the out-and-out gospel of the grace of God, especially if that hateful word “sovereignty” is mentioned with it. Dare to say ‘He will have mercy on whom He will have mercy, and He will have compassion on whom He will have compassion’ (Romans 9:15), and furious critics will revile you without stint. “The modern religionist not only hates the doctrine of sovereign grace, but he raves and rages at the mention of it. He would sooner hear you blaspheme than preach election by the Father, atonement by the Son, and regeneration by the Spirit. “If you want to see a man worked up till the Satanic is clearly uppermost, let some of the new divines hear you preach a free-grace sermon. A gospel which is after men will be welcomed by men; but it needs a divine operation upon the heart and mind to make a man willing to receive into his inmost soul this distasteful gospel of the grace of God. My dear brethren, do not try to make it tasteful to carnal minds.”
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