Romans 9:25-33

So we are continuing and going to finish now chapter 9 this morning, Lord willing, that I don't fall over on the stage.

! And so let's begin this morning by reading together, beginning in verse 25, and we'll go through the end of the chapter.

As indeed he says in Hosea, those who were not my people, I will call my people.

And who was not beloved, I will call beloved. And in the very place where it was said to them, you are not my people, there they will be called sons of the living God.

And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved.

For the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.

And as Isaiah predicted, if the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, we would have become like Sodom and become like Gomorrah.

What shall we say then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is a righteousness that is by faith.

But that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law.

Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works.

They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written, Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.

And whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.

Join me in prayer.

Father God, we thank you for the precious gift of your word.

We thank you that you inspired Paul to write these words to the believers in Rome.

And that they were recorded and preserved throughout bloody, bloody years of history.

And many attempts to eradicate Christianity from this world.

That these words have survived and have been brought to us for our good this day.

We pray, Father, that you will be generous to us by your Spirit.

That we might hear and understand the value found in these verses this morning.

And we pray this in the precious name of Christ.

Amen.

So, Paul has been building a case from the beginning, just to remind you again where we've been.

It's difficult often to fit our text into the proper context if we don't talk about it.

So, he's built this case from the beginning of Romans that our justification before God, our right standing, is by faith alone.

That it cannot be attained by works.

Whether a Jew who has the law and works at it that way, no matter how zealous they were to attain justification by the works of the law, they were not able to.

Or a Gentile who doesn't have the law, but yet we have the law of God on our hearts.

And therefore, we are just as guilty before him for transgressing that law.

So, all of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, chapter 3.

Right?

And therefore, all of us need a Savior.

All of us need a way back to God.

The only way that could be accomplished was through the blood, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

There must have been a payment for sin.

For God to be fully just, all sin must be punished.

And for the sins of the church, they were punished in Christ.

He took the wrath of God on our behalf.

And we turn to the more practical part of these doctrines.

And he gets us into chapter 8.

He begins to talk about the internal struggle that happens as we still carry on the baggage of our flesh.

It's still difficult to live in this life.

We have the Spirit of God abiding within us.

And yet, it still is so hard.

But once we're regenerate believers, we don't just snap our fingers and things start working for us, do they?

We still have to battle and struggle with our flesh.

And beyond that, there are exterior issues happening to us.

Because we're Christians, the world hates us.

And we're going to suffer.

If you live a godly life, you will suffer for your faith.

And more, we'll suffer just in this world because it's fallen.

It's not the way God intended it to be.

There's sickness and pain.

We're going to suffer.

And then Paul encourages us.

Verse 28.

I hope you're familiar with this.

And we know that for those who love God, all things work for good.

All things.

The momentary trouble of this world is not to be compared with the future glory.

And he drives in a more pointed way the doctrine of election.

See, verse 29 of chapter 8.

For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of a son,

in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

And a question then arises, both in his mind, and I'm sure in the minds of many people he has talked to,

well then what about the Jews?

What about the Jews?

We understood them to be God's people.

We thought they were God's chosen people.

But look at the scores of them that are rejecting the gospel.

Look at how many of them have totally turned their backs on the coming of the Messiah.

The one that they are eagerly waiting for.

And yet, they've rejected him.

And he laments that in the beginning of chapter 9.

He says that he himself wished that he could be accursed, cut off from Christ,

for the sake of his brothers, for the Israelites.

They're the ones that have received all these privileges, verse 4 and 5.

All these blessings of God.

All these things that were meant to show them the Christ.

That they might receive him when he came.

Why haven't they?

Verse 10 and 11 gets into that.

So, it seems so random at this point that he unpacks the doctrine of election for us in chapter 9.

He deals with some of the objections to it.

But it's not at all.

Because the question for these early Christians was,

weren't the Jews God's people?

Weren't they his chosen?

Weren't they the elect?

And look what's happened.

So, it would seem that their disbelief discredits the gospel.

If they were God's special people and they're not receiving it,

then hasn't that somehow discredited the gospel?

The gospel that's been carried now to the Gentiles as well?

So, we've looked at the chapter in that light.

Beginning in verse 6.

That the large rejection of the gospel by Israel does not discredit the gospel.

In fact, it's consistent in verses 6-13 with God's promises.

And we saw together how the promises he made contained within them his sovereign grace.

So, we look at Jacob and Esau.

Before they had done anything good or bad,

God said, Jacob I have loved, Esau I have hated.

Second half of verse 11.

In order that God's purpose of election might continue.

Not because of works, but because of him who calls.

And the following week, it was last week,

we looked at how their rejection is consistent with God's person.

Verse 14-24, Paul uses three first-person direct quotes from God

as he asks these questions.

What shall we say then?

Is there injustice on God's part?

And he answers emphatically, by no means.

No, no, no.

But then God's response to that.

We want to fully understand how the justice of God works.

We want to totally unwrap that and understand it in entirety.

But God's simple response to that is,

I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,

and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.

And we talk about how God is God,

and you are not.

You are a created thing, a pot later on.

And how is it that you as a pot would ever question the potter,

the creator?

We know that there is a tension in the scriptures

between God's sovereign election and man's responsibility.

I will never deny that we must believe.

Repent.

Turn from our sin and believe.

Know that there's nothing good within ourselves.

There's no possible way that we can ever have

a right relationship with God apart from Christ.

We must believe that.

The Bible teaches it to us very clearly.

And so it seems to be a paradox.

It seems to be inconsistent.

You'll hear me call it an apparent paradox,

because it's not.

I don't understand why it's not.

But God said it, and therefore I believe it.

I hope that over the past couple of weeks

you've positioned yourself humbly under the word of God.

Let it come down to you as his words,

the creator God, to a created thing,

and begun to try to see how this doctrine will work

into your life and then spill out of it.

So, we're going to deal with the last two ways

that Israel's large rejection of the gospel is consistent.

It's consistent with God's prophecies,

and it's consistent with God's provision.

So first, let's look at how the unbelief of Israel

is consistent with God's prophecies.

And we find this in verses 25 through 29 of chapter 9,

where Paul quotes from my favorite prophet, Hosea.

You see there in verse 25 and verse 26.

So let's turn to the book of Hosea together.

We're going to take a little jump away from Romans for a bit.

Spend a little time in Hosea to understand this passage,

this incredible commentary on this Old Testament prophet.

Hosea's ministry was in the latter half of the 8th century.

There's some debate about how long exactly it was.

The book itself is a little bit ambiguous

as to the starting and stopping point.

Somewhere between 35 and 66 years

are the guesstimates of how long Hosea ministered.

It's important to know, though,

that it was during the most turbulent time in Israel's history,

just prior to Assyrian exile.

And it's also important to know,

in a moment, you'll understand why,

but it's important to know that he was a contemporary of Isaiah.

His ministry started a bit before,

I think 15 to 20 years before Isaiah came onto the scene.

But they were both together ministering to Israel

at the same time in the latter half of the 8th century.

And Hosea had a very unique calling.

Many of the prophets were asked to do interesting things

to display God's gracious call to his people.

Hosea's, I think, most of all.

He was called to live a real-life pageant

out in front of Israel

as God told him to go take a wife of Hordom,

a harlot.

One who either was that before he married her

or who, in marrying her,

he knew she would be unfaithful to him.

And it was meant to be a picture

of how Israel is with God the Father,

with their holy husband.

So let's look together at verse 2 of chapter 1 in Hosea.

When the Lord first spoke through Hosea,

the Lord said to Hosea,

Go take to yourself a wife of Hordom

and have children of Hordom,

for the land commits great Hordom

by forsaking the Lord.

So he went and took Gomer,

the daughter of Deblame,

and she conceived and bore him a son.

Now this is probably the only child

that he had biologically.

We know that because of the language

that she conceived and bore him a son.

The others were not.

She conceived again, verse 6,

and bore a daughter.

It doesn't say bore him a daughter,

it just says bore a daughter.

So more than likely,

these were children of unfaithfulness.

And he has three.

He has a son,

and then a daughter,

and then a son.

And God gives them prophetic names

that meant something significant.

The first was Jezreel,

which means to scatter.

The second was Lo-Ruhamah,

or no mercy.

And the third was Lo-Ami,

meaning not my people.

It seemed like such a miserable home.

This must have been...

People must have looked at this situation

and just shook their heads at it.

But they should have, right?

They should have looked at this situation

and recognized that this was a picture

of who they were.

That they had been betrothed to God,

and yet they betrayed Him.

They went out and sowed their oats

and had children,

spawned sin.

It was meant to be disgraceful

and look despicable.

So he has these three children.

And then verse 10 says,

Yet the number of the children of Israel

shall be like the sand of the sea,

which cannot be measured or numbered.

And in the place where it was said to them,

You are not my people,

it shall be said to them,

Children of the living God.

That's verse 26 in chapter 9, right?

That's what he's quoting.

You are not my people,

it shall be said to them,

Children of the living God.

So it continues to play out.

There's some action on Hosea's part.

His wife actually leaves him,

and he does some things

that God orders him to do,

some ways in which he protects her.

And the whole thing is meant to be a picture

of the way that even when

we're unfaithful to God,

he continues to be faithful to us.

Hosea finally goes on God's command

in chapter 3.

We won't be reading this today,

but he finally goes,

as God commands him,

and he buys her out of the slave market.

She has gotten herself into a situation

where she now owes so much money

that she's being sold as a slave.

And he goes and he buys her

for a great price.

A huge price.

When you read this,

it just lifts off some things.

We don't really know how much that was.

But the people in Israel understood

the price he paid for her

was immeasurable.

And it's a picture of God

buying us out of the slavery market of sin

with the immeasurable price of Christ.

It's such a cool, such a cool story.

So I want you to go back and read it

at some point later on.

But look with me in chapter 2,

at verse 14.

God says,

Therefore, behold,

I will allure her

and bring her into the wilderness

and speak tenderly to her.

And there I will give her vineyards

and make the valley of Accor

a door of hope.

And there she shall answer

as in the days of her youth,

as at the time

when she came out

of the land of Egypt.

And then skip down to verse 21.

And in that day,

I will answer,

declares the Lord,

I will answer the heavens

and they shall answer the earth.

And the earth shall answer

the grain,

the wine,

and the soil.

And they shall answer

Jezreel.

The same name of the first son,

right?

Which means to scatter,

but it also means,

in Hebrew,

to plant.

To sow.

So he flips the meaning

of the word.

Jezreel.

In verse 23,

And I will sow her

for myself

in the land.

And I will have mercy

on no mercy.

And I will say

to not my people,

you are my people.

And he shall say,

you are my God.

And there's the paraphrase

in verse 25

of chapter 9

in Romans.

And you are welcome

to flip there again

if you'd like.

But verse 25,

Paul quotes,

As indeed he says

in Hosea,

Those who were not

my people,

I will call my people.

And her who was not

beloved,

I will call beloved.

Remember our

no mercy,

our character,

his daughter,

Lo-Ruhamah.

This can also be

translated as

beloved.

So Paul is

quoting

the same,

but using a different

meaning of the Hebrew word,

a different,

a synonym,

so to speak,

of the Hebrew word.

And Paul gives us

incredible

commentary

on this.

So when we're reading this,

the Israelites are

being prophesied to

by Hosea,

and we're thinking,

okay, so God

is speaking to

the Israelites.

They have been,

they've betrayed him,

but yet he is God,

so he's calling them

back to himself.

He's going to

love them just the same.

He's a faithful God,

gracious and merciful.

His loving kindness

never ends.

This is what they're

reading here,

but Paul expands it

for us,

doesn't he?

Because what did it say

in Romans chapter 9,

Romans 9:24

verse 24?

After he has

gone on to talk about

how some vessels

are prepared for destruction

and some are prepared

for mercy,

to be this display

of God's glorious grace

to the vessels of mercy,

it says,

even us,

Paul says,

even us,

wretched,

wretched sinners,

whom he has called,

not from the Jews only,

but also from the Gentiles.

And so here we see

Paul's commentary

on Hosea

is that when God says,

those who are not

my people,

I will call

my people,

it's this great

expansion of the gospel

beyond just

the original

people of faith,

the Jews,

to the Gentiles.

The one full of the Spirit

reading Hosea

would have said,

that's awesome.

He's not just talking

about Jews.

He's talking about

the world.

The gospel now

is going to go forth

from just a people

to the people,

to peoples.

peoples.

This should cause us

to rejoice

the doctrine of election.

Seeing that the Jews

have rejected the gospel

doesn't discredit it

at all.

Because God is

sovereignly working

and calling

His people.

Right?

Verse 6 of chapter 9,

But it is not as though

the word of God

has failed,

for not all

who are descended

from Israel

belong to Israel,

and not all

who are children

of Abraham

are because they

are His offspring.

But through Isaac

shall your offspring

be named.

So we

are Israel.

We are the

descendants

of Abraham

by the Spirit.

That is

awesome,

awesome

truth.

And it goes on

in verse 29.

And as Isaiah

predicted,

concerning

the people of Israel.

Right?

I just lost my place

in my notes.

And Isaiah cries out

concerning Israel.

Excuse me,

in verse 27.

And as Isaiah cries out

concerning Israel.

So he has now

talked about the gospel

expanding to the nations.

And now he's saying,

but as Isaiah cried out

concerning Israel,

though the number

of the sons of Israel

be as the sand of the sea,

only a remnant of them

will be saved.

Where is that language

familiar?

We were just there

in Hosea,

weren't we?

Do you recall

Hosea said that the

people of Israel

should be numbered

as the sands of the sea?

Do you recall

that Hosea

was ministering

to the people

of Israel

a bit prior to

Isaiah

coming on the scene?

So Isaiah

takes this language

and clarifies

for us.

Gives us

some greater

understanding

in Isaiah chapter 10

Isaiah 10:22

verse 22 and 23.

For though your people

of Israel

be as the sand of the sea,

only a remnant

of them

will return.

And he's talking about

return

from Assyrian

exile.

Destruction is decreed

overflowing

with righteousness.

For the Lord

God of hosts

will make a full end

as decreed

in the midst

of all

the earth.

And as Isaiah

predicted,

verse 29,

If the Lord of hosts

had not left his offspring,

he would have been

like Sodom

and become

like Gomorrah.

Also could be

translated

survivors.

So we see

that the gospel

has expanded,

it's gone out,

gone to all the world,

and yet

has not rejected

the Israelites.

Has not rejected

the Israelites.

Paul himself,

an Israelite,

had received

the gospel of grace.

God has not

turned his back

on his original

special people.

Just that the promises

were not what they

thought

at first.

People have always

come to God

by grace alone,

through faith alone.

Always.

And now,

in Christ alone.

The people of old

were justified

before God

because of their faith.

They didn't even

understand how it was

that God would

fulfill his promises,

but they believed

that he would.

Now we know

exactly how he

fulfills his promises

in Christ.

All the promises

of God are

yes and amen.

So he hasn't

rejected Israel.

Chapter 9,

verse 6.

Again,

it's not as though

the word of God

has failed.

Shepherds

in these days

were hired hands.

A shepherd

never owned

his own sheep.

If you owned sheep,

if you had that

kind of wealth,

you hired somebody

to come along

and tend your sheep

for you.

And if a shepherd

was washing the sheep

and didn't do his job

as he should,

and one of those sheep

was carried away

by a lion,

some other threat,

a bear,

remember David

slaying both

a lion and a bear,

one of the sheep

was carried away,

they would actually

go after the remnant

of that animal.

They would try

to bring back

some piece

of the animal

to prove

to the one

who had hired them

that something

had eaten

the animal.

Not that they were

stowing away

a special flock

for themselves,

cutting out a little

of the flock

and putting it

over someplace

for their own good,

or not that they

had slaughtered

and eaten it

themselves,

but that something

had happened

and had carried

that animal

away.

Amos 3,

11 and 12.

Amos wrote,

Therefore,

thus says the Lord

God,

an adversary

shall surround

the land

and bring down

your defenses

from you,

and your strongholds

shall be plundered,

thus says the Lord.

As the shepherd

rescues from the mouth

of the lion

two legs

or a piece

of an ear,

so shall the people

of Israel

who dwell in Samaria

be rescued

with the corner

of a couch

and part

of a bed.

So,

God will,

in fact,

Jesus Christ

will,

in fact,

rescue a remnant

of Israel

to prove

that they're his

and that he did

his job well.

Now,

at this point,

so many of us,

so many of us

want to say,

but how is it fair?

How is it fair?

How is it possible

that this is the God

that we serve?

Isn't that the question

that was asked

in chapter 9,

verse 19?

You will say to me then,

why does he still

find fault?

For who can resist

his will?

Your perspective

of you

is so,

so wrong.

You have not yet

come to grips

with how holy

God is

and how very

not you are.

Mankind

is utterly

spoiled

by sin.

We inherited it

from Adam,

that original sinner,

we are the same.

We are

wretched

before God

apart from Christ.

We are as

filthy

rags.

Ask me later,

I'll explain to you

what that symbol,

that picture

is of.

Recognize that we were

created in the image

of God,

yes,

but that was

spoiled.

world.

A mirror

meant to look

at

perfect,

you've got all

these mirrors

in your house,

they're perfect,

glass,

coated with silver

on the back,

no flaw in them

whatsoever,

but sin

smashed that

mirror to pieces.

We can only see

a bit of the

reflection of God

and who we are

apart from Christ.

Christ,

you have a high

view of man

if you question

God's election.

The question you

should be asking

is why would God

save any of us?

We have all

rejected Him.

We have all stood

as His enemies.

He has set before us

a path

and we have said,

no,

I'm good.

We have said

as all sin

begins with

Satan,

Adam and Eve,

I want to be

God.

I want to be

like Him.

I want to be

the master of my

own life

and I will do

things my way.

We have tried

to set up

our own kingdoms

within the

kingdom of God.

Build armaments

up and battle

against Him.

Why would He

have mercy

on any of us?

Because He's God

is the answer.

Because He's God

and He loves us.

That's what your

mind should do.

Your mind should

be blown open

by the doctrine

of election

to the goodness

of God

towards you.

Right?

Not His unfairness

to others.

If God were

fully fair,

none of us

would be redeemed.

All of us

would be destroyed.

You hear that?

Have you ever

felt the weight

of your sin?

Read through

the scriptures

that men

who have beheld

God,

who have looked

at His holiness,

what do they say?

Whoa,

to me,

Isaiah,

I am a man

of unclean lips.

They fell

on their faces

recognizing

how insignificant

they were

in comparison.

person.

So do you have

a higher view

of yourself

and of mankind

than you should?

Now in turn,

we are humans.

Right?

We should

sympathize

with those

who are lost.

We were once

lost ourselves.

And there's

the great compulsion

for gospel spread.

There's the reason

that we get out

and we love people

and we share

the gospel with them

and we serve

their needs

because we too

were once sinners.

Because we've

experienced the

great gospel of grace

and we want others

to experience it as well.

That becomes

the compulsion.

Election drives us

to that.

It doesn't make us proud.

Rightly understood,

election never

makes you proud.

Never causes you

to sit on your hands

thinking in some way

you're God's special

chosen one.

In fact,

it should humble you.

It should put you

on your face.

It should make you

so appreciative

that all you

care about

are the things

that God cares about.

Because he has

loved you

in spite of you,

not because of you.

That is a proper view.

If you walk out

of here on any Sunday

and you are not

both abased

and gladdened,

we have failed

to preach the gospel.

Let me explain.

If you walk out

of here proud

of who you are,

we failed

to show you

who you would be

apart from Christ.

But if you don't

walk out of here

gladdened

in the good news

of Jesus Christ,

then we failed

to show you

how glorious

you now are

in Him.

What you were

was vile

and spoiled.

What you now

are in Christ

is beautiful

and perfect.

It should abase

and gladden

every Sunday.

And that's what

gives us

the motivation

and the drive

to keep going

and loving

and keep pushing

and driving

through this world

where we will suffer

if we live godly

because we remember

who we were

and now who we are

because of the great

love of God

to us.

That's what

election should do.

You know,

many people

who don't care

for the doctrine

of election

who stand

in direct

opposition to it

are those

who have experienced

Christians who do

believe in the doctrine

of election

and live

totally contrary

to it.

Please don't be

one of those people.

People need to hear

this truth

for their good

and for the great glory

of Jesus Christ.

Romans 11,

1 through 6.

I want to drive

this point again

that the Israelites

have not been

rejected.

I ask then,

and we'll talk about

this in coming weeks,

I ask then,

has God rejected

his people?

By no means.

Again,

that emphatic,

strong,

strongest Greek language,

no,

no,

no,

no,

no,

he's not.

For I myself

am an Israelite,

a descendant of Abraham,

a member of the tribe

of Benjamin.

God has not rejected

his people whom

he foreknew.

Do you not know

what the scripture

says of Elijah,

how he appeals

to God against Israel?

Lord,

they have killed

your prophets,

they have demolished

your altars,

and I alone am left,

and they seek my life.

But what is God's

reply to him?

I have kept

for myself

7,000 men

who have not

bowed the knee

to Baal.

So too at this

present time

there is a remnant

chosen by grace.

But if it is by grace,

it is no longer

on the base of works,

otherwise grace

would no longer

be grace.

So you see here,

you have Elijah

that cries out to God,

destroy Israel.

I'm the only one left

that hasn't bowed

the knee to Baal.

You destroy them

because they deserve it.

And God says,

wait a second,

Elijah,

I've actually preserved

for myself a remnant.

I'm still working

with my people.

So recognize

that that's the truth.

What does he say

there at the end?

If it's by grace,

it is no longer

on the basis of works.

And so secondly,

and finally today,

the unbelief of Israel,

their large rejection,

is consistent

with God's provision,

his way of salvation.

That's what I mean by that.

I had to get the P

to fit in there.

But with his way

of salvation.

And we see that

in verse 30 through 33.

That's been a little while

since we read it,

so let's read it together again.

What shall we say then

that Gentiles

who did not pursue righteousness

have attained it?

That is a righteousness

that is by faith.

But that Israel

who pursued a law

that would lead to righteousness

did not succeed

in reaching the law?

Why?

Because they did not

pursue it by faith.

But as if it were

based on works,

they have stumbled

over the stumbling stone

as it is written,

Behold,

I am laying in Zion

a stone of stumbling

and a rock of offense.

And whoever believes in him

will not be put to shame.

There's a continuing drive

throughout the book

of Romans.

Justification by faith,

not by works.

Justification by faith,

not by works.

The law

is a righteous picture.

It's meant to be

the way

those of faith live.

We can't do it

apart from the grace of God.

It was fulfilled

in Christ.

Jesus starts the Sermon

on the Mount

out that way.

Right?

He didn't come to abolish

the law,

but to fulfill

the law.

It's in him

is the yes

and the amen.

Right?

And the Jews

were zealous

in their pursuit of God,

but they missed

the point.

Right?

They missed the point.

The law

was meant

to point them

to Christ.

The sacrificial system,

when they betrayed the law,

was meant to show them

the need

of a final

and ultimate sacrifice,

but they missed it.

Right?

Their hearts

were darkened

and they thought

somehow that they had

the patent on God,

that they owned him.

They thought

they were God's manager.

They missed the point.

So,

it's by faith,

grace alone,

through faith alone,

and Christ alone,

forever,

right?

As our song says.

And so,

they stumble

over the stumbling stone.

Isaiah 8,

14 and 15.

And he will become

a sanctuary

and a stone of offense

and a rock of stumbling

to both houses of Israel,

a trap and a snare

to the inhabitants

of Jerusalem,

and many shall stumble on it.

They shall fall

and be broken.

They shall be snared

and taken.

Also,

Isaiah 28, 16.

Therefore,

thus says the Lord God,

Behold,

I am the one

who's laid a foundation

in Zion,

a stone,

a tested stone,

a precious cornerstone

of a sure foundation.

Whoever believes

will not be in haste

or will not be disappointed

or will not be put to shame.

In all ways,

that word can be translated

from the Hebrew.

So,

Christ himself

is the cornerstone,

the necessary element,

the way that was laid out

that all things be built

around him.

That's the purpose

that the cornerstone

served

in building

in this time.

Extremely valuable.

Without it,

the whole building

would fall.

And Christ is that cornerstone.

Yet,

for those

who think

they can reach

God

by works,

as they're pursuing

God in works,

Christ is laid

in front of them

and they fall over him

and they're crushed.

They're destroyed

because they're works.

That's ultimately

what all of our works

are going to buy us.

But our faith

in Christ

buys us eternity

with him.

Romans chapter 4.

Romans 4 · chapter mention

We're going to go back

and I want to re-read

to you

the argument

he makes

concerning Abraham.

So,

so Abraham

was given a command

to get up and go,

leave his people,

to go to a promised land.

He was given a promise

that God would bless

the nations in him.

It would seem

in reading the narrative

without any commentary

whatsoever

that it was Abraham's

obedience,

his working

that was the value.

Right?

But it was his faith

that justified him.

It was his faith

in believing

in the promises of God.

The working,

the getting up

and the going

was the result.

It was the action.

It was the evidence

of his faith.

His willingness

to sacrifice

his own son

was the evidence

of the fact

that he believed God.

He believed

that God was going

to bless the nations

in him,

that his offspring

were going to be

as the stars,

but yet God

was calling him

to kill his only

son.

He believed

that God was going

to do the thing

he said he was going

to do,

and therefore

the taking of Isaac

and his apparent

willingness to kill

his son at God's

command was the

evidence of the faith,

but it was the faith

that justified him.

So, look with me

at chapter 4.

What then shall we say

was gained by Abraham,

our forefather

according to the flesh?

For if Abraham

was justified by works,

he has something

to boast about,

but not before God.

For what does

the scripture say?

Abraham believed God,

and it was counted

to him as righteousness.

Now to the one

who works,

his wages are not

counted as a gift,

but as his due.

And to the one

who does not work,

but believes in him

who justifies the ungodly,

his faith is counted

as righteousness.

Just as David

also speaks

of the blessing

of the one

to whom God

counts righteousness

apart from works.

Blessed are those

whose lawless deeds

are forgiven,

and whose sins

are covered.

Blessed is the man

against whom the Lord

will not count his sin.

Is this blessing

then only for the circumcised

or also for the uncircumcised?

We say that faith

was counted to Abraham

as righteousness.

How then was it counted

to him?

Was it before

or after he had been

circumcised?

Which is a work.

You get that, right?

Circumcision would be a work.

It was not after,

but before

he was circumcised.

He received the sign

of circumcision

as a seal

of the righteousness

that he had by faith

while he was still

uncircumcised.

The purpose was

to make him

the father of all

who believe

without being circumcised

so that righteousness

would be counted

to them as well.

And to make him

the father of the circumcised

who were not merely

circumcised,

but who also walked

in the footsteps

of the faith

that our father Abraham

had before

he was circumcised.

So you're catching that?

Interject in there

anything he did

as a result of his faith.

It wasn't his works

that justified him

before God.

It was his faith.

Ephesians 2, 18-21

Through him being Jesus,

we both have access

in one spirit

to the Father.

So then you are no longer

strangers and aliens,

but you are fellow citizens

with the saints

and members

of the household of God

built on the foundation

of the apostles

and prophets.

Christ Jesus himself

being the cornerstone

in whom the whole structure

being joined together

grows into a holy temple

in the Lord.

I want to answer

all of your questions.

I have some answers

to some questions,

but there are so many

that I cannot answer.

How it is

that this tension exists

between God's sovereignty

and man's responsibility

is beyond me.

And let me tell you,

it's beyond anybody

who claims they understand it.

No one understands it.

The scripture doesn't speak to it

in its completion.

For us,

it's to accept

both of those truths.

God sovereignly elects his people.

He calls them.

He regenerates them.

He causes them

to believe in him.

Yet we are held accountable

for our faith.

If we do not place

our faith in Jesus Christ,

we are condemned.

But if we do,

we are glorified.

We hold the responsibility.

This doctrine is not meant

to discourage your faith.

It's meant to encourage it.

If you have affections

that are moving towards God,

that's not natural.

Your flesh does not desire God.

But if you're being moved

towards him,

you can rest

that he is at work

in your life.

Repent.

Believe.

Do that for the first time today

if you never have.

Do it again

and again

and again

if you ever have.

The answer to everybody,

to all of our problems,

is repent.

Believe.

Turn from your sin.

Turn to God.

He's the only one

that can put us back

in right relationship

with him.

We remind you

that this doctrine

does some very specific

practical things for us.

Specifically,

it serves as a comfort

to our souls.

I was just talking about this.

Romans 8, 31.

What then shall we say

to these things?

If God is for us,

who can be against us?

If we are gods,

who can stand against God?

It should comfort your soul

in any trouble

you may experience.

Right?

It could be the very words

you need to speak

to somebody around you

that may be experiencing

something difficult.

If God is for you,

who can be against you?

You are His.

It should cause us

to praise God.

If we are humbled,

properly humbled,

because of who God is,

we will be moved

to praise Him.

If we understand

who we are

apart from Him,

we will praise His name.

Remember that Paul

is moving this entire argument

to the end of chapter 11

to this beautiful doxology.

It's a glorious doxology.

Oh,

the depths of the riches

and wisdom

and knowledge of God!

How unsearchable

are His judgments

and how inscrutable

His ways!

For who has known

the mind of the Lord

or who has been

His counselor

or who has given

a gift to Him

that He might be repaid?

For from Him

and to Him

and through Him

are all things.

To Him be glory forever.

Amen.

That's where your heart

should be

as you consider

these things.

It should also

encourage us

to evangelism.

I told you the story

of how I'm

trying to be a hunter

a couple of weeks ago

and I don't really

I've not killed anything yet

so I think I'm going to

kill someone

before I call myself

a hunter.

But I've been trying

and I've actually been

hunting here on this property.

There's some deer

that move on it

and I told you

that if God

guaranteed

how something

would happen

like He said

listen

you go in those woods

you're coming out

with a deer

I promise you

this morning

you're going to

drag it out.

I would be so

encouraged to go.

But when I wake up

at 5 o'clock

in the morning

wondering

if I should get up

and go

I'm kind of

trying to hack

the stuff out

of my lungs

and trying to get

ready for the day

and get going

and it's kind of like

I really want to

go sit in the woods

for an hour

before dark.

I really want

to go do that.

If there was a guarantee

that I'd get the deer

that morning

I would definitely go.

This last Friday

I was sitting

in the woods

and hadn't been sitting

for more than

5 minutes.

I was sitting

in a blind

on the ground

and I wasn't there

more than 5 minutes

and a buck

walked out

right next to me

and I didn't hear it

until it was

right next to me

so all I can figure

is that it was

bedded down

in the ditch

behind the tree

I was sitting against.

I heard 3 steps

and it was standing

right here

and it walked around

in front of me

I mean my feet

were out

straight in front

of me

and I probably

could have scooted

and kicked it.

It was that close

it was right there

and I won't tell you

the rest of the story

for the sake of time

I didn't kill the deer

it was really dark

and it got scared

by a truck

and ran away

but if I could

guarantee that again

like if I knew

that tomorrow morning

when I'm planning

on getting back out there

that that was definitely

going to happen again

I would go right?

I'm motivated

to see this happen

I would sit down

at the base of the tree

with my bow drawn

because that would have

been an easy shot

right?

So knowing that God

has people

and God intends

to call them

and he's going

to do it

should motivate us

to go

experience him

by seeing him

fulfill his plan

be part of

his redemptive purposes

chapter 10

verse 14 and 15

here's

recall

this isn't random

this isn't like

10, 14 and 15

let's pull it out

of its context

what has Paul

been talking about?

he's been talking about

the sovereign election

of God

right?

that's

it's consistent

that some of Israel

was meant to reject him

so that the Gentiles

can be brought in

he says

how will they call on him

in whom they have not believed

and how are they to believe

in him of whom they have

never heard

and how are they to hear

without someone preaching

and how are they to preach

unless they are sent

as it is written

how beautiful are the feet

of those who preach

the good news

Paul himself recognizes

that God uses means

for his end

and guess what church

we're the means

God loves us enough

to include us

in his master plan

it's glorious

and all of these things

are a result

of our affections

being moved

towards God

this great joy

that we have

as a result

of God's

unfounded love

in our own being

poured out upon us

immeasurably

for us

that will motivate

the proper living

that we need

to glorify him

let's pray together

God bless you

God bless you

God bless you

God bless you