Can Israel Lose Her Salvation? - [Romans 11]

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Well, it's almost July 4th, and I love July 4th for lots of reasons, mainly the fireworks.
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Just to watch kids, no, to listen to them. And there's an explosion and it's kind of a muffled, ooh.
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And it's a bigger explosion and a wonderful report and just a feast for the eyes, ooh, wow, ho.
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You kind of look over to the person that you're seated next to in that lawn chair and you just think, that is amazing.
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Now, here's my question for you, you New Englanders. When's the last time you thought about God and read from His Word and responded with a verbal exclamation, oh, that's amazing.
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When's the last time there was a sound out of your mouth that said, okay, you could do it in your heart, I guess, that's how we get out of it.
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I didn't really say it with my mouth, but I just meant in my heart, wow, that is amazing. Now, there's a little letter, looks like a
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W for us, but in Greek it's the omega. And it means the last, you know, the first and the last, alpha and omega.
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But if you put a little mark over it, it goes from the letter to the exclamation, wow,
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Romans chapter 11, verse 33. Let's turn there and let's see what
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Paul talks about to put the wow, the exclamation point, back in the
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Christian's heart. This is a fascinating passage in Romans chapter 11.
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As you know, we're going chapter by chapter through Romans, going faster than we normally do.
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But I'm desirous of having you see the sweep of everything. And so there are some details we could dig into at another time.
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But for today, Romans 11, verses 1 through 33, dealing with this topic,
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Israel's salvation. Is there a future for Israel? And friends, let's just put it bluntly.
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If Israel can lose her salvation, so can you.
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If Israel can lose her salvation, then so can you. The promises of God for Israel are inextricably linked to the promises of God for you.
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Now, how does that work? Go to chapter 8 with me, if you would, for just a quick review.
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Romans chapter 8, verse 31. It's amazing to think that God chose you in eternity past and in time called you and justified you and will glorify you.
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He says that in verses 29 and 30 of Romans 8. But then he says, as we looked at a few weeks ago,
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What shall we say to these things? What do we say to things like this, that before time began,
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God chose to love you? What do you say to that? Does that move you? What do you say that God, ahead of time, in eternity past, predestined you?
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What do you say to that? What do you say that one day you're walking this way, off the precipice of hell almost, and God, by His Spirit, called you and regenerated you?
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What do you say to that? What do you say that God, based on the work of His Son, credited
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Christ's perfect life to your account, even though you're sinful, now
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God sees you as He sees His Son, perfect and complete, and then God credited Jesus all your sins, past, present and future?
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What do you say to that? What do you say to the fact that... Yep, our sound guy in the back just went...
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See, that's the New England thing. We don't say it out loud, we just say it in our heart. Or sometimes with our lips. What do you say to these things?
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And what does Paul say? If God is for us, who can be against us?
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If the omniscient Creator, sovereign ruler of the universe is for us, by comparison, there can be no foe.
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Well, how do we know really He loves us, though? How do we know He's for us? Oh, let me count the ways, verse 32.
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Specifically, we know He's for us. He who did not spare
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His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will
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He not also with Him graciously give us all things? Then he goes on to say, doesn't he, in verse 33, with more of these questions,
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Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? No one, because it's God who justifies.
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Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died, more than that, who was raised, who was at the right hand of God.
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Who indeed is interceding for us? And then he almost shouts out verse 35, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
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And then he says in verse 38 and 39, For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor anything else created will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our
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Lord. And then the arm goes up. Yes, but Israel, she had these promises too.
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Israel was promised all kinds of love of God. And Israel now, where is she?
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She's in the tank. And if Israel's blessings are cut off by their disobedience, maybe my disobedience will cut me off from God's family as well.
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If Israel can lose her salvation, so can you. The doctrine of eternal security stands and falls on the basis of Israel's future.
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Now here's what we'll do. Let me give you a quick overview of 9, 10 and 11 and then the outline.
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Paul then moves to chapter 9 out of chapter 8 and basically says this. Israel did not believe ultimately for what reason?
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Because God's in charge, God's sovereign. Israel didn't believe in chapter 10 immediately because they had no faith.
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But the rejection of the Jews is not total, nor is it final.
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Did God set aside a place for national ethnic Israel for rejecting
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Christ? Or is there a future for Israel? Is Israel's rejection total?
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No, it is not total, nor is it final. Let me give you three truths today, glorious truths about the future for national ethnic
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Israel. I'm going to give you these truths for a reason. They're designed to increase your trust in God's promises and to invoke your praise.
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Increase your trust and invoke your praise. All answering this one question in Romans 9, 6.
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For it is not as though the word of God has failed. Is it that the word of God has failed?
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9, 10, and 11 answer that one question. Now many times as a pastor
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I have the privilege of helping people with assurance of salvation. When God saves you, you're objectively saved and nothing can take us out of the
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Father's hand. But sometimes we don't feel saved and that's not the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints or eternal security or preservation by God.
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It's the doctrine of assurance. I don't feel saved. Now either you are saved or you aren't, but I just don't feel it.
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And so what do I do if I meet somebody who doesn't feel saved? Sometimes they're dealing with sin in their life and when
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Christians are in sin, they don't get that joy of their salvation that they once experienced.
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That's why David cried for it. Let me just experience that joy of my salvation again. Most of the time
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I point them back to Christ objectively, see what Jesus did and are you trusting in God's word that what
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He did in the word is true? Sometimes I'll say, you know, let's just look at your life a little bit.
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The first John test, do you confess your sins? Do you confess Jesus as Lord? Do you love
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God? Do you love not the world? Do you love other Christians? Those are some good subjective tests. But add another one to your test of assurance.
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How do I really feel when it comes to my salvation? Here's the third one, Israel. What do you think of Israel?
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Because that is related to eternal security. I love the story of King of Prussia, Frederick the
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Great. And he had a chaplain and his chaplain was always trying to tell him the Bible's true.
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And he said, you know what, I don't want any more of your large tomes. And this is excurses on why the
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Bible's true. Now the king was influenced by the French atheist Voltaire. So he said, you know what, here's what
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I want. I want you to give me a one word answer. None of this long diatribe anymore. I want one word answer on give me proof of the inspiration of the
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Bible. Your Majesty, it is possible for me to answer your request literally.
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I can give you the proof you ask for in one word. The answer for the authenticity and inspiration and infallibility of the scripture that the chaplain gave
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Frederick the Great was Israel. Israel, the continuing existence of Israel, distinct people.
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So let's go to the first truth about this national ethnic Israel. God is still saving the
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Jews, verses 1 through 10. God is still graciously saving the Jews. Here's what
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Paul is doing in verses 1 to 10. God must not be done with the Jews if he's still saving
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Jews. If God was done with the Jews, no more Jews would get saved. But there's a little trickle. There's the ones and the twos and a remnant.
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And Paul starts off with himself, verse 1. I ask then, has God rejected his people?
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No, he hasn't by no means. God forbid, the strongest negation. I could ask it this way.
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Has God rejected his people, my own people?
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Does God reject his people? The answer is no, he doesn't, even though they've been disobedient, a direct denial.
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Paul says, you know what? God hasn't thrown overboard his people because he saved me.
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For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
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Wouldn't just one Jew being saved prove the faithfulness of God? Yes. Martin Luther said if God had rejected his own people, he surely would have rejected the apostle
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Paul. Although most Jews don't believe today, some do.
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And foreknowledge demands it, verse 2. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.
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The ones that he loved ahead of time and eternity past, that's going to be changed based on people's performance?
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We're going to see that can't be true because it's an election of grace anyway. The same word foreknow is used in Romans chapter 8.
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When God foreloves a sinner, he puts his love on them. He knows them ahead of time.
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Abraham knew his wife. Adam knew his wife in a special, intimate way. God beforehand knows people.
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And he knew the Jews as well. That's why it's crazy for me to read Lorraine Bettner, even though I appreciate much of his work.
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It may seem harsh to say that God is through with the Jews. But the fact of the matter is, he is through with them as a unified national group.
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You say, well, yeah, this is only one person though, only Paul. Are there more?
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Yes. Take a look at the remnant. Even in a horrible time when
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King Ahab was around, Jezebel was there, pushing Baal worship, God always has a remnant.
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And if God has a remnant, that means he's not done with the Jews. He's got Paul. He's got a remnant. Verse 2 goes on to say,
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Do you not know what the scripture says of Elijah? Okay, I have to stop there just for a second. This is going to be a little pastoral preaching parlor trick right here.
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I'm going to try to really convict you, but instead of me saying it, I'll quote somebody else. Because it really gives you a lick if you're not careful.
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So S. Lewis Johnson said this to the congregation. He was pastoring because he's more courageous than I am.
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Notice the text. It says, Do you not know? Do you not know? Do you not know? S. Lewis Johnson said, The reason why we have problems with Romans 9, 10, and 11 and most of the other passages in the
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Bible is we don't read our Bibles. We don't read our Bibles. We're going to look at passages here in Romans 11.
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Who are the first fruits? Who are the branches? Who is the olive tree? Friends, when you dive into the
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Old Testament, may I make a plea this week based on the substitutionary death of Christ? Read your
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Old Testament. Because here, 9, 10, and 11, it's one verse after another.
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Deuteronomy 29, Isaiah 29, Psalm 69. It's just a bombarding of Old Testament passages.
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And if we don't know the Old Testament, no wonder we don't know what's going on in Romans 9 to 11. Paul's readers knew this story.
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And here's the good news. You know this story too. This is one story we do know. What Scripture says of Elijah and how he appeals to God against Israel.
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Lord, they've killed your prophets. They've demolished your altars. And I alone am left.
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And they seek my life. But what is God's reply to him? We know
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God's not done with the Jews because even in Elijah's day, I have kept for myself 7 ,000 men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.
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And the Holy Spirit here adds in to 1 Kings the words, for myself.
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Not found in the Hebrew. Not found in the Septuagint. Added in. I've kept for myself.
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Now notice he doesn't say, there are 7 ,000 who have not bowed, putting the stress on responsibility.
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He says instead, I kept for myself. I made sure I have this remnant here. God would have been faithful to only have one person believe.
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He wouldn't be done with the Jews. But he's got a remnant. 7 ,000. God isn't done with the
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Jews. Look at history. They still believe. Not a lot, but they still are believing.
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Verse 5, so too at the present time. So you've got Elijah's time and now you've got
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Paul's time. And we could say even today it's true. There is a remnant. With people in the congregation here who are
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Jewish in their background and they believe. There's a remnant, not because they're good, not because we're good either as Gentiles, but chosen by grace.
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And if it's by grace, you can't undo grace. If it's by grace, it's not with the works at all, verse 6, 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. I find it interesting that some of my friends who are the most sincere and adamant and correct about the eternal security of the believer aren't so sure about the eternal security of Israel.
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But God is still graciously saving Jews, verse 7. What then? Nothing shocking here.
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Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. Remember, because they did it by works, Romans 10. The elect obtained it.
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Literally, this is neat, the election obtained it. The ones who were carved out by God, the elect ones obtained it, but the rest were judicially hardened.
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The ones that God was involved with, oh, they believed. As it is written, verses 8, 9, and 10, we have quotes from Isaiah 29,
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Deuteronomy 29, and Psalm 69. Think about it. Deuteronomy, Torah, Isaiah, the prophets, and Psalms, the writings, all of Scripture testifies to this judicial blinding.
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As it is written, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see, and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.
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David says, let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block, and a retribution for them.
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Lest their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see, and bend their backs forever.
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There's still a future for Israel, because God is still saving Jews. Truth number two, God has an all -wise, sovereign plan for the present.
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How do we explain the present, with the Jews saying no to Christ, for the most part, found in verses 11 through 24.
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Rejection of the Jews to time is not final. By the way, if you're a
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Gentile, you're really going to like this, because God had the Jews not believe, so you Gentiles would believe, so then the
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Jews would be envious of you Gentiles, and then come to believe. Verse 11 is just like verse 1 almost, as it asks.
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Verse 1 says, I ask. Verse 11 says, so I ask. That'd be a good way to outline the chapter, if you'd like.
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So I ask, so I ask. Did they stumble, in order that they might fall?
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That they might fall forever? Was it just a temporary fall, or was it a forever fall?
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Paul is dealing now with, the national purposes of Israel. No longer individual purposes, but national purposes.
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There's a plan to all this. He says, did they stumble in order that they might fall? Here's the word again, two
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Greek words, it's the most demonstrable negative out there.
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By no means, rather through their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make
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Israel jealous. You remember this story, don't you? In Acts chapter 18,
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Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly testifying to the
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Jews, that Jesus was the Christ. And when they resisted, the
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Jews did, and when the Jews blasphemed, he shook out his garments, and said to the Jews, your blood be on your own heads,
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I am clean, for now I shall go to the Gentiles. Verse 12, when you see the word there in the
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ESV, the nation as a whole, Israel. Now if their trespass, means riches for the world, and if their failure, means riches for the
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Gentiles, and does it ever, how much more will their full inclusion mean?
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The fall of Israel, meant blessings to the Gentiles, what about her restoration, what will that mean for Gentiles?
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Now, as you can tell, from the way I'm speaking, and the way
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I'm delivering this, that I'm a pre -millennial person, I believe there's a future for Israel.
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Now while I have a lot of respect, for covenant theologians, I'm kind of in the middle of the world, between the two, because I believe that God, has things structured covenantally, covenant of redemption, covenant of grace, covenant of works, but I don't buy the party line, as one man said, covenant theology as a system, doesn't find its origin in heaven, rather in Holland, but that's just a side note.
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I just have to take what the scriptures take, there's a covenantal system in scripture, yet there's a future for Israel, and of course my amillennial friends, wouldn't believe that, neither would my post -millennial friends believe that, but it's amazing when pre -mill, amill, and post -mill, look at Romans chapter 11, almost all of them talk like pre -millennial, because they read in here, the future for Israel.
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John Murray said, yes John Murray, post -millennialist, here's what he said about this verse,
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Hence, nothing less than a restoration of Israel, as a people to faith, privilege, and blessing, can satisfy the terms of this passage.
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I love that, by the way, if I was amill, I'd try to prove it, without going to Romans chapter 11, is what
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I would try to do. Charles Hodge, the post -millennialist, the conversion of the
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Jews, will be accompanied by the most glorious consequences, for the whole world. Verse 13,
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Now I am speaking to you Gentiles, inasmuch then, as I am an apostle to the Gentiles.
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I magnify my ministry, why? Why does Paul do what he does? In order somehow, to make my fellow
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Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. It's one of Paul's motivations, for preaching to the
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Gentiles, yes for the glory of God, yes for the Gentile salvation, but to provoke the Jews to jealousy, God isn't finished with the
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Jews, if God wants them to be jealous, through Paul's preaching, there must be a future for Israel. Verse 15, the conclusion then, he introduces this, from the greater to the lesser, if the reception means, the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean, but life from the dead?
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In other words, the casting off is only temporary. God's purpose extends beyond today, in Gentile conversion.
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Now I have forgotten, how mad the Jews would get, when you would preach the gospel to Gentiles.
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Do you know how mad Jews got, when you preach the gospel to Gentiles, so they would get saved? I forgot until I just read it the other day.
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Paul said, and Jesus said to me, go for I will send you far away to the Gentiles. Acts 22, up to this word they listened to Paul, then they raised their voices and said, away with such a fellow from the earth, for he should not be allowed to live.
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To offer salvation, Yahweh to the Gentiles, kill him. They were shouting, throwing up their cloaks, flinging dust into the air.
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But if the Gentiles could be blessed, because of the Jews unbelief, what about when the Jews believe?
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Verse 16, now here's when you're going to need, some of your Old Testament stuff, I don't have much time to, go through every little detail here, but if you think
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Old Testament, you're going to get it. If you're thinking, what is first contributes to the quality of what's later, you're going to get it.
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But if the dough offered as first fruits is holy, well so is the whole lump.
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And you know what he's talking about here? He's talking about the Abrahamic covenant, the patriarchs,
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Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. If that is a first fruit, then isn't there going to be later fruits, later people believing?
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So the whole lump, and if the root is holy, same thing, the second illustration, to show the patriarchs are represented by the root.
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Abraham and his covenant, the root is holy, so also are the branches.
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And then he says, you know, I want to guard you against, being prideful and arrogant
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Gentiles, he does this in the next seven verses, eight verses. Verse 17, for if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in, among the others,
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Paul switches things around, according to the horticulturist, but he does it for a reason, because this goes against nature.
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Chapter 11, verse 24, normally you cultivate an olive tree, grafted into a wild olive tree, but it does the opposite.
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But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in, among the others, now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree,
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Abrahamic covenant blessings, do not be arrogant towards the branches. If you are, remember, it is not you who support the root, but the root supports you.
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So think about it. What do we have here? The branches broken off, verse 17, unbelieving
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Israel. If some of the branches, unbelieving Israel, were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, you
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Gentiles, were grafted in, among the others, and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, that is to say,
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God's covenant with Abraham, don't be arrogant towards the branches, towards those broken branches,
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Israel. Don't boast. Verse 19, then you will say, branches were broken off, so I might be grafted in.
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Yes, but how do you respond to that? Verse 20, that is true, they were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith, so do not become proud, but fear.
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Just because this happened to them, it should make you think, it could happen to you.
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Because it happened to them rather, it could happen to you. Oh, we're above and beyond, that would never happen to us.
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No, persevering faith must persevere. Verse 21, don't presume, for if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will
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He spare you. If He does not spare Israel, He won't spare you Gentiles.
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And you know, isn't it neat, verse 22, God's attributes. What is God doing?
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And remember when I asked Sinclair Ferguson that question, what is God doing right now? And he looked at me, and he didn't even bat an eye, and he said,
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God is simultaneously exercising all of His attributes. It's a good answer. Five years later,
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I said to Sinclair Ferguson, I said, you know, that really changed my mind about God, when
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I asked you the question, what's God doing right now? And when you told me that answer, it was unbelievable. And he said, what did
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I tell you for an answer? I said, you said God is simultaneously exercising all of His attributes. And then
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Sinclair said, that was a good answer. And here, look, verse 22, note then the kindness towards the
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Gentiles, and the severity of God towards Israel right now, at least most of them.
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Severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you. And now He gives the exhortation to persevere, provided you continue in His kindness.
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How do you get Christians to persevere? Knowing that they will persevere, because of the Spirit. You tell them, persevere, otherwise you too will be cut off.
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Your situation could be reversed, is what He says. And now
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He says in verse 23, a fresh argument for Jewish restoration, and even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again.
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And right here is where Charles Hodge gives eight reasons for a future restoration of Israel. I'll just give you one, it's found in verse 24, for if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree and grafted contrary to nature, see
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Paul knows what horticulturists know, this is the opposite way, but it's because grace way, not a works way, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree?
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The rejection of Israel isn't final, God is able to graft them back in again. It's actually easier, if we could argue it that way, than grafting in the unnatural
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Gentiles. It's a future for Israel. And finally number three, the third truth,
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God's still saving Jews in the past, God had a plan to save the Gentiles and make the
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Jews jealous. Finally number three, God faithfully keeps his promises, verses 25 through 32, for the future of Israel.
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Now if you say, yeah, but I'm getting bogged down in all this stuff, I need something practical. Well, theology is practical and we need joy and it's tied to your salvation.
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How much more practical could that be? The final word hasn't happened for Israel, her fall is real, but it's not the end.
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Verse 25, now as I read this verse, I want you to think of the two key words, actually the three key words here, that I'm going to focus on in just a minute.
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The ultimate ground for the hope of Israel's regrafting into the olive trees in verse 25, what words are important?
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All of them, but I'm thinking about three key words, lest you be wise in your own sight. I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers.
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A partial hardening, that's key word number one, a hardening of a part, has come upon Israel.
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That's the second word, the nation of Israel, no one disagrees with that, when you see the word
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Israel in 9, 10 and 11, it's Israel, until, that's the third key word, the fullness of the
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Gentiles have come in. There's a hardening of a part of the nation of Israel, until all the elect
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Gentiles have believed. Now it's interesting, we move to verse 26, this is the battleground between Primal, Amal, etc.
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But the same word for Israel, found in verse 25, is found here, and in this way, all
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Israel will be saved. All Israel is going to be saved. Now there are three main ways to take that word, one,
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Jews and Gentiles, it's the church, it's a spiritual Israel, the church. I don't know how they can do that with verse 25, being there, although it fits with their system.
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Some say it's the elect, believing Jews during the present age. And thirdly, some say the ethnic literal nation of Israel.
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Now as I was searching through this, and doing a lot of reading, I found a very interesting support, for the literal ethnic nation of Israel, and out of all places, it was the
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ESV study Bible, which I thought would have been Amillennial. It says salvation of Israel, is found here in verse 26, because one, it fits with the promises of God, for God's future work in verse 12 and 15.
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Two, it is difficult to see how the salvation, of a remnant of the Jews, all through history, would qualify as a mystery.
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What's so mysterious about that? Three, the future salvation of ethnic
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Israel, at the end of history, accords with the climactic character of this passage. And four, it demonstrates finally and fully, how
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God is faithful to fulfill, his saving promises to his people. I do not think a standard reading of the text, can make
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Israel be spiritual Israel. And by the way, if you'd like to study that more, here's the person you need to study, who's my favorite when it comes to Romans 11, and his name is
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James Montgomery Boyce. Quote, since ethnic Israel, is what is referred to in verse 25, the word cannot be used, in an entirely different sense in verse 26.
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If it is ethnic Israel, which has been hardened, it must be ethnic Israel, which will be saved.
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And as you know, James Boyce is no crazy, Hal Lindsey, dispensationalist weirdo.
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Did I just say that? I can't believe I just said that. You can edit that from the tape. The nation as a whole, not every individual, the nation as a whole, majority, the elect,
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John Murray writes, if Boyce couldn't say it, Murray does, and Murray doesn't even believe in premillennialism.
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Well, he does now, but Murray, when he wrote, didn't. He's in heaven. There is the sustained contrast between Israel and the
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Gentiles, as has been demonstrated in the exposition preceding. What other denotation could be given to Israel, in the preceding verse?
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If it is ethnic Israel, Paul is speaking, and Israel could not impossibly include
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Gentiles. Charles Hodge, Israel here must mean the
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Jewish people, as a people, now rejected, in the future, restored.
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And for those of you that love John Piper, I don't quote him often, but for my own purposes, I will. John Piper.
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It is unwarranted to interpret all Israel here, to mean any other thing than corporate, ethnic
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Israel. If Israel can lose your salvation, you can, but she hasn't lost it.
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You can't either. He says in verse 26, as it is written, look at these great verses from Isaiah 59, about our
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Savior, the Deliverer. The Deliverer will come from Zion. He will banish ungodliness from Jacob.
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He's going to rule. The great Jesus rules on the earth. Verse 28, as regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake, the current people on earth, the
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Israelites who were against Paul. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers, the root, the first fruits.
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And get this and get it straight, verse 29, for the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.
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When you don't see the moon go up and down anymore, the sun go up and down anymore, Jeremiah 31, then you say, no more
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Israel. But if it keeps coming up, then you ought to remember 1 Samuel 12, the Lord will not abandon
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His people. Psalm 94, for the Lord will not abandon His people.
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Why? The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. The immutability of God's promises guard
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Israel's status. And if you look at the passage, take a look at it again, the word irrevocable is placed up front.
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It's the first word of the Greek sentence. Irrevocable are the gifts. For emphasis, verse 34, just as you were at the one time disobedient to God, but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so too have now, so too they now have been disobedient in order that the mercy shown to you, they also may now receive mercy.
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Just like you did with unbelieving Gentiles. I love Charles Feinberg when he said, the
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Hebrews, like their language, have a past and a future, but no present. Verse 32, for God has consigned all to disobedience that he may have mercy on all.
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That's a military word. God has rounded up everybody at gunpoint and put them all in a prisoner of war camp because he's going to show who he's going to give mercy to and who he doesn't give mercy to,
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Romans chapter 9. They all deserve to be shot by a firing squad because of their unbelief, but he's got them all consigned so that when he pulls them out, they won't say, well, you know what, we snuck out, we dug out,
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Steve McQueen out, dug a tunnel out, we got out because God chose us to get out. So he'll have mercy.
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Unfaithfulness of men cannot nullify the faithfulness of God. If God keeps his promises to a faithless, unbelieving
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Israel, will he keep his promise to you? Is it though the word of God has failed?
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No. So what's Paul's response? And here it comes. I think I need to be in the
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Mediterranean or something. I know this is a generalization, but when you're in the Mediterranean, when I was around the people in Turkey last month and the people in Greece last month, there was a bunch of them.
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We were in Italy. I mean, they are, they are ready and ripe for this next word.
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Sometimes though you go to Norway or Sweden or Central Massachusetts, it's not quite the same.
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Israel's restoration shows that God's promises are kept and nothing can separate us from the love of God.
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What does that make you say? Verse 33. It's in the Bible. I'm working on a new book based on that word and that word alone.
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What in the world makes you just go, wow! It's incredible! It's incredible! It's incredible!
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It's amazing! Wow! The depths and the riches and the wisdom and knowledge of God.
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How can God do this? How does He have wisdom to figure this out? He praises God's wisdom. Think about even in your own life, not just Israel, how does
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God be the just and the justifier of people? How does God say, you know what? I'm a spirit.
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I have no body. Three in one triune being and men are sinful and I've got to go rescue them.
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But I just can't say like I say. I can say to my kids, you're forgiven. That's not how God does it because He's holy and just.
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The eternal Son cloaks Himself with humanity, comes and lives in our place and dies for us and God credits what
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He does to our account. Who figures that out? How unsearchable are
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His judgments and inscrutable His ways? Who can trace that out? Then He quotes
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Isaiah and He quotes Job. For who has known the mind of the
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Lord? Who has been His counselor? We know the answers to those things.
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Or who has given a gift to Him that He might be repaid? This kind of language, unsearchable, is not used any place else except in Ephesians.
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To me, the very least of all saints this grace was given to me to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ.
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Who has known the mind of the Lord? No one, Isaiah 40. Who has been given a gift that He might be repaid? Job 41. No one.
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Free, sovereign wisdom. And then He praises Him for sovereignty, verse 36. And from Him, God's the first cause.
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Through Him, God's the effective cause. And to Him, God is the ultimate cause of everything are all things.
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And then He doesn't know what else to do. What do you say when you've just learned about from the
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Bible Sola Scriptura and the Bible alone from the Bible alone what do you do when you learn about Christ alone?
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And how He did it all. And then you learn about it's all grace alone. And then you learn about through it's faith alone.
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After Sola Scriptura and Sola Gratia and Sola Christus and Sola Fide what's your only response?
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Soli Deo Gloria. To Him. Nobody else. Not Israel. Not Gentiles. Not Paul.
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Not you. Not me. To Him. Not Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
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To Him be glory. This is the watchword for every Christian. To Him be the glory forever.
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Amen. The single desire of every
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Christian is that. When you look to the Lord, that's what He shows Himself. The scheme of redemption of Him the person of Christ through Him.
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The response to the sovereignty of God in your salvation the response to the sovereignty of God in Israel's salvation should be one and the same.
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What time are the Red Sox on? Hardly. Heidelberg Catechism.
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How many things are necessary for you to know that you in this comfort may live and die happily?
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I read a book this week. I talked about it last week. Maybe it was two weeks ago I read it. You're going to die. Get ready to die.
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I heard a pastor preach and he said, Pastor, if your duty is properly discharged you will teach your congregation how to die.
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So what do you need to know to die? Three things Heidelberg Catechism. How great my sins and miseries are.
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Two, how I am delivered from all my sins and misery. Three, how
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I am to be thankful to God for such deliverance. Are you thankful?
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Are you glad God saved you? God's faithful?
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Well you should be. Let's pray. Father, with the writer of scripture we say,
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Praise be to you, O Lord, God of our Father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.
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Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
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Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom. You are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you.
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You are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.
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Now, our God, we give you thanks and praise your glorious name for Christ's sake.