Romans 9:1-5

Well, a very good morning to you all.

I'll ask that you take out your copy of God's Word and turn to Paul's letter to the Romans.

! We're going to continue our study today, beginning in chapter 9.

And before I go further, I want to distract you for a moment from this in the hopes that you won't be distracted later.

And I don't even know if you can really see it anymore, but I look like I got punched in the face.

My nose is a bit bruised and swollen.

I did, in fact, get in a fight with a deer stand, and it won.

And I've noticed this morning that as the swelling has gone down, I think my nose is a little more crooked than it was before.

And I'm told that beautiful people have symmetrical faces.

I already wasn't a beautiful person, so I don't really care.

I think my nose is a little off to this side after the fact.

But that's what happened here.

And now we can focus on what's going on in Paul's letter to the Romans, beginning in chapter 9.

Before we read that together, the first five verses is what we're going to study today.

I just want to remind you of where we've been in the book of Romans.

Starting out with the theme, chapter 1, verse 17, Paul says,

For in it, being the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith.

As it is written, the righteous shall live by faith.

And he's been building a case in the first eight chapters that righteousness comes to us.

A right standing with God comes to us by faith alone.

There is nothing we can do to earn God's favor.

It is given to us freely as a gift.

And he works through.

The believers here in Rome would have been both Gentile and Jewish believers.

And so he deals with them, saying that the Gentiles have no excuse for their sin against God.

And the Jews have no excuse for their sin against God.

And chapter 3, none is righteous, no, not one.

Every one alive has transgressed God's law and have sinned against Him.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Chapter 3, verse 23.

Then he goes on to talk about how we've been set free from the demands of the law to live by the Spirit.

And we work through some of the logic of that.

And he talks then in chapter 8 about what life in the Spirit looks like and how it's a struggle because we still carry around the burden of our flesh.

Our old self, the sinful self, still corrupts us.

But we have the Spirit of God in us now.

And there's a conflict that happens as we endeavor to live the Christian life.

And beyond that, we suffer externally as well.

So both internally and externally, there's going to be suffering in this world for Christians.

Life doesn't get easy when you place your faith in Christ.

And he finishes chapter 8 with beautiful and precious words, beginning in verse 28.

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

For those who are called according to His purpose.

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 those whom He predestined, He also called.

And those whom He called, He also justified.

And those whom He justified, He also glorified.

God is sovereign over all things in our life from the beginning to the very end.

He's written it out.

And it will come to pass.

Verse 31.

What then shall we say to these things?

If God is for us, who can be against us?

He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?

Who shall bring any charge against God's elect?

It is God who justifies.

Who is to condemn?

Christ Jesus is the one who died.

More than that, who was raised.

Who is at the right hand of God.

Who indeed is interceding for us.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

Lord, as it is written, for your sake we are being killed all the day long.

We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come,

nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation,

will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Because He is sovereign over our salvation.

Because we are His.

Because He made us His.

And therefore, that cannot change.

What a thing to rejoice in.

And then we come to the beginning of chapter 9.

And as I said last week,

I at times wish that He had just skipped to the beginning of 12.

And just not talked about the next three chapters.

It seems random.

It seems like an insertion in His flow of logic.

However, it's not.

So let's read the first five verses.

I am speaking the truth in Christ.

I am not lying.

My conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit

that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.

For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ

for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen, according to the flesh.

They are Israelites.

And to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants,

the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.

To them belong the patriarchs.

And from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ,

who is God over all, blessed forever.

Amen.

Join me in a word of prayer.

Father God, I thank you this morning that we can come to your word,

that you have given us spiritual eyes to see it and hear it and apply it.

But I pray, Father, that you will help us with that this morning.

That you will find us coming humbly to be spoken to by you.

We won't stand over the word judging you,

but we will put ourselves underneath it and we will learn.

And I pray that our learning will lead to different living this day.

And I pray this in Christ's name.

Amen.

So Paul suddenly turns to speak of the Jews.

And he does so because he's anticipating the questions.

He's built this case all throughout Romans so far.

Justification by faith alone.

And he hammers it home at the end of eight.

Our salvation is God's doing.

And because of that, we are secure in him.

We are saved for future glory.

That is joy for life.

We can endure anything because we're gods.

But then people will say,

Paul himself, a Jew, would say,

But what about Israel?

What about the Jews?

Aren't they God's special people?

And we see that many of them are not receiving Christ.

Many of them are hardened and turning away.

Many of them still are practicing the old Jewish rites.

What about them?

And he laments that.

Verses 1 through 3.

Paul is burdened by it.

He has great sorrow and unceasing anguish on behalf of the Israelites.

He says that he's speaking the truth in Christ.

He's not lying.

His conscience bears witness in the Holy Spirit that this is how he feels.

And he knows that he can't give away his salvation.

But that if he could, he's saying, honestly, I would.

If I could trade myself for the sake of the nation of Israel, I would do it.

He says, for I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers.

He means that.

That's a guttural thing he's saying to us.

I would consider myself accursed, separated forever from Christ for the sake of the Israelites.

To the Jewish readers of this letter, those hearing it, read to them.

This would have been striking to them, Paul's opinion.

Paul's desire for them to come to Christ.

Because Paul reflected the heart of Moses.

The Jewish believers would have known their Old Testament.

And in Exodus 32, 31, this is after the golden calf has been created and worshipped in the valley.

Moses is up meeting with God on Mount Sinai, receiving the Ten Commandments.

You'll remember he comes down off the mountain, is so angered that he breaks the tablets.

He then gets a group of men that go through the people, slaying people, setting that right.

He goes back up on the mountain to meet with God.

He goes back to God's presence.

And he pleads for the people.

In Exodus 32, 31, it says,

So Moses returned to the Lord and said,

Alas, this people has sinned a great sin.

They have made for themselves gods of gold.

But now, if you will forgive their sin.

But if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written.

He says the same thing.

You can blot me out of your book for the sake of your people.

It's also the heart of Christ.

Matthew 23, 37, Jesus says,

Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it.

How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings?

And you were not willing.

So Paul properly cares for Israel.

They were God's special people.

And he goes on to tell us how it is that they were.

We see in verses 4 and 5 that Israel was uniquely blessed with eight privileges.

Uniquely blessed with eight privileges.

These were all privileges ultimately designed to show them Christ.

Paul is heartbroken because according to the flesh, by all human understanding,

if any people should have understood who Jesus was, it should have been the Israelites.

They had a picture constantly being painted before them of their great need of a savior.

And he came and so many missed it.

So from purely human understanding, they should have all followed Christ.

And yet so few did.

And he's going to work that out in further degree in the coming chapters

as he talks about God's sovereignty over the salvation of all of his people,

including those of us who are not Jewish.

I don't think anybody in here is probably of Jewish descent.

That's okay if you are.

I'm actually happy if you are.

That's fantastic.

I'm not.

I'm a Gentile.

The other category of people that the gospel has been carried to.

And you have here even Paul who has been given a special mission to the Gentiles,

but yet has this great love and concern for the Israelites.

So let's look at these eight privileges together.

As Israelites, they have received, number one, the adoption.

As God's people.

Isaiah 46, verses 3 and 4.

Isaiah 46:3

It says,

Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel,

who have been born by me from before your birth,

carried from the womb.

Even to your old age I am he,

and to gray hairs I will carry you.

I have made and I will bear.

I will carry and will save.

There's lots of language in the Old Testament,

speaking of Israel being the children of God.

And yet they missed that in him was the adoption that came through Christ.

Romans chapter 8.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

We see in verse 15,

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,

but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons,

by whom we cry, Abba, Father.

Verse 16,

The spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

And they missed that.

Secondly, the glory.

I had so much fun studying this little phrase.

To Israel belongs the glory.

What Paul is referring to is the visible presence of God.

The glory.

The visible presence.

It's not in the Bible anywhere,

but later on Jewish scholars have called this Shekinah.

So if you ever hear that phrase,

Shekinah glory.

Shekinah means the glory.

It's that visible thing that the Israelites could see

that represented God's magnificence.

And the first mention of it is in Exodus 13,

when the Israelites are led out of Egypt.

They were led by a pillar of cloud during the day

and a pillar of fire by night.

These are the best explanations we get of what these things looked like.

I do not know if it was actually billowy,

cumulus kind of cloud.

I highly doubt it.

But that was the words that they had to say.

It looked like a pillar of cloud by day

and a pillar of fire by night.

But what we tend to forget

is that for 40 years,

the Israelites wandered in the wilderness

and it was with them all that time.

The Sinai Desert is a really, really phenomenal place.

One of the most difficult places to survive on Earth.

The mean temperature throughout the year

in the Sinai Desert during the day

is 150 degrees Fahrenheit.

You know that?

I had no idea.

150 degrees.

The mean temperature at night in the Sinai Desert

is 35 degrees Fahrenheit.

So on an average day in the Sinai Desert,

the temperature change is 115 degrees.

Can you believe that?

God led his people,

which is estimated to be 2.5 to 3 million people,

into a place that we would have to be

so equipped to survive.

There have been a number of expeditions,

successful ones and not.

The ones that survived were very well equipped

to survive exploring the Sinai Desert

and yet God protected with a cover during the day

that cloud that spread out over the people

and shaded them,

2.5 to 3 million people,

during the day

and by night was as fire

and it kept them warm.

Isn't that phenomenal?

When Moses erected the tent of meeting,

there would be a funnel

that would come down from the cloud

and would rest over the tent of meeting.

And God used that to show them

when it was time for them to pick up and move

and when he wanted them to encamp.

So when that lifted,

they would pack everything up

and the cloud would move

and they would go with it.

And when it rested down,

that's where they would stop.

For 40 years,

God's glory dwelt with the people in this way.

That's one of the great miracles of the Bible.

Ask somebody to list off the miracles of the Bible.

Most people would totally miss that.

But for 40 years,

God cared for his people with his glory.

Sometime after they go into the promised land,

there's not a mention of it any longer.

But we do know

that God's glory dwelt in the Holy of Holies

when the tabernacle existed

and then when the temple was built.

Actually dwelt physically.

The priest, the high priest,

would go in there

and actually see this glory.

The cloud.

Not exactly sure what it looked like,

but would actually go

and see the physical glory of God.

And then we see in Ezekiel chapter 11

Ezekiel 11 · chapter mention

as a punishment to the people of Israel.

It finally leaves.

It's carried.

Ezekiel sees in a vision

the cherubim,

carry it to the Mount of Olives,

which interestingly is where Jesus also ascended,

carry it to the Mount of Olives,

and then the glory leaves.

It goes back to heaven.

Isn't that awesome?

When do we see it again?

When does it come back?

I hope your mind's running right now.

When does the glory of God,

the physical picture of who he is,

come back to his people?

The birth of Jesus Christ.

At the birth of Jesus Christ.

The shepherds sitting in the field,

and they were surrounded by glory,

not language.

That's when it comes back

and then manifests in Jesus himself.

2 Corinthians 4, 6 says,

For God who said,

Let light shine out of darkness,

has shone in our hearts

to give the light of the knowledge

of the glory of God

in the face of Jesus Christ.

Isn't that phenomenal?

So the Israelites,

those who Paul is lamenting over here,

had this picture

that finally was realized in Christ.

He came and he walked amongst them.

And then he ascended

from the Mount of Olives.

And guess what?

He's coming back.

1 Thessalonians 4, 17 says,

Then we who are alive,

who are left,

will be caught up together

with them in the clouds

to meet the Lord in the air.

And so we will always be with the Lord.

And this would be read or rendered

with them in the cloud.

The Greek term used here

is the same Greek term used

in the Septuagint,

which the Septuagint

is the Greek translation

of the Hebrew Old Testament.

It's the same word used

of the glory.

The cloud,

the fire that led

the Israelites,

that covered them,

it's the same word used.

So,

for Thessalonians,

Paul's not saying

that we're going to be

all sopping wet

because we're going to be

in the clouds,

right?

But we're going to be

enveloped by God.

I don't know what it's going to look like,

but by the glory

of the Lord.

That's phenomenal.

And they had this picture.

And those who were alive

in this day

knew this.

They had a history

told to them

of how God had dealt with them.

And they missed the fact

that it was

the Christ.

Number three,

they had the covenants.

God made many promises

to the people of Israel

throughout the Old Testament.

The three major ones

are the Abrahamic covenant,

the Mosaic,

and the Davidic.

Right?

So to Abraham,

he gave the covenant of blessing,

which is found in Genesis 12,

2 and 3.

To Moses,

the covenant of the law,

Exodus chapters 19 through 21.

Exodus 19 · chapter mention

To David,

the covenant

of an eternal kingdom,

2 Samuel 7,

8 through 16.

These were the promises

given to the people.

Acts 3, 25 and 26

is when Peter's preaching

on the day of Pentecost.

And he says,

You are the sons of the prophets

and of the covenant

that God made with your fathers,

saying to Abraham,

And in your offspring

shall all the families

of the earth be blessed.

God,

having raised up his servant,

sent him to you first

to bless you

by turning every one of you

from your wickedness.

The covenants

were given

as a picture

of what was to be fulfilled

in Christ.

Chapter 9,

verse 6.

Drawing beyond

where we are today,

but Paul says,

It is not as though

the word of God

has failed,

for not all who are

descended from Israel

belong to Israel.

The covenant promises

of God

have extended beyond

just the nation of Israel

as they understood it

to the true Israel,

the church.

We get to get into

all of that

in a greater degree later.

But the covenants

were meant

to show us

that these promises

that God made

would not fail,

but they just

looked different

than the Israelites thought.

the fulfillment

of them

was not

what they

expected.

Number four,

the giving of the law,

which was

God's standard

of righteousness.

This came

to the Israelites

and told them,

this is how you must live

to be found right

in me,

and was meant

to teach them

that there was no way

they could possibly

fulfill the law.

That's where

the sacrificial system

came in,

all as a shadow

of what was to come

in Jesus Christ,

the spotless land,

the perfect sacrifice

for sins.

Galatians 3,

10-14,

it says,

For all who rely

on works of the law

are under a curse.

For it is written,

Cursed be everyone

who does not abide

by all things

written in the book

of the law

and do them.

Now it is evident

that no one justified

before God

by the law,

for the righteous

shall live

by faith.

But the law

is not of faith,

rather the one

who does them

shall live by faith.

Christ redeemed us

from the curse of the law

by becoming a curse

for us.

For it is written,

Cursed is everyone

who hanged on a tree,

so that in Christ Jesus

the blessing of Abraham

might come to the Gentiles

so that we might receive

the promised spirit

through faith.

The law was meant

to point

to the coming

of Christ.

Now in the West here,

we think,

in our logic,

we think very linearly.

So,

A plus B

equals C.

It's a very linear logic.

If this is true,

then this must be true.

That's how we think.

Eastern logic

does not work

in that way.

Eastern logic

says,

not this,

or this,

or this,

or this,

but this.

Eastern logic

tells you

all the things

that can't be

so that it can show you

what can be.

That's what the Old Testament

does for us.

Gives us all these pictures

of what can't be

so that we see

when the can be

arrives

in

Jesus Christ.

That's what the law

was meant to do.

Which leads us to the next one.

The worship.

Some translations

might render that

or the temple service.

What Paul's referring to here

is the sacrificial system.

That was given

to the Israelites

to again show them

that when they

transgressed the law,

blood was required

and there were

so many

different sacrifices

that had to take place.

There's actually

five different types

of offering.

For the sake of time,

I won't get into them,

but these things

happened continually.

Those of you

who have been here a while

probably are tired

of hearing me say this,

but the temple

was an incredibly

busy place

and you have to understand

what was going on there.

Constant sacrifice

happening

day in and day out.

There's a whole tribe,

the Levites,

their job

was to carry out

this process.

They didn't do

any other work.

They didn't have time.

All they did

was make sacrifice

for Israel

day in and day out.

The blood flowed

constantly.

A special day

of the year

was the day

of atonement.

The day when

the high priest

went into the

holy of holies

and made a special

sacrifice.

Many of these

sacrifices

were meant to

cover unintentional

sins.

Sins that

the Jewish people

didn't even know

they had committed.

Unknown

sins.

It was a

phenomenal system.

You would have to be

highly trained

to be a priest

because the processes

that you had to go

through to carry out

the sacrifices

properly were

amazing.

Ephesians 5.2

says,

Christ loved us

and gave himself

up for us

a fragrant

offering and

sacrifice to God.

Hebrews 7.27-28

Writer of Hebrews

says,

He has no need

like those high

priests to offer

sacrifices daily,

first for his own

sins and then for

those of the people,

since he did this

once for all

when he offered

up himself.

For the law

appoints men

in their weakness

as high priests,

but the word

of the oath,

that's speaking

of Psalm 110.4,

which came later

than the law,

appoints a son

who has been

made perfect

forever.

That whole system

was meant

to show them

that they needed

a perfect

sacrifice,

which

was Christ.

The spotless

lamb.

He's seated

at the right hand

of the Father.

He has done

his work.

The significance

of Jesus'

works,

it is

finished.

That's what

he's talking

about.

There's no longer

that sacrifice

needed.

The temple

curtain was

torn in two,

allowing access

to the presence

of God.

With me?

It's amazing.

And the Jews

missed it,

in large part.

They missed

what was happening,

why the temple

service was given

to them.

Number six.

Sixth privilege.

The promises.

Now,

I don't know

all the promises

that Paul's

referring to here,

but I do know

he's at least

referring to

the promises

of the coming

king,

the eternally

perfect king.

Turn with me

real quick

to Acts

Acts 13 · chapter mention

chapter 13.

There's a little

text heavy for you

not to look at it

with me.

This is Paul

preaching in

Antioch,

Acts 13,

beginning in

verse 32.

And we bring

you the good

news that what

God promised

to the fathers,

this he has

fulfilled to us,

their children,

by raising Jesus.

As also it is

written in the

second psalm,

you are my son,

today I have

begotten you.

And as for the

fact that he

raised him from

the dead,

no more to

return to

corruption,

he has spoken

in this way,

I will give you

the holy and

sure blessings

of David.

Therefore he

says also in

another psalm,

you will not

let your

holy one

see corruption.

For David,

after he had

served the

purpose of

God in

his own

generation,

fell asleep

and was

laid with

his fathers

and saw

corruption.

But he

whom God

raised up

did not

see corruption,

speaking of

Christ.

Let it be

known to

you,

therefore,

brothers,

that through

this man

forgiveness

of sins

is proclaimed

to you,

and by

him everyone

who believes

is freed

from everything

from which

you could

not be

freed by

the law

of Moses.

Beware

therefore,

lest what

is said

in the

prophets

should

come

about.

Look,

you scoffers,

be astounded

and perish,

for I am

doing a work

in your days,

a work that

you will not

believe even

if one

tells it

to you.

So,

the promises

to bring

about an

eternally

perfect king

were also

given to

the Israelites.

The

privilege of

the patriarchs,

number seven.

In Exodus

3, 6,

when Moses

first encounters

God,

God introduces

himself as

the God

of Abraham,

the God

of Isaac,

and the

God of

Jacob.

That's

quoted by

Peter in

Acts 3

and by

Stephen in

Acts 7.

They're

phenomenal

sermons.

It's the

only time

that God

connects

himself by

name to

any man,

the God

of Abraham,

the God

of Isaac,

and the

God of

Jacob,

to

distinguish

who he

is.

He has

never said

the God

of Nathan.

Is he my

God?

Absolutely,

he is.

But that's

not the

title that

he's given

himself.

He's the

God of

Abraham,

and Isaac,

and Jacob.

And he

speaks of

them in

Hebrews 11,

Hebrews 11:16

verse 16,

he says,

but as it

is,

they desire a

better country,

that is a

heavenly one.

Therefore,

God is not

ashamed to be

called their

God,

for he's

prepared for

them a

city.

They had

the patriarchs.

they had

those who

have

believed

by faith

in God

for their

salvation

as an

example to

them,

and they

missed it.

And finally,

and most

importantly,

they had

the privilege

of being

the people

from whom

Jesus

came.

Jesus

Christ,

not a

white man,

not a

black man,

a Jew.

He was

Middle

Eastern

in descent.

He was

an

Israelite.

Verse 5,

he is

called

the

Christ.

We believe

that Paul

was carried

along by

the Spirit,

that the

Word of

God is

the Word

of God.

Paul

penned it.

God

gave it

to him

to speak.

It's

significant

that he

uses

this term.

Christ.

It's the

Greek for

the Hebrew

word

Messiah.

It means

Savior or

Liberator.

We have

picked up

that language

for Jesus,

Yeshua.

That's what

he was

known as

in his

day.

But we

have called

him the

Christ because

we know

who he

is.

He is our

Savior.

He is our

Liberator.

And he is

God.

God.

Chapter

9,

verse 5,

who is

God over

all,

blessed

forever.

Amen.

Paul never

misses an

opportunity to

establish Jesus

Christ's

deity.

Read any

of his

writing.

Anytime he

gets a

chance, he

slips in

there,

help us to

understand that

the man who

came and

dwelt amongst

people was

God himself.

and he

was one of

them.

And they

missed it.

So what

does all this

mean for us?

Paul's lament

as he has

this anguish

continually in

him for the

Jewish people

because in all

respects, all

human logic,

they should have

gotten it.

Before anybody

else, they

should have

gotten it.

What does

that mean for

us?

What's the

point?

What's the

value?

What can we

wring out of

it for us

today?

Three things.

Firstly, we

should share

in Paul's

lament for

the Jewish

people.

God has

not turned

his back

on the

Jews.

Again, we'll

talk about that

more in the

coming chapters.

God has

not turned

his back

on the

Jews.

There has

been much

anti-Semitism

that has risen

out of

Christianity.

Kind of

seems easy

to hate

the Jews,

right?

They rejected

our Savior.

They

crucified him.

It's their

fault, right?

It's not.

It's by God's

foreordained plan

that that

happened.

And he has

not quit

on them.

And neither

should we.

we should

be actively

carrying the

gospel to

the Jews.

In fact,

later on,

I believe in

chapter 11,

Paul says

that many

Jews are

going to

come to

salvation

because of

their jealousy

of us.

They're going

to recognize

that we have

a true

relationship

with the

God they

think they're

worshiping

by all their

old Jewish

rite and

passage,

and see

that we

have the

true

relationship

through

Jesus

Christ.

We should

actively

seek the

Jew and

their

salvation.

Secondly,

we should

lament for

all peoples.

Do you

have the

same heart

of Paul

for the

people around

you?

Could you

honestly say,

were it

possible,

which of

course is

not,

that we

could ask

God to

cut us

off.

He would

never do

that.

But if it

were possible,

would you

offer

yourself

up for

the sake

of others?

I don't

watch a lot

of reality

television,

but Sam's

kind of got

me hooked

on Master

Chef.

And there

were some

characters,

and one

of them

had won

a challenge

thing,

and they

asked him

if he had

the opportunity

to save

somebody from

going into

this elimination

challenge deal,

who he

would save.

Who would

you save,

Frank?

Who would

it be?

And he

picked

some

guy,

Josh,

I think,

got him

Josh.

I'd pick

Josh,

great cook,

I'd pick

him.

Awesome.

Yay,

Frank,

man,

you're so

sacrificial,

good for

you.

And they

said,

okay,

well,

guess what,

you do

actually have

the option

to save

somebody.

Who are

you going

to save?

He saved

himself.

That's not

what Paul's

doing,

right?

He's speaking

the truth in

Christ.

He's not

lying,

his conscience

bears witness.

He would

actually give

himself up.

Do we have

that kind

of heart

for people?

Do we just

give lip

service?

Yeah,

I love

people.

Or do we

actually have

anguish in

our hearts for

the people

around us

that they

might come

to Christ?

The evidences

are all around.

Now,

Gentile people

don't have all

these privileges.

It's not been

a history that's

been given to

them.

but the

evidences are

all around

them and we

ought to

lament for

them as

well.

Thirdly,

we as

humans should

make no

excuse for

seeing that

Jesus is

the Christ.

He is the

one that has

been sent for

the remission

of sin.

The one in

whom we

must believe

to be saved.

You notice

the article in

verse 5?

That he is

the Christ?

Not a

Christ,

not a way,

one of the

many ways,

the path of

goodness.

He is the

Christ.

The only

way,

if you don't

know him

today,

if you don't

have saving

faith,

that he is

the Christ.

That all of

these things

we've been

talking about,

all this

religious activity

was meant

to show us

that we

needed him,

you have

no excuse.

You're

sitting in

this room

right now,

none

whatsoever.

You will

be judged

one day.

If you're

found in

Christ,

it will

be said of

you,

well done

my good

and faithful

servant,

you'll enter

into eternal

joy and

blessing with

God.

If you

don't,

eternal

damnation,

hell and

misery,

separation from

God is

what awaits

you.

So you

have no

excuse.

Join me in

prayer.