The Mystery of Israel

Amen.

Amen.

So so here's what we're dealing with, right?

This is a tricky text.

And we talked about this a little bit last week.

When we look at Romans 11, uh uh, praise God, in the church world, among men and theologians and pastors that we trust and love and have confidence in, there's diversity of opinion.

Uh, and it's fascinating because Paul starts this off with what?

I'm about to show you a mystery.

Y'all don't know yet, but I'm about to reveal to you a mystery, and now we're 2,000 years later.

It's still kind of a mystery.

Like, Paul, how good of a job did you do, brother?

Uh uh We're trying to figure this out.

Uh and so what we do here is we we're gonna hold this with a semi-closed hand.

Remember, we talked about this last week.

This isn't an open hand.

This isn't this isn't what you like versus what I like, and we can disagree, and it doesn't have any impact on the way that we view the world, our relationship with God, or with one another.

But we're not gonna put it in such a closed hand, as some people do, and and that's fine, that's their decision.

We're not gonna put it in such a close hand that we would divide over it, right?

Anything that's gonna go in this hand, we are willing to divide.

We're willing to break fellowship over.

We're willing to say, uh cast judgment upon, right?

The the divinity of Christ as the only begotten Son, uh eternally existing.

Uh these things, right?

The doctrine of Christ, the doctrine of grace.

We're gonna say, no, we'll divide over that, brother.

Uh, chapter 11, we're not putting that here, right?

We're just gonna say, hey, this, I'm gonna present what I think is faithful to the interpretation of the text, and whether we agree with that or not, praise God, God still gets glory in the end of it.

Okay?

So that's our goal and aim this morning.

Um, and this is the thing, as we've walked through 11 chapters of Romans, uh, we've had different responses, right?

Some of y'all never heard this preached before.

It's new to you.

This thought of God's sovereignty, this thought of God's uh saving grace, uh, that he has chosen a people for himself before the foundations of the earth.

And there's been different responses, right?

To be honest, like some people have left sacred mission because of this series in Romans.

That's fine, that's okay.

I've told people and my leaders before, if we communicate the story clear enough and somebody just understands they're not a character in it, and they go find a different story to be a part of, praise God.

I'm not, I don't have any problems with that.

We're gonna be faithful to what we believe.

Well, we're gonna be faithful to what we believe.

The scriptures are preaching.

Some of y'all are in mission groups and you're wrestling with this and you're asking questions and you're you're you're trying to discover and you're trying to understand for yourself, and you you've worked hard.

You're like, I've never heard this, and I don't know if I even fully believe it yet, but I want to submit to God's word and I want to wrestle through these things, right?

That's some people's response.

Some people's response, right, is you you're just arguing with everybody because you think you've already got it all figured out, and you're right, and everyone else is wrong, and so you're just going to beat them down until they submit, not to God's word, but to you.

Uh those are three different kinds of responses.

But here's what Paul does this morning.

Paul responds in worship.

Paul doesn't respond to who God is in rejection of him.

Paul doesn't respond to who God is in an arrogant posture to trump other people.

Paul responds in worship.

So after 11 chapters of looking at the anthropology, the study of man, who we are in our sin nature, and condition and relationship with God, and then the soteriology, how are we then saved by God's power?

Uh Paul concludes with worship.

And that's where I want us to go this morning.

If we're going to go anywhere in this text, we're going to go to a place of worship.

That's my hope.

Here as we close out chapter 11, Paul's going to wrap up what's been a lengthy unpacking, right?

11 chapters of this.

I'm going to try and summarize 11 chapters in four statements.

Statement number one: the depravity of all men and their inability and absence of desire to attain the righteousness of God through their own merit.

So the depravity of all men and their inability and absence of desire to attain the righteousness of God through their own merit.

He also communicates to us the ways in which this plays out uniquely for both Jews and Gentiles.

As he's writing to a mixed congregation in Rome that consists of both Jews and Gentiles, he has very masterfully navigated how this reality, sin, and us trying to earn righteousness through our own working, has failed uniquely from a Gentile perspective and from a Jewish perspective.

He also displays for us the need for the righteousness of God, not righteousness of man, for salvation and the means of faith in Jesus to attain it.

So how are we going to attain the righteousness of God?

By faith in Jesus.

That's how we're going to attain the righteousness of God.

That doesn't matter if you're Jew or Gentile.

That doesn't matter.

For those of you who don't know, Gentile is just anybody who's not a Jew, right?

So we have Jewish people and then everybody else.

We're just calling them Gentiles.

That's the language the Bible uses.

And then finally, what Paul helps us understand is that is God's grace in electing some unto salvation by grace, through faith, of both Jewish and Gentile people.

This is what Paul's helped us understand is really the mystery of the gospel and how Christ is Lord of all.

And now we're going to come into the conclusion of this.

Praise God.

After this, we start a lot of applications.

So Romans 12 on is like, okay, now that you understand these things, how should that affect your daily life?

How should that affect the way in which you live?

We're going to kick that off next week with the opening of chapter 12, but we got to conclude here in 11.

So if we look at the first two, three verses, uh 25 through 27, here's what I think Paul's trying to summarize for us in 25 through 27.

He's saying this through the salvation of the elect, Jews and Gentiles, all of Israel will be saved.

So through the through the salvation of the elect Jews and Gentiles, all of Israel will be saved.

We have to understand something before we uh go into this.

There's differing opinion.

We talked about this a little bit, on what Israel Paul is talking about.

Scripturally and theologically, we understand two different types of Israel.

We understand ethnic Israel, which is those who are born physically as descendants of Abraham, uh, who share that DNA.

They're physical, ethnic Jews.

And then we have spiritual Israel, uh, which is all of those who are united in Christ, who we would call the true Israel, uh, because the promises were made to Abraham and his offspring.

We're gonna get into that to a minute, but his offspring is Christ, his offsprings, not those who are ethnic Jews.

Uh so the question that we're gonna be trying to answer is what Israel is Paul talking about, when and where?

And how does it point us to the grandor and majesty of God?

See, Paul's going to bring his readers uh into what he calls a mystery.

Anytime Paul talks about this, this is what he's trying to say.

There's something that needs some clarification.

There's something that you didn't fully understand previously, but uh but by the power of the Spirit, I'm gonna reveal this.

So we believe in revelation, right?

The theology of revelation, the beauty of you and I being Christians, is that we believe in a God who chose to reveal himself by his spirit, through human authors, in his word.

Uh, we don't believe in a God who chose to conceal himself, who's who remained in speculation, right?

At our best guess, what who is God and what is he?

God didn't do that.

God said, I'm gonna show you who I am, and I'm gonna show it through my prophets, through my law, through the Psalms, uh, and even into the New Testament apostles.

So, but there's still these, what we would call uh this view of looking into a glass dimly.

Paul uses this language in another epistle.

He says, we don't get the whole picture.

We're gonna be using all of eternity to discover God.

I believe he is so infinitely complex that we will not be able to exhaust eternity in knowing him.

Uh, but he gives us sufficient revelation of himself in his word that we might know him rightly, that we might understand our sin state, and that we might have faith in Jesus who brings us righteousness.

So, this mystery Paul says that he's gonna reveal.

Anytime Paul says this, he's talking about the gospel.

He says, I'm gonna show you a mystery.

And if we look at the gospel, the beauty about the gospel is it's like a multifaceted diamond with all these cuts, and every time you turn it, that this rainbow just bursts forth of different revelation and understanding of the beauty and the depth of what the gospel brings, right?

It's this it's this diamond amongst the the sky of night that we see its glorious radiance, and we're able to find joy in the truth of the gospel as it keeps showing itself to us.

So Paul's gonna say that.

I'm gonna turn this diamond just a little bit so I can reveal something you haven't seen before.

So he's talking about the gospel.

He's speaking about a special revelation that is about the gospel, and it was once hidden, but now it's gonna be revealed.

Paul's bringing his readers intimately near to explain to them the mystery of Israel.

This is what he calls this, and how it's seen and known in the gospel.

So again, here's a dangerous part of this text.

Historically, what's happened is we've taken this mystery of Israel and we've separated from the gospel.

And we and we come across, maybe if you've seen in church tradition, all Jews will be saved.

And then there's no answer.

Well, how's that gonna happen?

And it's usually not tethered to the gospel, it's usually tethered to some Old Testament misunderstanding that the promises were for those who did physically descended for Abraham, and God's just gonna save them.

Uh, Paul's not bringing us into a mystery to get us away from the gospel.

Paul's bringing us into a mystery that we might know the gospel more intimately.

So any theology that separates itself from the finished work of Christ and his death, burial, and resurrection is dangerous.

You see, ultimately it's the mystery of Christ he's helping them to see and cherish.

This is important because here in this text is where we often end up with a theology that circumvents the finished work of Jesus.

Paul even uses his greeting of brothers.

So beforehand, he would even talk about who he's talking to.

He would say, To you Jews, and then he would turn his attention and say, To you Gentiles, and he would really address them distinctly in their personhood.

But as he wraps up chapter 11, he brings back that intimate term of brothers.

He's bringing in both Jew and Gentile into one intimate relationship that we hit.

It's like a father who would draw near to his child, put them on his lap, and let me tell you, let me teach you something.

This intimacy that he's communicating.

He's saying, brothers, listen to what I'm about to say.

It's intimacy with those he's speaking to, and it's importance in regard to the content.

Why does he want to reveal this mystery to them?

He says, Lest you be wise in your own sight.

That's a statement right there.

A lot of us, when we try to understand God, we try to do it through our own understanding, our own wisdom, our own knowledge.

And Paul says, Look, before you start getting puffed up, lest you be wise in your own sight.

I'm about to reveal something to you that's gonna rock your foundation a little bit, but it's gonna keep you anchored in Christ.

He wants them to be humbled and in awe of the power of God to accomplish his good purposes.

So here's the mystery.

Ready?

A partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

That's the mystery.

A partial hardening hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

Now, let's work to break this down point by point.

Uh, first point is this a partial hardening.

When we hear that language, partial hardening, we can take partial in two different ways.

We can take partial in a way of severity, right?

Like it wasn't totally hardened, it was just partially hardened, uh, or kind of like an egg, right?

Like, I want the yolk partially runny or cooked or full.

Like, we're not talking about severity of something, uh, we're talking about numerically in scope.

So, so that's the other way to view partial.

Was it all of Israel, as in those who are ethnic Jewish people, or was it some partial of Israel as who are ethnic uh Jews?

This is uh very important because he reveals to us in Romans 9 7, just a few uh chapters earlier, he says this.

What then?

That's the question.

Here's the answer.

Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking, the elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened.

So so partial hardening is talking about numerically.

Uh severity hardened.

Hardened, not like yoke a little runny, they were hardened.

And then they, but the elect, those of whom God chose by his grace, among ethnic Israel, were not.

So again, this doesn't speak to the severity of the hardening, but it speaks to the scope of the hardening.

Not all of Israel was hardened according to the sovereign hand of God.

So when he talks about a partial hardening, he's talking about some, not all, of ethnic Israel.

Number two, he says partial hardening has come upon Israel.

Who are we talking about here?

Are we talking about spiritual Israel or are we talking about ethnic Israel?

Uh I believe the text is pointing us toward ethnic Israel.

Uh, and here's why.

Here's a practice in hermeneutics.

We talked about this the other week.

Hermeneutics means the the uh uh the art of interpretation.

How do we study the Bible in a way that's faithful to get out of it what it is trying to communicate to us?

And one of the key components of hermeneutics or biblical interpretation is that we allow scripture to interpret scripture.

Okay?

And so we see very concrete evidence in this one-for-one parallel in the scriptures out of verse 7, which we just read.

He said, What then?

Israel, ethnic Israel, failed to obtain what it was seeking.

This is something he talked about a long time.

They desired righteousness, they pursued righteousness through the obedience of the law, but ultimately they failed to obtain it because it wasn't God's righteousness that they were pursuing, but it was self-righteousness which they were pursuing.

And that did not earn them right standing with the Father.

So he goes on to say again in seven, they failed to obtain what it was seeking, but the elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened.

So he's making a very clear differentiation with inside a single people group, ethnic Israel, those who are hardened, those who are elect, chosen by grace, and able to receive his mercy.

There's inside of one people group, he's differentiating between the two.

So when he says there's a partial hardening that's come upon Israel, I'm gonna submit that this is ethnic Israel that he's talking about.

Then he says, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

Let's look at fullness of Gentiles.

We we talked about this a little bit last week, but fullness in the Greek is this word playeroma, and it talks about to the fullness of the body of believers.

Uh, when we look at this text, it's fascinating that we'll say, fullness of the Gentiles, and we'll blink on, right?

And then we'll blink back off, and then we'll say, but fullness of Israel means all, fullness of Gentiles doesn't, right?

We kind of do that in our theology.

Or we reject election and the doctrine of election, but we'll say, all Israel will be saved because they're God's chosen people.

If we're it, we just have to at least be honest, that's super inconsistent.

Can we do that?

Can we all say, yes, my theology is inconsistent?

Uh no, I'm just joking.

We we're we're wrestling to be faithful, we're wrestling to be consistent.

Uh, but this pleroma, this word in the Greek, is used uh previously in verse 12.

He uses it in verse 12.

He says this, how much more will there, speaking of ethnic Israel, full inclusion mean?

And he uses the same language here: the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

Paul is not talking about universalism.

He's not saying that everyone who's ever lived, whether they're Jew or Gentile, will be saved by the finished work of Christ.

I can understand theologically how you would get there, uh, but that's heresy because again, we allow the scripture and interpret scripture, we see that God's judgment is real, we see that hell is real, we see these things.

So not everyone's going to be saved.

So then what does fullness then mean?

If fullness is not tethered to election of those whom God loved and chose before the foundations of the earth, then fullness must be universal.

Paul's saying it's all of those of whom God chose by his grace, when they have come in, all Israel will be saved.

We see the same language, like I said, in verse 12.

And Jesus speaks of this, this Gentile people coming into the fold.

Let's look at John chapter 10, verse 16, real quick.

John 10:16

He says this, and I have other sheep that are not of this fold, right?

He's talking about ethnic Jewish people of which he's ministering to at this point in time.

I must bring them in also, and they will listen to my voice, so there will be what?

One flock, one shepherd, one flock, one shepherd.

So two different people groups.

I have to bring them in also.

They will listen to my voice, and we're gonna have one flock, one shepherd.

That's vitally uh important to understand.

He's not dealing with two different things, nor is his uh uh uh end goal to treat us differently as Jews and as Gentiles.

He is making one new man under Christ, renewing his image in him.

Fullness does not equate to universal totality, it is the fullness of those God has chosen by grace.

Now, if you've been paying attention to following along, you'd notice I skipped a word.

Until.

That's a tough word to deal with.

I'll just be honest.

This is the tricky word, and I would submit the sticking point of the mystery that Paul's referring to.

This is what Paul's trying to reveal about the mystery of the gospel's work in and among Jewish people.

What we have to be honest about is that this still remains a bit of a mystery.

We talked about this.

So he says this.

He says, here's the mystery, guys, a partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Jews or Gentiles has come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved.

That until is a challenging word.

The best scholars and theologians I've studied on this point point to a future eschatological time where there will be a revival among the Jewish people, and the elect of God among them will come to saving faith in Jesus.

Let me say that one more time slowly.

Best scholars and theologians I've studied on this point to a future eschatological time, that means in time, where there will be a revival among the Jewish people, and the elect of God among them, ethnic Israel, will come to saving faith in Jesus.

I'm okay with that.

I mean, I can just let that rest.

If that's what God wants to do in the end of times, let God do it.

If God says, I've chosen a people who were not a people to be my people, and it is through my son and his finished work on the cross and his burial and glorious resurrection, and it's in faith in them that they will place their trust and I will save them, let God do it.

I don't think there's any reason to argue over this.

Like if God wants to save me and God wants to save you, let God save who he wants to save.

We can just let it rest if we wanted to.

And I don't have to spin my own uh end times view into that.

I don't have to try and force God to make a decision or or show his hand to me.

I don't have to do any of that.

I can just let God be God and he can save who he wants to save according to his grace by faith in the finished work of his son Jesus.

As long as that's the means, I don't care what the end looks like.

Now we come to verse 26.

He says this, in this way all Israel will be saved.

And in this way, all Israel will be saved.

I I would hold the position, again, I'm gonna submit this humbly to you.

I'd hold the position that Paul's not speaking of ethnic Israel at this point in time, but of spiritual Israel.

The true Israel, those of faith, not flesh.

Here's why.

Uh Paul is saying, and in this way, uh, this means uh Greek words hutos.

Uh it means in this way or in this manner, all Israel will be saved.

Uh and he's incorporating Israel.

Into that, the salvation of Gentile people.

Right?

So he says, he says, when the fullness of the Gentile people come in, that's when the hardening, whatever that means, will be lifted, and in this way all Israel be saved.

He's not saying all Israel be saved, and it's removed or separated from the full inclusion of the Gentile people.

It's with, it's and the inclusion of the Gentile people in their fullness, of whom God has chosen by his grace, all Israel be saved.

So we understand that in this manner or in this way, Paul's helping us understand there's a partial hardening until fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

And in this manner, he unifies one flock, one shepherd.

He unifies Israel as his saving people.

Paul refers to prophetic promises to affirm what he has just revealed.

He says, as it is written, Paul continuously does this in the book of Romans.

He goes back to Old Testament prophecy, he goes back to Old Testament text to show us that this was always God's plan of salvation.

It was never different.

We misunderstood it, we misapplied it, but it never was different than this to be saved by faith in the promises of God for us.

And he quotes Isaiah 59, 20 through 21.

We're just going to read it from Isaiah instead of his quotation of it.

It says this, and a redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression, declares the Lord.

And as for me, this is my covenant with them, says the Lord.

My spirit that is upon you, my words that I have put in your mouth shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children's offspring, says the Lord, from this time forth and forevermore.

Notice the focus here that Isaiah is communicating by the Spirit.

It's on God's covenant that he made to them, not a covenant they made to one another.

This is important.

The focus is on God's covenant he made to his people, not a covenant that they made to one another.

We understand covenant most likely in marriage, where you make a covenant to one another, and either one's able to break it, right?

We're able to commit adultery or so forth, and we can break that covenant because we've made it to one another.

This is this we have to put that aside for just a little bit.

Beautiful representation of God's promises to us.

But here, it is God alone making a promise and a covenant to his people based on the goodness of his name.

That's different.

Why?

Because it doesn't matter about our obedience or our disobedience.

It doesn't matter about our rebellion, our shortcomings, our fallings.

It has nothing to bear with us.

God said, No matter what, I'm going to fulfill these promises in you.

That's the God we serve.

God makes covenant promises on the good standing of his name.

If God failed to do anything that he promised to his people, he would no longer be God because his name would be worth nothing.

You understand that?

He said, I searched heaven and earth by which a name of which I could make this promise, and I found none higher than my own.

So I'm going to make a promise based on that name to where if that promise is broken, I'm not God anymore.

That's huge for us.

Because God's whole reputation, eternal, cosmic, transcendent, holy reputation, is on the line if he breaks one promise to his people.

That should give us confidence.

That might even cause us to worship because of who he is and what he's done for us.

Let's look at Deuteronomy 10, 15.

He says this, yet the Lord set his heart, ooh, look at that.

He set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them.

You above all peoples as you are this day.

The emphasis again, what happened?

Was it how awesome Israel was?

Was it how obedient they were?

Was it how worshipful they are?

Was it how big their tabernacles were that they built?

Was it anything of their own merit of which they did?

No.

It was God said, I'm going to set my love on them.

That's going to be the determining factor.

I'm going to set my everlasting love.

When we look at this steadfast love of the Lord, it's a love that cannot be revoked.

It's a love that is not remorsed.

It's a love that is not repented of.

It is a love that stays everlasting upon the ones of whom he chooses to place it on.

That's the love of God.

That's the covenant of God to his people.

We're made a people who know the salvation of the Lord simply because God determined and promised that out of no people, he would make a people.

Let's look at Hosea chapter 1, verse 9 and 10.

Hosea 1:9

And the Lord said, Call his name not my people, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.

Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sands 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.

We were not a people.

Our sin, our rebellion, our heart posture toward God demanded that we were not a people.

But God's mercy, his steadfast love, and his covenant promises said, I'm gonna flip that around and I'm gonna make you a people.

I'm gonna make you children of the living God.

I hope we worship this morning when we understand this.

As we look at 28 through 32, what we're gonna see is this the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.

The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.

Paul now wants to remind them that the rejection of the gospel from the Jews was not without purpose.

All right, so so they find themselves in this state where there is a rejection of the gospel from the Jews, uh, but it but it didn't go without purpose.

There was a grand plan in their rejection of the gospel.

And he lays it out really clear for us.

He says, they have rejected the gospel so that the Gentiles might be brought in.

Right?

So their disobedience, uh that their rejection of the promises of God uh made a way for the Gentiles to come in and be attainers of those promises.

This was always the plan of God.

Right?

This isn't, this isn't, oh, I I chose the wrong team, right?

This isn't this isn't your fantasy league draft where all of a sudden you're not getting the points that you wanted to get, and so you got you're you're out there making trades.

Look, these Jewish people, they just ain't cutting it.

I need to trade in some Gentiles so we can get this thing figured out.

That's not what's happening here.

This is the eternal, sovereign, plan A purpose of God.

They have, speaking of ethnic Israel, rejected the gospel so that the Gentile people might be brought in.

But not all is hopeless or lost for them either, Paul says.

It's not like everything is as failure to them.

It's not that they're abandoned in their hopelessness.

Because he says this, because as far as election goes, they're beloved.

As far as election goes, they're beloved.

Why?

We have to ask.

Because God has made promises to their forefathers.

It's the promise of making a people of his own possession.

But it was never only for the nation of Israel.

We have to understand this.

From the very promise of Abraham, it was never about an ethnic nation in and of itself, but from all the peoples of the earth.

And all the peoples of the earth would receive the salvation of the Lord because of the finished work of the true Israel, Jesus the Christ, of who the promises were made about.

Let's look through a couple verses and try to unpack this a little bit.

Galatians 3:16.

Galatians 3:16

We've used this a few times in this uh series to help us understand this, but here's what Paul says to the church at Galatia.

Now the promises were made to Abraham, that's a forefather, and to his offspring.

Singular, that's important.

It does not say and to offsprings, referring to many, but referring to one and to your offspring, who is Christ.

So who were the promises made to?

Come on.

Abraham, there we go, got one.

And Jesus.

Jesus, yes.

They were made to Abraham, and they were made to Jesus.

Again, Paul says earlier in Romans, not all who physically descended from Abraham are children of Abraham, but it is by faith that we are made children of Abraham.

And so did God make promises to Abraham and all of those who physically descended from his bloodline?

No.

Galatians 3.16 is clear about that.

He made it to two people.

Abraham, the one of whom he called out of pagan idol worship, who called out of not being a people and established him as a people, as a father of a mighty nation.

But that nation was understood as all the peoples of the earth.

We're going to see that here in Genesis 22, verses 17 and 18.

Genesis 22:17

Let's look at what God actually says.

I will surely bless you.

God speaking to Abraham, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore.

And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.

The blessing of God is the coming of his son, so that we might experience the salvation of his hand.

And in this way, all of the nations have been blessed.

When we look at Revelation 5 and we look at Revelation 22, it's every tribe, nation, and tongue that is seen, known, and experienced in the throne of glory, worshiping Jesus.

Why?

Because the blessing of the nations has come.

He has died, he has been buried, but yet he victoriously raised again and seat at the right hand of the Father on high.

Amen.

Acts 3, 25 through 26, the Apostle Peter, he's getting up and he's about to preach one of the best gospel messages that we have recorded in all of history.

And here's what he says here in verses 25 and 26 of chapter 3.

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 the families, oh, oh, 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.

Let's read that again.

Peter gets up and preaches.

We're looking at this.

God made a covenant, he's determined to set his love on a people.

Now we're seeing the fruit of that because Christ has ascended into heaven and he sent the Spirit.

We're seeing the fruit of this promise here and now.

Your offspring, we just looked at Galatians 3:16.

Galatians 3:16

That's Christ.

He's even going to refer to it as Christ.

Peter himself, here in just a minute.

Shall all the families of the earth be blessed?

This is this nations of the earth.

God, having raised up who?

His servant.

Sent him to you first.

He's talking about ethnic Israel.

Hey, ethnic Israel, listen up.

He sent Jesus to you first.

He sent him to you first so that you might hear the gospel to bless you by turning every one of you what?

From your wickedness.

That's the hope of the gospel.

Jesus is the promise fulfilled.

Jesus is the blessing.

Jesus is the unifier of the nations into one flock under one shepherd.

And so Paul goes on to say, for the gifts and callings of God are irrevocable.

The promise made to who?

Abraham, the father of faith.

You know that song.

Father Abraham.

You have many sons.

Many sons have Father Abraham.

You're one of them.

So am I.

So we're going to praise the Lord later.

Come on.

You like that one.

You're the worst.

Abraham, the father of faith, and his offspring, Jesus the Messiah.

He's saying that the gifts, the charismas in the Greek, grace gifts, and the calling, the clesis or divine call to salvation, are irrevocable, not repented of.

Oh man, this is a powerful statement.

This is a powerful saying.

Here's what Paul says: the grace, the grace gifts that God lavished upon you and his calling, his effectual calling you out of darkness and into light are irrevocable.

They're not repented of.

The emphasis on God, not us.

God promises having no bearing on our behavior or on our disobedience.

He accomplishes his purposes, birthed out of his desire in spite of us.

This is Romans 8 that he talked about.

He talked about those whom he foreknew.

What is that?

Those whom he we just we just read this.

Those whom he set his love upon.

He also was he called them.

God's promises, God's gifts, God's calling is not even able to be repented of by himself.

That is how determined God's love is set upon you and upon me.

In his own will, he cannot repent of that.

Now, I'm not trying to put bindings around God can or cannot do, but he determined in himself to establish those parameters.

Next, we get into an understanding of God's relationship with mankind through the lens of disobedience and mercy.

Paul's going to help us understand this through this dichotomy of sorts.

We're going to look at disobedience, we're going to look at mercy and how they interplay with one another to give us the salvation of God's people.

He says this, you Gentiles, you used to be disobedient.

Right?

You weren't seeking righteousness.

You didn't worship God.

You used to be in a heart posture of rebellion.

You used to be disobedient.

But right now, you're receiving mercy.

Why?

Because of ethnic Israel's current disobedience.

So Paul said this earlier in chapter 11.

He said, He said, You were not a people who were seeking the righteousness of God.

You were disobedient.

But God used the sin of mankind's heart to solidify the disobedience of Israel and to bring you in, to graft you into the family, the children of God, and to display his mercy upon you, so that ethnic Israel might be provoked to jealousy.

As they're watching, God make them people, the Gentiles of the earth.

As they're watching, God bring them into the family and make them a people, a people who weren't seeking God, a people who weren't worshiping him, but are having his mercy lavished upon them.

It's supposed to provoke jealousy in the heart of ethnic Israel.

He says this, and now in their disobedience, they are able to gaze upon the mercy extended to you, be provoked to jealousy, turn, and then have mercy given to them.

Do you see the sovereignty of God here?

Do you see the working of his hand?

The grand weaver knitting the fabric of the tapestry of all time?

And look at this last section of this passage that he says.

He says this.

Verse 32.

For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.

That's powerful.

That's the powerful hand of God.

God did what?

He consigned all to disobedience.

The NASB, I like its language here.

It says, shut up all in disobedience, encage them in their disobedience.

We have to be clear, and we've talked about this before.

God did not cause them to be disobedient, but God shut them up in their own disobedience.

That's extremely important for us to understand.

God is not one who causes us to sin.

The Bible's very clear about that.

So the Bible didn't, the God did not cause disobedience in these people, but he did enclose them, consign them, or shut them up in their disobedience.

He hardened them.

Why?

So that he might have mercy on whom he will have mercy.

That's Romans 9.

It's in the character of God to show both his justice and his mercy.

God is not a one-sided God.

God is so complex, like we talked about, infinitely complex.

And it is in his character and nature that he doesn't just show his mercy to all, but that he also shows his justice as well.

He shows his justice and his mercy.

God did not cause them to be disobedient so that he might show his mercy.

He shut them up in their disobedience so that he might show his mercy.

Notice here there's no credit given to the people of Paul, whom who he is addressing, that they became obedient out of their own power or striving or working.

The credit and the boasting is focused on the undeserved mercy of God.

How great an assurance we can have as his people.

And knowing that God does not revoke, God does not repent of, nor does he discover remorse in the promise that he's made to you and me.

Man, that is wonderful.

That is wonderful.

God does not revoke, he does not repent of, nor does he find remorse in the love that he has set upon us.

And then we get into this last section, the 28th through um sorry, it's in 33 through uh the end of the uh chapter, 36, we see this as a summary.

It says this um the only response to God's holiness and sovereignty is worship.

The only response to God's holiness and sovereignty is worship.

This doxology, or this worshipful phrase, that's what doxology means, right?

The worshipful phrase is the conclusion to Paul's labor of the doctrines of anthropology, the study of man, and soteriology, the study of how we are saved, that he has painstakingly worked through over the first eleven chapters of this letter.

What would be your conclusive response to such weight and substance of a topic?

And like I said, we've seen people's response.

We've seen some people run from it, we've seen some people uh argue and be puffed up and debate over it, we've seen other people try to search the scriptures over it.

But let me present this if our response to such weighty doctrines and subjects is anything other than worship, we really aren't understanding the scriptures or the God of them properly.

If our response is anything other than worship, we're really not understanding the scriptures or the God of them properly.

He begins his worshipful response with the unsearchable depth of God's riches, wisdom, and knowledge.

When he talks about this, how how uh how deep are the riches?

Imagine a pool of which you cannot reach the bottom.

Our ability to exhaust the efforts of finding its end is nowhere in all creation.

We cannot go deep enough, we cannot go far enough to reach the end of God's riches, of God's uh wisdom, and of God's knowledge.

So it's inexhaustible, is what Paul says.

This is how begins his worship.

God is inexhaustible.

To understand this, when he talks about riches, he's talking about the riches of his grace.

Uh let's look at Ephesians.

This is the best place that we can probably see this in the New Testament.

The riches of God's grace.

Uh, Ephesians chapter 2, verses 4 through 70 says this.

But God, being what?

Rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us.

What'd he do?

Even when we were dead in our trespasses, he made us alive together with Christ.

By grace you have been saved, and raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of what?

His grace and kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.

That's a big statement Paul's making there.

The immeasurable riches of what?

His grace.

We cannot exhaust the depth of the grace of God for us.

But here's another part.

We cannot exhaust the depth of his wisdom.

What does wisdom mean?

What's Paul talking about here?

Wisdom means this: the ability to direct all things to their end.

The ability to direct all things to the best end is what wisdom is.

God has the ability, the unsearchable, unexhaustible ability to work all things to the best end.

That means something for us here and now.

We believe wholeheartedly we are in the best possible of all worlds.

Because if there was another way for God to get the glory of which he demands, we'd be in that.

God is so sovereign that he will get the glory that he has deserved, and he will use all of creation orchestrated by his wisdom to reach that end.

That the glory of God might fill the heavens and the earth as the waters fill the sea.

That's the pursuit of God.

You want to know what the pursuit of God is?

It's not making you his friend.

That's part of it.

That's an praise God, that's part of that pursuit.

It's not the pursuit.

Praise God as part of it.

It's not so that you and I live our best life now.

No, your best life here should be the worst life you ever lived.

I don't mean that just like it should be bad.

I'm just saying, like compared to heaven, this is horrible.

The pursuit of God is his glory.

And in his wisdom, he directs all things in all of creation to that best end.

Because here's what he says: here's the unsearchable nature of his knowledge.

It's not that he's able to direct all things to the best end, his knowledge determines that he knows what the best end is.

You see how those two things work together?

God's knowledge knows what the best end is, and God's wisdom directs all things to it.

How unsearchable are his ways.

The depth of these three things is beyond all of our exhaustive efforts of ever discovering its end.

Then he says this how unsearchable are his judgments.

Every judgment of God is based upon his holiness, which in itself deems him as holy other.

Here's what I mean by this: God is holy.

When he makes a judgment, he's making that judgment out of what?

His holiness.

What does it mean for God to be holy?

A kind of plain man's definition is that God in his holiness makes him holy other.

He is so beyond us, not H O L Y other, W-H O, some other letters, Y, other.

Is there two L's or one?

I'm not sure.

It doesn't matter.

But it makes him holy other.

He is transcendent beyond us.

He is so holy that he cannot uh uh be called one with us except this, that Jesus, his son, pierced through time and space and entered into our existence so that he might be like us.

That's the mercy and the pursuit of God for his people.

But God himself is wholly other.

He is holy.

Every judgment he makes is out of that holiness.

How unsearchable.

You can't even begin to search upon the judgments that he creates.

Then he says, and how inscrutable his ways, I love that word.

How inscrutable his ways.

It's impossible to understand or interpret.

That's what Paul's trying to communicate.

The ways of which God moves and works, the means of which he operates to accomplish that best end that his wisdom has determined.

It is impossible to interpret.

For who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor?

Who among men, Paul is saying, can be an advisor to the Lord or instruct him in what is best?

The Olympics is happening right now, right?

And like a funny thing we do with sports in general, these athletes are on another level, right?

If we're honest, another level.

We aren't, we're on a different level.

And it's not that level.

And this is what happens every time, especially dudes watch pro sports on the TV.

When they mess up as they're as they're as their just chest is filled with Cheeto Crumbs.

Oh yeah.

If he would have just, you know, I could have, I mean.

And they're just like, what are they doing?

They think they can advise that pro athlete who made it to the Olympics, where brother, you didn't make it out of Little League, uh, on how they could possibly do better.

Right?

It's so easy from our couch to be like, oh yeah, bro.

If I was there, I would have landed the gainer.

I just would have.

I know I would have.

No, you wouldn't have.

You would have ate it, break your neck, and they'd have to drag you out on a stretcher because you can't do it, or else you'd be at the Olympics.

This is what he's saying about God.

You you that image is astronomically pathetic toward us as man, thinking that we can counsel God on how he should do things.

Imagine that.

Imagine man looking at their creator, the God of the cosmos, and saying, Hey God, um, let me just, if if you would have done it this way, who are you?

You're a lump of clay.

Don't you dare raise your voice to me, the potter.

I will do as I please.

Or who has given him a gift to him that he might be repaid.

I love this as one theologian put it: God can finance his own undertakings.

He don't need you.

For from him and through him and to him are all things.

God himself is the originator, he is the means, and he is the goal of all things and all creation.

Solely Deo Gloria.

To him be glory forever.

Amen.

The only response to God's holiness and sovereignty is worship.

Let's wrap this up.

I got jet through this.

Main idea this morning.

Uh, God keeps his promises by any means necessary.

God keeps his promises to us by any means necessary.

We don't get to dictate those means.

We don't get to question those means.

We don't get to scrutinize the ways in which he goes about saving his people.

By any means necessary, God is going to save his people because he has determined before all of creation to set his steadfast love upon them.

And that love is irrevocable, is unrepentable of, and it does not hold remorse.

Who are we to ask God, how are you going to do this?

Are you sure that that's the right way?

I would have done a little better.

Well, if God really was love the way that I define love, he would do it this way.

No, you don't know.

You don't know, and you don't have the ability to speak to God in such a way.

It is by any means necessary.

He will bring salvation to his people for what?

Not just for our good, but for the glory of his name.

We've got to get into our head and heart what's on the line.

It's not just about our goodness that's on the line, it's about his glory that's on the line.

And there is no way in all of creation or throughout all eternity, he's gonna let one drop of that glory be stripped and robbed from him.

The last time somebody tried to do that, he kicked him and a third of angels out of heaven and said, You will now be crushed under the foot of my son if you get in my way again.

And what did he do?

He sent Jesus and he promised him that he would put a skull, a cross through his skull.

And he did.

You want to see what God does when people get in the way of his glory?

He crushes them under his heel.

That's what he does.

Who are we to try and dictate the means necessary of which God should go to save his people?

He will go at any means.

This is what we do, though, right?

This is our heart.

We try to dictate the means of God to save his people.

We try to do this in our heart and the way that we understand him.

You see this throughout all creation, or all culture.

And here's what we're doing, guys.

We're making little gods of our own image.

When our God doesn't contradict what we think, we are just worshiping ourselves.

Do we understand that?

We have fashioned out of our own philosophical worldview, emotions, or whatever else, a little God of our own image that we worship because our God would never actually contradict what we think or feel.

No, that's not God.

That's an idol.

And you're worshiping that.

God doesn't ask you to feel good about his word, God asks you to submit to it.

This is where we have to strive for.

We have to strive to submit to God's holy word instead of trying to dictate the means by which God would save his people.

That's such a sinful posture for us to take.

We have to let God be God.

We have to let his word reveal who he is and what he has said.

And then what is our response?

Church, for all of eternity, our response is going to be worship.

The angels encircle his throne, holy, holy, holy, day in and day out.

The saints are around his throne crying out power and glory and honor to the Lamb who was slain before the foundations of the world.

For all of eternity.

Do you want to see what the response is to God's means of which he saves his people?

It is worship.

We better get practicing now, right?

As Pastor Jordan said, praise God, he's back.

Everybody glad Pastor Jordan's back.

Oh man.

Yeah.

Sounds like silk coming through a speaker system.

I love it.

That doesn't make any sense.

Uh, what we have, though, is that we try to scrutinize.

We try to scrutinize God.

And we try to say, hey, look, God, your ways don't match up to mine.

And God says, good.

That's a good thing.

We have to repent of this.

We have to submit to God's word.

And we have to worship him in response to who he is.

And you want to see by what means God will go to save his people?

Then look no farther than Jesus Himself.

The gospel hope this morning is this.

Jesus displays the means by which God will go to save his people.

He is the epitome of the means of which God will go to save his people.

Do you understand the cross doesn't make sense?

Can we all agree with that?

The cross doesn't make sense to us.

Somebody taking our place, absorbing the wrath of God for our sin, uh uh being the the the one who who bridges the gap, the chasm in relationship between us and our Maker, the one who says that I will take all of that wrath and all of that rejection, so that you might have all of his blessing and all of his acceptance.

The cross doesn't make sense.

Romans 8 32A.

The first half of that says this He who did not spare his own son.

Look at the means.

He didn't even spare his own son, but gave him up for us all.

Amen.

Who are we to scrutinize the means of which God will go to save his people when he would even give his own son to accomplish his purposes?

Sure, you probably would have done it another way.

But guess what?

That way would have failed.

Isn't that what Adam and Eve did?

Hey, God, I think I got a different way here.

I think I got a different way, and I'm going to show you that I think my way is better by eating this fruit.

We do this constantly.

And here's the reality.

When I talked about God doesn't ask for you to feel good about what he says, he asks you to submit to what he says.

When we look at the garden, this is what happens.

God said this.

The devil said, Did God say?

You notice the difference there?

God said in the garden, the devil comes in and he asks the first question, did God say?

What would have been the right response from Adam and Eve?

I'm going to submit to this.

I'm not going to entertain that question.

But the feelings crept in, the emotions crept in.

The whatever crept in, the snake crept in.

And in their fallen state, Jesus is promised to us.

God comes through and he promises that there's going to be an offspring singular of this woman.

And Satan, you're going to bruise his heel, but he's going to crush your head.

Who are we to dictate the means of God to save his people when he would not even spare his own son to save us?

So what do we do in response to this?

We worship and wonder.

We worship and wonder.

Church, let God be God.

And look at Paul.

Paul, who has uh the equivalent of eight doctoral degrees, who was a Pharisee of Pharisees, an Israelite of the Israelites, who wrote the vast majority of the New Testament, who was called to be an apostle after Jesus ascended into heaven.

He showed himself to him and called him to be that, who the Lord used to bring the gospel to the vast majority of the known world.

Look at what Paul then responds to God's sovereignty in.

Listen, church, this is my this is my interpretation of him.

Church, the depth of his riches and wisdom, and knowledge, you can't search out his judgments.

You cannot scrutinize his ways.

Are you able to adv give him counsel?

Are you able to tell him what he could do better?

Are you able to give him anything that he does not already own?

Because from him and through him and to him are all things.

To him be glory forever.

Paul's response is worship rooted in wonder.

Wonder of an amazing God that is so wild and untamable, he cannot exhaust his efforts to fully know him.

Our worship should reflect that.

Let's pray.