Romans 11:1-10

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We did it we got through chapter 10 last week this week.
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We're starting chapter 11 But as we normally do
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I'm gonna start back in verse 14 of Chapter 10 so that way because there's no chapter breaks.
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We can keep the context of what Paul is talking about on our minds How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed and how are they to believe in him in whom?
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how are they to believe in him of whom they have not heard and how are they to hear without someone preaching and How are they to preach unless they are sent as it is written?
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How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news? But they have not all obeyed the gospel for Isaiah says
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Lord who has believed what he has heard from us So faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ But I ask have they not heard
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Indeed they have for their voice has gone out to all the earth and their words to the ends of the world
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But I ask Did Israel not understand? first Moses says
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I Will make you jealous of those who are not a nation with a foolish nation.
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I will make you angry Then Isaiah is so bold as to say I have been found by those who did not seek me
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I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me But of Israel he says all day long.
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I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people verse 1 of chapter 11
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I Asked then has God rejected his people by no means for I myself am an
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Israelite a descendant of Abraham a member of the tribe of Benjamin God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew
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Do you not know that the scripture says what the scripture says of Elijah How he appeals to God against Israel Lord they have killed your prophets.
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They have demolished your altars and I alone and I alone am left
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And they seek my life But what is God's reply to him I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal So too at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace
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But if it is by grace it is no longer on the basis of works Otherwise grace would no longer be grace
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God gave them a spirit or I'm sorry What then?
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Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking the elect obtained it But the rest were hardened as it is written
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God gave them a spirit of stupor Eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear down to this very day and David says let their table become a snare and a trap a
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Stumbling block and a retribution for them
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Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see and bend their backs Forever we have over the past several weeks
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Gone through these several chapters That are grouped in Romans, I'm adding here not to the overall
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Section of 9 10 and 11, but I'm adding 8 as well because it's heavy in God's sovereignty
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But we've dealt with these scriptures that deal with the premises of the benefits of being in Christ God's sovereignty over all things is sovereignty and election and how the elect are from among both the
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Gentiles and the Jews and how these Gentile Elect have achieved by faith that which the reprobate
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Jews could not I Make that distinction very clear because of what we're fixing to talk about they are not all
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Reprobate Paul is going to make this very clear now having been through all of this
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It would be very easy to come to the conclusion that God has
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Cast off his Old Testament people. So Paul squashes that in chapter 11.
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He has not left them to founder without salvation and I also want to make this very clear before we begin chapter 11 is
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One of these single works on the future of the Jewish people Every eschatology on the face of this planet is influenced by chapter 11
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So as we go into chapter 11 understand With love and with kindness that we are going to disagree
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There are people who disagree in inside the invisible church about this fact and There are people in this room that I'm sure disagree, but this chapter and how it is read defines the eschatology
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Or the eschatological views concerning What if if anything will happen to ethnic
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Israel in the last days? That is another thing. I want to make clear Paul is speaking here in the beginning specifically about ethnic
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Israel Not Israel the nation -state that becomes clear in the text.
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We must approach this chapter with a With much trepidation and care and Understand That though we may have our misgivings or our feelings about certain things
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Scripture is above all what guides us. So After after what
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Paul has said in chapter 10 in chapter 9 concerning the Jewish people and the foretell concerning their failings with the scriptures and their
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Unability to recognize the Messiah when he came it would be easy to come to the conclusion that God has abandoned them, but Paul puts this aside in chapter 11 and He addresses that here
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Not the future of Israel at the beginning of the chapter. That's at the end of the chapter, but specifically ethnic
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Israel as it concerns in his day and And he does this with a tactic that we have seen him do before he argues from the lesser to the greater and This is how he does it.
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He says I ask then has God rejected his people speaking of the Jews by no means or may it never be for I myself am an
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Israelite a Descendant of Abraham a member of the tribe of Benjamin Paul is saying that of course
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God has not rejected his people the Jews if they had if God had Rejected ethnic
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Israel in favor of the Gentiles. He would have rejected Paul, too Because Paul is an ethnic
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Jew He makes this argument in Philippians chapter 3
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Verses 4 and 6 he says if anyone else thinks he has written has reason for confidence in the flesh.
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I have more Circumcised on the 8th day of the people of Israel of the tribe of Benjamin a
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Hebrew of Hebrews as to the law of Pharisee as to zeal a persecutor of the church as to righteousness under the law blameless he was a perfect Jew as one human born naturally could be
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He makes this argument in order to show that if God had rejected Ethnic Israel as a whole he would be included and so would many others
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Not only is he a Jew among Jews But he is also a persecutor of the church. There were many who did not persecute
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Christians, but he did He sought after them as heretics
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Doing the Lord's work to him. So God can't have rejected his people in verse 2
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He says God has not rejected his people whom he or knew that word is very important This sentence is perhaps one of the most defining for this chapter
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So, how must we read it? Well, we read it like we would read any other sentence What comes after?
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the subject Tells us who the subject is What Paul is talking about here?
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May be vague for some so he is either talking about his people. He says his people He's not rejected his people.
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So whose people because in the past several chapters his people has been paused defined as the elect
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So is he talking about the elect or is he talking about ethnic Jews? Well, he makes that distinction at the end of the sentence when he says whom he
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For knew the only people who God foreknew before the foundation of the world were his elect the only people
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Who were specifically mentioned as being foreknown are the elect And we know that this is what that word means as it's translated.
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The word is pro. Oh, wow I had this before we started I had it down progenos
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Progenosco it comes from pro meaning before and Genosco which means beforehand
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So new beforehand, right the only other place in this entire epistle where it is used is chapter 8 verse 29
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Where he says for those whom he foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son in order that he might be the firstborn
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Among many brothers the people that he is talking about is the elect. These are the people who is referring to now notice
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I did not say it like Gentiles. I Said the elect keep that in mind as we go through the rest of the chapter
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God cannot and will never Reject the people that he foreknew otherwise
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He isn't God because God can't change
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Also, remember from Romans 4 17 in Genesis 17 5. He says I have made you the father of many nations and That word that's translated as nations.
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This is the word ethnos. We've had conversations about that word it generally refers to people groups as God speaking to Abraham and as Paul explains explains in Galatians 3
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Verse 7 we're starting in verse 7. He says I know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham and The scriptures for seeing that God would justify the
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Gentiles by faith preach the gospel beforehand to Abraham saying in you Shall all the nations be blessed.
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So then those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham the man of faith
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Furthermore we cannot remove what we're reading in 11 from what we've read in previous chapters
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Okay In Romans chapter 9 if you remember you don't have to turn there
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Romans chapter 9 verses 6 and 8 It says but it is not as though the
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Word of God has failed For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel and not all our children of Abraham because they are his offspring
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But through Isaac shall your offspring be named 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 the elect
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Paul makes it very clear throughout Romans that your salvation has nothing to do with your pedigree
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It is solely based on God's sovereign choice of you. This is what this is what we call election, right
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Now he moves this argument that he is making to that of history He says do you not know what the scripture says of Elijah how he appeals to God against Israel?
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Lord they have killed your prophets They have demolished your altars and I alone am left and they seek my life
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But what is God's reply to him I have kept for myself 7 ,000 men who have not bowed the knee to bail 7 ,000 in all of Israel Only 7 ,000 not kept for himself.
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This is from 1st Kings chapter 19, by the way What he's referencing
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Elijah was being pursued they had Repeatedly killed every prophet that God had sent to them a lot.
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They had knocked down altars There's an argument as to not necessarily the large altars, but they had restricted access.
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So people had built private altars They think and that's what he's referencing when he says they've destroyed your altars
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But he's fleeing for his life And he's saying all these people all of Israel is against you
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God and God says no I have kept This many for myself, but what we see here is that at the time of Elijah including
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Elijah Only 7 ,000 ethnic Jews remained
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For God the rest of them were reprobate
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Paul says in verse 5 so too at the present time There is a remnant chosen by grace
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Because he is a Jew This proves that there is a remnant of Jews left in the first century that God has kept for himself
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If God hadn't kept a remnant for himself Paul would be included with everyone else who doesn't believe but there's a remnant left of Believing Israelites God has not cast off his people as a whole
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Just as in the time of Elijah as In the first century, there's a small number of people that God has kept by grace for himself
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Now while Paul is evidence of this I would also like to point out.
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Let's not forget who Paul is talking to Paul is talking to the Roman Church who is suffering through a schism between Gentiles and what?
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ethnic Jewish believers Those who were cast out of Rome by the
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Emperor and are now returning to find these churches in the hands of Gentiles And they're having a problem with it.
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They're part of that remnant. So it's
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Timothy and Priscilla and Aquila and Mary and Mary and Mary and Martha and Lazarus and Eponetus and Andronicus and Junia and Herodian all of the ethnic
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Jews that you read about in the New Testament and in the epistles These are the remnant and it's not just them
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It's every ethnic Jew that is saved through faith alone He says but if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works
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Otherwise grace would no longer be grace This we have established multiple times in our travel through Romans that there is
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Christ and there is works and it is one or the other and only one of them
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Guarantees salvation. I will point most definitely to John chapter 14 verse 6
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This is Jesus said to him. I am the way the truth and the life No one comes unto the
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Father except through me that is Quite the exclusive statement for him to make there is no other way and the church by way of grace and The Word has established from long ago that the only way is faith alone in Christ Jesus This means faith plus Nothing at all ever.
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There's not even a plus sign. Let me give an example.
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I'll give you an example here in Numbers chapter 21 verses 4 through 9
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This is from Mount Hor They set out By the way of the by the way to the
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Red Sea to go around the land of Edom and The people became impatient on the way and the people spoke against God and against Moses Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?
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For there is no food and no water and we loathe this worthless food
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Talking about manna You know the bread from heaven
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Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people
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So that many people of Israel died and the people came to Moses and said we have sin
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For we have spoken against the Lord and against you pray through the Lord to the
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Lord that he take away the serpents from us so Moses prayed for the people and And the
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Lord said to Moses make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole and Everyone who is bitten when he sees it shall live so Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole and If a serpent bit anyone he would look at the bronze serpent and live
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Okay So what did they have to do to live if they were bitten by a serpent? Look at it.
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They didn't have to do anything at all Simply look at the bronze serpents
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No offerings had to be made You didn't have to do good deeds and then look at it.
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You didn't have to look at it and then do good deeds You just simply Looked at it now in John 3
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Christ says and Moses and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness So must the
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Son of Man be lifted up that whoever believes in him may have eternal life Does that sound like it's plus anything?
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Before or after No, all you have to do is look
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Trust that Christ will save you that is all now as human beings
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We fall into this trap even as Christians and God is gracious enough to correct us out of this Where we go through our days going
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I did this in and I did that sin but I did this good thing and I did that good thing and it's very easy to trick yourself into a position of How much good have
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I done versus how much evil have I done? That is not a qualifier. It doesn't matter.
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I go back to MacArthur's question Who lives your Christian life? Who? Because if you say it's you you have to claim all the work of the
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Holy Spirit for yourself And if you say it's the Holy Spirit then you have to shell on to the
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Holy Spirit all the sin that you've committed but all they had to do was look at the bronze serpent just as all we have to do as elect is keep
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Christ in our vision and Trust in him that his work is complete as he says it is
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Paul continues it says what then? So what does this mean?
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What then? Well, it means that Israel failed to obtain what it is seeking.
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That is not part of the question That is the answer to the question What then is the question and the answer to that is
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Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking the elect obtained it but the rest were hardened as It is written
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Now his justifications for this you can see this first one is Deuteronomy 29 3 & 4
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Isaiah 29 10 Says God gave them a spirit of stupor eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear down to this very day and David says in Psalm 69
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Verse 22 and 23. This should give you a new outlook on impeccatory prayer
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By the way That it's not just David's anger Toward his foes
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This one in particular is prophetic against the enemies of God and what
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God does to them David says let their table become a snare and a trap and a stumbling block and a
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Retribution for them. Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see and Bend their backs
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Forever to those who are perishing to the reprobate those who do not want to see
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God gives them exactly What they want He blinds them now.
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I don't mean he physically blinds them But no matter no matter how hard they look at Scripture no matter how hard they want to understand it
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They won't because they really don't want to understand no matter
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Those that don't want to hear the Word of God He makes them deaf to it. This is the state of the vast majority of the
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Jewish people to this day It's the vast majority of the world But as they are included among the reprobate
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This is the state that continues to now even now when they read Moses They cannot understand it
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This is God's ordained punishment on those that had the advantage of the word and refused it and the
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Messiah that it foretold of and notice that today
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Notice that there is no recognition of the fact that they still desire to live by the law and yet Have no sacrificial system to go with it.
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They do not sacrifice What happens in the Old Testament God gives them a law and then he says if you break this law
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Do this Sacrifice this many doves or this many goats or whatever.
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They can't do that and yet They still practice the law.
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They have no more prophets to give them more the
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Word from God Notice that in Scripture you have the books of Moses and then the prophets
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Right Christ references that but they have Moses in the prophets Right, so you have the books of Moses and then they had the prophets but there's no more prophets where'd they go?
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Well, we know where they went they're not needed anymore because God last spoke through his son and we have the inerrant
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Word of God that testifies of this and God says if you want to hear what
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I have to say read my word It says it in his word. There's no need for prophets and yet They don't recognize this fact that the
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Messiah has come there's no need for prophets to foretell of him There is no temple in which to worship this is huge.
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This is not a small fact right when they come out of Israel one of the first things when they come out of Egypt one of the first thing
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God makes them do is build a tabernacle, right and Then the tabernacle is it becomes the temple they build the temple
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The time of David or Solomon and it's a big deal when the temple is destroyed or the temple has been destroyed since 70
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AD They have no place to worship God as the
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Jewish people did before Israel itself
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Has not been a nation -state for 2 ,000 years Not until May 14th 1948 did it become
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Relatively officially a nation -state Now there's still people who don't recognize them as such but not until 1948
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That's why it's called Palestine That's what people used to call it for 2 ,000 years. That's what it was called by its
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Roman name when they finally did
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Begin to rebuild their country They literally had to rebuild their own language
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Because these aren't people who grew up there. These are people from European states and other places around the world who can't
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Jews who came together and said we're going to move back to our Ethnic roots to our heritage in this place that we know is
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Israel and reestablish it The only people that knew Hebrew were the people who consistently read the scriptures, but that's not enough to flesh out an entire language so they brought in many many many many scholars to help them rebuild the
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Hebrew language and That's what they speak in Israel now is the new version of Hebrew Now it's relatively accurate.
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I would say But this is only three generations now
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Should we? Because the vast majority of them are reprobate treat them with contempt and hatred
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No, as Paul would say may it never be
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Because they are made in the image of God And they did deserve they do deserve the respect of that at the very least they are sinners in need of a
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Savior and while God has
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Restricted the gospel going forth to them That leaves them in no less need of it, but what does this say about the promises?
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Now this comes a little bit later in the chapter, but I'll give you a sample What does this say about the promises as God failed to keep them?
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You know the promises that he gave to ethnic Israel. Well, if there is a remnant as Paul is saying that there is
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Then yes, he's kept his promises the only way that those promises would be Broken those covenants would be broken is if there were no
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Jewish Elect people if God cut them off completely, but he hasn't he has always kept a remnant for himself
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They are heirs of the promise These are the people in whom the
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Gentiles have been grafted into and by grace
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There are thousands of them While they may be a very small number Even today
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Up against the vast majority of people who live in Israel or ethnic Jews around the world
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There are thousands of them Paul has labored through this epistle to make clear that the distinction is not between Jew and Gentile It is between the elect people of God and the reprobate
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That is the only distinction that you should care about the saved and the unsaved
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I'll give you a third distinction those who aren't saved as of yet Those elect persons who don't know they're elect yet dear friends as God has kept for himself a remnant of the
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Jews so too he keeps for himself a remnant of The whole people of the world as it were the church the elect and even within the church as We go through Church history and we see the distinctions made and the heresies names
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We see that the church is actually Much smaller than we think it is.
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We have the visible church and within it we have our remnant the invisible church the actual elect
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Church of God now How does this apply to us all we've talked about with the remnant of?
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Israel well, it applies to us and what I just said about the difference between the visible church and the invisible church
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We have to be able to discern that distinction this is why we're given what
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To look for in the person who is elect their fruit. This is the fruit that you should look for Right, but then also within ourselves
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Make sure that we're not just going through the motions of going to church and taking the cracker and drinking the wine and Doing this and praying in the morning when we get up and and just going through the motions
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That's called cultural cultural Christianity and it's not going to get you there Because that's works
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Well, if I just go to church and I pray enough Then I'll get there. Do you actually desire
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Christ or can you just express the correct theology? How often do you pray?
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How often are you in the word do not get caught in the same snares the
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Israelites did That because you have a Bible that sits on your table that somehow qualifies you as an elect person
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Do not think that Continuously going to church every Sunday will save you
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Especially if you go to church every Sunday to satiate your own desire to be patted on the head
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Even those who run ministries There are those who run ministries to satiate their own desires to make them look good
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To tout themselves as the Pharisees did that was their failing their pride
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Look at me, right? How does Christ describe them? You know they want to be in the best seats and they want to pray in public and they want to do this thing and they want to Be recognized for this and they want to know more scripture for other people than other people do
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As a matter of pride not as a matter of the heart you either desire
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God or you don't There are many who do these things and Christ speaks about these people
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When he what does he say? He says and on that day they will say to me Lord Lord We have done this in your name and we have done that in your name and what is his reply
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Depart from me. I never knew you You workers of iniquity make sure that you are looking to him as the
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Israelites Looked to the serpent That you are trusting in him and not yourself
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Now as to the future salvation of Israel, that's at the end of the chapter.
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We're not there yet. So we're not gonna cover it You have to wait It comes later, but Paul has established in this first section that there was is and shall always be a remnant a small number of Ethnic Jews that God keeps for himself and that what makes them significant is