March 11, 2025 • 44 mins
In this episode, Pastor Karl dives into Romans 9, kicking off a deep exploration of God’s plan, specifically as it relates to the nation of Israel. Providing a roadmap for Romans: chapters 1-3 address God’s wrath, 3-8 celebrate His grace, 9-11 reveal His plan, and 12-16 guide us in living out His will. Romans 9 focuses on Israel’s past, drawing heavily from Old Testament history—Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Esau, Jacob, Moses, and the prophets—to show that God’s choice of His people is rooted in grace, not merit. He explains how Paul, heartbroken for his fellow Jews, underscores that being chosen by God doesn’t depend on ethnicity or works, but on faith in His promise. From the adoption of the Jews to the coming of Christ—fully God and fully human—Pastor Karl illustrates how God’s grace extends to both Jews and Gentiles alike.
With vivid examples, like Pharaoh’s hardened heart and Hosea’s unfaithful wife Gomer, he challenges listeners to choose a soft, responsive heart toward God’s mercy. This episode is a rich blend of biblical insight, personal storytelling, and a call to embrace the transformative simplicity of faith.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:02):
just to reiterate what Jeff saidat the beginning, there was a little,
medical issue at the beginning,at the end of last service.
And that's why we got,just holding people off.
So thank you for your patience.
And, I think everything'sgoing to be all right.
But if you think about it,just just put a man named Mark
in your prayers this week, that,he continues to walk.
(00:24):
And I think what what God intervened in,
in a good way. So,
we're in Romans nine,
and we're going to we're goingto we're going to unpack Romans nine.
But before we do, I need
to let you know that, Sean,I got really good news this week.
And yesterday our third grandson was born,which is really cool.
(00:46):
They named him Randy after my dad.
And, he is perfect and precious.
And at the.
I leave today to go to Portland to runthe Discovery Center till Wednesday
of church plantersand a bunch of planters from Ukraine
that were coming over toso I can go do churches there.
And then we
leaveon Friday after I get back to be in Idaho
(01:09):
with our family for a few days,which is going to be a lot of fun.
Our eldest grandson gets to playin his first flag football game,
which is exactly as God intended it to be,
although there is still sin in the world
and he has to be on the Patriots team,which is
really unfortunate.
(01:31):
In chapter nine.
Most people who have read the Bible,
when it comes to Rome and say,I love the book of Romans,
what I've discovered is what they loveis chapter eight
on love the book of Romans.
They love chapter eightbecause we love the idea.
There's no condemnationin Christ. I love that
God works all things together for good.
(01:51):
I love thatnothing can separate him from his love.
I love thatI have no clue what's at nine, ten, 11.
The way the book is, is structuredverse chapters
one through the first part of chapterthree is about the wrath of God,
and that we're separated from God by sin.
(02:12):
The last part of chapter three
all the way through chaptereight, is about the grace of God.
And that'swhat people love from nine, ten, 11.
Those chapters is about the plan of God
specificallyas it relates to the Israel nation.
And then 12 through 16is about the will of God
(02:32):
and how we live this out in the worldas apprentices of Jesus.
And so we finished the sectionon the Grace of God last week,
and we enter this sectionabout the plan of God
specifically as it relates to the, the,the Israel nation.
And so most people, when they read thislike, what does this have to do with me?
(02:55):
There are so many parallels
and so many truths that we can gain
from the study of nine, ten,11 as God relates to his people
and how he relates to those who are notJews, in other words, called Gentiles.
Chapter nine is about his rules past.
Chapter ten is about Israel's present,and chapter 11 is about their future.
(03:19):
And so there isthere's a lot for us in this.
But before we get into it, I need
I just need to give it a little bit of of,
insight as to where thiswhere chapter nine is headed.
It Paul talks a lot about the Jews
and the Jews he talks about are Jews
(03:40):
ethnically those born Jewish
and religiously those who obey Jewish.
So it makes sense.
And then he talks about Gentiles.
That's just a fancy word for non-Jews.
And so biblically, the whole world isdivided, been Jews and Gentiles.
We I haven't checked your DNA,but most of us are Gentiles, okay.
(04:02):
Just non-Jews.
And then as in unpacking
what he does in chapter nineabout the grace of God,
Paul goes back to Jewish HebrewOld Testament, had deep history
because he wants to drive home
the fact that though the Jewshave been called, God shows, right?
(04:23):
Anybody herethat God's chosen people, the Jews.
You heard that even though they're knownas God's chosen, they're God's chosen.
Not because they merit it,not because they're good,
not because there's something valuableinnately in them.
They're chosen because of God's grace.
Just like anybodywho has a relationship with the father
is not becausewe've done something to merit it.
(04:44):
It's because of God's grace.
And so Paul goes back to the OldTestament, deep in the Old Testament
to say, these people are mine,but not because they're so special.
I chose them now because I chose them.
They're special, but I didn't choose thembecause they're special.
Same thing with us.
And so he goes all the way
(05:05):
back to talk,
to talk about the history of Abraham,and then talks about the history of
Ishmael and Isaac,the two sons of Abraham.
And then he talks about Esau and Jacob,the two sons of Isaac.
And then he talks about Mosesthe liberator out of slavery in Egypt.
And he talks about the Exodusand the golden calf.
(05:27):
Exodus 31 3233and then he talks about the prophet
Jeremiah, Leah and Hosea, and Isaiah,and he uses all of this stuff.
This is a deep dive in Old Testament.
Here's part of understanding the Bible.
We cannot understand the New Testament,Matthew through revelation
(05:48):
if we don't understandthe Old Testament that came before it.
And so Paul is writing to thosewho understand Old Testament history,
the Romans, and in Rome, right to Judah.
They understand Old Testament history.
So he draws on all this Old Testament.
So we're going to take a deep diveinto the Old Testament
as you go through chapter nine.You okay with that?
(06:08):
Okay.This is what I love about our church.
Like we don't mindgetting in the weeds of the Bible.
And I love the factthat we're becoming Bible students.
And so if that's already you,you're going to love this.
If this is newer to you, you're gonna belike, wow, that was a whole bunch.
But we'll make it through it.
And so,
(06:29):
Paul has just got doneand through these first eight chapters,
making the case that everybody,
Jew and Gentilealike, are separated from God by sin.
And what has repaired that relationshipis not
the Jewish law of do's and don'ts,but what's repair?
That relationship is faith in Jesusbecause of God's grace, not our own doing.
(06:53):
And so he spent all this time saying,look, I know that you have the law.
I know you've tried to be good,but your religion has failed
because religion cannot make that.
It can't fill in the gap.
The only thing that is faith inJesus is what he did on the cross
because of God's grace.
And so the natural reactionto those statements
(07:16):
from the Jew is,well then what good is being a Jew,
right?
I mean, if non-Jews get what we get,we're supposed to get what good is earned?
Meaning, what good is all this?
Does it even matter?
And Paul's point is that, oh,it matters greatly.
Greatly.
And so to that end, verse onetwo and three, he says this I'm speaking.
(07:39):
Just follow along. Back thereon the computer.
I am speaking the truth in Christ.
I am not lying.
My conscience bears me witnessin the Holy Spirit
that I have great sorrowand unceasing anguish in my heart.
For I wish I could wish that I myselfwere accursed and cut off
from Christ for the sake of my brothers,my kinsmen, according to the flesh.
(08:00):
Here's what he's saying.
He's saying God loves the Jewsso much, and I do, too, that if I could
trade places with those who have rejectedJesus, I would trade places with them.
I would choose to be cursedand damned to hell if,
my brethren,the Jews, could come to faith in Jesus.
Can you imagine? That's what he's saying.
(08:23):
I rememberI read this when I was in high school
and I thought,you have got to be kidding me.
Like when you understand what hell is.
To say, I'll take thatso someone else can be in heaven.
Let me just tell you,I don't love any of you all that much.
I don't know that.
If you understand.
Hell, that's a profound statement.
(08:48):
If you understandhell, you want to do everything
within your power to make sure that those
in your heart all know Jesus.
And Paulisn't just simply being altruistic here.
He is going back to the Old TestamentExodus,
chapter 32 verses 31 and 32.
Let me set the stage.
(09:09):
He knows Old Testament history,and he knows that when Moses
was up on Mount Sinai and met with God,and God downloaded to him
the Ten Commandmentschisel them out and stone Moses.
God's like, hey, Moses, something'sgoing on in the camp down the hill.
You better getthat he's Moses gone for 40 days.
And so Moses goesback down and finds all the
(09:31):
Hebrews.
What would be the Jewishpeople just living in debauchery and sin?
And they'd taken all the gold
they got from leaving Egyptand melted it down and made a golden calf,
and rejected God, who had beenso good of them and liberating them,
and started worshiping a golden calfand God's like.
I'm done with these people.
(09:51):
I'm going to kill them all.
I started without them.
I'll kill themand start over with some other people.
And Moses says,
he says, alas,this people have sinned a great sin,
and they've made for themselvesgods of gold.
Look what he says.
But now, if you will forgive their sin.
(10:11):
But if not, please blot meout of your book that you've written.
He's saying, God, you chose these people.
You've chosen themwhen they didn't deserve to be chosen.
You said you'll be faithful to them.
And if you're not going to be,then white me out of your book.
Moses has said
the same thing that Paul saidMoses said about God's people
(10:34):
when they were running awayfrom him in the desert.
So this isn't something new.
This is profound.
And Moses is reiterating, I'm sorry.
Paul is reiterating what Moses had saidgenerations earlier about God's people.
I wish if they could just come,I would sacrifice my eternity for them.
Now, the good thing is that God doesn'toperate like that.
(10:57):
There's one who did sacrifice herself
for the saving of many,and that was Christ and Christ alone.
But they do understand Paul's heart here.
You feel his heart.
He's got such a love for his people.
Now look at verse four.
They are these these people.
They are the Israelites.They are Israelites.
And to them belong the adoption,the glory,
(11:20):
the covenants, the giving to the law,the worship and the promise.
What he's saying is thesepeople are special, not because there was
something innate in them to begin with,but because God chose them,
and God chose them to reveal to the worldGod's plan.
And he starts from them,from the Israelites, from the Jews
(11:41):
comes the adoption. Now,
earlier when Paul talked about adoption,
we understood that as when a benevolent
person sees something of valuethat's in peril,
adopts them into their family, wipes outall of their bad past, and gives them
(12:02):
all the rights and responsibilitiesand identity of the adopted family.
And that's what God has done to usGentiles.
He's a doll.
He saw something in us.He paid a great price for us.
His son and adoption shownthat we are co-heirs with Jesus, his son.
Now Paul says that same adoptionfirst happened with the Jews.
(12:22):
Here's why.
Because when God started this whole thing,he didn't have a special people.
There was Adam and there was Eve.
And out of Adam came Noahand all these others, all
before Abraham, everybody was
they were just people.
And it was with Abraham in Genesis12 that God says, I will call you out
(12:44):
and take you toand out of you will come, my people.
So even the Jews were adopted by God.
And the reason why God adopted the Jews,
Abraham's offspring is notbecause they were worthy,
and not because they were credible,and not because they were special.
They were the leastof all the people on the earth.
(13:05):
And God said so that I can look good.
I'm going to choose someone like you
as my special people, and I'm goingto put my specialness on you.
Do you understand?
Israel is one of the names of God,
and the people of God bear his name.
Those who struggle with God,that's what it means.
(13:27):
So he put his name on them,not because they were special,
but because he chose thembecause of his grace.
Same thing with me in you.
He has sought us.
He has called usnot because there's something innately
good and special about us,but because of his grace.
Do you understand God?
And the moment we respond to that grace,
(13:48):
then he pours his special ness on us.
So we are special and chosen,but not because of who we are.
And Paul saying,yeah, the Jews are important
because it's through them firstthat the adoption came.
So any Gentiles been adopted into God'sfamily is only there
because God adopted the Jews first,
the special because God means so,
(14:10):
and then he goes through this ordealand the glory.
It's through the Jewsthat the glory of God was revealed.
The glory he's talking aboutis the Hebrew word, Tina.
It's the presence of God.
The presence of Godwas shown to the world in his glory
through the desert, by a pillar of fireat night, and a pillar cloud in the day.
And then when the tabernacle was set up
(14:30):
in the ark of the covenant,all this Old Testament things, God's
glory rested on the ark of the covenant,on the mercy seat.
It was the mercy of God that expressedand held the presence of God.
His glory is said.
It's through the Jews that you evenare aware of the glory of God
and the covenants,
the covenant of land through Abraham,the covenant of law through Moses,
(14:52):
the covenant of the Messiah, of a kingdomthrough David,
the New Covenant in Jeremiah
31 of a new law written on our heartsthat we celebrate in communion.
The covenants,he said, have all come through the Jews.
God chose them.
The giving up the law,the law that that was intended to express,
our inability to keep it and foreshadowthe one who would keep it for us.
(15:15):
That all came through the Jews,the worship,
all the worship elementsthat had to take place through the Jews,
the sacrificial system,the washing of everything.
So one would be able to come into God'spresence,
foreshadowing the one who would bethe ultimate sacrifice, Jesus.
All of that came through the Jews
(15:37):
and the promises.
God has made special promises to the Jews
specific to that nationthat he will fulfill.
And what Paul is sayingis, God has chosen you people.
So and he's placed his his love,his choosing of you on him,
not because you're special,but God has placed the revelation
(15:58):
of who he is to the world through you
because of his grace,
not just for you, but for the world.
And then and then Paul says this,and this is a big deal.
Verse five, to them, to thethe Israelites,
the Jews belong the PatriarchAbraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
And from their race,according to the flesh
(16:20):
is the Christ who was Godoverall blessed forever.
Amen.
This is the strongest statementof the divinity of Christ
that Paul makes in all of Scripture.
And what we mean by the divinity of Christis this truth
that Jesus was fully God and fully human.
It's called the hyper static union,
(16:42):
the only one in all of history
to be fully God and fully human.
Jesus had to be fully both
complete deity in flesh.
We used to call it back in the day,God in a bad.
And he had to be that.
Here's why.
Because for sin to be forgiven,it required a perfect sacrifice
(17:04):
and the only perfect eternal sacrificeis God Himself.
But so you and I can't make a charge
against God said,you don't know what it's like to be me.
You've never been me.
Jesus had to also be fully human.
So Jesus can say, oh yeah, I do.
I was tempted in every waylike you and yet without sin.
(17:27):
So Jesushad to be fully both to understand.
So this is Paul strongest statementof the divinity of Christ in
you, saying that this
God has placed his specialness on you
not because you deserve it,but because I've chosen you.
Look at verses six and seven,
(17:47):
but it is not as thoughthe Word of God has failed,
because you made all these promises to theto the Jews.
For not all who are descendedfrom Israel belong to Israel,
and not all are children of Abraham,because they are of his offspring.
But through Isaacshall your offspring be name.
(18:08):
Let me just explain what's going on.
He's saying, God's madeall these promises to his people,
the Jews, and most of them reject him.
So what good are his promises?
Did God fail?
He chose them. They rejected him.
Doesn't seem like a success, right?
Here's what he's saying.
(18:28):
He said that the rejection by the majority
does not negatehis promises to the minority,
that there will always besome of his people who believe
and what he says here.
For not all who descended from Israelbelong to Israel,
and just because they were borna Jew doesn't mean they're God's.
(18:50):
Not all are children of Abrahambecause they're his offspring.
Through Isaac,your offspring will be named.
Now look at verse eight.
This means that it is not the childrenof the flesh who are the children of God,
but the children of the promiseare counted as offspring.
Abraham had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac.
Before Abraham had any sons, God toldAbraham, you're going to have a son.
(19:12):
And he and his wife sure were really old.
They couldn't do it.
And so they were waiting and waiting,waiting for the promise,
the grace of Godto bless them with their son.
They got tired of waiting.
And so, like wethey said, I'm going to do it on my own.
Obviously God's taken too long.
I'm going to do it on my own.
He gets this other gal pregnant name,Hagar, and he has a son named Ishmael.
(19:35):
So that's the son of the flesh.
Later, God fulfilled the promise
through his wife Sarah, and she had a boyand they named him Isaac.
And what Paul is saying here is,just because you're
of the flesh of Abrahamdoesn't mean you're descendant of him.
Only those who are sons of the promise,which is the grace of God.
(19:59):
So every one of us, though Gentile,
are related through the promise to God.
Do you understand?
I'm saying that's Israel,that's spiritual Israel.
So even Gentiles are spiritual Israel
because we're children of the promise.
(20:19):
Some may choose to follow Godthrough the flesh.
The law, the Jews.
It doesn't work.
Those of us who choose to follow Godthrough the promise
spiritual Israelhave the relationship with the father.
You follow, you follow.
God's promise, are still to his people.
He's made other promisesto spiritual Israel
(20:41):
who believe through the promise,not through the work of the flesh.
Look at verse.
Let me jump down to ten.
Oh, let me just say that.
Let me just say this.
Just because someone claimsthe name Israel,
the name of God, doesn't meanthey're people of God.
Similarly, just because someone claimsthe name Christian
(21:05):
doesn't mean they're like Christ.
That's the point Paul is making.
Israel was the part of the.
The L was the name of Godis is that to wrestle with?
And so they claim the name of God,but they're not God's.
Just like how many I how many peopleclaim, yeah, I'm a Christian.
Sure.
(21:27):
Without ever having a relationship.
And so
what Paul saying here islook what Christian means.
It was a derogatory termthat means little Christs.
And the early followers of Jesus were madefun of
by calling them Christians.
Because why would you want to be,Why would you want to be
(21:48):
like a poor itinerant preacherwho was crucified?
That's shameful.
So they made fun of thembecause it was identity with Christ.
What it means to bea Christian is an apprentice of Jesus.
That as I an apprentice of Jesus,I walked so closely to him
I get the dust of his footprintson my clothes.
(22:10):
So though one claims to be a Christian
but doesn't walk as an apprentice
isn't in relationship,that's what Paul saying.
You follow.
So although I may claim the name,when you look at the dust that's on me,
I have the dust of the culture,but not the dust of the Messiah.
(22:32):
I don't act like
I don't date, like I don't post,like I don't talk like an apprentice
and claim the nameall you want, just like the Jews do.
I mean, there's a relationship.
You follow
jump down to verse ten.
And not only so, but also when.
(22:53):
Rebecca, this is a wholenother Old Testament thing had conceived
children by one man, our forefather Isaac,though they they the babies,
though they were not yetborn, had that nothing either good or bad,
in order that God's purpose of electionmight continue
not because of works,but because of him who calls.
She was toldthe older will serve the younger.
(23:15):
As it is written, Jacob, I've loved Esau.
I've hated.
That sound harsh?
Yeah,
it sounds harsh,but let's understand what he's saying.
He's saying Rebecca had these,
had these two babies in her.
(23:37):
And God chose one over the other.
Though they had done nothing yet.
Good or bad,
they were in the womb.
And God chose one over the other,
Jacob over Esau.
And God says, I'm doing it differently.
(24:00):
Normally,the younger would serve the older.
I'm switching it. And here's why.
Because God, in his omniscience
and foreknowledge,knows how these lives are going to go.
He knows the nations
that will come from them,because each will bear nation in them.
And he says, because I know how this isgoing to go, though I will call both.
(24:21):
One will respond, Esau is going to reject
me, and his people that eathim will reject me.
Jacob will choose me.
So because I know he's going to chooseme, I'm going to choose him.
You follow.
And so when the Scripture says, is Jacob,I've loved Esau.
(24:42):
I've hatedwhat he's really saying is not love.
Hey, like I don't like him.
God loved Esau still because he
I mean, he blessed him incredibly,but he didn't choose him for the promise.
What God is sayingis, I have chosen one for the promise.
I have rejected the other for the promise.
It's not a love hatelike I don't like you.
It's a rejection of the promise.
(25:04):
Because he knew in his foreknowledgethat Esau was going to reject him.
So here's what election looks like.
We make the choice to follow God,and we step through the door
and knock on the door.
Behold, if anybody hearsmy knock and opens are all come,
and we open the door and Christ comes inand we think, yeah, I chose him.
And then we look behind usand we see written on the door, yeah,
(25:27):
but I chose you first.
Do you understand?
And chose not.
My God hated. He saw.
He loved him, but he knew thathe was going to reject him, which he did.
Before they done anything,
just like us,we can't do anything to make God love us.
(25:50):
He just offers the invitation
to be his, to receive the promise,
not the work.
Verse 14.
What shall we saythen? Is there injustice on God's part?
By no means.
For he says to Moses,I'll have mercy on whom all have
mercy, and I will have compassion onwhom I'll have compassion.
So then it depends not on human willor exertion, but on God who has mercy.
(26:15):
Again, Paul's going back to Old Testament
and way back in the Old Testamentand Exodus 33 verse 19,
When Moses comes down from the mountain,sees the people
getting stupid, throwsthe law on the ground, breaks the law.
What he's saying is,
in that Old Testamentscenario, God had just downloaded his law.
(26:37):
This is how you walk in step with me.
The moment he gave that law,the people broke it,
which was symbolized by Moses breakingthe statute, the tablets on the ground
and the moment that happened,God said, Moses, I told you,
these people are stiff necked rebellions,and they keep rejecting me.
I'm going to wipe them out and start over.
(26:59):
And that's what Moses said.
But if you do that, kill me first.
That's a no, no, no. Okay, fine.
I'll have compassion.
God, then 3000 people died.
There was consequencefor breaking the law.
No consequence,because that's what the law does.
We can't keep it. We always break it.
(27:20):
And because we break the law, we standas law breakers, condemned to death.
And inthat, in Exodus 33, 3000 people died.
But here's the correlation.
This is what we don't later
in in acts two,
verse 41,
the Holy Spirit is given
(27:41):
by God's grace.
When the law came, was broken.
3000 died. In acts two.
When the spirit was given by grace,3000 came alive,
3000 were saved,and God was painting this picture.
Listen, the law,
you're going to break it.
And the consequences. Death.
(28:02):
That'swhat Paul talked about in Romans 123.
But the gift of Godby his grace is the spirit of life.
And when you make yourself open to that,
you're no longer dead.
And what God said to Abraham backthen is, I will have compassion.
God does say, everybody deserves death.
(28:24):
Everybody. Why?
Because everybody sinned.
Everybody deserves death.
The amazing thing is not thatthat some die.
The amazing thing isthat God had compassion on most.
You do understand that.
And so God says, yeah, my initial reaction
was, I'm done with these people,but I will have compassion.
(28:45):
I will have compassion.
And you know what he says over me and you.
Now your sin deserves death,
but I will have compassion,
I will.
It's a promise.
And watch this.
Verse 17.
(29:07):
For the Scripture
says to Pharaoh, for this very purposeI've raised you up,
that I might show my power in you,
and that my namemight be proclaimed in all the earth.
So then verse 18, he has mercy on
whom whomever he wills,and he hardens whomever he wills.
Again, Paul's going back to Pharaohin the book of Exodus.
And favorite one.
(29:27):
And God had this real interestingdialog ongoing.
And God says, fair.
I set you up so I can show the worldhow great I am.
But Pharaoh kept rejecting Godand rejecting his work.
And in the Biblethere are Pharaoh and God.
And sometimes the Bible saysPharaoh hardened his heart.
(29:47):
And sometimes the Bible saysGod hardened Pharaoh's heart.
So. So his heart gets hardened.
Targets are sometimesit's Pharaoh's choice.
Sometimes says God does it.
Does it make any sense?
Is it just for God to condemn someone
when God's the one who hardened his heart?
(30:09):
Now, yeah,
most of you don't want to answerbecause we're in church
and we're supposed to say the right thing,but it's
here's the difference.
There are two wordsused for hardened between Pharaoh and God.
One is the word.
I'm making the choice to reject you.
The other isI am confirming your choice to reject me.
(30:30):
And so when Pharaoh hardened his heart,
Pharaoh made the choice.
God, I've heard your law.
I've seen your work, and I am choosingto reject you and do my own thing.
And so God confirms hischoice of a hardened heart.
That's how God works with me.
(30:51):
And you.
When we've heard the word,when we've heard the truth,
when we understand the standard,when we get it, it's faith.
Because of God's grace.
And we say, God, no,I'm going to do my own thing.
I'm going to live my own life.
I'm going to make my own standard.
That is you, me choosing a hard heart.
(31:13):
And God will confirm your choice.
That's why the more we sayno to God, the easier
it is to say no to God.
Conversely, when I say God,
my heart is soft and open and tender,and I will respond,
that's my choice.
And God hardens that choice in me.
(31:35):
And the more you and I say yes to God,the easier it gets to say yes to God
to understand.
And that's what he did with Pharaoh.
It's interesting.
God worked through both Moses and Pharaoh.
Both were sinners,and both were murderers.
And one chose to harden
(31:55):
his heart and one chose to soften it.
God confirmed both.
And he will, and you and me to.
Know.
Look,I realize I'm three minutes over already,
and I got verses19 through 33 to get through.
And so I'm to do my best to go fast.
(32:19):
Verse 19.
But you will say to me,why does he, God still find fault?
For who can resist his will?
Who can resist God's will?
But who are you?
Oh man, to answer back to God, well,what's molded say to its molder?
Why have you made me this?
Like this.
Verse 21 has the potterno right over the clay to make out of the
(32:40):
same lump one vessel for honorable use,another for dishonorable use.
Here's what he's saying.
He's going back to the prophet Jeremiah.
Jeremiah chapter 18, versesone through six.
God tells Jeremiah his prophet, go downand watch this potter make some call.
Make some pots out of clay.
So Jeremiah goes to the potter's house
and he sees the potter making clay.
(33:01):
And in this one pothe's got this real hard
like knob of clay that he just can'twork out and mold what he wants to mold.
And so the Potter digs in.
It's like he digs inand he removes that hard piece of clay,
and it puts more water onand keeps molding and molding and molding
and makes out of that claythat's marred and scarred,
(33:22):
that vessel that he wants.
And he's saying,this is what I do with my people.
I'm the potter,
and I can make it out of my peoplewhat I want to make out of my people.
And sometimes they get real nasty,hard stuff stuck in them,
and they won't let me mold them.
And rather than cast them awayand throw them out in the potter's
(33:43):
field, just broken and cast off,I dig that out.
And there might be scars there,and but I dig that out,
and so I can put the water of my spiriton them and keep molding them.
So what right doesthe pot have to say to the potter?
I don't know what I'm doing.
I'm going to make out of you
something that's crafted by me,not because you're a worthy piece of clay,
(34:07):
but because of my grace.
Because my grace is greaterthan your hardness.
You get it.
What if God is trying to showwrath visible?
Verse 22.
What if God designed to show his wrath
(34:27):
and to make knownhis power has endured with much patience?
Vessels of, of wrath
prepare for destruction in orderto make known the riches of his glory.
For vessels of mercywhich has prepared beforehand for glory.
Look at Paul gets hard to understand.
I get it right so much.
You're like, what are you talking about?
I don't even know what you're like.
(34:48):
Let me explain. You're seeing.
He said some vessels are preparedfor wrath.
Not that God made him for wrath.
They prepare themselves for wrathbecause they kept saying no.
So God confirmed their decision.
Say noand they prepared themselves for wrath.
But what if God allowed that to happenso he can show them how impatient he is?
(35:10):
Hasn't God been really
patient with some of us?
I mean,
look, God already knows what a knuckleheadwe've been, so let's just smile about it
and admit it. We've been knuckleheads
and we prepared ourself for wrath.
We kept sayingno, and God's confirmed that decision.
(35:31):
Yet he's still patient
and he's still merciful.
He says, I will still make out of youan object of my grace
if you let me.
So that you can be shownas a vessel for mercy.
And then watch this.
He goes back to Hosea,even as us whom is called
(35:55):
not from the Jews only,but also from the Gentiles,
as indeed verse 25,he quotes this passage from Hosea,
those who weren't my people, I callmy people those who were never loved.
I called, loved the very placewhere is written of them.
You're not my people.
They're going to be calledsons of the living God.
Here's what he's going back to.
Hosea,
if you know the story of the prophetHosea, Hosea had a really tough ministry.
(36:17):
Hosea was a prophet.
And God said, Hosea,I want you to go marry this name,
this girl named Gomer,okay, that's strike one right there.
Like if you're never going to have a babylike don't name her Gomer.
That's I don't know if there's anybodynamed Gomer here I apologize.
But that's just like really like
here's the problem.
(36:37):
Gomer is a prostitute.
So God said marry this woman.
She's going to start hooking.
Like way like I
when I wanted to be a pastor I didn'twant to be that kind of like this. No
he said not onlyis she going to be a prostitute,
she's going to keep prostituting herself.You're going to marry her.
And she was going to have all these babiesfrom all these other men,
(36:59):
and you got to raise them.
Not only that, she's goingto go back to the house, to prostitution,
and you got to go there as an average Johnand buy her out of prostitution.
She's already your wife now.
You got to go pay for her as a prostituteto buy her from her pimp.
(37:20):
So anybody want to go to ministry with me?
Anybody?
No, I wouldn't want to do that.
I'm like, you got to get somebody else.
But here's what God was saying.
We are not Hosea in the story.
We're Gomer.
Because spirituallywe keep prostituting ourselves
(37:42):
to disobedience
and rejecting God
when he has loved usand committed himself to us
and continues to come back to ustime and time and time again.
Those spiritually were whores.
So much so, we bear fruit of sin
(38:05):
and he comes back to usand pays our price.
Not because we were worthy.
Gomer wasn't worthy.
But because he's faithful.
Second Timothy 222.
When you are faithless, I remain faithful.
(38:33):
And God says, I will never divorce you.
I will always choose you.
You don't deserve it.
But I love you and I've chosen you,and I've called you my.
Because my grace is greaterthan your affair
with sin.
(38:56):
You get it?
You just go quickly.
He then goes to Isaiah
and he says, thoughthe number of the sons of Israel
be as the sea,only a remnant of them will be saved.
What he's sayingis what we said in the beginning.
The majority have rejected,but the rejection
of the majority doesn't negate the promiseto the minority because God is faithful,
(39:21):
not because they deserveto receive his blessing, but because he is
gracious and full of mercy.
Let me jump to
30 and 31 and 32
says witness by faith.
But that Israel, who pursued a lawthat would lead to righteousness,
(39:42):
did not succeed in reaching that law. Why?
Because Israel didn't pursue itby faith based on works.
They stumbled over the stumbling stone.
But when it's through the law,the Jews tried that.
They missed faith and they tripped overJesus.
The Gentiles had no idea about the law.
(40:04):
We're just dumband happy, had no idea about God.
And then we hear the message of Jesus
faith by grace and we receive it by faith.
Beautiful.
And Jesus.
The Bible says
in verse 33, he's he's quoting in Isaiah,behold, I'm laying in Zion
(40:25):
a stone of stumblingand a rock of offense,
and whoever believesin him will not be put.
So look, Jesus is offensive to the Jew.
It's just he's just offensive.
Because how does the how does the Messiah,the chosen one, how does God himself
come as a, as a as a,
a homeless
cross?
(40:46):
It's just shameful.
And they look at thatand they think, there's no way.
And God has said it is so simple.
It's not about your religious behavior.
It's not about who you are.
It's about what I've doneand the simplicity of faith and grace.
Don't trip over this.
See, and that's what the Jews have done,not all of them.
(41:09):
And God's still faithful to the minority.
Don't trip over this,
as those who don't understandthe totality of God's law were like,
well, yeah, manifestthrough Jesus. Fine. Give me Jesus.
Don't trip over it.
So because I'm going to take these vessels
(41:30):
and I want to shareand bear the name of God.
You follow.
He is so good.
And so
choose a soft heart
and a responsive heart.
And let God confirm that in you.
(41:55):
Otherwise,
what will be confirmed is your hard heart.
And I want to warn you about that.
Let's pray.
God, thank you.
Thank you for your faithfulnessto your people.
Thank you that down through the air
so we can see how you have chosen those
who weren't worthy to be chosen
(42:17):
as objects of your mercy and your grace.
Thank you that you confirm the choicesthat we choose
about you.
That those who would choose a soft.
That's right.You confirm that in us. Thank
that repentance.
What?
So, dear friends, I invite
(42:38):
to turn a no into a yes
and say father.
God, I agree with your word
that apart from Jesus,I'm separated from you
and I cannot solve that problem on my own.
(43:01):
So give your promise
of both forgiveness and eternal life
through Christ.
As I make the decision to say yes,
confirm that decision in my heart
so that it becomes easier to say,all of you who would so choose this,
(43:24):
I encourage you in this moment,you are profound.
Help us to live in that truth.
Help us live in that truth.
Bible.
You're going to read chapter ninethis week, and as students of the Bible,
you're going to read chapterten and get ready for next week.
This word is profound, man.
(43:44):
It is life changing, a life giving.
And I want us all to experience that.
I love you, it'sbeen good to be here today.
We got one songright. Let's stand up and sing.
just to reiterate what Jeff saidat the beginning, there was a little,
medical issue at the beginning,at the end of last service.
And that's why we got,just holding people off.
So thank you for your patience.
And, I think everything'sgoing to be all right.
But if you think about it,just just put a man named Mark
in your prayers this week, that,he continues to walk.
(00:24):
And I think what what God intervened in,
in a good way. So,
we're in Romans nine,
and we're going to we're goingto we're going to unpack Romans nine.
But before we do, I need
to let you know that, Sean,I got really good news this week.
And yesterday our third grandson was born,which is really cool.
(00:46):
They named him Randy after my dad.
And, he is perfect and precious.
And at the.
I leave today to go to Portland to runthe Discovery Center till Wednesday
of church plantersand a bunch of planters from Ukraine
that were coming over toso I can go do churches there.
And then we
leaveon Friday after I get back to be in Idaho
(01:09):
with our family for a few days,which is going to be a lot of fun.
Our eldest grandson gets to playin his first flag football game,
which is exactly as God intended it to be,
although there is still sin in the world
and he has to be on the Patriots team,which is
really unfortunate.
(01:31):
In chapter nine.
Most people who have read the Bible,
when it comes to Rome and say,I love the book of Romans,
what I've discovered is what they loveis chapter eight
on love the book of Romans.
They love chapter eightbecause we love the idea.
There's no condemnationin Christ. I love that
God works all things together for good.
(01:51):
I love thatnothing can separate him from his love.
I love thatI have no clue what's at nine, ten, 11.
The way the book is, is structuredverse chapters
one through the first part of chapterthree is about the wrath of God,
and that we're separated from God by sin.
(02:12):
The last part of chapter three
all the way through chaptereight, is about the grace of God.
And that'swhat people love from nine, ten, 11.
Those chapters is about the plan of God
specificallyas it relates to the Israel nation.
And then 12 through 16is about the will of God
(02:32):
and how we live this out in the worldas apprentices of Jesus.
And so we finished the sectionon the Grace of God last week,
and we enter this sectionabout the plan of God
specifically as it relates to the, the,the Israel nation.
And so most people, when they read thislike, what does this have to do with me?
(02:55):
There are so many parallels
and so many truths that we can gain
from the study of nine, ten,11 as God relates to his people
and how he relates to those who are notJews, in other words, called Gentiles.
Chapter nine is about his rules past.
Chapter ten is about Israel's present,and chapter 11 is about their future.
(03:19):
And so there isthere's a lot for us in this.
But before we get into it, I need
I just need to give it a little bit of of,
insight as to where thiswhere chapter nine is headed.
It Paul talks a lot about the Jews
and the Jews he talks about are Jews
(03:40):
ethnically those born Jewish
and religiously those who obey Jewish.
So it makes sense.
And then he talks about Gentiles.
That's just a fancy word for non-Jews.
And so biblically, the whole world isdivided, been Jews and Gentiles.
We I haven't checked your DNA,but most of us are Gentiles, okay.
(04:02):
Just non-Jews.
And then as in unpacking
what he does in chapter nineabout the grace of God,
Paul goes back to Jewish HebrewOld Testament, had deep history
because he wants to drive home
the fact that though the Jewshave been called, God shows, right?
(04:23):
Anybody herethat God's chosen people, the Jews.
You heard that even though they're knownas God's chosen, they're God's chosen.
Not because they merit it,not because they're good,
not because there's something valuableinnately in them.
They're chosen because of God's grace.
Just like anybodywho has a relationship with the father
is not becausewe've done something to merit it.
(04:44):
It's because of God's grace.
And so Paul goes back to the OldTestament, deep in the Old Testament
to say, these people are mine,but not because they're so special.
I chose them now because I chose them.
They're special, but I didn't choose thembecause they're special.
Same thing with us.
And so he goes all the way
(05:05):
back to talk,
to talk about the history of Abraham,and then talks about the history of
Ishmael and Isaac,the two sons of Abraham.
And then he talks about Esau and Jacob,the two sons of Isaac.
And then he talks about Mosesthe liberator out of slavery in Egypt.
And he talks about the Exodusand the golden calf.
(05:27):
Exodus 31 3233and then he talks about the prophet
Jeremiah, Leah and Hosea, and Isaiah,and he uses all of this stuff.
This is a deep dive in Old Testament.
Here's part of understanding the Bible.
We cannot understand the New Testament,Matthew through revelation
(05:48):
if we don't understandthe Old Testament that came before it.
And so Paul is writing to thosewho understand Old Testament history,
the Romans, and in Rome, right to Judah.
They understand Old Testament history.
So he draws on all this Old Testament.
So we're going to take a deep diveinto the Old Testament
as you go through chapter nine.You okay with that?
(06:08):
Okay.This is what I love about our church.
Like we don't mindgetting in the weeds of the Bible.
And I love the factthat we're becoming Bible students.
And so if that's already you,you're going to love this.
If this is newer to you, you're gonna belike, wow, that was a whole bunch.
But we'll make it through it.
And so,
(06:29):
Paul has just got doneand through these first eight chapters,
making the case that everybody,
Jew and Gentilealike, are separated from God by sin.
And what has repaired that relationshipis not
the Jewish law of do's and don'ts,but what's repair?
That relationship is faith in Jesusbecause of God's grace, not our own doing.
(06:53):
And so he spent all this time saying,look, I know that you have the law.
I know you've tried to be good,but your religion has failed
because religion cannot make that.
It can't fill in the gap.
The only thing that is faith inJesus is what he did on the cross
because of God's grace.
And so the natural reactionto those statements
(07:16):
from the Jew is,well then what good is being a Jew,
right?
I mean, if non-Jews get what we get,we're supposed to get what good is earned?
Meaning, what good is all this?
Does it even matter?
And Paul's point is that, oh,it matters greatly.
Greatly.
And so to that end, verse onetwo and three, he says this I'm speaking.
(07:39):
Just follow along. Back thereon the computer.
I am speaking the truth in Christ.
I am not lying.
My conscience bears me witnessin the Holy Spirit
that I have great sorrowand unceasing anguish in my heart.
For I wish I could wish that I myselfwere accursed and cut off
from Christ for the sake of my brothers,my kinsmen, according to the flesh.
(08:00):
Here's what he's saying.
He's saying God loves the Jewsso much, and I do, too, that if I could
trade places with those who have rejectedJesus, I would trade places with them.
I would choose to be cursedand damned to hell if,
my brethren,the Jews, could come to faith in Jesus.
Can you imagine? That's what he's saying.
(08:23):
I rememberI read this when I was in high school
and I thought,you have got to be kidding me.
Like when you understand what hell is.
To say, I'll take thatso someone else can be in heaven.
Let me just tell you,I don't love any of you all that much.
I don't know that.
If you understand.
Hell, that's a profound statement.
(08:48):
If you understandhell, you want to do everything
within your power to make sure that those
in your heart all know Jesus.
And Paulisn't just simply being altruistic here.
He is going back to the Old TestamentExodus,
chapter 32 verses 31 and 32.
Let me set the stage.
(09:09):
He knows Old Testament history,and he knows that when Moses
was up on Mount Sinai and met with God,and God downloaded to him
the Ten Commandmentschisel them out and stone Moses.
God's like, hey, Moses, something'sgoing on in the camp down the hill.
You better getthat he's Moses gone for 40 days.
And so Moses goesback down and finds all the
(09:31):
Hebrews.
What would be the Jewishpeople just living in debauchery and sin?
And they'd taken all the gold
they got from leaving Egyptand melted it down and made a golden calf,
and rejected God, who had beenso good of them and liberating them,
and started worshiping a golden calfand God's like.
I'm done with these people.
(09:51):
I'm going to kill them all.
I started without them.
I'll kill themand start over with some other people.
And Moses says,
he says, alas,this people have sinned a great sin,
and they've made for themselvesgods of gold.
Look what he says.
But now, if you will forgive their sin.
(10:11):
But if not, please blot meout of your book that you've written.
He's saying, God, you chose these people.
You've chosen themwhen they didn't deserve to be chosen.
You said you'll be faithful to them.
And if you're not going to be,then white me out of your book.
Moses has said
the same thing that Paul saidMoses said about God's people
(10:34):
when they were running awayfrom him in the desert.
So this isn't something new.
This is profound.
And Moses is reiterating, I'm sorry.
Paul is reiterating what Moses had saidgenerations earlier about God's people.
I wish if they could just come,I would sacrifice my eternity for them.
Now, the good thing is that God doesn'toperate like that.
(10:57):
There's one who did sacrifice herself
for the saving of many,and that was Christ and Christ alone.
But they do understand Paul's heart here.
You feel his heart.
He's got such a love for his people.
Now look at verse four.
They are these these people.
They are the Israelites.They are Israelites.
And to them belong the adoption,the glory,
(11:20):
the covenants, the giving to the law,the worship and the promise.
What he's saying is thesepeople are special, not because there was
something innate in them to begin with,but because God chose them,
and God chose them to reveal to the worldGod's plan.
And he starts from them,from the Israelites, from the Jews
(11:41):
comes the adoption. Now,
earlier when Paul talked about adoption,
we understood that as when a benevolent
person sees something of valuethat's in peril,
adopts them into their family, wipes outall of their bad past, and gives them
(12:02):
all the rights and responsibilitiesand identity of the adopted family.
And that's what God has done to usGentiles.
He's a doll.
He saw something in us.He paid a great price for us.
His son and adoption shownthat we are co-heirs with Jesus, his son.
Now Paul says that same adoptionfirst happened with the Jews.
(12:22):
Here's why.
Because when God started this whole thing,he didn't have a special people.
There was Adam and there was Eve.
And out of Adam came Noahand all these others, all
before Abraham, everybody was
they were just people.
And it was with Abraham in Genesis12 that God says, I will call you out
(12:44):
and take you toand out of you will come, my people.
So even the Jews were adopted by God.
And the reason why God adopted the Jews,
Abraham's offspring is notbecause they were worthy,
and not because they were credible,and not because they were special.
They were the leastof all the people on the earth.
(13:05):
And God said so that I can look good.
I'm going to choose someone like you
as my special people, and I'm goingto put my specialness on you.
Do you understand?
Israel is one of the names of God,
and the people of God bear his name.
Those who struggle with God,that's what it means.
(13:27):
So he put his name on them,not because they were special,
but because he chose thembecause of his grace.
Same thing with me in you.
He has sought us.
He has called usnot because there's something innately
good and special about us,but because of his grace.
Do you understand God?
And the moment we respond to that grace,
(13:48):
then he pours his special ness on us.
So we are special and chosen,but not because of who we are.
And Paul saying,yeah, the Jews are important
because it's through them firstthat the adoption came.
So any Gentiles been adopted into God'sfamily is only there
because God adopted the Jews first,
the special because God means so,
(14:10):
and then he goes through this ordealand the glory.
It's through the Jewsthat the glory of God was revealed.
The glory he's talking aboutis the Hebrew word, Tina.
It's the presence of God.
The presence of Godwas shown to the world in his glory
through the desert, by a pillar of fireat night, and a pillar cloud in the day.
And then when the tabernacle was set up
(14:30):
in the ark of the covenant,all this Old Testament things, God's
glory rested on the ark of the covenant,on the mercy seat.
It was the mercy of God that expressedand held the presence of God.
His glory is said.
It's through the Jews that you evenare aware of the glory of God
and the covenants,
the covenant of land through Abraham,the covenant of law through Moses,
(14:52):
the covenant of the Messiah, of a kingdomthrough David,
the New Covenant in Jeremiah
31 of a new law written on our heartsthat we celebrate in communion.
The covenants,he said, have all come through the Jews.
God chose them.
The giving up the law,the law that that was intended to express,
our inability to keep it and foreshadowthe one who would keep it for us.
(15:15):
That all came through the Jews,the worship,
all the worship elementsthat had to take place through the Jews,
the sacrificial system,the washing of everything.
So one would be able to come into God'spresence,
foreshadowing the one who would bethe ultimate sacrifice, Jesus.
All of that came through the Jews
(15:37):
and the promises.
God has made special promises to the Jews
specific to that nationthat he will fulfill.
And what Paul is sayingis, God has chosen you people.
So and he's placed his his love,his choosing of you on him,
not because you're special,but God has placed the revelation
(15:58):
of who he is to the world through you
because of his grace,
not just for you, but for the world.
And then and then Paul says this,and this is a big deal.
Verse five, to them, to thethe Israelites,
the Jews belong the PatriarchAbraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
And from their race,according to the flesh
(16:20):
is the Christ who was Godoverall blessed forever.
Amen.
This is the strongest statementof the divinity of Christ
that Paul makes in all of Scripture.
And what we mean by the divinity of Christis this truth
that Jesus was fully God and fully human.
It's called the hyper static union,
(16:42):
the only one in all of history
to be fully God and fully human.
Jesus had to be fully both
complete deity in flesh.
We used to call it back in the day,God in a bad.
And he had to be that.
Here's why.
Because for sin to be forgiven,it required a perfect sacrifice
(17:04):
and the only perfect eternal sacrificeis God Himself.
But so you and I can't make a charge
against God said,you don't know what it's like to be me.
You've never been me.
Jesus had to also be fully human.
So Jesus can say, oh yeah, I do.
I was tempted in every waylike you and yet without sin.
(17:27):
So Jesushad to be fully both to understand.
So this is Paul strongest statementof the divinity of Christ in
you, saying that this
God has placed his specialness on you
not because you deserve it,but because I've chosen you.
Look at verses six and seven,
(17:47):
but it is not as thoughthe Word of God has failed,
because you made all these promises to theto the Jews.
For not all who are descendedfrom Israel belong to Israel,
and not all are children of Abraham,because they are of his offspring.
But through Isaacshall your offspring be name.
(18:08):
Let me just explain what's going on.
He's saying, God's madeall these promises to his people,
the Jews, and most of them reject him.
So what good are his promises?
Did God fail?
He chose them. They rejected him.
Doesn't seem like a success, right?
Here's what he's saying.
(18:28):
He said that the rejection by the majority
does not negatehis promises to the minority,
that there will always besome of his people who believe
and what he says here.
For not all who descended from Israelbelong to Israel,
and just because they were borna Jew doesn't mean they're God's.
(18:50):
Not all are children of Abrahambecause they're his offspring.
Through Isaac,your offspring will be named.
Now look at verse eight.
This means that it is not the childrenof the flesh who are the children of God,
but the children of the promiseare counted as offspring.
Abraham had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac.
Before Abraham had any sons, God toldAbraham, you're going to have a son.
(19:12):
And he and his wife sure were really old.
They couldn't do it.
And so they were waiting and waiting,waiting for the promise,
the grace of Godto bless them with their son.
They got tired of waiting.
And so, like wethey said, I'm going to do it on my own.
Obviously God's taken too long.
I'm going to do it on my own.
He gets this other gal pregnant name,Hagar, and he has a son named Ishmael.
(19:35):
So that's the son of the flesh.
Later, God fulfilled the promise
through his wife Sarah, and she had a boyand they named him Isaac.
And what Paul is saying here is,just because you're
of the flesh of Abrahamdoesn't mean you're descendant of him.
Only those who are sons of the promise,which is the grace of God.
(19:59):
So every one of us, though Gentile,
are related through the promise to God.
Do you understand?
I'm saying that's Israel,that's spiritual Israel.
So even Gentiles are spiritual Israel
because we're children of the promise.
(20:19):
Some may choose to follow Godthrough the flesh.
The law, the Jews.
It doesn't work.
Those of us who choose to follow Godthrough the promise
spiritual Israelhave the relationship with the father.
You follow, you follow.
God's promise, are still to his people.
He's made other promisesto spiritual Israel
(20:41):
who believe through the promise,not through the work of the flesh.
Look at verse.
Let me jump down to ten.
Oh, let me just say that.
Let me just say this.
Just because someone claimsthe name Israel,
the name of God, doesn't meanthey're people of God.
Similarly, just because someone claimsthe name Christian
(21:05):
doesn't mean they're like Christ.
That's the point Paul is making.
Israel was the part of the.
The L was the name of Godis is that to wrestle with?
And so they claim the name of God,but they're not God's.
Just like how many I how many peopleclaim, yeah, I'm a Christian.
Sure.
(21:27):
Without ever having a relationship.
And so
what Paul saying here islook what Christian means.
It was a derogatory termthat means little Christs.
And the early followers of Jesus were madefun of
by calling them Christians.
Because why would you want to be,Why would you want to be
(21:48):
like a poor itinerant preacherwho was crucified?
That's shameful.
So they made fun of thembecause it was identity with Christ.
What it means to bea Christian is an apprentice of Jesus.
That as I an apprentice of Jesus,I walked so closely to him
I get the dust of his footprintson my clothes.
(22:10):
So though one claims to be a Christian
but doesn't walk as an apprentice
isn't in relationship,that's what Paul saying.
You follow.
So although I may claim the name,when you look at the dust that's on me,
I have the dust of the culture,but not the dust of the Messiah.
(22:32):
I don't act like
I don't date, like I don't post,like I don't talk like an apprentice
and claim the nameall you want, just like the Jews do.
I mean, there's a relationship.
You follow
jump down to verse ten.
And not only so, but also when.
(22:53):
Rebecca, this is a wholenother Old Testament thing had conceived
children by one man, our forefather Isaac,though they they the babies,
though they were not yetborn, had that nothing either good or bad,
in order that God's purpose of electionmight continue
not because of works,but because of him who calls.
She was toldthe older will serve the younger.
(23:15):
As it is written, Jacob, I've loved Esau.
I've hated.
That sound harsh?
Yeah,
it sounds harsh,but let's understand what he's saying.
He's saying Rebecca had these,
had these two babies in her.
(23:37):
And God chose one over the other.
Though they had done nothing yet.
Good or bad,
they were in the womb.
And God chose one over the other,
Jacob over Esau.
And God says, I'm doing it differently.
(24:00):
Normally,the younger would serve the older.
I'm switching it. And here's why.
Because God, in his omniscience
and foreknowledge,knows how these lives are going to go.
He knows the nations
that will come from them,because each will bear nation in them.
And he says, because I know how this isgoing to go, though I will call both.
(24:21):
One will respond, Esau is going to reject
me, and his people that eathim will reject me.
Jacob will choose me.
So because I know he's going to chooseme, I'm going to choose him.
You follow.
And so when the Scripture says, is Jacob,I've loved Esau.
(24:42):
I've hatedwhat he's really saying is not love.
Hey, like I don't like him.
God loved Esau still because he
I mean, he blessed him incredibly,but he didn't choose him for the promise.
What God is sayingis, I have chosen one for the promise.
I have rejected the other for the promise.
It's not a love hatelike I don't like you.
It's a rejection of the promise.
(25:04):
Because he knew in his foreknowledgethat Esau was going to reject him.
So here's what election looks like.
We make the choice to follow God,and we step through the door
and knock on the door.
Behold, if anybody hearsmy knock and opens are all come,
and we open the door and Christ comes inand we think, yeah, I chose him.
And then we look behind usand we see written on the door, yeah,
(25:27):
but I chose you first.
Do you understand?
And chose not.
My God hated. He saw.
He loved him, but he knew thathe was going to reject him, which he did.
Before they done anything,
just like us,we can't do anything to make God love us.
(25:50):
He just offers the invitation
to be his, to receive the promise,
not the work.
Verse 14.
What shall we saythen? Is there injustice on God's part?
By no means.
For he says to Moses,I'll have mercy on whom all have
mercy, and I will have compassion onwhom I'll have compassion.
So then it depends not on human willor exertion, but on God who has mercy.
(26:15):
Again, Paul's going back to Old Testament
and way back in the Old Testamentand Exodus 33 verse 19,
When Moses comes down from the mountain,sees the people
getting stupid, throwsthe law on the ground, breaks the law.
What he's saying is,
in that Old Testamentscenario, God had just downloaded his law.
(26:37):
This is how you walk in step with me.
The moment he gave that law,the people broke it,
which was symbolized by Moses breakingthe statute, the tablets on the ground
and the moment that happened,God said, Moses, I told you,
these people are stiff necked rebellions,and they keep rejecting me.
I'm going to wipe them out and start over.
(26:59):
And that's what Moses said.
But if you do that, kill me first.
That's a no, no, no. Okay, fine.
I'll have compassion.
God, then 3000 people died.
There was consequencefor breaking the law.
No consequence,because that's what the law does.
We can't keep it. We always break it.
(27:20):
And because we break the law, we standas law breakers, condemned to death.
And inthat, in Exodus 33, 3000 people died.
But here's the correlation.
This is what we don't later
in in acts two,
verse 41,
the Holy Spirit is given
(27:41):
by God's grace.
When the law came, was broken.
3000 died. In acts two.
When the spirit was given by grace,3000 came alive,
3000 were saved,and God was painting this picture.
Listen, the law,
you're going to break it.
And the consequences. Death.
(28:02):
That'swhat Paul talked about in Romans 123.
But the gift of Godby his grace is the spirit of life.
And when you make yourself open to that,
you're no longer dead.
And what God said to Abraham backthen is, I will have compassion.
God does say, everybody deserves death.
(28:24):
Everybody. Why?
Because everybody sinned.
Everybody deserves death.
The amazing thing is not thatthat some die.
The amazing thing isthat God had compassion on most.
You do understand that.
And so God says, yeah, my initial reaction
was, I'm done with these people,but I will have compassion.
(28:45):
I will have compassion.
And you know what he says over me and you.
Now your sin deserves death,
but I will have compassion,
I will.
It's a promise.
And watch this.
Verse 17.
(29:07):
For the Scripture
says to Pharaoh, for this very purposeI've raised you up,
that I might show my power in you,
and that my namemight be proclaimed in all the earth.
So then verse 18, he has mercy on
whom whomever he wills,and he hardens whomever he wills.
Again, Paul's going back to Pharaohin the book of Exodus.
And favorite one.
(29:27):
And God had this real interestingdialog ongoing.
And God says, fair.
I set you up so I can show the worldhow great I am.
But Pharaoh kept rejecting Godand rejecting his work.
And in the Biblethere are Pharaoh and God.
And sometimes the Bible saysPharaoh hardened his heart.
(29:47):
And sometimes the Bible saysGod hardened Pharaoh's heart.
So. So his heart gets hardened.
Targets are sometimesit's Pharaoh's choice.
Sometimes says God does it.
Does it make any sense?
Is it just for God to condemn someone
when God's the one who hardened his heart?
(30:09):
Now, yeah,
most of you don't want to answerbecause we're in church
and we're supposed to say the right thing,but it's
here's the difference.
There are two wordsused for hardened between Pharaoh and God.
One is the word.
I'm making the choice to reject you.
The other isI am confirming your choice to reject me.
(30:30):
And so when Pharaoh hardened his heart,
Pharaoh made the choice.
God, I've heard your law.
I've seen your work, and I am choosingto reject you and do my own thing.
And so God confirms hischoice of a hardened heart.
That's how God works with me.
(30:51):
And you.
When we've heard the word,when we've heard the truth,
when we understand the standard,when we get it, it's faith.
Because of God's grace.
And we say, God, no,I'm going to do my own thing.
I'm going to live my own life.
I'm going to make my own standard.
That is you, me choosing a hard heart.
(31:13):
And God will confirm your choice.
That's why the more we sayno to God, the easier
it is to say no to God.
Conversely, when I say God,
my heart is soft and open and tender,and I will respond,
that's my choice.
And God hardens that choice in me.
(31:35):
And the more you and I say yes to God,the easier it gets to say yes to God
to understand.
And that's what he did with Pharaoh.
It's interesting.
God worked through both Moses and Pharaoh.
Both were sinners,and both were murderers.
And one chose to harden
(31:55):
his heart and one chose to soften it.
God confirmed both.
And he will, and you and me to.
Know.
Look,I realize I'm three minutes over already,
and I got verses19 through 33 to get through.
And so I'm to do my best to go fast.
(32:19):
Verse 19.
But you will say to me,why does he, God still find fault?
For who can resist his will?
Who can resist God's will?
But who are you?
Oh man, to answer back to God, well,what's molded say to its molder?
Why have you made me this?
Like this.
Verse 21 has the potterno right over the clay to make out of the
(32:40):
same lump one vessel for honorable use,another for dishonorable use.
Here's what he's saying.
He's going back to the prophet Jeremiah.
Jeremiah chapter 18, versesone through six.
God tells Jeremiah his prophet, go downand watch this potter make some call.
Make some pots out of clay.
So Jeremiah goes to the potter's house
and he sees the potter making clay.
(33:01):
And in this one pothe's got this real hard
like knob of clay that he just can'twork out and mold what he wants to mold.
And so the Potter digs in.
It's like he digs inand he removes that hard piece of clay,
and it puts more water onand keeps molding and molding and molding
and makes out of that claythat's marred and scarred,
(33:22):
that vessel that he wants.
And he's saying,this is what I do with my people.
I'm the potter,
and I can make it out of my peoplewhat I want to make out of my people.
And sometimes they get real nasty,hard stuff stuck in them,
and they won't let me mold them.
And rather than cast them awayand throw them out in the potter's
(33:43):
field, just broken and cast off,I dig that out.
And there might be scars there,and but I dig that out,
and so I can put the water of my spiriton them and keep molding them.
So what right doesthe pot have to say to the potter?
I don't know what I'm doing.
I'm going to make out of you
something that's crafted by me,not because you're a worthy piece of clay,
(34:07):
but because of my grace.
Because my grace is greaterthan your hardness.
You get it.
What if God is trying to showwrath visible?
Verse 22.
What if God designed to show his wrath
(34:27):
and to make knownhis power has endured with much patience?
Vessels of, of wrath
prepare for destruction in orderto make known the riches of his glory.
For vessels of mercywhich has prepared beforehand for glory.
Look at Paul gets hard to understand.
I get it right so much.
You're like, what are you talking about?
I don't even know what you're like.
(34:48):
Let me explain. You're seeing.
He said some vessels are preparedfor wrath.
Not that God made him for wrath.
They prepare themselves for wrathbecause they kept saying no.
So God confirmed their decision.
Say noand they prepared themselves for wrath.
But what if God allowed that to happenso he can show them how impatient he is?
(35:10):
Hasn't God been really
patient with some of us?
I mean,
look, God already knows what a knuckleheadwe've been, so let's just smile about it
and admit it. We've been knuckleheads
and we prepared ourself for wrath.
We kept sayingno, and God's confirmed that decision.
(35:31):
Yet he's still patient
and he's still merciful.
He says, I will still make out of youan object of my grace
if you let me.
So that you can be shownas a vessel for mercy.
And then watch this.
He goes back to Hosea,even as us whom is called
(35:55):
not from the Jews only,but also from the Gentiles,
as indeed verse 25,he quotes this passage from Hosea,
those who weren't my people, I callmy people those who were never loved.
I called, loved the very placewhere is written of them.
You're not my people.
They're going to be calledsons of the living God.
Here's what he's going back to.
Hosea,
if you know the story of the prophetHosea, Hosea had a really tough ministry.
(36:17):
Hosea was a prophet.
And God said, Hosea,I want you to go marry this name,
this girl named Gomer,okay, that's strike one right there.
Like if you're never going to have a babylike don't name her Gomer.
That's I don't know if there's anybodynamed Gomer here I apologize.
But that's just like really like
here's the problem.
(36:37):
Gomer is a prostitute.
So God said marry this woman.
She's going to start hooking.
Like way like I
when I wanted to be a pastor I didn'twant to be that kind of like this. No
he said not onlyis she going to be a prostitute,
she's going to keep prostituting herself.You're going to marry her.
And she was going to have all these babiesfrom all these other men,
(36:59):
and you got to raise them.
Not only that, she's goingto go back to the house, to prostitution,
and you got to go there as an average Johnand buy her out of prostitution.
She's already your wife now.
You got to go pay for her as a prostituteto buy her from her pimp.
(37:20):
So anybody want to go to ministry with me?
Anybody?
No, I wouldn't want to do that.
I'm like, you got to get somebody else.
But here's what God was saying.
We are not Hosea in the story.
We're Gomer.
Because spirituallywe keep prostituting ourselves
(37:42):
to disobedience
and rejecting God
when he has loved usand committed himself to us
and continues to come back to ustime and time and time again.
Those spiritually were whores.
So much so, we bear fruit of sin
(38:05):
and he comes back to usand pays our price.
Not because we were worthy.
Gomer wasn't worthy.
But because he's faithful.
Second Timothy 222.
When you are faithless, I remain faithful.
(38:33):
And God says, I will never divorce you.
I will always choose you.
You don't deserve it.
But I love you and I've chosen you,and I've called you my.
Because my grace is greaterthan your affair
with sin.
(38:56):
You get it?
You just go quickly.
He then goes to Isaiah
and he says, thoughthe number of the sons of Israel
be as the sea,only a remnant of them will be saved.
What he's sayingis what we said in the beginning.
The majority have rejected,but the rejection
of the majority doesn't negate the promiseto the minority because God is faithful,
(39:21):
not because they deserveto receive his blessing, but because he is
gracious and full of mercy.
Let me jump to
30 and 31 and 32
says witness by faith.
But that Israel, who pursued a lawthat would lead to righteousness,
(39:42):
did not succeed in reaching that law. Why?
Because Israel didn't pursue itby faith based on works.
They stumbled over the stumbling stone.
But when it's through the law,the Jews tried that.
They missed faith and they tripped overJesus.
The Gentiles had no idea about the law.
(40:04):
We're just dumband happy, had no idea about God.
And then we hear the message of Jesus
faith by grace and we receive it by faith.
Beautiful.
And Jesus.
The Bible says
in verse 33, he's he's quoting in Isaiah,behold, I'm laying in Zion
(40:25):
a stone of stumblingand a rock of offense,
and whoever believesin him will not be put.
So look, Jesus is offensive to the Jew.
It's just he's just offensive.
Because how does the how does the Messiah,the chosen one, how does God himself
come as a, as a as a,
a homeless
cross?
(40:46):
It's just shameful.
And they look at thatand they think, there's no way.
And God has said it is so simple.
It's not about your religious behavior.
It's not about who you are.
It's about what I've doneand the simplicity of faith and grace.
Don't trip over this.
See, and that's what the Jews have done,not all of them.
(41:09):
And God's still faithful to the minority.
Don't trip over this,
as those who don't understandthe totality of God's law were like,
well, yeah, manifestthrough Jesus. Fine. Give me Jesus.
Don't trip over it.
So because I'm going to take these vessels
(41:30):
and I want to shareand bear the name of God.
You follow.
He is so good.
And so
choose a soft heart
and a responsive heart.
And let God confirm that in you.
(41:55):
Otherwise,
what will be confirmed is your hard heart.
And I want to warn you about that.
Let's pray.
God, thank you.
Thank you for your faithfulnessto your people.
Thank you that down through the air
so we can see how you have chosen those
who weren't worthy to be chosen
(42:17):
as objects of your mercy and your grace.
Thank you that you confirm the choicesthat we choose
about you.
That those who would choose a soft.
That's right.You confirm that in us. Thank
that repentance.
What?
So, dear friends, I invite
(42:38):
to turn a no into a yes
and say father.
God, I agree with your word
that apart from Jesus,I'm separated from you
and I cannot solve that problem on my own.
(43:01):
So give your promise
of both forgiveness and eternal life
through Christ.
As I make the decision to say yes,
confirm that decision in my heart
so that it becomes easier to say,all of you who would so choose this,
(43:24):
I encourage you in this moment,you are profound.
Help us to live in that truth.
Help us live in that truth.
Bible.
You're going to read chapter ninethis week, and as students of the Bible,
you're going to read chapterten and get ready for next week.
This word is profound, man.
(43:44):
It is life changing, a life giving.
And I want us all to experience that.
I love you, it'sbeen good to be here today.
We got one songright. Let's stand up and sing.
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