God's Severe Mercy — Dana Congdon

Well, we've had quite a week this week, we've had the electricity out last night, a great storm, we've been through the car wash, been down the Amazon River, been in Miss Williamson's house, quite a week, I'm sharing on the eternal purpose for the individual Christian, and of course Lance was sharing about the eternal purpose as seen in Christ, and of course that's the object.

The Eternal Purpose and the Process of Spiritual Growth

That's what we see, but as I have been dealing in the book of Romans, we've been looking sort of at the process, not just at the Christ we see, but at the process of seeing that develops in our Christian life as we yield to the Lord, obey his call, are faithful to him, so our vision increases, we begin to understand our purpose.

The center of this whole matter of the eternal purpose in the epistle to the Romans is found in chapter 8, and so we want to look at those few verses again, verses 28 through 30. Let's turn to Romans 8 and just read those few verses, and then we want to read from another passage.

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good, to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose, there's the purpose, there's a purpose, it is his purpose.

For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to become conformed to the image of his son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brethren. And these whom he predestined, he also called, and these whom he called, he also justified, and these whom he justified, he also glorified.

And then let's turn to chapter 12, and we'll read some verses there. Therefore, I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. For through the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you, not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think, but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.

For just as we have many members in one body, and all the members do not have the same function, so we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members one of another. Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly, if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith, if service in his serving, or he who teaches in his teaching, or he who exhorts in his exhortation, he who gives with liberality, he who leads with diligence, he who shows mercy with cheerfulness.

Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil and cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Give preference to one another in honor, not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.

We'll just end there. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this grace that you have given us during this week, continually expanding us, continuing to give us light. Now, even by faith, we want to stand tonight, believing that the Holy Spirit can yet teach us more, show us more, lead us further.

We thank you for the portion that we have for tonight to speak and to hear, that you give us voice and you give us an ear of the heart to hear what you are speaking to us in this day. Now, we just say, Lord, speak.

Lord, lead. Lord, teach. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Of course, the Christian life grows and develops. The first time I shared, I shared that when we are called by the gospel of salvation, we sense the love of God.

It's the first touch of heaven that we really receive. We hear of God's love, that Jesus died on the cross for us. And even though that sounded like a tale far removed, there is the day that the Holy Spirit opens our eyes and we realize, indeed, Jesus died for us.

And by faith, we receive Jesus as our Savior and we're called to salvation. Paul was called, he says, by the grace of God. But at the time Paul was called to salvation, he only had begun to realize by the heavenly vision he saw on the road to Damascus how far this calling would take him.

Indeed, once he experienced this calling of salvation, it was immediately a call to service and it was a call to fellowship and it was a call to holiness and it was a heavenly calling and it was an upward calling.

It was so much more than just the calling to salvation. And he discovered that by responding to the Lord who began to respond to him and in fellowship with the Lord, listening for his voice and obeying, he went ever deeper, deeper, deeper into his calling.

We talked about the first stage, this matter of salvation and the realization of God's love and the living by responding to him with first love. But we also said that as the Lord continues to call us and he begins to lead us higher, we go through a process, a process where we decrease and he increases, a process where we learn to live by his spirit and not by our own flesh, a process that involves the working of the cross, a process that involves daily correction, a process that the Bible calls abiding in him, a process that is called pruning.

We go through this process and all during this process, the consolation is we come to see our Lord more clearly all the time. We come to know him. We come to see him. And at a certain time, perhaps early on, perhaps later on, it's unique for everybody.

One day we realize not only were we called to salvation for me, April Fool's Day, 1964. I was called to salvation. I saw God's love. I responded. But at that time, I didn't realize that I had been chosen before the foundation of the world.

It's just too much to take in. I had no idea. Paul says he was set apart from his mother's womb and then called by God's grace there on the road to Damascus. And it's also interesting that Ananias, the Christian man who went and prayed for Paul for his blindness and for him to be filled with the Holy Spirit, was told by God that Paul was already a chosen vessel of mine.

Paul just thought he was a sinner saved by grace. But God had big plans for Paul. He's a chosen vessel of mine to go and be a witness for me. And when you and I were saved, we probably little realized just what it was God was after.

But you find out you are a chosen vessel. 2 Peter 1, verse 10 says, Therefore, giving all diligence to make your calling and your election or choosing sure. You are both called and chosen. You are called.

That's that calling from God that you respond to. You were chosen. That is something he decided to do before you even knew it. And we discover that we were chosen as the Lord begins to take us through a specially designed, as I said, car wash.

For every individual, you find the Lord pulling you by the Holy Spirit through tribulations and processes of failures and victories and all kinds of lessons learned, body life, serving him, wearing the yoke.

You go through a process of sanctifying, a process where indeed you decrease and you see more of the Lord in your life. Paul talks about this in chapters 6, 7 and 8. And you come out on the other side.

I mean, this process goes on the rest of our lives. But we come out full of the Holy Spirit, abiding in the Holy Spirit, led as sons of God by the Holy Spirit. With this spirit of adoption within us, we come to a certain point where we realize that we have been chosen.

He chose us before the foundation of the world. And we find ourselves loving this God who chose us. We're captured by this God who says, I love you. I will not let you go. We say, Lord, don't let me go.

And now we're captured and now we're chosen. And when we come to this place, there's still a long way to go. But there are certain things that become established in us. Thank God. As an example, losing our salvation is no longer an issue.

I remember in early days when I was first saved, there were some moments where I wondered, am I saved? I'm not sure. It comes at a place where that's not an issue anymore. And also another thing is no longer an issue.

There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. The enemy can no longer condemn you. Now, you know, as a young Christian, often the enemy can come and make you feel condemned.

Make you feel maybe you've even, you know, you've forsaken the Lord completely. There's no forgiveness for you now. You've finally gone and done it. But you find out, no, there's no condemnation because you can never be separated from the love of God, which is in Christ.

And these things become a knowing in you. These things are established. You don't have to run around the bush every time the enemy tries to send some condemnation your way. These things are settled in your life.

And you come into a certain maturity. You begin to understand a little bit God's will. And you begin to understand the Lord and His ways a little bit. This chosen vessel that you have become. The more God deals, the more these things come clear.

And the more these things come clear, the more we come to a place of usefulness for the Lord. Now, this term adoption as sons, which we find in Romans chapter 8, or the placing of sons, has to do with the fact that we develop spiritually to the place where the Lord can use us.

We are usable. We are fit vessels. The Lord can use us to do His work. The Lord's always looking for sons who are mature enough that He can trust us with His work. This is the goal of our development.

We are chosen as sons. He wants us to mature, not always to be just always hand in mouth on spiritual welfare, but to the place where abiding in Him and knowing His life, we know what to do. The Lord is leading us.

The Lord is telling us. This spiritual maturity, many people never seem to come to. They never quite know what their calling is. They never quite know what God is saying. But this should not be. Not if His life is abiding in you and you are abiding with Him and you're walking daily with Him and He's taking you through this process.

No, we should come into this kind of sonship where we become useful as a fit vessel for the Lord to use. When we come to this stage, we also come to a dangerous place. Because with this knowing, there's a certain freedom.

And sometimes this matter of being a chosen vessel can be misunderstood. The first danger, obviously, is that a chosen vessel is somebody. I have now arrived. Now, you know, of course, from my analogy last time, we all know you never end.

The car wash doesn't end till you see Jesus. But strange to say, we come to a certain place where we say, I have arrived. I am a chosen one, God's special vessel. He really loves me, and I'm far beyond most Christians that I know.

It's a very dangerous pride, you can imagine. But, you know, there are people who hold to such a doctrine of chosenness that there's pride that goes with it. It's a very dangerous thing. Also, along with that can possibly come the danger of independence from the body of Christ.

You know, I'm so spiritually fit now and I know so much about the Lord, I don't need the body of Christ really that much anymore. I mean, I enjoy being among the folks. I enjoy singing with them, praying with them.

But, you know, it's not like I really need them. I have my own life with the Lord now. And this independence is heading us toward trouble. The Lord never said, you're too mature for the body of Christ.

But there's sometimes that attitude, a sort of condescension, you know, toward the brothers and the sisters. Well, one day you'll understand where I'm at. And also, strangely to say, we can come to such a place where we feel the Lord pulling us through this car wash.

We feel all things working together. And it's strange how at this point of coming into sonship, we sometimes can settle back into a very dangerous spiritual passivity where we're no longer pursuing the Lord.

We're just kind of reacting to circumstances saying, oh, it's all the Lord. But there isn't the seeking. There isn't the asking, the knocking, the finding, the pursuing that is so much a part of the spiritual life.

These kinds of dangers can be upon us. But how about if we understand our chosenness aright? Do you know that you're a chosen vessel? What does that mean to you? Well, let's turn to that verse I mentioned a moment ago in 2 Peter, chapter one.

And you all probably remember this chapter where Peter takes the Christians through a list of developing spiritual capacities and characters. And he comes to verse 10 and simply says, therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about his calling and choosing you.

For as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble. For in this way, the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. Now, here's somebody who's really abiding in Christ.

Here's somebody who really knows the working of the Holy Spirit. Here's somebody who's really seen something of the Lord. Do you know what they're doing? They're diligently pursuing. They're making sure that their calling is fulfilled, that their choosing reaches its purpose.

Why did you choose me, God? I'm going to pursue that purpose with diligence. Now, there's somebody who understands their chosen place. And, of course, going right along with that, if we might turn to Philippians, chapter three, we find Paul's own testimony so wonderfully given to us that when somebody comes to a place where they realize they've been captured by the Lord, they've been chosen by the Lord, there comes that maturity in the Christian life where the person who has been captured sets themselves to capture the one who captured them.

Do you know the Lord loves that game? He arrested Paul on the road to Damascus. Paul, you're under arrest. No longer your life, what I want. Paul said, okay, Lord. He was arrested. One day Paul said, you know something?

I love the Lord. Whatever I've seen of Jesus, I want to see more of Him. And so I'm going to chase after Him and try to arrest Him. I'll grab Him by the leg. I'll grab Him by the hand. I say, Lord, I want to see you more.

Lord, I want to know your will more. And Paul, even in jail, as he wrote the book of Philippians, was on a pilgrimage, chasing after the Lord. In chapter three, verse 14, you all know these things. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

I leave behind the things I've done before. I'm pressing on toward Jesus. You know what somebody who knows their chosen is doing? They're running after Jesus. Are you doing that? Is that a passion in your life?

Whatever circumstances I'm in, whatever ministry I'm given, whatever obstacles, whatever tribulation, I'm going to find the Lord in this. Now, there's somebody who's on the way. They understand that what this whole life is about.

The end of everything we do should be a greater understanding of the Lord in His ways and the glory to Him. And, of course, back to Romans chapter 12, the third thing, being diligent about your calling and election, chasing after the Lord or pursuing the one who has laid hold of you.

Now, you're trying to lay hold of him. That's number two. Number three, in Romans chapter 12, this verse we all know, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

Now, here is the moment in a Christian's life where they finally have something of value in them. Now, you know, there were several times when I rededicated my life as a young Christian, and I brought to Jesus all my junk.

Lord, I lay down my sins at your feet. Oh, he loves sins. I lay down my failures down at your feet. You know, many times I rededicated myself, laid things down and gave it myself just as I am. You know, just a messed up kid.

I give myself to you. But here's what the Lord prizes. Somebody who is allowing the Spirit to control their lives. Somebody who is learning the Lord, His ways and His purpose. Somebody whose life expresses the righteousness that has come about by the change wrought in him by the Holy Spirit.

Now, this person is a valuable sacrifice. And such a person comes to the Lord and says, I present myself a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto thee. Now, this is a good sacrifice. This is reasonable service.

Now, you know, there's several translations there in Romans 12, but I always like that one the best. You present your body, the living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God, which is your reasonable. You know, a son gives reasonable service to the Lord.

And what is reasonable? Only everything. To him who gave us everything, what is our reasonable service? Here I am, Lord, my members of my body, my life, my heart. You've been working in my heart. You've been cleaning my mind, renewing my mind.

I give you my mind. Lord, I want to be a fit vessel useful for you. You know, some people are being fitted, but they're not laying their lives down for the Lord to use. But this is our reasonable service.

How much the Lord wants reasonable Christians. Now, see, that's the problem with brand new Christians. They love the Lord with all their heart, but they're crazy. If you asked them, if you said, do this for the Lord, they would do it out of their own understanding.

But they haven't been trained by the Lord. But now imagine somebody who's been trained by the Lord. And of course, nobody's perfect on this. But what I'm saying is you come to the point where you should understand a little bit what to do.

You trust the Lord, you pray before you just jump into something. In the early days, you just jumped into something. If you got in trouble, then you prayed. Oh, I forgot to pray. Now you know better. You see, you're being taught by the Lord.

Now you're such a valuable vessel for the Lord to use your reasonable service. Everything to the Lord. Why? Because he gave everything to you. He says, I'm completely at your disposal. You say, then, Lord, I'm completely at your disposal.

Now, that's a good transaction. And then, as we see in this chapter 12, and you could read not only this chapter, but we'll look at some other things, too, in here. But you see that once you lay down this whole burnt offering before the Lord, he indeed takes you and uses you.

He takes that mind and renews it. And you begin to prove the perfect will of God. What is the will of God? Walk it out. By obedience to the Holy Spirit, you prove what the will of God is. What should be done.

What I am to do in my life. You prove that perfect will of God by obedience in your life. And then, of course, you see, now some people would like the idea of, you know what a real son does if you're really mature?

You chase after the Lord. You and Jesus. You know, it's just you and Jesus. Forget the body of Christ. Just run after Jesus. But what have we discovered already? We have discovered what? So much of what you discover about the Lord you find in the body of Christ.

And so here in chapter 12, the immediate application to this living sacrifice is now in the body of Christ, you serve according to your measure. You understand who you are. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a Christian who actually has sound judgment as to who they are?

They don't think too highly of themselves. I'm in verse three. Paul says, I urge you not to think too highly of yourself. Now, of course, there may be one or two of us with that problem. And on the other hand, there are some who think too lowly of themselves.

They don't think they have any gift, any ability. The Lord doesn't give them anything. They don't know what they're calling it. They don't know what God's will is. They just completely, I don't know. I'm nothing.

I'm no good. No, no, no. Don't call on me. I can't do anything. I'm no good. That's no good. That's not reasonable. But here he says in verse three, but so as to have sound judgment, that's got to be worth a million dollars in the body of Christ.

What do you think? Somebody with sound judgment? Doesn't include everybody here. Sound judgment. Well, you've begun to learn what your gifts, what you're calling, what your measure is. You notice how he says that verse three.

But to think as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. Isn't it wonderful when somebody understands what their measure is? And then he goes on in verse six and talks about the grace, the gifts that have been given to us by the grace of God.

And here is the point. Whatever the measure, whether you have five gifts or one gift, whatever the proportion of faith, here is the key. Exercise what you have. There is a useful vessel. Now, don't think that a chosen vessel is somebody who has five gifts.

Person with one gift to exercise according to their measure and faith receives the same reward as somebody who has five gifts. They're just as valuable a vessel. But the object here is with all that the Lord has placed in you, his life, the power of his spirit, certain gifts and the measure of faith.

These are to be exercised in the body of Christ. In any assembly that's represented here tonight, if everybody in the assembly who was born again just exercised what they had, we would experience tremendous fullness, wouldn't we?

I mean, there'd be such fullness. We'd have to say, I'm sorry, it's three o 'clock in the afternoon. We have to cut this morning meeting off. But of course, these are things our brother already has shared upon in regard to body life.

This important matter of exercising, each person exercising your gift. If it's prophecy, if it's serving, if it's compassion, whatever it is, do it diligently to the Lord. Brothers and sisters, do you want to be valuable to the Lord?

Then don't wait till you fancy you have five gifts or some great measure of faith. Just take what you have and be faithful in the body of Christ now. Do you know what happens when you do that? Well, the Lord is glorified.

People see the Lord. There's fullness in the assembly and you probably receive more measure as a result of this faithfulness. How wonderful it is to see sons in the body of Christ sharing what they have with one another.

Serving the Weaker and Refusing to Judge

And then I just want to point out in this passage in Romans in chapter 14. And chapter 15, there's two chapters filled with many exhortations. But Paul keeps coming back to one single thought. Let's look at a few verses here.

In chapter 14, verses one and four. Now, except the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinion. Verse four, who are you to judge the servant of another to his own master?

He stands or falls and he will stand for the Lord is able to make him stand. Let's look at chapter 14, verse 10 and 13, verse 10. But you, why do you judge your brother or you again? Why do you regard your brother with contempt?

We'll all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Verse 13. Therefore, let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother's way.

Verse 17, for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.

Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense. Chapter 15, verse one. Now, we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength.

Not just to please ourselves. You see, there's a theme in here. There are several topics taken up, but there's a basic theme. And what is that? If you have gone on with the Lord a little bit, and there are some younger ones in the Lord behind you, and they're weaker in their faith, perhaps because of this or that, or they're doing some things, you know, here's the opportunity.

We who understand this high calling have the privilege of bringing other sons to glory, of helping other brothers and sisters grow up in Christ by encouraging them, not whacking them down, not by judging them, not by having contempt upon them, not by stumbling them for the sake of our freedom.

But you know what? Here's a wonderful thought. The Lord's coming back for the bride. And let's just say, let's make it very small. The bride is made up of two people, me and my wife. My wife is quite advanced spiritually.

I'm kind of a relatively new believer. And here's the deal. The Lord says, I'm coming back for you when both of you are mature. Now, if my wife spends all of her time knocking me down, she's just delaying the wedding.

But if she says, come on, let's go. Let's pray. Come on. Oh, that's OK. God will forgive you. Let's go. Let's pray. Forgive. Let's go. If she encourages me and gets me ready, well, then we're both ready.

And so that's the truth for you and me, too, isn't it? The younger ones in the Lord, you have a measure of knowledge that they don't have, a measure of faith, perhaps they don't have. You've been through some things, you know, have had some experience with the Holy Spirit.

You know, some things that they don't know yet. Now, here's the deal. The Lord's not come until they're ready. Now, what do we want to do? Stumble them. Make them go backwards. Cut them off. That's all right.

You're too young in the Lord. We're charging ahead. Of course not. You know, why do we have older sons in the family? You know, I like to visit different Christian homes because sometimes it's amazing.

Some of the older kids are actually almost a mom and a dad of the little ones. They really know how to take care of their younger brothers and sisters. It's an amazing thing to see when it's well done.

And in the body of Christ, are we not the same way? So the Lord takes some young Christian, and as you begin to mature as a Christian, now here comes somebody else. They're just saved. Now, you don't tell them, now you should immediately be like me.

No, no, no, no. You begin to help them, help them grow, bring them along. And Paul mentions many other things here in Romans regarding praying, being faithful in many different ways here in the body of Christ.

It's interesting what he says here at the end of chapter 16. If you just look here, many exhortations regarding body life, which was Stephen's responsibility, but he never got to these passages. So you'll just have to read them for yourself.

But chapter 16, verse 19 and 20, just as an example. For the report of your obedience has reached to all. Therefore, I'm rejoicing over you. But I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil.

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. It's a very interesting verse intimating of growth and sonship, of innocence, of wisdom. This is maturity. This is that kind of sonship that's responsible.

I do thank the Lord for brothers and sisters in the body of Christ who act responsibly, who act with a heart that doesn't belittle people, but edifies and builds up, that realizes we're all in it together.

We all need to learn. It takes infinite patience, long suffering, and all of the things we find in that passage our brother shared this morning in 1 Corinthians 13. Now, I haven't gone into the detail on it because there are many details, the body life and all of this sort of thing, which we need to come into a spiritual maturity to be able to rightly do.

Paul's Burden for Israel and the Chosen Vessel's Heart

But there is something that as I was studying and reading the Book of Romans, something really lit up to me that I want to share with you. Not only do we have these many exhortations as to the service, the reasonable service, the responsible sonship here in Romans 12, 13, 14, 15, 16.

But actually, even more wonderfully, for a chosen vessel, we get a chance to see, to peek into Paul's heart, the heart of a chosen vessel in this passage in chapters 9 through 11. Here in these chapters, we see the heart of a chosen vessel.

Because, you know, if somebody is a chosen vessel and is a mature son, even perhaps more than ministry, you can see a heart. We are vessels and Paul was a chosen vessel. Paul said of himself, I'm an earthen vessel.

We are earthen vessels. That the glory of God may be seen in us, not we ourselves. But a chosen vessel, when you see his heart, you begin to see the heart that understands sonship. So I want us to go back, if we could, into this section here in chapters 9 through 11.

Actually, it begins just a little bit before that. If you go back here in chapter 8 and verse 33, we see Paul talking about the wonder of sonship. We cannot be separated from the love of God. We are under no condemnation because he has justified us.

And in verse 33, he says, who will bring a charge against God's elect? I think it was probably at that point that this burden began to well up in Paul, which he expresses in chapter 9, verse 1. And you will almost think he must have stopped writing, ate something that didn't agree with him, and came back in a very morose, you know, sort of attitude.

After this victorious passage here about the victory in Christ, we overwhelmingly conquer and nothing can separate you. And I tell you, brethren, I wish I could die for the sake of Israel. It almost sounds as if a week has passed or, you know, some cloud has come over him.

What has happened here? It's the heart. The heart. The heart with a burden. A chosen vessel, a son, isn't free because they love. And because they love, they carry burdens. Paul had this burden for Israel because they were his kinsmen.

And added to this burden was the fact that it was not his sphere or ministry to minister to the Jews, per se. He was an apostle to the Gentiles. Although, he said, in my ministry to the Gentiles, I try to make my brethren, the Jews, jealous.

But he has a burden for Israel. And there's a groaning in his heart. He says in chapter 10, verse 1, just to make it clear, brethren, my heart's desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation.

As a people, my people, I have a burden for their salvation. So there's a burden there. There's a real burden in his heart for Israel. And in the midst of his sonship and all of his description of the beauty of this predestined plan, when he thinks of God's election, Israel comes to mind and this burden comes before him.

Even as he shared in chapter 8, you know, this groaning in all creation, as creation waits for the freedom of the children of God, and then we groan ourselves waiting for this freedom that is the redemption of our bodies.

What is all that about? We are groaning because we're hoping. We are hoping because we're looking for Jesus to come back. Because when Jesus comes back is when our bodies are changed. And when our bodies are changed, that's when creation is set free.

You see, it's the coming of the Son of God that revealed that was the burden and the hope that caused all that groaning in Romans chapter 8. But now in chapter 9, it's as if he's groaning again because he understands something.

And what is that? For God to gain all the glory, Israel's got to be set right again. Israel has become an issue that even questions the righteousness of God. You see it here when he just presents some questions here in chapter 9 and verse 6.

But it is not as though the word of God has failed. I should go back. Let's read the first verses here in chapter 9. I'm telling you the truth in Christ. I'm not lying. My conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit.

I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. Don't take this lightly now. I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons.