WEBVTT 00:00:05.280 --> 00:00:06.799 Hello everybody. 00:00:08.400 --> 00:00:11.759 So s no nice so nice to be with you today. 00:00:13.279 --> 00:00:20.879 I uh like to tell folks in the Evangelical Free Church that um there's good news about me and there's bad news about me. 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:23.760 Uh the good news is that I'm Scandinavian. 00:00:27.760 --> 00:00:30.320 The bad news is that I'm Swedish. 00:00:32.880 --> 00:00:37.840 So, yeah, you can't have it all, that's all I can say. 00:00:38.799 --> 00:00:42.399 Uh it is uh always a thrill to be with Walt and Jane. 00:00:42.479 --> 00:00:58.880 Uh as he said, uh there are bonds that are created uh in the crucible that are hard to be broken, and I think that's what's happened to us over the years from uh the struggles going through a seminary to uh the struggles in life doing ministry. 00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:03.759 And so we've uh been the sounding boards for each other for a long time. 00:01:04.560 --> 00:01:11.359 And uh so following very closely what they and their family have done, and they doing likewise with us. 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:22.000 Um I wanted to uh share just a touch more about uh what we do personally with the chosen people ministries. 00:01:22.319 --> 00:01:26.480 So this is kind of the commercial announcement that I want to get out of the way. 00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:31.439 Although it is important that you know uh what God is doing through us. 00:01:31.599 --> 00:01:43.680 Um the school that Walt mentioned, the Feinberg Center for Messianic Jewish Studies, is named for Charles Feinberg, who was the first academic dean at Talbot School of Theology. 00:01:43.920 --> 00:01:55.439 He was a Jewish man who came to faith in a suburb of Pittsburgh and became the preeminent scholar, Jewish scholar of the Old Testament for years. 00:01:55.680 --> 00:02:01.120 And so we wanted to honor that memory and call this the Feinberg Center. 00:02:01.920 --> 00:02:15.120 Talbot School of Theology is very, very similar to the other evangelical schools around, such as Dallas or Trinity or Gordon Conwell, uh, Denver, Western, so and McMasters. 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:24.800 So it's in the tradition of those of us who have uh really held high the cause of Christ among the Jewish people. 00:02:25.039 --> 00:02:31.199 So this is nothing new to you with your background in the Evangelical Free Church. 00:02:31.280 --> 00:02:37.919 There's always been a desire to see Jewish people meet their Messiah in uh sincerity and in truth. 00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:39.439 So that's what we do. 00:02:39.680 --> 00:02:49.919 The thing that's unique about our school that I think I would like you to know is that all of our professors and administrators raise their own support as missionaries. 00:02:50.159 --> 00:02:58.800 So we have terminal degrees uh to teach, and we're professors of uh at Talbot, but we raise our own support. 00:02:58.879 --> 00:03:02.719 That means salaries, we don't receive a salary, we're missionaries. 00:03:02.879 --> 00:03:05.039 That's why I speak in churches all around the country. 00:03:05.120 --> 00:03:09.840 It's not really the reason I'm here today, but hey, if any of you want to support us, I'd love for you to. 00:03:10.080 --> 00:03:13.360 So there's a sign-up sheet here if you want to get our newsletters. 00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:15.759 Uh, there's a legal pad, that's the way I do it. 00:03:16.080 --> 00:03:20.960 Give us your name and contact information or your card, and we'll put you on our mailing list. 00:03:21.120 --> 00:03:27.680 There's also a brochure that tells about the Feinberg Center, and I'd love for you to pick that up and and and read it as well. 00:03:27.759 --> 00:03:40.560 So I'll be down here at the front at the end of the service to talk to you more about that, or to interact with you concerning uh some I'm going to stir up your mind by way of remembrance this morning. 00:03:41.039 --> 00:03:44.159 I like to call this a helicopter message. 00:03:44.560 --> 00:03:53.919 It's one of those that kind of hovers over a few chapters of the Bible that kind of hold together as a pyricope or a segment. 00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:57.919 And chapters 9 through 11 in the book of Romans is certainly that. 00:03:58.159 --> 00:04:03.840 In fact, some have thought, why in the world was Romans 9 through 11 included in the book of Romans? 00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:21.120 Because it seems to be out of sync with everything else that Paul is talking about, the condemnation of the world, you know, and then the solution that is found in Christ, and chapter 3, and then on into chapter 5 and 6, where he talks about the role of the Holy Spirit after one is justified. 00:04:21.199 --> 00:04:32.399 And so all of these wonderful foundational truths for the Christian church are developed by Paul in this wonderful book, which is often called The Constitution of the Christian Faith. 00:04:32.560 --> 00:04:34.639 It's the gem of all. 00:04:34.800 --> 00:04:37.600 And if you're stranded on a desert island, which book would you want? 00:04:37.759 --> 00:04:39.600 I'll take the book of Romans, thank you. 00:04:39.759 --> 00:04:43.439 Because it has so much, it has all that we need to know in it. 00:04:44.160 --> 00:04:49.680 But one of the things that it has in it is a very significant section about Israel. 00:04:49.920 --> 00:04:51.519 And that's what we're going to look at. 00:04:51.759 --> 00:04:54.560 So we're hovering over chapters 9 through 11. 00:04:54.720 --> 00:04:56.879 I'm going to read a good bit of that. 00:04:57.040 --> 00:05:01.360 That might be a little unusual for you, but I like to just read the text and let it sink in. 00:05:01.439 --> 00:05:04.720 It's not what I have to say that's important, it's really what the text says. 00:05:04.879 --> 00:05:20.720 And we're going to pull out some principles that relate specifically to the past, blessings that have come to Israel, to the present state of rejection that we see in Israel, and to the future restoration or salvation of the nation of Israel in chapter 11. 00:05:20.879 --> 00:05:24.399 So just to give you an idea of where we're going, that's it. 00:05:24.560 --> 00:05:31.199 So I hope all of you have found that passage, and we'll be reading some things together. 00:05:31.600 --> 00:05:41.040 This section has often been called the theodicy of the book because Paul is trying to get God off the hook. 00:05:41.439 --> 00:05:46.959 You know, God promised certain things, and then it seems like he's not fulfilling that promise. 00:05:47.199 --> 00:05:51.600 Therefore, Paul answers the question: well, what is God doing with Israel? 00:05:51.759 --> 00:05:58.319 He's made all of these promises to Israel, but now it seems as though the church is moving in a different trajectory. 00:05:58.639 --> 00:06:04.800 So it's called the vindication portion of the book of Romans, 9, 10, and 11. 00:06:05.759 --> 00:06:14.079 So I'd like to just dive into it and remind you that the nation of Israel is mentioned 11 times in this passage. 00:06:14.720 --> 00:06:19.519 And it should be kept in mind that it's the nation of Israel. 00:06:20.079 --> 00:06:21.759 It's not the church. 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:23.279 It's the nation of Israel. 00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:30.160 And Paul, in his day, was talking about those who were of his own heritage. 00:06:30.959 --> 00:06:32.079 They were Jews. 00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:38.160 And his heart for them is brought out in the beginning statements of each of the chapters. 00:06:38.319 --> 00:06:39.439 Let's start there. 00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:44.879 And chapter 9, verse 1, he says, I'm speaking the truth in Christ. 00:06:45.120 --> 00:06:46.560 I'm not lying. 00:06:47.040 --> 00:07:12.000 My conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart, for I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel. 00:07:12.560 --> 00:07:18.959 You see, he's speaking about those non-believing Jewish people in his day. 00:07:19.199 --> 00:07:25.360 So we're thinking back in the past when Paul was walking around, and this is the way he viewed the landscape. 00:07:25.839 --> 00:07:41.839 In chapter 10, verse 1, just to skip ahead for a moment, he begins this chapter by saying, Brothers, my heart's desire and my prayer, my begging is for the Israelites, is that they may be saved. 00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:50.800 So Paul, in his day, wanted his Jewish family and friends to believe in Yeshua. 00:07:51.519 --> 00:07:59.199 I don't know about you, but I want to be like Paul as he was like Christ. 00:08:00.800 --> 00:08:01.759 Let's read on. 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:03.040 Chapter 11. 00:08:03.199 --> 00:08:06.240 I asked then, did God reject his people? 00:08:06.639 --> 00:08:07.920 By no means. 00:08:08.319 --> 00:08:12.800 And then Paul goes on to talk about his Jewish heritage and pedigree. 00:08:12.959 --> 00:08:17.600 I'm an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham from the tribe of Benjamin. 00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:21.920 And so he's going to say that I'm still a Jew. 00:08:22.879 --> 00:08:28.480 Even though my background is in Judaism, I'm still ethnically a Jew. 00:08:28.720 --> 00:08:41.600 Now back to chapter 9, and I want to read through the first five verses which describe for us in very, I think a passage that you're all familiar with, the blessings that God showed to Israel. 00:08:41.840 --> 00:08:45.679 I mean, look back on the nation, how blessed the nation was by God. 00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:51.440 Part of those blessings include what he says here in verse. 00:08:54.960 --> 00:08:56.399 I'm losing it here. 00:08:58.399 --> 00:09:01.759 It's in the middle of verse 2, I guess. 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:04.480 There's, I'm looking at a paragraph edition. 00:09:04.720 --> 00:09:06.720 Theirs is the adoption as sons. 00:09:06.879 --> 00:09:07.919 So adopted. 00:09:08.080 --> 00:09:13.360 You have the nation of Israel being adopted or brought into the family without any any reason to do so. 00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:16.320 Deuteronomy 7 tells us that it's because of his love, right? 00:09:16.559 --> 00:09:17.039 Remember that? 00:09:17.200 --> 00:09:18.559 It's that's because of his love. 00:09:18.639 --> 00:09:23.440 It wasn't because they were a great nation or because they were large or anything like that, so smart. 00:09:23.600 --> 00:09:25.120 It was because of his great love. 00:09:25.200 --> 00:09:28.559 They were adopted, so they enjoyed the adoption. 00:09:28.799 --> 00:09:30.559 And they also had the divine glory. 00:09:30.720 --> 00:09:32.799 That means they saw the divine glory of God. 00:09:32.960 --> 00:09:38.799 I think that refers to the Shekinah, the Shekinah glory in the Old Testament, the Temple and the Tabernacle. 00:09:39.039 --> 00:09:51.759 And the covenants, I mean, the covenants that were made with Israel, from the Abrahamic to the Davidic to the New Covenant, to the Land Covenant, all those covenants that God made with Israel. 00:09:52.080 --> 00:09:54.960 Some unilateral, others not so much. 00:09:58.480 --> 00:10:01.039 But some of them unconditional covenants. 00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:03.919 That was to the nation of Israel, don't forget. 00:10:04.159 --> 00:10:06.159 And also the receiving of the law. 00:10:06.399 --> 00:10:10.879 What nation has such a wonderful code by which to live? 00:10:11.039 --> 00:10:16.559 I mean, in the detail of it, it was a gracious, loving gift from God to the people. 00:10:16.879 --> 00:10:21.360 They demanded it, they wanted it, they wanted to know how to walk with God, and so he said, You want to know? 00:10:21.440 --> 00:10:22.000 I'll tell you. 00:10:22.159 --> 00:10:28.720 And he gave them the law as a gracious gift, as Paul says in first, I'm sorry, in Romans 7, that the law is precious. 00:10:28.879 --> 00:10:30.799 It is beautiful, it's wonderful. 00:10:31.039 --> 00:10:32.799 And so the law was given to them. 00:10:32.879 --> 00:10:35.440 And the temple worship and the promises. 00:10:36.080 --> 00:10:42.320 Theirs are the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ. 00:10:42.639 --> 00:10:45.679 So even it's through the Jews that we have Messiah. 00:10:45.840 --> 00:10:50.960 By the way, he is God over all and forever to be praised. 00:10:51.600 --> 00:10:59.360 So he begins by saying, in the past, God blessed Israel in his election of Israel. 00:10:59.519 --> 00:11:03.679 But he goes more specifically into the election in verses 6 through 13. 00:11:03.840 --> 00:11:05.440 So let us read that for just a moment. 00:11:05.600 --> 00:11:12.799 It says, It's not as though God's word had failed, for not all who were descended from Israel are Israel. 00:11:13.360 --> 00:11:18.240 Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children. 00:11:18.559 --> 00:11:24.159 On the contrary, it's through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. 00:11:24.320 --> 00:11:32.879 So we have a large nation chosen, but you have the promises going through only one part of those descendants. 00:11:33.039 --> 00:11:37.279 It was not through Ishmael, it was through Isaac. 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:40.720 That's a divine choice of God, you see. 00:11:41.440 --> 00:11:46.799 And from Isaac comes Jacob. 00:11:47.200 --> 00:11:50.799 And Jacob becomes Israel. 00:11:51.200 --> 00:11:56.080 And the passage, 9 through 11, is talking about Israel. 00:11:57.039 --> 00:12:04.159 So in other words, it's not the natural children who are God's children, but it's the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring. 00:12:04.320 --> 00:12:06.159 And this is how the promise was stated. 00:12:06.320 --> 00:12:09.840 At the appointed time I will return and Sarah will have a son. 00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:19.600 So through the patriarchs, through Abraham, we have the son who is going to be the pro, the forerunner of the Christ Himself. 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:29.440 Look also at the next paragraph, it says, not only that, but Rebekah's children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. 00:12:29.759 --> 00:12:33.759 So now we have not two different fathers, but the same father. 00:12:34.159 --> 00:12:45.200 And yet for the twins were born, when the twins were born, they hadn't done anything bad or good, so their choice is, it has nothing to do with whether they were good or bad. 00:12:45.440 --> 00:12:47.679 It's a divine election. 00:12:48.080 --> 00:12:56.000 In order that God's purpose and election might stand, not by him who works, but by him who calls. 00:12:56.320 --> 00:13:01.919 She was told the older will serve the younger. 00:13:02.480 --> 00:13:05.519 Now, this is called worthy of saga in literature. 00:13:05.759 --> 00:13:07.200 It's not supposed to be this way. 00:13:07.360 --> 00:13:11.600 Primogeniture means the firstborn is the one who gets all the goodies. 00:13:11.919 --> 00:13:14.159 So this is a reversal in the whole idea. 00:13:14.399 --> 00:13:26.399 But God says to her, the older will serve the younger, just as it is written, Jacob, I have chosen, loved, set apart, sanctified. 00:13:26.639 --> 00:13:30.559 Jacob is the one who is part of this election promise. 00:13:31.279 --> 00:13:35.120 And Esau I've rejected. 00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:45.840 It's simply that he chose Jacob for a particular purpose. 00:13:46.080 --> 00:13:51.279 I'm here to tell you that the chosenness of the people of Israel began back then. 00:13:51.440 --> 00:13:55.200 This is Israel in the past, Isaiah chapter 9. 00:13:56.720 --> 00:14:00.399 We believe that chapter 11 talks about the chosenness in the future. 00:14:00.639 --> 00:14:03.200 And we'll get to there before we end. 00:14:03.919 --> 00:14:06.879 But something in the present is going on too. 00:14:07.120 --> 00:14:09.840 Are they still the chosen people? 00:14:10.159 --> 00:14:13.600 That's the theological issue that we ask, we have to question. 00:14:13.759 --> 00:14:19.120 And the question came up very clearly in the Sunday school class this morning with the college students. 00:14:19.440 --> 00:14:29.919 And you know, how do we how do we deal with those churches and those theologies that simply right out say the church has replaced Israel? 00:14:30.080 --> 00:14:31.679 There is no more Israel. 00:14:32.080 --> 00:14:35.279 Israel today has no reason for existence. 00:14:36.639 --> 00:14:40.559 The city of Jerusalem has no importance to God. 00:14:41.039 --> 00:14:48.960 Even the place names in the nation of Israel today, God has nothing to do with any of that. 00:14:49.519 --> 00:14:51.279 Now that may be true. 00:14:51.600 --> 00:14:54.080 It just doesn't seem like it to me. 00:14:54.240 --> 00:15:04.480 But there are those who are convinced that the church has completely replaced everything about Israel and has fulfilled all of those promises that were made to Israel. 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:09.279 So it's not just a matter of the future, my friends. 00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:13.039 It impacts how we do evangelism. 00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:23.840 And I think all of you would agree that it is incumbent upon every Christian to share the good news with all people, all nations of the world. 00:15:24.080 --> 00:15:26.159 We would go, yes, you're going like this. 00:15:26.639 --> 00:15:28.799 Some of you are with me, you're going like this. 00:15:30.320 --> 00:15:31.600 It's who we are. 00:15:32.480 --> 00:15:36.639 We must be ready and willing to share the reason for the hope that's within us. 00:15:36.879 --> 00:15:38.480 That's the Christian way. 00:15:38.720 --> 00:15:51.919 It doesn't mean browbeat people, it doesn't mean force people to do things that they shouldn't want to do, but it means to sensitively speak into the lives of people so that they would understand the grace of God that we appreciate so much. 00:15:52.320 --> 00:15:55.600 That includes one of the nations that Jesus spoke about. 00:15:56.480 --> 00:15:58.559 Go to all the nations, I know. 00:15:58.879 --> 00:16:00.879 But there's a nation in Israel also. 00:16:01.519 --> 00:16:06.639 And I believe that in this first section, Paul is talking about that very thing. 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:08.320 He has a plan. 00:16:08.559 --> 00:16:10.159 He's working out that plan. 00:16:10.799 --> 00:16:13.519 Well, some might say, what should we say then? 00:16:13.919 --> 00:16:15.519 Is God unjust? 00:16:16.559 --> 00:16:17.679 Not at all. 00:16:18.399 --> 00:16:26.159 Because he said to Moses, I will have mercy, upon whom I will have mercy. 00:16:26.720 --> 00:16:30.559 I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. 00:16:30.960 --> 00:16:33.759 He mentions Pharaoh from Egypt. 00:16:34.240 --> 00:16:41.679 I raised you up for this very purpose, he says, that I might display my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. 00:16:42.080 --> 00:16:48.080 Therefore, God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy and He hardens whom He wants to harden. 00:16:48.559 --> 00:16:54.320 Now there is all kinds of theological abstraction in this passage. 00:16:54.960 --> 00:16:58.159 And thankfully, that's not why I'm here. 00:16:59.360 --> 00:17:03.759 Walt will explain everything to you so you'll understand it all. 00:17:05.039 --> 00:17:10.079 It says that this is a mystery, but no longer will it be a mystery when Walt is through with you. 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:14.240 But for me, my brain is a bit too puny. 00:17:14.799 --> 00:17:16.720 I can't understand it all. 00:17:16.960 --> 00:17:21.920 But what I do know is that in chapter 9, what can I, what is the takeaway? 00:17:22.079 --> 00:17:25.440 The takeaway is that God has blessed this nation. 00:17:25.759 --> 00:17:27.839 He's called out this nation separately. 00:17:28.160 --> 00:17:32.160 He has followed a path whereby we end up with Israel. 00:17:32.480 --> 00:17:37.839 And he's followed a path even further so that we end up with Boaz. 00:17:38.799 --> 00:17:44.160 And he's followed a path so that we end up with Mary and Joseph. 00:17:44.640 --> 00:17:50.160 And so we end up with Yeshua Hamashiach, born at an appointed time. 00:17:50.559 --> 00:17:54.319 Under the law, born of a woman, under the law, at the appointed time. 00:17:54.640 --> 00:18:01.039 He is in control, as we learned a little earlier, all the time. 00:18:02.400 --> 00:18:14.240 Now, I also learned from this that not only is there an election of Israel that has to exclude others because it's an election, he has the freedom to do what he wants to do. 00:18:14.480 --> 00:18:17.119 And we just read about that in 14 through 13. 00:18:17.200 --> 00:18:18.000 It's his choice. 00:18:18.160 --> 00:18:19.599 He can do whatever he wants to. 00:18:19.680 --> 00:18:23.119 He doesn't have to check with me, although sometimes I wish he would. 00:18:23.759 --> 00:18:29.599 Verses 19 through 29 of this passage speaks of the mercy of God to Israel. 00:18:29.759 --> 00:18:34.400 So it's not just election, it's election of people who don't deserve to be elected. 00:18:34.640 --> 00:18:38.799 It's the choice of people who don't deserve God's grace and glory. 00:18:39.119 --> 00:18:41.920 And he describes that for us in 19 through 29. 00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:47.279 I'm not going to take the time to read the entire section, but I do want you to notice a couple of things. 00:18:47.599 --> 00:18:52.319 Verse 19 begins: one of you might say to me, Well, then why does God still blame us? 00:18:52.480 --> 00:18:56.240 It seems like if this election is true, human responsibility is out the window. 00:18:56.559 --> 00:18:58.079 So how do the two go together? 00:18:58.160 --> 00:19:00.480 And he seeks to explain this. 00:19:00.640 --> 00:19:05.119 But the heavy emphasis in chapter 9 is on choice. 00:19:05.519 --> 00:19:06.240 And why? 00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:09.599 It's because he's discussing the nation in 9 through 11. 00:19:09.839 --> 00:19:14.799 Other passages will help explain the dichotomy. 00:19:14.880 --> 00:19:19.200 It will help explain human responsibility and divine sovereignty. 00:19:19.359 --> 00:19:21.200 But that's not what we can do today. 00:19:21.359 --> 00:19:31.680 Please notice, however, in 22 and following, after he says the potter is the one who has control over the pots that he makes, even the cracked pots. 00:19:32.480 --> 00:19:40.559 Verse 22, what if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the object of his wrath prepared for destruction? 00:19:40.720 --> 00:19:41.680 What if he did that? 00:19:41.759 --> 00:19:48.240 To make the riches of his glory known, to the object of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory. 00:19:48.720 --> 00:20:00.799 Even us, he says, whom he also called, not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles. 00:20:01.599 --> 00:20:09.599 And then he speaks about how God was going to open up the doors to the Gentile world and the people that you couldn't even understand. 00:20:10.240 --> 00:20:12.079 You couldn't understand their languages. 00:20:12.319 --> 00:20:15.039 But they're going to be believers in Yeshua as well. 00:20:16.400 --> 00:20:18.160 Well, let's keep going. 00:20:18.240 --> 00:20:23.440 I want to take you over to the last section here because he talks about Israel's unbelief. 00:20:25.039 --> 00:20:29.680 And in so doing, he expresses the inclusion of the Gentiles. 00:20:29.839 --> 00:20:31.200 This is in verse 30. 00:20:31.680 --> 00:20:33.200 What's happened in the past now? 00:20:33.359 --> 00:20:35.039 We have the choice of Israel. 00:20:35.359 --> 00:20:37.759 We have the mercy given to Israel. 00:20:38.000 --> 00:20:42.000 We have the undeservedness of Israel, to be sure, but we also have the inclusion of the Gentiles. 00:20:42.079 --> 00:20:42.880 What shall we say then? 00:20:42.960 --> 00:20:47.519 That the Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have obtained it. 00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:49.680 A righteousness that is by faith. 00:20:49.759 --> 00:20:52.559 And this tells us how you get the righteousness. 00:20:52.799 --> 00:20:56.640 But Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. 00:20:56.799 --> 00:20:57.599 Why not? 00:20:57.839 --> 00:21:04.400 Because they pursued it not by faith, but as it were by works, and they stumbled over the stumbling stone. 00:21:04.640 --> 00:21:12.319 And all is written, see, I lay a stone in Zion, a stone that causes men to stumble, and a rock that makes them fall. 00:21:12.480 --> 00:21:17.119 And the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame. 00:21:17.440 --> 00:21:24.880 See, that's the message of the gospel, and we pull that out and we apply it to our ministry of sharing the faith and evangelism. 00:21:25.039 --> 00:21:26.240 That's what we ought to do. 00:21:26.480 --> 00:21:28.480 Everybody stumbles at Jesus. 00:21:29.039 --> 00:21:35.759 But the scandalizo, the stumbling at Jesus, was especially acute with the Jewish people. 00:21:36.559 --> 00:21:40.880 How could this man be the Messiah? 00:21:41.359 --> 00:21:43.200 He's the son of a carpenter. 00:21:43.759 --> 00:21:46.400 And they said he was the son of other things too. 00:21:47.359 --> 00:21:54.799 How could this man possibly be the Messiah that we've expected who's going to rule over the entire earth? 00:21:55.359 --> 00:21:56.400 It can't be true. 00:21:56.559 --> 00:21:57.759 We reject it. 00:21:58.160 --> 00:21:59.440 He's blaspheming. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:03.119 And we're going to make sure that he dies on a Roman cross. 00:22:05.359 --> 00:22:06.880 That's the rejection. 00:22:07.279 --> 00:22:13.279 Now, you might think if they understood, if they just could understand a little bit more, they would automatically respond. 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:19.839 Well, we move from the blessings that are given to the nation of Israel to the current rejection of the people. 00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:26.559 Now I think of this in terms of when Paul was living and writing and he saw them stumble all the time. 00:22:26.720 --> 00:22:29.440 And he's asking the question, why? 00:22:29.599 --> 00:22:30.640 Why is it? 00:22:31.119 --> 00:22:34.000 And I ask the question all the time. 00:22:34.319 --> 00:22:42.559 Like Walt said, we are in the center of Hasidic Judaism on Coney Island Avenue in Brooklyn. 00:22:42.799 --> 00:23:00.799 So every day I walk out of my office, my uh the Feinberg Center, and to see five to six, ten Orthodox Hasidic Jews right in front of our building is not uncommon at all. 00:23:01.440 --> 00:23:03.599 And I wonder why don't they believe? 00:23:03.839 --> 00:23:05.519 Why don't they understand? 00:23:05.920 --> 00:23:10.640 And I understand there are several ingredients as to why they don't. 00:23:10.880 --> 00:23:20.640 And I could go into that another time at great length, having to do with the history of the church and its persecution of the Jewish people throughout the ages. 00:23:21.119 --> 00:23:22.480 But why right now? 00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:28.079 There's such a a um a division between us. 00:23:28.240 --> 00:23:30.799 And they don't want us to be there, by the way. 00:23:30.960 --> 00:23:32.559 They're very resistant. 00:23:32.799 --> 00:23:41.599 I was saying either this morning or in the class that it's kind of like when people, Arabs, wanted to build a mosque at ground zero. 00:23:41.759 --> 00:23:42.880 Do you remember that? 00:23:43.279 --> 00:23:50.319 Well, they feel the same way about the Brooklyn Center of Chosen People Ministries being right on Coney Island Avenue. 00:23:50.400 --> 00:23:51.200 They don't want us here. 00:23:51.279 --> 00:23:53.359 They've protested us. 00:23:54.079 --> 00:23:57.119 Thankfully, there's not been any violence as yet. 00:23:57.359 --> 00:23:58.640 But it might come. 00:23:58.960 --> 00:24:10.640 So we've got to build a bridge, and we're trying to do that gradually, just befriending the people that are around us, showing them that we're normal, and we're not trying to kidnap their children. 00:24:10.799 --> 00:24:15.839 We're not trying to do anything except take a stand for what we believe is true. 00:24:16.000 --> 00:24:19.680 And what we believe is true is very Jewish. 00:24:20.720 --> 00:24:21.920 Extremely Jewish. 00:24:22.079 --> 00:24:24.240 Christianity is so Jewish. 00:24:24.720 --> 00:24:29.519 And unfortunately, we've lost a lot of that in our Gentile American Christianity. 00:24:29.680 --> 00:24:31.759 I understand it's only natural. 00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:37.039 But I would hope that all people would understand more about the Jewish roots of our faith. 00:24:37.519 --> 00:24:40.240 Sometimes it's a simple thing to build bridges. 00:24:40.720 --> 00:24:48.799 I mentioned last time that I was trying to pay the, get my ticket out for the meter, you know, parking. 00:24:49.039 --> 00:24:58.160 I'm fumbling around, and I can tell the chassid behind me was getting a little impatient, you know, and frown on his face, and he knows who I am, by the way. 00:24:58.240 --> 00:25:00.160 They all know who we are. 00:25:00.559 --> 00:25:02.240 It's like a target on the back of our. 00:25:02.720 --> 00:25:06.160 So they know that we're there and that we want to see them come to faith. 00:25:06.880 --> 00:25:12.240 So I simply turned to him after I finally got my ticket and I said, you know, I'm so sorry. 00:25:12.400 --> 00:25:14.079 Could I pay for your parking? 00:25:14.400 --> 00:25:16.319 Such a simple gesture. 00:25:16.640 --> 00:25:17.839 Two bucks. 00:25:18.160 --> 00:25:20.799 But I so I pulled it and I said, Thanks for waiting. 00:25:20.880 --> 00:25:21.359 I'm so sorry. 00:25:21.440 --> 00:25:22.079 I took it. 00:25:22.640 --> 00:25:24.240 Big broad smile. 00:25:25.039 --> 00:25:29.039 And it was almost like, oh, a little breakthrough here. 00:25:29.599 --> 00:25:31.839 But that's the kind of thing we're up against. 00:25:32.160 --> 00:25:41.599 So please pray for those students and faculty members who are working in Brooklyn to build bridges with the Jewish community there. 00:25:41.920 --> 00:25:44.960 But why is it, Paul says, why is it that they're so resistant? 00:25:45.119 --> 00:25:45.680 Well, here it is. 00:25:45.839 --> 00:25:46.880 Here it is, the answer. 00:25:47.119 --> 00:25:52.880 So we're talking about the uh the reason for the continual rejection. 00:25:53.759 --> 00:26:03.920 Brothers, my heart's desire is that they would be saved, for I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. 00:26:04.160 --> 00:26:10.640 The Jewish people have often been called God intoxicated because they're so intent on knowing God. 00:26:10.799 --> 00:26:12.400 I'm talking about the Orthodox now. 00:26:12.640 --> 00:26:16.000 But Paul says it's an ignorant knowledge. 00:26:16.240 --> 00:26:17.519 It's not knowledge at all. 00:26:17.599 --> 00:26:19.759 It's a zeal that is ignorant. 00:26:20.160 --> 00:26:28.160 Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and they sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. 00:26:28.400 --> 00:26:34.240 And Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. 00:26:34.480 --> 00:26:40.720 I love that passage because it certainly applies to the Jewish people who are establishing their own works righteousness. 00:26:40.799 --> 00:26:43.759 But it also applies to people today, all around you. 00:26:44.240 --> 00:26:51.440 They either know about the righteousness that comes through faith in God, or they're trying to build their own righteousness, correct? 00:26:51.759 --> 00:26:52.960 A merit system. 00:26:53.359 --> 00:26:54.640 That's the difference. 00:26:54.880 --> 00:27:09.279 And I if I if I couldn't could leave any one thing with you in an age where uh the church seems to be missing this a lot, it would be that salvation is sola fide. 00:27:12.319 --> 00:27:15.440 Uh our salvation is by grace alone. 00:27:16.319 --> 00:27:24.480 Yes, there's an election, I don't understand it, but no elect person has ever become saved apart from faith. 00:27:25.359 --> 00:27:26.960 But it's only faith. 00:27:27.599 --> 00:27:31.680 So as you're getting the gospel right, would you please get this right? 00:27:33.599 --> 00:27:38.160 We're saved by God's grace, not by works. 00:27:38.480 --> 00:27:41.039 Otherwise, there's a little boasting in there. 00:27:43.759 --> 00:27:45.440 But we're not to boast. 00:27:46.160 --> 00:27:46.480 Okay. 00:27:46.960 --> 00:27:53.200 Moving right along, Moses describes this righteousness that is by the law. 00:27:53.359 --> 00:27:56.480 And he says, the man who does these things will live by them. 00:27:56.720 --> 00:28:01.440 I think that's theoretically stating that, well, if you could do the works of the law, you would live. 00:28:01.680 --> 00:28:14.400 But the righteousness that is by faith says, do not say in your heart, who will ascend to heaven to find the Messiah, or who will to bring Messiah down, or who will descend into the deep if he's there? 00:28:15.200 --> 00:28:23.440 All of this is uh, I think, literary device to say that there are those who are striving to find Messiah. 00:28:23.759 --> 00:28:25.680 That's what the Jewish people will do. 00:28:25.839 --> 00:28:28.240 They're striving to find Messiah. 00:28:28.799 --> 00:28:32.880 And they'll go anywhere to make that happen. 00:28:33.200 --> 00:28:37.759 But that is a system of striving, of trying. 00:28:38.240 --> 00:28:41.039 And it's as though he's over there, he's over there. 00:28:41.200 --> 00:28:42.799 We've got to go to him. 00:28:43.519 --> 00:28:45.279 But what does Paul say? 00:28:45.599 --> 00:28:47.200 He gives us the remedy. 00:28:47.440 --> 00:28:52.880 So the reason for the continual rejection is ignorant zeal. 00:28:54.000 --> 00:28:56.480 Maybe a few of you have been involved in that kind of thing. 00:28:56.720 --> 00:28:58.640 A works righteousness. 00:28:59.119 --> 00:29:03.920 It's the idea of I can bring Messiah somehow. 00:29:04.240 --> 00:29:05.680 But what does Paul say? 00:29:05.920 --> 00:29:09.680 He gives us the remedy to the situation, verses 8 and following. 00:29:09.920 --> 00:29:15.200 And he says, But what does it say? 00:29:15.359 --> 00:29:17.440 What does the righteousness of God say? 00:29:17.839 --> 00:29:21.599 It says the word is near you. 00:29:22.079 --> 00:29:23.680 It's in your mouth. 00:29:24.000 --> 00:29:25.599 It's in your heart. 00:29:25.920 --> 00:29:29.119 That is the word of faith we're proclaiming. 00:29:29.440 --> 00:29:36.720 If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you'll be saved. 00:29:36.880 --> 00:29:40.640 For it's with your heart that you believe and you're justified. 00:29:40.720 --> 00:29:43.759 And it's with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 00:29:44.960 --> 00:29:46.319 Isn't that beautiful? 00:29:46.559 --> 00:29:48.640 That is the simplicity of the gospel. 00:29:48.799 --> 00:29:53.039 Now, we take this passage and we take the ones that follow that I'll touch on in a moment. 00:29:53.200 --> 00:29:57.039 We apply them to world missions, as we should. 00:29:57.359 --> 00:30:00.319 But we're hovering over chapters 9 through 11. 00:30:03.440 --> 00:30:06.319 And 9 through 11 is all about the Jewish people. 00:30:06.880 --> 00:30:30.799 So just for this morning, would you think with me about the message we need to share with the Jewish rights-orients-oriented people, just as much as we have to share with the Protestant, liberal Protestant people, or Roman Catholics who may be trusting in their works, or anybody else out there. 00:30:31.039 --> 00:30:32.799 Listen to what he says. 00:30:33.519 --> 00:30:34.960 It's so simple. 00:30:35.599 --> 00:30:42.400 The remedy is so simple, it is so practical, it is so logical, it is so biblical, it is so motivational. 00:30:42.640 --> 00:30:51.839 My gosh, if I can have a relationship with God simply through this simple faith, I'd go to the ends of the world for him. 00:30:52.480 --> 00:30:55.279 I'd live in Brooklyn for Him. 00:30:56.880 --> 00:30:57.200 Oh. 00:30:57.920 --> 00:31:00.160 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile. 00:31:00.240 --> 00:31:03.920 The same Lord is over all, richly blesses all who call on him. 00:31:04.319 --> 00:31:08.640 For listen to this: everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. 00:31:08.960 --> 00:31:14.000 We don't know anything about who is and who isn't part of God's plan. 00:31:14.720 --> 00:31:17.519 All we know is that anyone, anyone. 00:31:18.079 --> 00:31:22.319 So I think he died for everyone, so that anyone could respond. 00:31:22.720 --> 00:31:28.000 Look at the next few verses because why is it that Israel's present rejection continues? 00:31:28.240 --> 00:31:32.960 It's because they're confused about what it's all about, what God's righteousness is all about. 00:31:33.200 --> 00:31:39.680 The reason is that they do ignorant works, and the remedy is simply that there is faith. 00:31:39.920 --> 00:31:41.839 The word of God is near you. 00:31:42.079 --> 00:31:45.920 There's another reason, and it's that there's no outreach. 00:31:46.400 --> 00:31:47.599 Verse 14. 00:31:47.839 --> 00:31:51.200 How can they call on the one they've not believed in? 00:31:51.440 --> 00:31:55.519 How can they believe in the one of whom they've not heard? 00:31:55.759 --> 00:31:59.119 How can they hear without someone preaching to them? 00:31:59.359 --> 00:32:02.160 And how can they preach unless they are sent? 00:32:02.319 --> 00:32:06.000 As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. 00:32:06.160 --> 00:32:09.680 I think Paul, I'm reading into this called Isegesis. 00:32:09.759 --> 00:32:15.039 I'm reading into this a little bit, but I think Paul is sitting there thinking, all right, I'm the apostle to the Gentiles, right? 00:32:15.200 --> 00:32:17.519 I'm out among the Gentiles all the time. 00:32:17.920 --> 00:32:21.039 And yet he's thinking about the Jews here. 00:32:22.240 --> 00:32:24.160 And what is he thinking about them? 00:32:24.400 --> 00:32:29.519 He's thinking, well, how are they going to hear unless we preach to them? 00:32:30.480 --> 00:32:32.559 And that's my message here. 00:32:33.359 --> 00:32:41.920 How can we win the Jewish people over to faith and Messiah unless we do the job of evangelism? 00:32:42.079 --> 00:32:45.680 Someone asked during the class, what is our role? 00:32:45.920 --> 00:32:52.720 I think our role with the Jewish people is the same as it is with those outside the Jewish fold. 00:32:52.960 --> 00:32:57.599 It's to share the gospel with everyone, to give a reason for the hope that's within us. 00:32:57.680 --> 00:32:59.359 Yes, you'd all agree with that, right? 00:32:59.519 --> 00:33:04.960 You're not supposed to pick and choose, you're supposed to uh uh share with everybody. 00:33:05.200 --> 00:33:09.039