l have compassion on
whom I will have compassion" (Rom. ix. 15). The quotation is from
Exodus xxxiii. 19. The Israelites had committed the sin of making
the golden calf, and were threatened with destruction; but God was
entreated not to destroy them utterly, and Moses was assured that
God would extend mercy as He should see fit. The quotation has a
bearing upon the position of the Jews and Paul's argument. They were
filled with self-sufficiency and pride, and in great danger. In the
reply to Moses, God claimed the right of extending mercy as He
pleased, and would not allow Moses to interfere with His
prerogative. The Jews were reminded by the quotation that God had a
right to say on what terms He would have mercy upon sinners. He does
not state the principle after the quotation, but does so in verses
30-33 of this chapter. He extends mercy to those who believe in
Jesus:

PHARAOH.--_Inquirer_,--"But what do you make of Pharaoh? Was he not
a typical illustration of the unconditionally reprobated?"

_Answer_,--It is thought so. The apostle refers to the wicked king
in the seventeenth verse. His case was analogous to that occupied by
the Jews. He had been raised up from a sick bed, treated most
graciously, but became hardened under the influence of mercy, and
was at last destroyed. The Jews had also been very generously dealt
with, but instead of yielding were becoming indurated, and unless
they repented, would, as Pharaoh was, be destroyed. It is said that
God hardened Pharaoh's heart, and also that He hardened his own
heart. Both statements are true, but looked at from different
standpoints. God softens or hardens human hearts as they keep the
mind in truth or falsehood.

THE POTTER AND THE CLAY.--_Inquirer_,--"But what of the potter and
the clay, verse twenty-one?"

_Answer_,--The question discussed in the ninth of the Romans is a
question of Divine sovereignty, or God's right to appoint the
destinies of men after their moral probation is over. The potter
claimed the right to say what he should do in respect of the vessels
which he had made. Should one become marred in his hands, he makes
it into a vessel of dishonour or inferiority. If not, if it turned
out as he wished it, then it occupied the position of a vessel of
honour. The illustration came with crushing power against the Jews.
The attitude of hostility which they then occupied was that of being
marred in the hands of God, and He claimed the right of appoin