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Romans 9 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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0:00Romans chapter 9 [music]
0:01verse 1.
0:03I am telling you the truth in Christ. I
0:07am not lying.
0:09My conscience testifies with me in the
0:12Holy Spirit [music]
0:15that I have great sorrow
0:19and unceasing grief in my heart. [music]
0:24For I could wish that I myself were
0:27accursed,
0:29separated from [music] Christ
0:32for the sake
0:33of my brethren, my kinsmen according to
0:37the flesh,
0:38who are Israelites, [music]
0:40to whom belong the adoption of sons.
0:45Paul has just given us the most
0:48beautiful presentation of salvation in
0:50the whole New Testament in the ending
0:52verses [music]
0:53of Romans 8. And his whole theme was
0:56nobody can separate [music] us from the
0:58love of Christ.
1:00And that beauty
1:02is in stark contrast with the truth that
1:05the Jewish people are the least [music]
1:07likely of any ethnic group to be
1:10Christian.
1:13Jesus was Jewish. All the apostles were
1:16Jewish.
1:17The first church for the first 20 years
1:19was Jewish.
1:21The whole of Christianity
1:23is the outworking of the covenant God
1:26made to Abraham [music]
1:28and to David
1:30and throughout the whole Old Testament.
1:33And yet they don't receive [music]
1:35Jesus. He came to his own and his own
1:37did not receive him. So this Jewish Paul
1:40is in a lot of pain.
1:42And he says, "I could almost wish that I
1:45were separated." The very thing he just
1:48said in Romans 8 nothing can accomplish.
1:50He said, "I could almost wish that I
1:52would lose my own salvation
1:55if I could help bring
1:57my countrymen to faith.
2:01For I could wish that I myself were
2:03accursed, separated from Christ for the
2:06sake of my brethren, my kinsmen
2:08according to the flesh.
2:10And now he's going to tell us
2:12what the advantage was that the Jewish
2:15tradition and the Jewish family had and
2:18still has. Here [music] it is.
2:21Who are Israelites,
2:23to whom belong the adoption of sons,
2:29and the glory,
2:32and the covenants,
2:34and the giving of the law,
2:36and the temple service,
2:39and the promises.
2:41Whose are the fathers,
2:43and from whom is the Christ, according
2:45to the flesh, who is over all, God,
2:49blessed forever. Amen.
2:52Paul says the Israelites,
2:56they were the community, they were the
2:58family, they were the garden from which
3:01these seven things came into the world.
3:05When God adopted people as his sons, the
3:08adoption of sons.
3:11The glory
3:12and covenants.
3:15God's ability to let his spirit come
3:17among men, the glory through covenant
3:20relationship.
3:22The giving of the law.
3:24The oracle that taught us
3:27what sin was.
3:30The temple service, the house and the
3:33sacrifices where the glory and the
3:35presence could rest on the altar.
3:39The promises.
3:41These all died in faith, not having
3:43received what was promised. The promise
3:45of the Holy Spirit, the promise of
3:47Messiah, the promise of spiritual Zion,
3:51the promise that God would make Israel
3:54his bride. These were the promises that
3:57Jesus fulfilled.
3:59Whose are the fathers?
4:02And from whom is the Christ? Jesus
4:05couldn't have been born from any other
4:06family.
4:09He came to his own. He came to the Jews,
4:12his own.
4:14He was born of a woman, born under the
4:16law.
4:18Amen. Of the offspring of David.
4:21Who is the Christ according to the
4:23flesh, who is over all. This is one of
4:25the most powerful divinity passages. He
4:28says, the Christ who is according to the
4:30flesh, who is over all, God blessed
4:34forever. The Christ is over all God
4:37blessed forever. Amen.
4:42But it is not as though the word of God
4:45has failed.
4:47For they are not all Israel who are
4:49descended from Israel.
4:52Paul is writing to a Roman church and he
4:54says, I am really hurt that my own
4:57family, the Jews,
4:59haven't found salvation.
5:01Okay?
5:04But that raises a question. If God made
5:06the promises to Israel,
5:09has the word of God failed?
5:12Why are these Gentile churches being
5:14strengthened
5:15and the Jews trying to kill Paul?
5:19Why has the word of God failed when he
5:22said all Israel would be saved?
5:25Has the Has it failed? So, Paul is going
5:28to give an explanation. He's going to
5:30say, "Gentiles, I want to show you
5:33how God didn't make a mistake when he
5:35spent so much time on the family that
5:38ended up rejecting him."
5:40Because he's going to argue that even if
5:43a remnant, a small percentage is
5:47faithful, the whole project was worth
5:49it.
5:51And he
5:53he's proof that the remnant is faithful
5:56even if the whole
5:57is not. So, he says
6:01But it is not as though the word of God
6:03has failed.
6:05So, Israel's rejection of Jesus raises
6:07the question, has the word of God
6:09failed? And Paul says, "No.
6:12For they are not all Israel who are
6:14descended from Israel." So, now he's
6:16going to give us a theme and the theme
6:18is just because you're the natural
6:20descendant doesn't mean
6:23that you really carry
6:26the inheritance of promise in your
6:27chest.
6:30And he's going to show us how from the
6:31beginning
6:32it's been splintering
6:34and the promise has been going with
6:36those of the spirit
6:38and the loss of promise has been
6:40following those of the flesh.
6:42And this is going to continue the theme
6:44he gave us in Romans 8, but it's going
6:46to apply it
6:48to the Jewish family as a whole.
6:50They are not all Israel who are
6:53descended from Israel. He's basically
6:55saying you're not a son of Abraham
6:57unless you have the faith of Abraham.
6:58That's what that means.
7:02Nor are they all children because they
7:04are Abraham's descendants.
7:06But and he quotes the Old Testament,
7:09through Isaac your seed will be named.
7:13Your descendants will be named. But it's
7:15the word seed.
7:17That is it is not the children of the
7:20flesh who are children of God
7:24but the children of the promise
7:27are guarded as
7:30seed
7:31literal or descendants.
7:34So, right here he's contrasting promise
7:37and flesh.
7:38Just because you're part of the natural
7:40family doesn't mean you're the children
7:43of God.
7:45What did Jesus tell the disciples to
7:47wait in Jerusalem for?
7:49They were looking for a natural kingdom,
7:51weren't they?
7:53And they said, "Is it at this time
7:54you're going to restore the kingdom to
7:56Israel?" They were basically asking on
7:58the Mount of Olives, "Are the promises
8:00going to come true or is the word of God
8:02going to fail?"
8:04And Jesus said, "Wait until you receive
8:08the promise of my father."
8:11And what was that promise? It was the
8:14outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
8:17It was when they were baptized in the
8:19Holy Spirit.
8:21This is what was spoken of by the
8:23prophet Joel.
8:25Amen.
8:26This is what Jesus also spoke of in Luke
8:2924:49.
8:32"They are not all children because they
8:33are Abraham's descendants, but through
8:35Isaac your descendants, your seed, will
8:38be named. That is, it is not the
8:40children of the flesh who are children
8:43of God,
8:44but the children of the promise are
8:46regarded as seed or descendants."
8:50"For this is the word of promise."
8:54This is the Holy Spirit word of promise.
8:58And now he quotes what God said to
9:00Abraham about Sarah's conception. "This
9:04is the word of promise." Quote,
9:07"At this time I will come
9:11and Sarah shall have a son."
9:15Sarah was 90 years old. Abraham was 100
9:18years old. They were according to the
9:21flesh, hopeless.
9:24Right?
9:25And they tried to have a baby and they
9:27couldn't.
9:28And they tried to make Eleazar the heir
9:31and they couldn't. And they thought it
9:32could be Lot and it couldn't be.
9:34And then they did a terrible thing and
9:36created Ishmael, and that couldn't work
9:39either.
9:40And at last when their bodies were as
9:43good as dead,
9:44God said, "I am going to pay you a
9:48visit. I will come, the the holy one of
9:51Israel, the holy God of heaven, is going
9:54to come,
9:56and a supernatural birth is going to
9:58start this new
9:59nation."
10:01So, this is the word of promise
10:03that the promise attaches to him who is
10:07born by the Spirit, by the supernatural
10:10birth
10:11through the visitation of God.
10:14That's what it means to be a child of
10:16God through promise.
10:18For this is the word of promise, "At
10:20this time I will come," says the Lord,
10:23"and Sarah shall have a son." And not
10:25only this,
10:26but there was Rebekah also.
10:30When she had conceived twins by one man,
10:32our father Isaac,
10:35for though the twins were not yet born
10:37and had not done anything good or bad,
10:39so that God's purpose according to his
10:42choice would stand, not because of
10:44works, but because of him who calls, it
10:46was said to her, "The older will serve
10:50the younger."
10:52Okay?
10:53So, we have this dividing line.
10:56Those who are children of promise and
10:59those who are not.
11:02Now, everyone who receives the Holy
11:05Spirit
11:07has the predestined promise inside of
11:10them.
11:11Ultimately, Jesus is the descendant.
11:14Jesus is the seed. That's what Paul
11:16tells us in Galatians, that the promise
11:19referred to his seed, not to many, but
11:23to one.
11:24But then he said, "You are Abraham's
11:27seed, one, if you've been baptized and
11:31clothed with Christ." But how are we
11:33baptized? By one spirit we were all
11:35baptized into one body.
11:38So here it is.
11:39God's very spirit, his nature, is
11:44predestined.
11:45And when he puts that inside of you,
11:48there's something in you that is
11:50predestined for heaven.
11:52Now you can do despite to that spirit of
11:55grace.
11:57You can You can make it turn and go
12:00away.
12:01But if you walk in covenant with that
12:04spirit, you have that in you which is
12:06predestined to heaven.
12:09The predestination of salvation attaches
12:11to the seed of the Holy Spirit. The
12:14promise.
12:15Not all predestination
12:18is salvific.
12:22Not all of God's priority choices,
12:26that's what predestination means.
12:29Not all of it is about salvation.
12:32Okay?
12:33He's going to put
12:35a choice on somebody, an emphasis on
12:38somebody,
12:39with a view toward salvation, but just
12:43because he elected them for a mission
12:46doesn't mean they're all going to go to
12:48heaven.
12:50So he's going to talk to us about how
12:52God chose Israel instead of Esau.
12:56Right?
12:57But remember, don't forget that it's
13:00precisely Israel that he's weeping
13:03is not saved.
13:06So that choice was not a choice of
13:09everyone among you is going to be saved
13:11forever. That wasn't the choice. The
13:13choice was I'm going to put my attention
13:16and my priority on you.
13:20So when he talked to to Rebecca about
13:22the twins in her womb, did he say
13:25Did he say the older's going to go to
13:27hell and the younger's going to go to
13:28heaven?
13:30That would be a wicked God.
13:32That would be a God who not only causes
13:35us to temptation,
13:37like James says God does not, that would
13:39be a God who not only leads us into
13:41temptation, who tempts us, but who
13:43actually causes us to sin and go to
13:45hell. He creates something with a view
13:48towards sending it to hell. That is not
13:51what he says. He says the older will
13:53serve the younger.
13:57So, God's election for Israel in a
13:59natural sense is just like his election
14:03for some of you.
14:05You can sing really well.
14:07I can't.
14:09God elected you
14:11to music.
14:13So, do I have a right to complain that
14:16he didn't elect me for music?
14:19And he didn't give you that music to
14:20flatter you, he gave it to you to bless
14:23others.
14:24It is supposed to be used in the
14:26community to help point people toward
14:29Jesus, and that's salvation.
14:32So, his gifting choice is tied to
14:35salvation,
14:37but it doesn't mean you're automatically
14:38going to be saved.
14:41Do you understand? So, in the same way
14:43God's priority to pick the family of the
14:46Jews,
14:48it's tied to his salvation through Jesus
14:51that's going to come by the spirit, but
14:53it doesn't mean that everybody's going
14:55to be saved who got this natural
14:56election.
14:58But, he doesn't want us to complain
15:00against natural election.
15:02I didn't say natural selection, I said
15:04natural election.
15:06God puts gifts in the church in
15:09different ways. One person can paint a
15:11picture, and another person can barely
15:13take a picture.
15:15One person can sing a song, and another
15:17can't carry a tune in a bucket.
15:20One person can manage a business, and
15:23another can barely tie his shoes, but he
15:25can solve complex problems of nuclear
15:28physics.
15:29God has not made us the same,
15:32but he has made us for a purpose.
15:35And when he put the gifts inside of us,
15:37that's an election.
15:39But it's not a salvific election that we
15:42cannot violate. It's a natural election.
15:44It's an election of
15:47Jacob is the more gifted guy for
15:50leadership and Esau is going to follow
15:53him.
15:54We see that all the time. You can think
15:56of older brothers
15:58who follow younger brothers in life.
16:01That doesn't mean one saved and one's
16:03not saved. That just means one had an
16:06election of purpose and gifting.
16:09And it may be tied to God's ultimate
16:11plan of salvation, but it doesn't secure
16:13it for the individual.
16:15We got that so far? All right, so let's
16:17keep going.
16:19We're going to get into some scary
16:20language and the Calvinists are going to
16:22get excited, but we're going to
16:23disappoint them all.
16:26So it says, "The older will serve the
16:30younger."
16:31And then he says in verse 13, "Just as
16:34it is written, Jacob I have loved but
16:38Esau I have hated."
16:41Uh-oh.
16:43I should have read Oh, no. I knew that
16:45was coming.
16:46So here it says, "Jacob I have loved but
16:50Esau I have hated." And it almost sounds
16:52like that's something that the Lord said
16:54to Rebecca.
16:56But it's not.
16:58It's something that the Lord said
17:00through the minor prophet
17:04way back in Malachi, only about 800
17:08years after Esau died.
17:11So when the Lord said, "Jacob I have
17:13loved and Esau I have hated," he was not
17:16talking about the two babies. God was
17:20not staring into the bassinet where
17:22cooing little Esau was and said, "I hate
17:25you.
17:27I'm the God of love, but I hate you."
17:30That is so antithetical to who God is,
17:33to who the Father is.
17:35That would be a demonic interpretation
17:38of God's nature.
17:40Instead, Paul is putting two scriptures
17:43together. He's saying it started when
17:45God said, "I can build my nation through
17:48Jacob and not Esau." That's an election
17:51that's natural, not salvific. And then
17:54800 years later
17:56we're in Malachi.
17:58And the Lord is talking about what the
17:59two nations have become. And
18:02[clears throat] he says about the nation
18:03of Esau, "Esau, I have hated." But does
18:06that mean that they're all predestined
18:08to hell? No, because we know in the days
18:11of David more than 70 descendants of
18:15Obed-Edom worshipped God around the ark
18:18of God in the tabernacle of David. Do
18:21you know what Obed-Edom means? Sons of
18:24Esau.
18:26So, God didn't condemn all Esau to hell.
18:30In fact, he talks in the same prophets,
18:32the minor prophets, that he has plans to
18:35bring salvation to Edom.
18:38So, what does this mean when he says
18:40that he hated? Well, he hated the nation
18:43they had become.
18:45Did he hate them in such a way to block
18:47them from heaven? No.
18:49Did he hate them in such a way to give
18:51heaven as an option for one and not for
18:54another? No.
18:5670 of them were going to the ark of God
19:00and part of the community.
19:02They transcended their ethnic and
19:04national proclivity or destiny.
19:08So, we also need to be mindful
19:11that hate doesn't always mean
19:15active loathing. When hate is used in
19:18contrast to the word love,
19:21for the Jewish mind, it can mean
19:25the second priority.
19:28Let's get an understanding of this.
19:30In Matthew's gospel, he says, "Unless
19:34you hate father, mother, sister,
19:38brother,
19:39you cannot be my disciple."
19:41But in Luke's gospel, the Gentile Luke,
19:44he translates that from the Jewish
19:46mindset and tells us what he meant. He
19:49says, "If you love them more than me,
19:52you cannot be my disciple."
19:54So, hate did not mean in Paul's language
19:58what it means in our language. It could
20:01It could mean, simply, he put a higher
20:05priority and a lesser priority.
20:08Does that make sense?
20:10Now, let's talk about why God would put
20:13a higher priority
20:16on Jacob
20:18than Esau.
20:20Well, first of all, God's plan is not
20:23about the individual. What did God tell
20:27Jacob's grandfather, Abraham,
20:30was his plan
20:33for why he called him out to be special?
20:35What was God's plan?
20:37That in you
20:40all the families of the earth might be
20:44blessed.
20:46So, God was never arbitrarily picking
20:49individuals because they were inherently
20:51special.
20:52He was picking those through whom he
20:56could start a blessing that would get to
20:58all people.
21:00Does that make sense? But prior to the
21:03Holy Spirit, human beings did not have
21:06available to them the
21:09promise of regeneration.
21:12We couldn't transcend ourselves
21:15before the Holy Spirit was poured out at
21:17Pentecost.
21:19We couldn't be born again.
21:21We couldn't be redeemed.
21:23So, God had to work with our natural
21:26proclivities more than he has to work
21:28with them now.
21:30We see this
21:33in the animal kingdom.
21:35When we look at a list of puppies, you
21:38know, let's say we fill a box of puppies
21:40out there.
21:42If we just want a pet,
21:45anyone will do.
21:46There's a puppy that's a Border Collie,
21:48and there's a puppy that's a Basset
21:50Hound, and there's a puppy that's a Chow
21:52Chow, oh my, and there's a puppy that's
21:55a couch potato, and a Labrador.
21:59If you don't have any plan, well, you
22:01just pick them up and pet them. That's
22:02the plan.
22:04But what if you need to herd sheep?
22:07Well, that immediately narrows down your
22:09focus
22:10to one puppy who is not inherently
22:13superior by virtue of his better heart
22:17or motivation.
22:18He's superior by virtue of his gifting.
22:22You cannot pull out the Basset Hound and
22:24say, "Through enough training, I am
22:27going to make you a better sheep herder
22:29than the Border Collies winning the
22:30trials." You just can't.
22:33That's like trying to make me a better
22:35singer
22:36than Sister Regina
22:38or Brother Nathan or Brother Dan. It's
22:40not going to happen. You may improve my
22:43singing, and you may get the Basset
22:44Hound to go after the sheep a little,
22:47but you're never going to replace the
22:50value of the gifting that was in the
22:52Border Collie. Does that make sense? So,
22:55when God looks at humanity,
22:57with the Border to go back to the
22:58puppies, I'll just say,
23:00"Now, if I could say, well, if they
23:03could all just be filled with the
23:04spirit, they could be more than what
23:06they are." I suppose that'd be true,
23:08though I don't know I'd want to meet a
23:09dog filled with the spirit. But, that
23:12power is not available to puppies.
23:16But, regeneration wasn't available to
23:19human beings
23:21before the ascension of Christ into
23:22heaven.
23:24He could visit us with his spirit. He
23:25could speak through us
23:28with his spirit. He could He could
23:30convict us, even, but he could not
23:32reconstitute
23:34human existence by the power of the
23:37spirit.
23:38So,
23:39when God is picking the family that he's
23:42going to be able to work with,
23:44he's in the box of their gifting.
23:47Because it's not like you can lay hands
23:50on them and they'll have a better
23:51attitude.
23:52He's going to have to work with the one
23:54whom he can work with.
23:56And so, that choice
23:59to put the gift in him and to choose him
24:01based on the gift
24:02is God's right.
24:04I don't get to complain that I can't
24:07sing.
24:08And you don't get to complain that you
24:10can't teach.
24:12We just have to accept that that's God's
24:14choice. That in that sense, we're clay,
24:16he's potter.
24:19And not only this, but Rebekah also,
24:21when she had conceived twins by one man,
24:24our father Isaac,
24:26for though the twins were not yet born
24:28and had not done anything good or bad,
24:30that God's purpose according to his
24:32choice would stand, not because of
24:34works, but because of him who calls, it
24:36was said to her, "The older will serve
24:37the younger." Just as it is written,
24:40"Jacob" Just as it is written 800 years
24:42later of the two nations, "Jacob I have
24:45put a priority love on, and Esau I have
24:48put less of a priority love on." That's
24:50how I'm translating it. What shall we
24:53say then?
24:54There is no injustice with God, is
24:56there? May it never be.
24:59For he says to Moses,
25:02"I will have mercy
25:04on whom I have mercy, and I will have
25:07compassion on whom I have compassion."
25:11And you say to me, "Ooh,
25:13mercy sounds like salvation.
25:17Mercy sounds like election.
25:20Okay, it's God's right to choose whom he
25:23will have mercy on.
25:25But in this same book,
25:27just one page later, he tells us who he
25:31will have mercy on.
25:33He says that God in Romans 11 has shut
25:36up all under disobedience so that he
25:41might show mercy to all.
25:46So, once we start talking about
25:47salvation, yeah, that's God's choice,
25:50but God chose to send his son
25:53that whoever believes in him would not
25:56perish but have everlasting life. That
25:58whosoever will may come to the water and
26:01drink, and he is not willing that any
26:04should perish but that all should come
26:07to repentance. When we talk about God's
26:10election in a natural sense, yeah, it's
26:13very unequal. But when we talk about
26:16God's election in a salvific sense, he
26:20has chosen to have mercy on all.
26:24So, just put next to that verse 16 or
26:28verse 15 put in Romans 11:32
26:32to remind yourself that the mercy choice
26:35included all people. He himself is the
26:38propitiation of our sins and not of ours
26:40only, but the sins of the whole world.
26:44God so loved the world, not the elect,
26:47the world, that he gave his only
26:49begotten son.
26:50So then, it does not depend on the man
26:53who wills or the man who runs, but on
26:55God who has mercy. And amen.
26:58>> [clears throat]
26:58>> We're never going to be saved by our
27:00willpower. We're only going to be saved
27:02when he shows us that that prevenient
27:05introductory grace that even gives us
27:07the power to have a choice.
27:10Amen.
27:12So, for the scripture says to Pharaoh,
27:15"For this purpose I raised you up to
27:18demonstrate my power in you that my name
27:21might be proclaimed throughout the whole
27:23earth."
27:24So then, he has mercy on whom he desires
27:27and he hardens whom he desires.
27:30Okay. So, does that mean that God took
27:34Pharaoh's
27:36soft, baby-like heart and just beat on
27:40it until it was hard as stone?
27:42Did God actively harden his heart?
27:46No, he did not.
27:47He gave him the chance to repent and his
27:50own pride rebelled. And so,
27:54the opportunity for repentance became
27:57the occasion for hardening, just like
27:59the law
28:01was the occasion for sin.
28:03But it doesn't have to be, Paul showed
28:05us. It can actually bring us to faith.
28:09Do you understand? So, God doesn't
28:11harden Pharaoh's heart.
28:15This happened with the Syrophoenician
28:16woman. She wasn't part of the family of
28:18the Jews and Jesus told her, "I was sent
28:22only to the lost sheep of the house of
28:23Israel."
28:25He's basically saying, "I can only work
28:27with the puppies in the box
28:29and you're not one of them. I can only
28:31work with those who've been in the
28:33process for generations of leaving false
28:36gods and accepting the basics of who God
28:40is and who man is and you're not part of
28:42this community. I can't adulterate
28:45myself to become another part of your
28:47pagan faith.
28:49Right?
28:50When God said that to her,
28:53he said it was not good to take the
28:55children's bread and toss it to dogs. He
28:57called her a dog.
29:00Do you think that could have hardened
29:01her heart?
29:03Mhm, I do.
29:06But what did she say?
29:07Unlike Pharaoh, she accepted the
29:10opportunity to repent.
29:12And she said, "Yes, Lord, but even the
29:14dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the
29:16children's table." Now, just moments
29:18before she was predestined
29:20to the doom of Syrophoenicians.
29:24But now she transcends her national
29:27destiny and becomes part of the
29:28community of Israel when she says, "Yes,
29:31Lord." And he says,
29:33"Woman, great is your faith."
29:36And for Jesus, that's what makes you
29:38part of Israel, whether you have faith,
29:40the faith of Abraham. Because Abraham
29:42was a Gentile, too. The Lord says, "Your
29:44father was a Shemite, a wandering
29:47Aramean until I called him."
29:51And until he answered, that's what he
29:53would have remained.
29:55But like
29:56Abraham, the Syrophoenician woman said,
29:58"Yes, Lord."
30:00And she became part of Israel. So,
30:02throughout the Bible, we can see
30:05predestination where God describes the
30:08trajectory that a nation is on.
30:12And he says, "No Moabite will ever enter
30:15the community of Israel forever."
30:17But then here comes Ruth.
30:19So, does God change his mind? Does he
30:22change the predestination? God's
30:24unchanging, but you can change.
30:27And when the Moabite says, "Where you
30:30go, I will go. Where you lodge, I will
30:33lodge. And where you die, there will I
30:35be buried. Your people will be my
30:38people, and your God will be my God."
30:41She ceases to be a Moabite and she
30:44becomes through her faith a daughter of
30:47Israel. She becomes part of the
30:49predestined community, predestined to
30:51salvation and she leaves the nation that
30:54is predestined to hell.
30:56We're all part of the wrong community
30:59until by faith, like the Syrophoenician
31:02woman, we climb out of that conveyor
31:05belt heading in the wrong direction and
31:07we join
31:09that community journeying in Exodus
31:11toward salvation.
31:13Does that make sense? So, God's
31:14unchanging but you can change. Uriah the
31:17Hittite had moved out of his culture and
31:20into the culture of Israel. And
31:22Obed-Edom and his 70 relatives had moved
31:25out
31:26of the nation God hated called Esau and
31:29had become part of the nation God loved
31:32called Israel. But they are not all
31:34Israel who are naturally born of Israel.
31:36You got to make a choice. You got to
31:38respond to the promise. You got to
31:40become born of the promise. So,
31:45God doesn't harden Pharaoh's heart in
31:47any active way. He brings him the
31:49opportunity to repent and he says no.
31:52So, then he has mercy on whom he desires
31:54and he hardens whom he desires. You will
31:57say to me then, "Why does he still find
32:00fault? For who resists his will?"
32:04But what is his will? He is not willing
32:06that any should perish but all should
32:08come to repentance.
32:10And we're not talking about God
32:11overriding his own will to give you a
32:14free will. God has predestined that you
32:17make a choice but he has not predestined
32:19which choice you make.
32:23On the contrary, who are you, oh man,
32:25who answers back to God? The thing
32:27molded will not say to the molder, "Why
32:30did you make me like this?"
32:32Okay, so he's talking about how God put
32:34a priority on Israel. How God favored
32:37them. But remember he starts off by
32:39telling us they're not saved. So, all
32:41the molding that came to the nation
32:43didn't equal their salvation.
32:47Or does not the potter have a right over
32:49the clay to make from the same one
32:51vessels for honorable use and another
32:54for common use?
32:55Oh, that sounds discouraging except in 2
32:58Timothy
33:002:21, Paul says, "If you will cleanse
33:03yourself,
33:05you can be a vessel of honor fit for the
33:07Father's
33:08good use. So, God's going to use you
33:11whether you're a vessel of dishonor or
33:13honor,
33:14but it's up to you whether you cleanse
33:15yourself, whether you make up that that
33:18decision. What if God, although willing
33:20to demonstrate his wrath and to make his
33:22power known, endured with much patience
33:24vessels of wrath prepared for
33:26destruction?"
33:28And he did so to make known the riches
33:31of his glory upon vessels of mercy which
33:33he prepared beforehand for glory.
33:36But you can be a different kind of
33:37vessel.
33:38I think it bears on us to read it. So,
33:41Paul says, "Now in a large house there
33:43are not only gold and silver vessels,
33:45but also vessels of wood and
33:47earthenware, and some of honor and some
33:50dishonor, chamber pots.
33:53Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself
33:57from these things,
34:00he will be a vessel of honor,
34:02sanctified, useful to the master,
34:05prepared for every good work."
34:09So, yeah, God will use you. He'll
34:11demonstrate his sovereignty in that he
34:13can use those who rebel and those who
34:16comply.
34:17Every knee will bow, every tongue
34:18confess. Hitler and Stalin will be there
34:20on their knees saying Jesus is Lord. It
34:23won't equal their salvation,
34:25but they're vessels of dishonor. God had
34:27a purpose for them.
34:28Through them he showed what was wrong
34:30with the world. Through them he turned
34:32many back to him.
34:34Through their filth, through their
34:35wickedness, through their evil. Right?
34:37So, he'll use you.
34:39But if you'll cleanse yourself, you can
34:41be part
34:43of a vessel of honor.
34:46Even us, whom he also called not from
34:49among Jews only, but also from among
34:51Gentiles.
34:54As he says also in Hosea, I will call
34:57those who were not my people my people.
35:01And her who was not beloved beloved.
35:05So, there it is.
35:07Even though you were on the wrong track,
35:09there's still a chance for you.
35:11And it shall be that in the place where
35:13it was said to them, you are not my
35:16people, there
35:18they shall be called sons of the living
35:21God.
35:22So, Esau, who started off on the wrong
35:25natural foot,
35:27Esau can become part
35:29of the living God.
35:32So, let me give you two scriptures. When
35:33Jesus speaks to the Syrophoenician
35:35woman, it's before the Holy Spirit has
35:37made transformation available to all
35:40people. So, he says, I was sent only to
35:43the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
35:45He doesn't minister elsewhere.
35:47But he tells the disciples, when the
35:49spirit has come upon you, you'll be my
35:50witnesses in Jerusalem
35:54and Judea and Samaria to the uttermost
35:58ends of the earth. Because he's going to
36:00pour out his spirit on all flesh.
36:03So, the outpouring of the spirit ends
36:06the season of natural election for one
36:11family. And it says, okay, now all the
36:14families of the earth can be blessed.
36:16I'll pour out my spirit on all flesh.
36:19Do you understand? And it doesn't matter
36:21where you were born, it doesn't matter
36:22who your daddy was, it doesn't matter
36:23who your grandpa was, it doesn't matter
36:25what your ethnicity is, what your nation
36:28was. Come on, you Moabites. Come on, you
36:31Come on, ends of the earth,
36:34I'll make sons and daughters of God from
36:36you.
36:38Upon my maidservants and menservants, I
36:41will pour out my spirit, and they will
36:44all
36:45be sons of God.
36:48There they shall be called sons of the
36:50living God. Isaiah cries out concerning
36:52Israel, "Though the number of the sons
36:54of Israel be like the sand of the sea,
36:57it is the remnant that will be saved."
37:00So, he's saying, "God chose you. God
37:02used you. God brought the seven most
37:05important things in the world through
37:07you,
37:08and most of you aren't saved. So, that
37:10election didn't bring you to salvation.
37:13Only a fraction, only a remnant will be
37:15saved." Isaiah said, "It's like a tree,
37:18an olive tree, and the whole tree is
37:21rotten, but in the very top of the
37:23branches, God will find two or three
37:27olives." That's the percentage of
37:29faithfulness that he needs to carry on
37:32his eternal purpose for all mankind, and
37:35that's what he found even among the
37:37Jews.
37:38Isaiah cries out concerning Israel,
37:40"Though the number of the sons of Israel
37:42be like the sand of the sea, it is the
37:44remnant that will be saved, for the Lord
37:46will execute his word on the earth
37:48thoroughly and quickly.
37:50And just as Isaiah foretold, unless the
37:53Lord of Sabaoth had left to us a
37:55posterity, we would have become like
37:58Sodom and would have resembled Gomorrah.
38:01Israel is going to become like Sodom and
38:03Gomorrah if the Lord hadn't left a
38:06fraction, a remnant." So, all the
38:09election he talks about that makes us
38:11doubt and question God's choice, you
38:14need to see it did not equal a totality
38:19of salvation for those who were elected.
38:23Only a remnant of the elect were saved,
38:26the chosen.
38:29What shall we say then? That Gentiles
38:32who did not pursue righteousness
38:34attained righteousness, even the
38:37righteousness which is by faith.
38:41But Israel, pursuing a law of
38:44righteousness, did not arrive at that
38:47law.
38:48Why? Because they did not pursue it by
38:54faith, but as [snorts] though it were by
38:57works. They stumbled over the stumbling
39:00stone, just as it is written, "Behold, I
39:03lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a
39:05rock of offense, and he who believes in
39:08him will not be disappointed." So, he
39:11says, "Israel was elected. Israel wasn't
39:15Esau. Israel was who left the hardened
39:19heart of Pharaoh. Israel is who got all
39:22these choices that make you think God's
39:24unfair."
39:25But in the end, Israel isn't saved.
39:29Cuz those choices [music]
39:30didn't preclude your need to seek God
39:34through faith.
39:36And he tells us, "Why does Israel Why?"
39:39Says, "Israel did not arrive at the
39:43righteousness of God." And then he says
39:45why.
39:47And if he was a Calvinist, he would say
39:49because God chose.
39:52But he says, "Why? Because they
39:55did not pursue it by faith."
39:59It's their fault.
40:01They can still pursue it by faith, and
40:03that's what we're going to learn in the
40:05next chapter. Let's sum all this up.
40:07Paul gives us salvation in Romans 8.
40:10Paul weeps for Israel in Romans 9. Tells
40:13us that the best things came through
40:15[music] them, but then he says, "Don't
40:17complain that God spent centuries on a
40:19family that rejected him. That was
40:22natural election for a salvific purpose.
40:25And if even a remnant hangs on to that
40:27purpose, it was worthwhile. Don't
40:30complain against God's choice, but don't
40:33confuse natural election for spiritual
40:36salvific election because this Israel
40:39that was elected isn't saved
40:42because they don't pursue it by faith.
40:44But, the Gentiles who were not elected,
40:47who were of Esau, who God hated,
40:50they found it because faith is available
40:54to every man.
40:55The grace of God that brings salvation
40:59has showed up. It has appeared to all
41:03men,
41:04teaching, guiding, discipling, and
41:06empowering us to say no to ungodliness,
41:11to live sensibly and godly in this
41:13present [music] age. And if we say no to
41:16that grace,
41:18we are responsible. God made the choice
41:21to make his mercy available to all.
41:27>> [music]
41:37[music]

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