WEBVTT 00:00:19.199 --> 00:00:24.320 Uh, today's passage is Romans nine, uh, one through twenty-nine. 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:31.359 Um I am speaking the truth in Christ, I am not lying. 00:00:31.600 --> 00:00:38.880 My conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 00:00:39.200 --> 00:00:46.479 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. 00:00:46.719 --> 00:00:53.759 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. 00:00:54.320 --> 00:01:04.079 To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever, amen. 00:01:05.040 --> 00:01:16.000 But it is not as though the word of God has failed, for not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham, because they are his offspring. 00:01:16.239 --> 00:01:24.000 But through Isaac, though Isaac shall be through Isaac shall your offspring be named. 00:01:24.319 --> 00:01:32.959 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:35.200 For this is what the promise said. 00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:40.000 About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son. 00:01:40.400 --> 00:02:00.079 And not only so, but also when Rebecca had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had not done, and had done nothing either good or bad, in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works, but because of him who calls. 00:02:00.319 --> 00:02:03.519 She was told, the older will serve the younger. 00:02:03.760 --> 00:02:07.519 As it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. 00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:09.439 What shall we say then? 00:02:09.680 --> 00:02:11.759 Is there injustice on God's part? 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:13.199 By no means. 00:02:13.520 --> 00:02:20.879 For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. 00:02:21.120 --> 00:02:26.800 So this, so then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy. 00:02:27.120 --> 00:02:39.680 For the scripture says to Pharaoh, For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show you my power, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:45.360 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. 00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:52.319 For you will say to me then, Why does he still find fault? 00:02:52.479 --> 00:02:54.319 For who can resist his will? 00:02:54.639 --> 00:02:57.759 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? 00:02:58.319 --> 00:03:04.159 Will then what will what is molded say to the moulder, Why have you made me like this? 00:03:04.400 --> 00:03:12.080 Has the potter no right over the clay to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and one for dishonorable use? 00:03:12.800 --> 00:03:15.360 What is God desiring to show his wrath? 00:03:15.599 --> 00:03:37.039 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and make known his promise, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles. 00:03:37.360 --> 00:03:49.520 As indeed he says in Hosea, Those who were not my people I will call my people, and her who is not beloved, I will call beloved. 00:03:50.240 --> 00:03:59.439 And in the very place where it was said to them, You are not my people, there they will be called sons of the living God. 00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:10.159 And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, through the number, though the number of sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved. 00:04:10.879 --> 00:04:15.439 For the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay. 00:04:15.840 --> 00:04:25.839 And as Isaiah predicted, if the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, we would be we would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah. 00:04:26.160 --> 00:04:27.519 So reads God's word. 00:04:28.720 --> 00:04:30.720 Welcome uh to you if you joined us while we're singing. 00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:31.439 My name's Mark. 00:04:31.519 --> 00:04:34.000 I'm one of the leaders here uh at City. 00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:44.879 And uh you are here uh this morning if you're visiting, as we resume a series that we uh left off uh at the start of the summer. 00:04:45.040 --> 00:04:50.800 And uh that series was in uh the first uh eight chapters of the the book of Romans. 00:04:51.120 --> 00:04:59.040 And uh normally what happens is that uh people do the first eight chapters of the book of Romans because that's there's lots of great stuff in there. 00:04:59.199 --> 00:05:11.199 It's essentially, by way of summary, uh, about how it is that a uh a sinful people, people who are estranged from God, how God makes them righteous. 00:05:11.439 --> 00:05:16.560 To be righteous is not just to be innocent, it's to be considered morally perfect. 00:05:16.639 --> 00:05:17.920 And how does God do that? 00:05:18.079 --> 00:05:29.519 Well, he does that in sending Jesus to take the judgment that we deserve in order that we might receive his perfect life, his righteousness. 00:05:29.839 --> 00:05:44.240 And then from chapters 12 through to the end of the book in chapter 16, uh they're really about well, how does a righteous people live righteously now in the world? 00:05:45.920 --> 00:05:50.639 And then we get these three chapters in the middle: Romans 9, 10, 11. 00:05:51.360 --> 00:06:06.399 And lots of preachers will simply skip over Romans 9, 10, 11 because they're hard and uh they are controversial, but not so with us at City Church. 00:06:06.720 --> 00:06:23.920 Uh, we are going to continue on through and look and see that actually these chapters are amazingly relevant and wonderfully true. 00:06:24.160 --> 00:06:30.319 Let me let me give you two ways in which they might be relevant to you this morning. 00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:30.639 Okay. 00:06:31.199 --> 00:06:41.279 Have you ever thought to yourself can I actually trust God with my life? 00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:44.240 Can I take him at his word? 00:06:45.759 --> 00:06:51.519 If in your mind you've answered yes to that question, then Romans 9, 10, 11 is for you. 00:06:53.120 --> 00:07:03.920 Or, secondly, have you ever looked at the world and questioned whether or not God is actually just? 00:07:05.040 --> 00:07:13.120 Have you ever considered or wrestled with questions of justice and the justice of God? 00:07:13.759 --> 00:07:20.879 Again, if you have answered yes to those questions, then Romans 9, 10, and 11 are for you. 00:07:21.519 --> 00:07:31.600 The immediate context, uh, in fact, Mariana alluded to it in her prayers, is Paul kind of coscendos in Romans chapter 8. 00:07:31.680 --> 00:07:44.720 It's a great high point of the book where he's saying, you know, what shall separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus shall shall nakedness and famine and sword, no, and all of these things we are more than conquerors. 00:07:44.879 --> 00:07:47.600 Nothing can separate us from the love of God. 00:07:47.680 --> 00:07:59.120 That is, if God has adopted you into his family, he will keep you to the end through whatever suffering and trial you go through. 00:07:59.360 --> 00:08:01.600 What a great truth that is. 00:08:02.240 --> 00:08:06.240 And yet Paul knows as soon as he writes it that he has a bit of a problem. 00:08:06.720 --> 00:08:15.040 He is a pastoral problem in the church in Rome, perhaps slightly more so than we have here in our makeup here in City Church. 00:08:15.120 --> 00:08:16.639 And that problem is this. 00:08:17.199 --> 00:08:47.600 That is, that the church in Rome is made up of a mixture of Jews who have recognized that Jesus is the Messiah and come to follow him, and Gentiles who have come from a non-Jewish background, and that outside of the church there are a whole bunch of other uh Jewish people who have rejected the Messiah, who have rejected God's provision, God's salvation. 00:08:47.919 --> 00:08:52.960 They hate the Christians, they hate Jesus. 00:08:53.679 --> 00:08:57.519 And so the question then is: well, what about those guys? 00:08:57.679 --> 00:09:02.879 You know, they they've come, they're genetically descended from Abraham. 00:09:04.960 --> 00:09:07.759 And it seems that they have fallen away. 00:09:08.320 --> 00:09:10.720 So what about God's promises to them? 00:09:10.960 --> 00:09:14.320 Has God just changed his mind about Israel? 00:09:14.559 --> 00:09:20.879 Has God just decided, no, don't really didn't really like uh the Jews, I'm starting again. 00:09:21.200 --> 00:09:25.360 And if he has, well, does that mean that he'll change his mind again? 00:09:25.679 --> 00:09:27.039 Does God's word fail? 00:09:27.200 --> 00:09:29.919 Does he make promises and then go back on them? 00:09:30.080 --> 00:09:45.360 Paul recognizes that as soon as he says all of these grand things about God persevering with you to the end, then the question is, well, what about the Jews who hated Jesus and hate the Christians in the ancient world? 00:09:46.639 --> 00:09:48.320 What's going on with them? 00:09:49.120 --> 00:09:50.799 Has God gone back on his word? 00:09:51.039 --> 00:09:53.840 Can God actually be trusted? 00:09:54.960 --> 00:10:00.000 Now, there's something in this passage right at the start that I want you to see. 00:10:00.159 --> 00:10:03.679 And it is really going to be helpful for you if you have it open in front of you. 00:10:03.840 --> 00:10:06.720 Either you've come here with the Bible or it's on your phone. 00:10:06.879 --> 00:10:12.480 If you don't have a Bible app on your phone, just Google search Romans 9 ESV. 00:10:12.639 --> 00:10:14.000 That's the English Standard Version. 00:10:14.080 --> 00:10:15.679 That's what we're looking through today. 00:10:15.759 --> 00:10:24.320 And then you can follow along because, as you'll have seen from the reading, there's a number of complexities here, and it is worth being able to see it in front of you. 00:10:24.559 --> 00:10:31.519 But the first thing that I want you to note is Paul's heart, Paul's emotional life here. 00:10:32.480 --> 00:10:35.360 Look at uh verses uh one to three. 00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:36.879 I am speaking the truth in Christ. 00:10:36.960 --> 00:10:44.559 I am not lying, my conscience bears witness in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 00:10:44.799 --> 00:10:54.320 For I wish that I myself were accursed, cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. 00:10:56.159 --> 00:10:57.279 Paul's gutted. 00:10:58.639 --> 00:11:07.840 Paul is gutted that his fellow Jews, his brothers and sisters, have not recognized that Jesus is the Messiah. 00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:16.080 He has great anguish at what he is about to write. 00:11:16.480 --> 00:11:20.240 He's saying I would I would switch places with them in a second. 00:11:21.279 --> 00:11:25.039 This word, I'd rather that I myself were accursed, cut off from Christ. 00:11:25.120 --> 00:11:26.240 Do you hear what he's saying there? 00:11:26.559 --> 00:11:39.519 He's like, if God gave me a choice and said, Paul, you have to spend eternity cut off from me in hell, and I will rescue all of your brothers and sisters who are descendants of Abraham. 00:11:40.159 --> 00:11:41.440 Paul would say, Yes. 00:11:42.799 --> 00:11:44.320 Yes, do that, Lord. 00:11:48.320 --> 00:12:03.600 I bring that up because I suspect that some of you here this morning, you've probably begun to note that what Paul's beginning to talk about here are some of the issues to do with election and predestination, things like that. 00:12:04.159 --> 00:12:28.320 And I bring up Paul's heart as he lays it out here in these opening verses, is because one of the things that we can sometimes assume is that the Christian truths about election and predestination basically point to a God who doesn't care, who just plays kind of duck duck damn with humanity. 00:12:30.159 --> 00:12:34.480 You might have had that experience as a as a student. 00:12:34.639 --> 00:12:45.919 Maybe you've been around kind of Christian unions and things like that, and you're sitting there with some theology graduate who loves to win arguments and is much less bothered about winning people. 00:12:46.639 --> 00:12:54.480 And he, because it's always a guy, is beating people over the head with the truth about predestination. 00:12:54.720 --> 00:12:56.320 Have you met those people? 00:12:56.720 --> 00:13:01.200 I am a recovering uh theology student. 00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:15.279 We call those people cage stage Calvinists, because they take a little bit of time to work out that there's some heart behind the doctrine of election. 00:13:15.440 --> 00:13:36.480 And that actually these truths about God's predestinating and electing people, they should they should in some sense be communicated with with tears, with brokenness, with a longing for people that they would turn and find salvation and life in the Lord Jesus. 00:13:38.639 --> 00:13:45.039 I say that because I am just acutely aware that some of you here, you might find today hard. 00:13:46.399 --> 00:13:49.840 You might find Romans 9, 10, 11 hard. 00:13:51.120 --> 00:13:57.200 And we can talk at length about all of these things about predestination and what it all actually means. 00:13:57.759 --> 00:14:00.720 But let's agree on one thing right at the start, hey? 00:14:01.039 --> 00:14:01.679 Here it is. 00:14:02.960 --> 00:14:06.240 We could all do with having more of a broken heart about the lost. 00:14:07.360 --> 00:14:30.799 Whatever, wherever you come down on this, we could all do with being a little bit more emotionally brokenhearted at the thought of friends, colleagues, family members being outside of Christ and have more of a longing, a longing that Paul describes here, that actually they would come to recognize that Jesus is who he says he is. 00:14:32.559 --> 00:14:38.159 We could learn from Paul's heart here before we learn from Paul's mind. 00:14:39.279 --> 00:14:41.200 But learn from his mind we must. 00:14:41.440 --> 00:14:42.559 So what's going on here? 00:14:42.720 --> 00:14:44.639 Has God's word failed? 00:14:45.200 --> 00:14:47.759 Does he make promises and fail to keep them? 00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:50.720 Well, he gives us the answer in in verse 6. 00:14:51.120 --> 00:14:53.039 Have a look down with me at it. 00:14:53.200 --> 00:14:55.759 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. 00:14:56.000 --> 00:14:59.039 Here's the reason why, and then I'll explain it, okay? 00:14:59.360 --> 00:15:07.600 For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel. 00:15:08.720 --> 00:15:12.720 Not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel. 00:15:12.879 --> 00:15:13.679 What does that mean? 00:15:13.759 --> 00:15:15.279 Let me tell you what that means. 00:15:15.519 --> 00:15:28.720 It means that not everyone who enjoys the privileges of a religious background enjoys the salvation that that religion points to. 00:15:28.879 --> 00:15:42.879 Or put it another way, not everyone who enjoys the benefits of being part of the community of God, the community of God's people, it doesn't mean that they are all actually God's people. 00:15:43.919 --> 00:15:48.559 Paul lists out the benefits in verses uh uh four and five. 00:15:48.639 --> 00:15:54.000 He says, To them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. 00:15:54.320 --> 00:16:03.039 To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, God's anointed king, sent into the world, who's above all. 00:16:03.200 --> 00:16:10.080 They have so many privileges, but the privileges don't make you one of God's people. 00:16:10.559 --> 00:16:18.639 You can think about it this way: imagine uh that you're at City Church, which you are, so don't have to stretch the imagination too much right now. 00:16:18.799 --> 00:16:23.840 But imagine that you make City Church your home and you're like, I love the community. 00:16:24.639 --> 00:16:29.360 I love uh getting to know these new friends that I have made. 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:31.679 The people are great. 00:16:32.799 --> 00:16:37.519 You find being here a personal encouragement to you. 00:16:37.679 --> 00:16:51.600 You like the coffee outside, the donuts are decent, uh, the community groups help you to feel less alone in the city, you feel cared for and a sense of belonging. 00:16:54.480 --> 00:16:57.840 But you're not a Christian, and you know that you're not a Christian. 00:16:58.000 --> 00:17:03.120 You're maybe still working it out, but you know actually that, yeah, I feel I feel at home here. 00:17:04.160 --> 00:17:14.079 But I'm not sure that actually I believe all of the things that they that they say or that Mark talks about from the from the front. 00:17:15.599 --> 00:17:19.519 You share in the community, but you don't share in the belief. 00:17:22.160 --> 00:17:32.480 What Paul is saying is that being part of the community and participating in the features of that community are not what makes you a Christian. 00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:44.400 You're not a Christian simply because you were baptized or confirmed, or because you had Christian parents, or because you come to church on Sunday. 00:17:44.640 --> 00:17:50.079 Those things do not, cannot make you a follower of Jesus. 00:17:50.240 --> 00:17:51.440 And that's what Paul is saying. 00:17:51.519 --> 00:17:54.000 He says, not all of Israel were true Israel. 00:17:54.160 --> 00:18:05.359 Not all those who were descended from Israel were Israel, that not all who were part of the community actually were saved by God, part of his people. 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:09.200 Why does he point this out? 00:18:09.279 --> 00:18:24.079 Well, he points it out in order to say that being part of God's people is not about our genetics, it's not about our religious pedigree, it's not about who we're descended from. 00:18:24.799 --> 00:18:27.359 Rather, it is about faith. 00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:36.400 And he uses the example of Isaac and Ishmael. 00:18:37.039 --> 00:18:39.599 So have a look with me at verse 7. 00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:48.480 Not all who are children of Abraham, because they are his offspring, but then he quotes Genesis, through Isaac shall your offspring be named. 00:18:48.559 --> 00:19:04.240 That is Paul saying, or that is God saying in Genesis, I am going to continue my line of promise, not through Ishmael the older, but through Isaac, the son of promise. 00:19:05.039 --> 00:19:13.839 They were both descended from Abraham, and they both received the sign of being part of God's people, which in the Old Testament was circumcision. 00:19:14.640 --> 00:19:19.359 They were both descended from Abraham, both received the sign of being part of God's people. 00:19:19.599 --> 00:19:24.720 But here, Paul is pointing out that actually only one of them was part of God's people. 00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:37.039 Only one of them was, to use our modern language, a Christian, saved by God, through whom God would carry on his promises to the world. 00:19:37.599 --> 00:19:45.279 Again, this is to show us that actually being a Christian is not about something in us or our descent. 00:19:48.000 --> 00:20:01.839 Now you might say, but surely there must have been something morally or spiritually preferable about Isaac or his or his background. 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:16.559 Something either in his favor or against Ishmael that meant that God chose Isaac and not his older brother Ishmael. 00:20:17.599 --> 00:20:22.000 And Paul says, No, that's not how salvation works. 00:20:23.599 --> 00:20:25.599 He says, Okay, I'm gonna illustrate that for you. 00:20:25.680 --> 00:20:26.960 I'm gonna go down a generation. 00:20:27.119 --> 00:20:31.359 So we've had Abraham, he has two sons, Isaac and Ishmael, right? 00:20:31.519 --> 00:20:35.680 We're gonna move down another generation to Isaac's kids. 00:20:35.839 --> 00:20:39.119 So Isaac and Rebekah have twins. 00:20:39.759 --> 00:20:41.599 Follow along with me. 00:20:42.400 --> 00:20:43.599 Verse 9. 00:20:44.480 --> 00:20:46.400 Uh sorry, actually, verse 10. 00:20:46.559 --> 00:21:09.200 And not only so, but when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done neither good nor bad, in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works, but because of him who calls, she was told, the older will serve the younger, as it is written, Jacob, I loved Esau, I hated. 00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:12.720 So do you see what Paul's doing? 00:21:12.880 --> 00:21:22.960 Paul's exploding this notion that no, that there must have been there must have been something morally or spiritually preferable about Isaac that means that God chose him. 00:21:23.200 --> 00:21:29.119 He says, no, well, actually, keep on reading in the book of Genesis, and what you'll see is there's twins. 00:21:30.240 --> 00:21:32.720 One act of conception, right? 00:21:33.839 --> 00:21:39.039 So completely equal, neither of them born yet. 00:21:39.680 --> 00:21:43.039 They hadn't done anything yet. 00:21:44.720 --> 00:21:46.400 And yeah, what does God do? 00:21:47.279 --> 00:21:49.200 God says the younger will serve the older. 00:21:49.440 --> 00:21:55.599 He chooses Jacob over Esau before they could do anything. 00:21:55.839 --> 00:21:56.480 Why? 00:21:56.720 --> 00:21:58.000 Why does God do that? 00:21:58.160 --> 00:21:59.279 Well, let me tell you why. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:05.839 In order to reinforce to us here this morning that salvation is not by works. 00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:10.480 He chose Jacob before Jacob did anything. 00:22:10.720 --> 00:22:11.680 Do you see? 00:22:12.240 --> 00:22:24.400 In order to show us here this morning that we do not become a member of God's family by our moral performance, by our religious good deeds. 00:22:25.839 --> 00:22:30.319 Rather, it depends not on us, but on God. 00:22:33.759 --> 00:22:38.559 Perhaps you sit here and say, no, look, hold on. 00:22:38.640 --> 00:22:57.599 That's surely it was something like God looked down the corridor of time, and he saw that Jacob, that Jacob would be better than his brother. 00:22:58.400 --> 00:23:01.839 That Jacob would choose God. 00:23:03.839 --> 00:23:09.119 And so God picks him beforehand. 00:23:11.440 --> 00:23:23.200 The problem with that though is that if you read the story of Jacob, Jacob is, to use a theological term, a jerk. 00:23:25.039 --> 00:23:25.680 Right? 00:23:26.480 --> 00:23:31.279 He has nothing morally commendable about him. 00:23:31.759 --> 00:23:34.319 He does nothing good. 00:23:34.799 --> 00:23:35.920 He's a trickster. 00:23:36.079 --> 00:23:37.359 He's a manipulator. 00:23:37.519 --> 00:23:38.960 He's a deceiver. 00:23:39.519 --> 00:23:41.200 He cheats his brother. 00:23:42.559 --> 00:23:45.359 He cheats his brother out of his out of his birthright. 00:23:45.599 --> 00:23:48.799 He is a manipulative guy. 00:23:49.519 --> 00:23:55.440 He does not deserve or merit God's salvation. 00:23:56.160 --> 00:23:57.680 And that's the point. 00:23:58.960 --> 00:23:59.920 And that's the point. 00:24:00.160 --> 00:24:01.759 He doesn't deserve it. 00:24:04.400 --> 00:24:13.359 If you're thinking in terms of merit, deserve, entitled, none of Romans 9 will make sense to you. 00:24:14.480 --> 00:24:27.599 It is only because salvation is not deserved, that it must then depend not on us, but on God and His choosing. 00:24:29.200 --> 00:24:35.279 Salvation is not dependent on our works or our moral goodness or on our spiritual vitality. 00:24:35.359 --> 00:24:41.440 It is dependent solely on God and on his gracious choice. 00:24:43.039 --> 00:24:45.440 I know that I'm currently leaving some questions unanswered. 00:24:45.519 --> 00:24:46.319 We're going to get to them. 00:24:46.400 --> 00:24:48.000 We are not done. 00:24:49.200 --> 00:24:50.640 So has God's word failed? 00:24:50.720 --> 00:24:52.319 That's the question that we're dealing with. 00:24:52.559 --> 00:24:52.880 No. 00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:57.839 God's word has not failed, but what Paul is saying is God doesn't choose everyone. 00:24:58.079 --> 00:24:59.759 See, I'm setting up the questions, right? 00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:01.680 God does not choose everyone. 00:25:01.920 --> 00:25:05.839 He didn't choose Ishmael and He didn't choose Esau. 00:25:06.960 --> 00:25:11.279 But all that He does choose, He saves. 00:25:12.799 --> 00:25:15.759 And He saves you not because of your works. 00:25:17.200 --> 00:25:21.680 And that's wonderful news because that means that He will never disinherit you. 00:25:22.559 --> 00:25:26.720 That means that His Word will never fail towards you. 00:25:27.200 --> 00:25:35.119 You cannot annoy Him so much that He decides to rescind his salvation of you, his adoption of you. 00:25:35.359 --> 00:25:37.359 His word does not fail. 00:25:37.920 --> 00:25:45.599 He does not fail to save all that He has chosen, but He does not choose to save everyone. 00:25:47.920 --> 00:25:52.400 Does this mean that salvation is arbitrary? 00:25:52.880 --> 00:25:59.039 That God just kind of covers His eyes and goes, you, you, not you. 00:25:59.680 --> 00:26:01.599 And no, definitely not you. 00:26:01.839 --> 00:26:04.559 Is that is that what we're what we're talking about here? 00:26:05.680 --> 00:26:06.000 No. 00:26:06.319 --> 00:26:07.599 No, of course not. 00:26:08.640 --> 00:26:17.440 But what it does mean is that whatever his reasons are for saving, that they're not located in me. 00:26:18.720 --> 00:26:20.640 And they're not located in you. 00:26:23.200 --> 00:26:25.200 So they must be located in him. 00:26:28.319 --> 00:26:33.440 Let me just kind of if you're bristling already, let me let me make you bristle just a little bit more. 00:26:33.519 --> 00:26:35.680 Let me just push you slightly. 00:26:36.079 --> 00:26:39.039 Hopefully this will get slightly better before it gets worse, but hey ho. 00:26:39.839 --> 00:26:41.200 Welcome if you're new. 00:26:41.440 --> 00:26:44.799 Um so you ask yourself this question. 00:26:44.960 --> 00:26:47.839 You say, Mark, I I I hate this. 00:26:48.480 --> 00:26:52.319 Uh this does not sound like good news to me. 00:26:52.640 --> 00:26:55.359 Do I do I have to believe this? 00:26:55.680 --> 00:27:04.079 Do I have to believe in election and God's predestinating of people? 00:27:08.000 --> 00:27:08.640 Yeah. 00:27:10.480 --> 00:27:12.160 Yeah, I actually think that you do. 00:27:12.319 --> 00:27:13.759 Now let me tell you why. 00:27:14.799 --> 00:27:17.119 It's kind of because of what I just said. 00:27:18.880 --> 00:27:25.119 It's because the opposite creates so many other problems than it solves. 00:27:26.160 --> 00:27:43.279 If God's saving of people is not simply based upon his gracious, unmerited choice of some, then the reason for his choosing must be located in me. 00:27:44.079 --> 00:27:46.559 That I must contribute something. 00:27:46.799 --> 00:27:55.039 Maybe it's my choosing, but what is there, is there something more spiritually awakened about me that means that I that I chose? 00:27:55.759 --> 00:28:22.880 And once you locate the defining reason for salvation, not wholly and exclusively in God, then you have begun to undermine the truth that salvation is entirely by grace alone, that there's nothing in you that deserves it, that we are dead in our trespasses and sins, not just sick and in need of a little bit of medicine, but dead and in need of resurrection. 00:28:26.960 --> 00:28:33.039 I am not saying that we cannot wrestle with the doctrine of election. 00:28:34.480 --> 00:28:36.640 With these words that Paul is speaking here. 00:28:36.720 --> 00:28:42.000 But what I am saying is that to throw it out and go, nah, I've don't like that. 00:28:42.240 --> 00:28:50.160 Do Benjamin Franklin and just kind of snip out the bits of the Bible that you don't like creates more problems than it solves. 00:28:51.920 --> 00:28:53.200 Let's keep going. 00:28:55.119 --> 00:29:01.440 So then you ask, well, how is any of this fair? 00:29:03.359 --> 00:29:15.279 It seems so unfair, so unjust that God would choose some and reject others. 00:29:15.519 --> 00:29:18.319 How can that possibly be good news, Mark? 00:29:19.200 --> 00:29:21.759 That's the next question that Paul anticipates. 00:29:22.079 --> 00:29:23.759 He got there before we did. 00:29:24.000 --> 00:29:25.599 Have a look at verse 14. 00:29:25.759 --> 00:29:26.880 What should we say then? 00:29:27.039 --> 00:29:28.799 Is there injustice on God's part? 00:29:28.960 --> 00:29:30.240 By no means. 00:29:31.039 --> 00:29:37.680 For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I'll have compassion upon whom I'll have compassion. 00:29:37.920 --> 00:29:38.559 All good? 00:29:38.880 --> 00:29:39.839 Questions answered? 00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:41.359 Shall we pray? 00:29:41.839 --> 00:29:44.799 No, we should probably say a little bit more. 00:29:45.200 --> 00:29:49.759 But this is an interesting answer with Paul's, or of Paul's. 00:29:53.359 --> 00:30:00.319 Someone might say something like, Well, if God really was just, he would save everyone equally. 00:30:00.960 --> 00:30:04.880 And because he doesn't, he must be unjust. 00:30:07.200 --> 00:30:20.400 But in Paul's answer, quoting now from the book of Exodus, I will have mercy upon whom I'll have mercy, and I'll have compassion upon him whom I have compassion, he's encouraging us not to confuse justice with mercy. 00:30:21.680 --> 00:30:27.039 God is always just, he always acts justly. 00:30:27.920 --> 00:30:33.279 But in order for God to be just, he does not have to show mercy. 00:30:34.640 --> 00:30:40.400 All of us can say, I demand justice. 00:30:43.119 --> 00:30:48.000 But none of us can say, I demand mercy. 00:30:49.039 --> 00:30:51.599 It actually makes no sense if you think about it. 00:30:52.480 --> 00:30:55.680 Mercy by its very nature is something that we don't deserve. 00:30:55.839 --> 00:31:00.559 It's something that we plead rather than something that we are entitled to. 00:31:01.039 --> 00:31:05.519 We're not deserving of it in the same way that we are of justice. 00:31:05.759 --> 00:31:10.480 To plead for mercy is to acknowledge that we don't deserve it. 00:31:11.759 --> 00:31:13.920 And so it must be graciously given. 00:31:14.000 --> 00:31:15.599 It cannot be claimed. 00:31:20.480 --> 00:31:23.119 And this is where I think Paul's quote matters. 00:31:23.359 --> 00:31:29.440 Because Paul's quote is from the book of Exodus, like I said, and it's from a chapter called chapter 32, right? 00:31:29.519 --> 00:31:34.000 Let me just give you a little brief bit of context because I think it will help us hear. 00:31:34.240 --> 00:31:37.440 What's going on in Exodus around about chapter 32? 00:31:37.759 --> 00:31:41.759 Moses has gone up the mountain in order to receive the Ten Commandments. 00:31:41.839 --> 00:31:44.880 Even if you're not a Christian or being around church, you know what the big 10 are, right? 00:31:44.960 --> 00:31:47.680 Uh, or at least have some awareness that they're a thing. 00:31:47.920 --> 00:31:53.759 And while Moses is up the mountain, the people start to get a little bit antsy. 00:31:54.000 --> 00:31:56.240 They think that Moses has probably died up there. 00:31:56.559 --> 00:32:02.559 And uh they go to his brother Aaron and they say, uh, look, Moses has gone an awful long time. 00:32:02.640 --> 00:32:03.599 He's probably dead. 00:32:03.680 --> 00:32:10.880 Um, could you uh why don't you, Aaron, uh, make a god for us uh to bow down and worship? 00:32:11.039 --> 00:32:13.759 And Aaron goes, okay. 00:32:14.160 --> 00:32:17.599 Um why don't you give me all of your gold jewelry? 00:32:17.759 --> 00:32:21.279 So take off all of your chains and your watches and your earrings and everything. 00:32:21.440 --> 00:32:23.680 Give me all your gold, and I'm gonna melt it down. 00:32:23.839 --> 00:32:31.440 So he melts it down and he makes this golden calf, this idol, this false god. 00:32:32.240 --> 00:32:39.119 And they all throw a big orgeastic party and they bow down to the golden calf. 00:32:39.839 --> 00:32:46.319 Moses is up the mountain, and he hears a little bit of a ruckus down at the down at the foot of the mountain. 00:32:46.559 --> 00:33:04.079 He comes down and he realizes that actually what the people have done is they've begun to worship this false god just days after the true and living God had rescued them from slavery in Egypt. 00:33:04.240 --> 00:33:13.680 They have just seen the plagues and the crossing of the Red Sea, great dramatic acts of salvation from the one true God. 00:33:13.839 --> 00:33:21.119 And Moses is gone five minutes, and they're already bowing down to a false God. 00:33:21.200 --> 00:33:25.759 And in Moses' rage, he slams the tablets down and he breaks them. 00:33:26.160 --> 00:33:31.599 And he goes back up the mountain, he's completely dejected and broken himself. 00:33:31.759 --> 00:33:36.960 And he says to God, God, um show me your glory. 00:33:38.079 --> 00:33:40.240 Let me see something of you. 00:33:40.799 --> 00:33:45.680 And God responds and he says, I'm gonna, you can't see my glory and live. 00:33:45.759 --> 00:33:47.599 It'll obliterate you, right? 00:33:47.680 --> 00:33:48.720 You'll be toast. 00:33:49.759 --> 00:33:53.440 But I'm gonna cause all of my goodness to pass over you. 00:33:54.160 --> 00:33:58.319 And he hides Moses behind a rock. 00:33:58.799 --> 00:34:03.759 And Moses glimpses the tail end of the goodness of God. 00:34:03.839 --> 00:34:13.039 And as God is passing over, he says, The Lord, the Lord, the gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 00:34:13.280 --> 00:34:19.199 I will have mercy upon whom I have mercy, I will have compassion upon whom I will have compassion. 00:34:20.239 --> 00:34:21.920 That's what Paul's quoting. 00:34:23.679 --> 00:34:25.679 Why does any of that matter? 00:34:27.199 --> 00:34:28.400 Let me tell you. 00:34:31.119 --> 00:34:33.519 No one deserves mercy. 00:34:35.679 --> 00:34:40.400 The folks down the mountain have broken faith with God so quickly. 00:34:42.400 --> 00:34:45.280 God is saying, look, they they can't demand mercy from me. 00:34:45.920 --> 00:34:47.519 They can demand justice. 00:34:48.639 --> 00:34:53.760 But I will be merciful on those whom I will be merciful. 00:34:54.079 --> 00:34:56.880 He gives it graciously to whomever he will. 00:34:59.440 --> 00:35:08.159 Many of us struggle with the notion of election because we think, how can God be so harsh? 00:35:11.360 --> 00:35:18.000 But Romans 9 is saying, Don't forget the darkness of sin. 00:35:19.519 --> 00:35:22.639 Don't forget the seriousness of sin. 00:35:23.280 --> 00:35:25.039 None of us deserves mercy. 00:35:25.679 --> 00:35:27.599 We all deserve justice. 00:35:28.800 --> 00:35:38.800 Instead, rather, we should ask, how could God be so wonderfully gracious to show mercy to someone like me? 00:35:40.320 --> 00:35:42.960 I will have mercy upon him and I will have mercy. 00:35:43.199 --> 00:35:45.039 None of us can demand it. 00:35:45.760 --> 00:35:51.119 And yet, what a thing that God graciously gives it to those whom he will. 00:35:54.960 --> 00:36:02.719 And why is it that some people hear the good news about Jesus and their hearts seem to melt with love for him? 00:36:04.960 --> 00:36:06.559 And yet others hear it. 00:36:08.320 --> 00:36:09.599 And they harden. 00:36:10.159 --> 00:36:11.280 Have you noticed that? 00:36:12.480 --> 00:36:19.440 Probably somebody that is known to you, somebody that you love, and you talk to them about Jesus, and you can just see the shutters go. 00:36:22.800 --> 00:36:24.639 You see them hardening. 00:36:25.039 --> 00:36:27.039 Why is it that that happens? 00:36:29.280 --> 00:36:41.440 Paul moves in this chapter from talking about Moses to talking about Moses' great enemy, Pharaoh, the great enemy of God's people in the book of Exodus. 00:36:42.400 --> 00:36:50.960 That if God has mercy on some and softens their hearts, does he also harden the hearts of others? 00:36:53.760 --> 00:37:01.519 And Paul, not wanting to make the job of any preacher easier for the next 2,000 years, says, yes, he does. 00:37:01.840 --> 00:37:05.440 He not only softens hearts, but he hardens them also. 00:37:06.480 --> 00:37:09.280 God hardened Pharaoh's heart. 00:37:10.400 --> 00:37:13.360 And indeed, that is what is said in the Exodus narrative. 00:37:13.440 --> 00:37:15.599 Let's just have a look at it here briefly. 00:37:15.679 --> 00:37:27.440 Uh, so from verse 17, for the scripture says to Pharaoh, For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. 00:37:27.679 --> 00:37:34.880 So then he has mercy on whom he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. 00:37:36.400 --> 00:37:44.719 Now, again, it's maybe a little bit of a little bit of difficulty here. 00:37:46.239 --> 00:38:08.480 But before we struggle too much, again, we have to ask ourselves, so is is Pharaoh a kind of Pharaoh's a morally neutral character who's just like Egyptianing about the place, doing what pharaohs do, having a grand old time, and God comes along and smites him and goes harden. 00:38:10.559 --> 00:38:12.719 Is that what is that what happens? 00:38:13.280 --> 00:38:14.079 Well, no. 00:38:15.440 --> 00:38:17.440 You read the book of Exodus. 00:38:17.760 --> 00:38:31.599 You really need to get through the first chapter of the book of Exodus, and what you read there is that Pharaoh is a slaver and that he is uh hellbent on murdering all of the Hebrew baby boys. 00:38:31.840 --> 00:38:34.320 That's why Moses ends up in the basket, right? 00:38:34.800 --> 00:38:38.559 Because Pharaoh wants to commit infanticide. 00:38:38.800 --> 00:38:46.800 And so it's not as though Pharaoh is morally neutral and God comes along and smites him. 00:38:47.440 --> 00:39:07.679 Indeed, in the whole Exodus narrative, those first 12 chapters leading up to their release from Egypt, it's kind of 50-50 in the narrative between it's saying, and God hardened Pharaoh's heart, and it's saying, and Pharaoh hardened his heart. 00:39:09.360 --> 00:39:11.039 Who hardened Pharaoh's heart? 00:39:11.199 --> 00:39:13.039 Was it God or was it Pharaoh? 00:39:14.159 --> 00:39:16.239 Answer, yes. 00:39:20.800 --> 00:39:22.480 So what's going on here? 00:39:24.960 --> 00:39:27.519 Here's how God hardens people's hearts. 00:39:29.440 --> 00:39:37.199 God's hardening of people happens when he lets them go the way that they want to go. 00:39:38.639 --> 00:39:41.119 Paul's already talked about this in Romans chapter one. 00:39:41.519 --> 00:39:47.199 Romans chapter one is talking about the human disposition to hate God. 00:39:47.599 --> 00:39:49.760 Okay, because we're not morally neutral either. 00:39:49.840 --> 00:39:51.280 We're not spiritually neutral. 00:39:51.519 --> 00:40:06.880 So if you're if you're here this morning, and uh, or maybe you know this friend who would say, um, I'm searching through all of the world religions, and I'm remaining objective, and I'm objectively assessing Christianity. 00:40:07.360 --> 00:40:10.000 Newsflash, no, you're not. 00:40:10.239 --> 00:40:11.920 Nobody's objective. 00:40:12.480 --> 00:40:17.039 We all have a particular bent and disposition, we all have a bias. 00:40:17.119 --> 00:40:23.599 And Paul is saying in Romans chapter 1 that our instinctive natural bias is against God. 00:40:26.719 --> 00:40:38.960 And that God, when he wants to show his judgment of people, he doesn't hurl down lightning bolts like Thor or Zeus. 00:40:39.599 --> 00:40:46.159 No, what he does is he says to those people, fine, do what you want. 00:40:47.039 --> 00:40:48.400 Have it your way. 00:40:49.760 --> 00:40:52.800 You don't you want you want me out of the picture? 00:40:53.119 --> 00:40:53.679 Sure. 00:40:54.239 --> 00:40:55.360 I'll step back. 00:40:56.000 --> 00:40:59.199 I'll withdraw my presence, I'll withdraw my goodness. 00:40:59.360 --> 00:41:00.639 Folks, that's what hell is. 00:41:00.800 --> 00:41:03.840 It's the withdrawing of God's presence to bless. 00:41:06.000 --> 00:41:08.480 God restrains evil. 00:41:09.360 --> 00:41:16.159 And when he lets his hand away, folks become hard and more wicked. 00:41:17.599 --> 00:41:18.639 That's what's going on. 00:41:18.880 --> 00:41:25.280 God hardens whom he wills, and all who harden want to be hardened. 00:41:26.159 --> 00:41:26.719 C.S. 00:41:26.800 --> 00:41:30.159 Lewis put it this way, provocatively, I think. 00:41:30.639 --> 00:41:34.239