9/2/18 The sovereignty and providence of God in salvation (Romans 11:17-34)

Us into that book of Ezra. But I felt it very, very important that we look at these supporting scriptures to understand, to consider, to think about, to know who God is and to know that God is sovereign, meaning that He has the right and the authority to govern all things and that by His providence He does so govern all things according to His omniscience, His omnipotence, His omnipresence, as we sung in that song before, the first before the last song there.

What a wonderful song listing out the attributes of God. And friends, if we come to places in our lives where we fret and we worry and we doubt and we try to be too, I guess we try to reason away the sovereignty of God, friends, it will do you good just to recount those attributes of who God is and to recall them to your mind, to consider just how good God is.

In the Sunday school lesson, Kenny taught us about the 23rd Psalm this morning and what a fitting passage for leading into this for in that 23rd Psalm Kenny taught us this morning that we are sheep and sheep are not the brightest animals in the world, amen?

And the Lord refers to us as sheep, not trying to reteach what Kenny taught but reinforce what Kenny taught. We are not the brightest, they are not the brightest animals in the world nor are we as human beings do we always make the best decisions in the world, amen?

We sometimes go astray, we sometimes do things that are foolish and ignorant but if we are God's children, he is there to faithfully and to lovingly and to patiently care for us. The Lord is my shepherd, that's what the psalmist said, I shall not want.

He makes me to lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside the still waters, amen? That is a picture of the sovereignty of God. Friends, listen, we don't have a, we didn't know six months ago that we were going to be on the first lesson of the Sunday school book that we were in today but God knew, amen?

And I believe that God in his sovereignty and by means of providence even carries us into lessons like we learned this morning in the midst of sermons like you've been hearing to reinforce that he is sovereign over all.

And the sovereignty of God ought to be a comfort to the children of God. Last week we, the last statement that we made, the very last thing that I said was I'm glad I'm getting to say this at the very end because many times when preaching or hearing about hearing the sovereignty of God preached we assume and we think that the preacher is going to tell us everything there is to know about God.

I told you last week and I will tell you again. I nor you nor any other preacher knows everything there is to know about God, amen? And if he did then there would be no need for God. God is God above all.

And so our intent in this is not to tell you everything there is to know about God but to tell you what little bit that I have gleaned from the scriptures which tells us everything that a man can know about God.

And what man cannot know about God is not man's business to delve into. There's plenty within the word of God. There's plenty concerning the will and the mind of God that God has not revealed to man nor do we need to know or worry about.

We need to focus on what we can know of God. And what we can know of God is laid out in the pages of his word. Phil Johnson, a preacher at Grace Community Church in California said this concerning the sovereignty of God, concerning the unknowableness, sometimes the seeming unknowableness of God.

As humans we can no more imagine how God's affections can be eternally free from change than we can comprehend infinity itself. What a true statement. And sometimes I think when we think about the sovereignty of God it becomes as though that God remains so far out beyond us that he is not able to relate to us.

But God is able to relate to us, amen? He made us therefore he can relate to us. Phil Johnson went on to say this, God is not a metaphysical iceberg. While he is never at the mercy of his creatures, neither is he detached from them.

His wrath against sin is real and powerful. His compassion for sinners is also sincere and indefatigable. His mercies are truly over all his works. And above all, his eternal love for his people is more real, more powerful and more enduring than any earthly emotion that ever bore the label love.

Unlike human love, God's love is unfailing, unwavering and eternally constant. That is God. And so when we consider God, when we preach sermons about the character and the nature of God, know this that we are not trying to compare God with any human being.

We are not trying to say the love of God is like the love you have for your wife or the love you have for your husband. His love is greater than anything that we can truly explain or understand with our mind.

So again, keeping with that and considering the sovereignty of God, we last week looked at Jeremiah, we looked at several passages as we are going to look at in Isaiah today. And in Isaiah, just as it was last week, the scriptures were written and given some 100 to 150 years before the children of Israel were delivered out of Babylonian captivity.

And yet they are written as though it was a deed that was already done. So know this, God is the only one, the only one who is able to see the beginning to the very end. God is the only one who can truly speak as though he is speaking in present tense of future events and know what is going on.

However, because we have that for us in the Word of God, we can take hope and consolation and have peace and trust in the sovereignty of our great God. So that being said, if you would, go ahead and be turning to the book of Romans.

I want to say just a few things here and leading in. So as we look at the scriptures, it is important to note that God is good, that God is kind and that in his love he warns unfaithful Israel against their wickedness.

Remember, that is what God has done. God told them many, many years before that if they were unfaithful and they were in sin, that he was going to give them over to Babylonian captivity, a loving father such as is our God will always hold true to his Word, but he will never leave his people without hope.

Amen? Okay. So it is important to note that. Remember Isaiah's prophecy came some 150 years before their promised deliverance. God in his sovereignty and by means of his providence is working out Israel's salvation.

And by the way, I want to say this, that not only was he working out Israel's salvation as we are going to read and find and study about today, but he before the very foundation of the world has sovereignly and providentially been working out your salvation and my salvation.

You have got to know this, that you were not saved on an accident. You did not stumble into salvation. You, because of your providence of you were not in just the right place at just the right time, but you because God providentially placed you in circumstances and situations in your life, brought you to the place where you heard his Word and you believed on him through the grace of God.

That is incredible. That is amazing when we think about that. And that is what we are going to see here in the book of Romans. Romans chapter 11, as we are turning there, Romans chapter 11 and we are using this as our scriptural proof text this morning if you would have it for us to look at because we have got to have our proof from the Word of God.

And so the Lord is kind and he is loving to his people today and just as he warned Israel of their sin and impending judgment, he does so for those of us, and I want you to take note of this term, whom he has grafted into the vine.

This is biblical terminology and it is important for you to understand and to know this. Whom he has grafted into the vine himself. In the book of Romans, we are going to read verse 17 through 36, but I want to give you just a summary.

The apostle Paul speaks, is speaking to the Gentile believers concerning their salvation in the Lord and how they have been grafted into the family of faith. He explains further how the sovereignty of God at work through his providence has made it possible for the Gentiles to be saved, for the Gentiles to be saved as well as the Jews.

Now remember when we are considering and thinking about the sovereignty and the providence of God and God working by natural means, by working at his providence through natural means in our lives, putting us in places, bringing us to positions, putting us in the spot that he wants us to be so that we can know what we need to know according to his will, this is the work of God.

My testimony is unlike any of your testimonies. None of you were in Nashville in March 1987, I would dare say so. None of you were probably a child like I was when I was a child. Some of you may have been a lot meaner.

Some of you may have been a lot nicer. Nevertheless, God put me in a place in Nashville, Tennessee in March 1987 so that I could hear the gospel of Jesus Christ preached and he regenerated my heart. He brought me to life, gave me grace and faith that I might believe for his honor and for his glory.

Now think about your story. Think about your testimony. First of all, do you have a testimony today? A testimony is a true accounting of what Jesus Christ has done in your life. Our testimonies are not called to be as spectacular as some people's testimony might be.

There are some people that, just to be honest, that it seems like their testimony is spectacular. And regular Christians like myself think to myself, my goodness, I wish I had a testimony like them. But truly, you know something?

Their testimony is no greater or no lesser than my testimony. Their lives were worth no less to the Lord than my life was worth less to the Lord. Jesus Christ came to seek and to save that which is lost.

Do you have a testimony today? Are you saved by the grace of God? Do you know that you've been passed from death unto life? If not, you need to know this, that God has brought you right here, right now for you to hear that Jesus Christ died for your sins according to the scriptures.

That he was buried and that he arose again on the third day. And that what you need to do to believe on Jesus Christ is to repent of your sins and trust in him. That's the gospel. But God works out our salvation by means of providence.

Listen, Romans chapter 11 verse 17, the apostle Paul is speaking to the Gentile believers in Rome. He's contrasting the Israelites and he says this,. And if some of the branches were broken off and you being a wild olive tree were grafted in among them and with them became a partaker of the root and the fatness of the olive tree, he said this, Do not boast against the branches.

But if you boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in. Well said, because of unbelief they were broken off and you stand by faith.

Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he may not spare you either. Therefore, consider the goodness and severity of God on those who fell severity, but toward you goodness if you continue in his goodness.

Otherwise, you also will be cut off and they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in. There's that term. For if God is able to graft them in again, for if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?

So just a bit of context here. The Israelites are God's chosen people, but God reminded them that salvation is not, Paul is reminding them through the Holy Spirit, is that salvation is not by works. It doesn't matter if you were born an Israelite or if you have the name of Israel, the badge of being an Israelite.

It does not mean that you are automatically saved because of that. And the outward sign, Paul addresses many times in the book of Romans, the outward sign of circumcision was deemed to be the mark of a true Israelite, but what Jesus taught was that it's the true circumcision, not of the flesh, but of the heart that makes the difference.

It's not of works, lest any man should boast concerning righteousness. The righteousness of God does not come by works, but it comes by faith in the person of Jesus Christ. And so Paul is making the illustration here of a wild olive tree in reference to the Gentile believers.

He's saying you were not part of the original olive tree, but God because he is sovereign and God by means of providence has worked things so that you might be, although having been cut out of a wild olive tree, you might be grafted into the true vine and being grafted in means to be put to it, put to it.

Now I'm not a plant person. Some of you may be plant people. Some of you may not be plant people. April's not here so I'll say this of her. She's got a black thumb as the old saying goes. She looks at a plant, she kills it.

But to be grafted into something is to have it be broken off, but to take it and they would wrap many times oil and bandages around the tree. I know it sounds silly, but they would work it so that it was set up against the branch of the root of the tree, the base or the trunk of the tree and they would take care and in time that tree, that branch that had been broken off would grow into the vine.

And the vine is what fed the tree, not the branch itself. And so Paul is saying remember that although you have been grafted into the tree, do not become arrogant, do not be haughty, do not be high minded thinking this is something that you have done of yourself, but it is the goodness and the mercy of God.

And it is by the goodness and mercy of God today that if you are saved that you can say, I am redeemed. So Paul goes on here and he says this, verse 25,. For I do not desire brethren that you should be ignorant of this mystery lest you should be wise in your own opinion.

That blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved as it is written, the deliverer will come out of Zion and he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob for this is my covenant, this is the Lord, for this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.

Now this message that Paul is proclaiming to the Roman believers, to the folks there in Rome, it is another evidence of the sovereignty of God because this message of hope is the same message of hope that we preach to you today Bill.

It is the same message of hope then at this time because he was looking back on the faithfulness and the sovereignty and the providence of God. And he is reminding the Gentiles as we need very well to be reminded that it is because of the goodness and the mercy of God that we are saved.

So he goes on to say this, concerning the gospel in verse 28, they are enemies for your sakes but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the callings of God are irrevocable.

Meaning this, remember the sovereignty of God defined means that God has the right and the authority to govern all things. Meaning that what God has determined from eternity past will be carried out. Amen, does everybody get that?

And that not one person can change the will of God. His callings, those whom he calls unto salvation, those whom he gives the gift of grace and faith is irrevocable. We see the doctrine of perseverance of the saints here.

We find great comfort in this to know that whom God calls, he keeps. Ain't that good? Some of you ever feel like I've gotten beyond God. I've gotten beyond God's reach. I've gotten beyond his love. I've gotten beyond his care.

But friend you have not gone beyond the love of God. His arm is not shortened that he cannot save nor is he heavy that he cannot hear. Paul goes on to say this, for as you were once disobedient to God, yet now have obtained mercy through their disobedience.

Speaking of the disobedience of Israel, this is how God has sovereignly worked through providence throughout time. Even so, verse 31, even so these also have now been disobedient that through the mercy shown you, they also may obtain mercy.

For God has committed them all to disobedience that he might have mercy on all. We talked about the will of God. Remember again, I'm going to say this again and you'll hear it as long as I can say it, as long as you can stand it, God is not the author of sin.

The preaching of the sovereignty of God is not saying that God causes people to sin. We sin because we are sinners. God permits it and the effects of sin will be carried out. But what the scripture says here, God has committed them all to disobedience that he might have mercy on all.

Both the Jew and the Gentile, Paul is saying. It doesn't matter Jew or Gentile. In verse 33, and then Paul brings this to a close as though like a doxology. He said, oh that the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out.

He's recognizing the sovereignty of God. He's recognizing the omniscience of God that God's ways are higher than our ways and God's thoughts are higher than our thoughts and that he is doing things for his intended purpose that to the end he might receive glory and honor in all things.

Verse 34, who has known the mind of the Lord or who has become his counselor or who has first given to him and it shall be repaid to him. For of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory forever.

Amen. And you know what, I'm going to ask you if you would to stand this morning. I'm going to stop right there this morning. We're not even going to go to the Isaiah passages this morning. Lord, Terry's is coming.

We'll go there next week. There was more in that than I'd realized there. But this morning, I'll need to just repent to you all. I told you all that we were going to get to Ezra chapter 1. I guess I ran my mouth when I shouldn't have.

That was my plan. Scriptures say that man's heart plans his way but the Lord directs his steps. And so I'm just going to try to be obedient to the Holy Spirit today and stop right there and leave you with that.

Chew on that throughout this week. Consider the sovereignty of God in salvation. How that God in his love and in his mercy has brought you to where you are. Consider his goodness. Consider both the goodness and the mercy of the severity of God.

Heavenly Father, God, I come once again. I thank you and I praise you for this day. I thank you and I praise you for your presence. Lord, I thank you and I praise you for your Holy Spirit. I thank you and I praise you for the reality and the truth of your Word.

And I just ask that, dear Heavenly Father, that you burn this into our hearts and that you burn this into our minds concerning what you have done in saving us. And for us to consider, God, just how wonderful and holy and righteous and just that you are.

And Lord, I thank you and I praise you for your Holy Spirit.