Amen. Folks, our text this morning marks another big transition in our study of Romans. And once again, don't forget, Romans is all about the gospel. In chapters one through three, Paul describes the sinfulness, both of Jews and Gentiles. And in chapters three, four, and five, Paul discusses justification as a real quick overview, right? That's God's legal declaration that the sinner is not guilty based upon what Jesus Christ has done for us. Then in chapters six, seven, and eight, the apostle describes the process of sanctification. That's God's practical working in our lives to make us more and more into the likeness of His Son, Jesus Christ. And we're not done yet, are we? No. And so now, today, this morning, we come to another really big transition in the book of Romans. That's Romans 9, 10, and 11, as the apostle deals with God's sovereignty, specifically in regards to Israel's salvation. God's sovereignty specifically in regards to Israel's salvation. Now, in our text today, we're gonna catch a glimpse of Paul's heart for the lost, which is an amazing level of love and compassion. I wanna challenge you all with that same heart that Paul had. I firmly believe that the Apostle Paul was used in such a grandiose and glorious way because of his total commitment to Christ and his incredible love for the people around him. One Bible teacher said that evangelism has little effect if the evangelist has little love for the lost. Would you guys agree with that? John Knox reflected Paul's great love for the lost when he prayed, give me Scotland or I die. What a prayer. The great missionary David Brainerd prayed that he might burn out for God, which by the way he did before he was 30 years old. And at the end of his life, he said this, and I quote, all my desire was the conversion of the heathen. I declared now I am dying. I would not have spent my life otherwise for the whole world. And one more. As Emile Swain said again and again at our marriage conference back in February, actions speak priorities. I love that little quote, that little saying. It says so much. Actions speak priorities. True or false? True. Not only did the great evangelists of Scripture understand their God-given priorities, but they consistently lived them out. Remember, talk is cheap, but what you do with your time, your talents, and your treasure, that tells me where your heart really is. And we're all called to walk in the footsteps of these great men and women who went before us. In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul told the Corinthians, be imitators of me just as I also am of Christ. So with all that in mind, please join me in standing out of the deepest love and respect that we can possibly have for God's wonderful evangelistic word. Romans nine, one through 18. It's a big piece of steak today, you guys. Are you guys ready? So Romans nine, one through 18. I think we can do it, though. Verse one, I am telling the truth in Christ. I am not lying. My conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were a curse, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the flesh. Verse four, who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the temple service, and the promises. Verse five, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ, according to the flesh, who is overall God blessed forever, and all God's people said? Amen. Verse six, but it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel, nor are they all children because they are Abraham's descendants. But through Isaac, your descendants will be named. That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants. For this is the word of promise. At this time, I will come and Sarah shall have a son. And not only this, but there was Rebecca also when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac. Verse 11, for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose according to his choice would stand not because of works, but because of him who calls, it was said to her, the older will serve the younger. Just as it is written, Jacob I love, but Esau I hated. What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be. For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. For the scripture says the Pharaoh, for this very purpose, "'I raised you up to demonstrate my power in you, "'and that my name might be proclaimed "'throughout the whole earth.'" And verse 18, "'So then, he has mercy on whom he desires, "'and he hardens whom he desires. "'You may be seated.'" Quite a whopper, huh? Listen, folks, if you are just joining us here at Cornerstone Bible Church, whether in person or online, then I would encourage you to go back and and revisit some of these studies that we've walked our way through over these past several months and leading us to Romans chapter nine, verses one through 18, because it lays the foundation, a necessary foundation. So let's read the first five verses again to see Paul's passion for the lost. And you guys listen, this should be our passion as well. This is verses one through five, this is number 1A in your outline, a glimpse of Paul's heart. Paul says this, I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were a curse, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom belong the adoption as sons, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the temple service, and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is overall God blessed forever, amen. You guys stick with me. It's a glorious passage of scripture. In these verses, we find a man's heart's passion for the lost souls of his fellow countrymen. Who were they? The Jews. Paul's emotion was so strong that before expressing his heart on this matter, he makes three powerful statements regarding this or his truthfulness. All right, one scholar noted it's like a triple oath. He like promises, doubles down and triples down on this. First in verse one he says, I am telling the truth in Christ, right? And right after that he says, I am not lying. Then finally he says, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit. And the point here is that Paul is not exaggerating in the least in what he's about to say. This really was an expression of this apostle's heart. He had great sorrow and unceasing grief over the spiritual status of his fellow countrymen, his fellow Jews. The word for sorrow that Paul used in verse two expresses the heaviness of heart that comes with sad news. And John used this word to describe how the apostles felt when Jesus told them that he was about to be crucified. Same word in John 16, six and in verses 20 through 22. Paul further described his emotion as unceasing grief. over the lost status of his fellow countrymen. And this is the kind of pain that one is plunged into when something terrible has happened, like 1 Thessalonians 4.13. So what desire was so deep, was so heavy that Paul introduced it with such passion, such zeal, Paul's heart was broken over the spiritual darkness that he saw among his fellow Jews. Look at verse three. He says, for I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh. So did you catch this? Did you see what Paul says here? Paul just said that if it were somehow possible for him to give up his own salvation for the sake of his fellow Jews, he would do it. And that, my dear brothers and sisters, is a true passion for the lost, is it not? Now there's a couple things I want you to understand about this statement. First, it's not possible. Yes, it's possible for a person to give up his own physical life for maybe saving somebody else, but no one, not even the apostle Paul, could trade their spiritual status for somebody else's. And second, Paul was neither lying nor was he exaggerating. That's hard to conceive, correct? But just remember this triple oath that he just took in the opening verse. And this verse is truly reflective of this man's great love and his heartfelt passion for the lost and specifically talking about his fellow countrymen. So let me ask you this. Let's make it practical. How many of us would really wish that we were accursed, that is damned to hell, if that meant that your fellow Americans could go to heaven? Any takers? That's what I thought. I wouldn't stand in that line either. To be honest with you, that'd be real hard. Far too often our hardness of heart, though, is seen in our hesitancy to even speak to others about Christ, correct? Much less wish for their salvation in our damnation. Oh, I'll trade places with you. Our hardness of heart is also seen in our lack of prayer. Our lack of time spent with unbelievers, not idle time, right? Real time, talking about the things of God. Our lack of resources given to evangelism. Our lack of serving the Lord in our areas of spiritual giftedness. Our lack of helping others so that they can better serve the Lord. Does that make sense? So the answer here is not to write off Paul's example, right, as something that's unreasonable, unrealistic, unattainable, no thank you. The answer is to recognize that we need to grow. My dear brothers and sisters, we need to grow. We need to repent of our hard-heartedness and beg the Lord to give us a heart that loves Him supremely and loves our neighbor as ourselves. Like I said, I don't think I could stand in that line that Paul said. I really don't, but I realize that that's my lack of Christ-likeness. It's my other plug for this Way of the Master class. I'm gonna plug it again. One of the best classes on teaching you how to evangelize is this class that I've ever gone through. Don't miss out. Now think for a moment about Paul's people. All right, let's talk about them in verses three through five. That's 2B. Paul, as you know, was an apostle to the Gentiles. Romans 1.5, Romans 11.13, he says that. But that doesn't mean that he ignored the Jews. Remember the church in Rome was made up both of Jewish and Gentile born-again men and women, converts, right? And you'll remember from the book of Acts that whenever Paul entered into a new city, where would he go first? to the synagogue, and then after spending three weeks there, three Sabbaths, right, then he would move on to the Gentiles. We see that in Acts 13, verse 46. We see that in Acts 17, verse two. Go check me out. That was Paul's M.O. So look back at verses three and five, three through five, and see how Paul describes the Jews. This is what he says. They're great blessings. For I could wish that I myself were a curse, 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, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the temple service, and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ, excuse me, according to the flesh who is over all, God bless forever, amen. It's very clear, unmistakably clear who Paul's referring to here. First, and he describes them in a number of ways, does he not? First he describes them as his kinsmen according to the flesh. Another passage, Paul describes his racial heritage this way, in Acts 22.3, he says, I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, Jerusalem, educated under Gamaliel, strictly according to the law of our fathers, being zealous for God, just as you all are today. Second, Paul spells it out even more clearly, he says he calls them Israelites. Excuse me. This was the name that God gave to Jacob back in Genesis 32 verse 28. Then Paul begins listing off, so he clarifies who they are, then he begins listing off some of the wonderful blessings that God has given to Israel. Don't neglect this. This is phenomenal. I wish we had more time to spend on it. The first blessing is the adoption as sons, verse four. The Jews were not adopted in the sense that every Jew was saved or was going to be saved or is going to heaven. You don't get a free pass because you have Jewish blood in your veins. And that's really the whole point of chapters nine, 10, and 11. That's why Paul laments the way he does in the chapters that we're gonna be looking at over these next couple of months. Rather, they were adopted in the sense that God sovereignly selected an entire nation to receive His special calling, His special covenants, His blessings, and to serve as a national witness for Him. That was the first blessing. The second blessing is that they had been given the glory. It's also verse four. God's glory primarily has to do with God's manifestation of Himself. God had given the Jewish nations His glory in a number of ways, you'll remember. Do you remember the pillar of cloud, right? The Shekinah that pictured God's presence in the Old Testament? We read about that in Exodus 16, Exodus 24, Exodus 29, Leviticus 9. His glory was also present in the Holy of Holies, which served as Yahweh's throne room in both the tabernacle and the temple. So we see that in a number of places. A third blessing Paul mentions is the covenants. Once again, verse four. You remember a covenant is a legal binding agreement. The Bible clearly mentions six covenants, six specifically named covenants that God made with his people. Let me list them off for you. First is the Noahic covenant in Genesis chapter nine. The second is the Abrahamic Covenant, Genesis chapter 12. The third is the Mosaic Covenant, in Exodus chapters 19 through 31. The fourth is the Priestly Covenant, numbers 25. The fifth is the Davidic Covenant, in 2 Samuel 7. And the sixth is a new covenant mentioned in Jeremiah 31 and Ezekiel 37. Those are the six covenants. And Lord willing, we'll talk more about covenants in the future, but suffice it to say that all but one of these covenants, that is the Mosaic covenant, they were all unilateral covenants. Pastor, what in the world does that mean? That means that God promised to accomplish something based on his own will and character regardless, listen carefully, regardless of the behavior or the actions of the people involved. It was one-sided. God said, this is my promise to you. You don't have to do anything for it. This is my promise to you. The Mosaic covenant was different. Now the fourth blessing is the giving of the law. Also still in verse four. God's word from start to finish has not only been given to the Jews, but it's also been written largely by the Jews. There are only a few exceptions. For example, the book of Luke. We don't know who wrote Hebrews, right? Exactly. Even though God's word was written over a period of 1,500 years on three different continents by over 40 different authors of all walks of life, the vast majority of those individuals have been Jews. Again, I can go into each one of these things deeper, but we've got 18 verses to cover. The fifth blessing Paul mentions here is the temple service. And this refers to the entire ceremonial and sacrificial system that God revealed through Moses, Exodus 29. Very complicated. But it all pointed forward to who? Christ, the Messiah. All of it was pointing forward to Christ. The Messiah had to come to redeem sinners from their sins. These were just foreshadows. The sixth blessing that he mentions are the promises. And this most likely refers to the promise of the Messiah who would come from the Jewish nation through the Jewish nation and bring eternal life as well as an eternal kingdom with him. We see that in Acts chapter two, Acts 13, Acts 26, Galatians three, all those will be in the slides. The seventh blessing is found in verse five, the father's. And this refers to the patriarch, specifically Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Deuteronomy seven, Deuteronomy 10. And the eighth and final blessing is also found in verse five. And this is the capstone. That is the Messiah himself. Of all the blessings that Israel received, none was greater than the fact that God himself came down out of heaven, was born to Jewish parents, was raised in a Jewish home, and lived by Jewish law. Hear me loud and clear to what I say next. Jesus was a Jew. There's a lot of controversy today over this fact. No, he was Palestinian. Oh no, he was not. Didn't even exist at that time. The fact that the Messiah had been given to the Jewish nation was the greatest gift that God had ever given to the Jewish people. What a gift. But all of that brings up a number of questions. Why did God choose the Jews and not some other people group? You might be thinking, well, pastor, why not the Americans? All right, we know the answer to that. But seriously, why the Jews? And if God chose the Jews to be the recipients of so many glorious blessings that we just walked through, then why didn't they and why don't they respond to the gospel in larger numbers? I mean, they'd been given all of these blessings. And has Israel forfeited her place in God's sovereign plan? And then after that, where do all the Gentiles fit in? Paul's gonna answer all of these questions and more in chapters nine, 10, and 11 as we walk through these three chapters. But he starts here by tackling probably the most obvious question, why the Jews? And the answer is all wrapped up in the sovereignty of God. Look with me at the next few verses, verses six through 13. Again, by the way, this is number 2A in your outline. Let's read verse six through 13 once again. But it is not as though the word of God has failed, for they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel, nor are they all children because they are Abraham's descendants, but through Isaac your descendants will be named. Oh, this is key. Verse eight, that is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants, for this is the word of promise. At this time, I will come and Sarah shall have a son. And not only this, but there was Rebecca also when she had conceived twins by one man, our father, Isaac. For though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose according to his choice would stand, not because of works, but because of him who calls, it was said to her, the older will serve the younger. Verse 13, just as it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau, I hate it. Stop right there for right now. The very first thing that Paul mentions in verse six is that the word of God has not failed. God always does what he says he's gonna do, amen? That was pathetic. God always does what he says he's gonna do, amen? Thank you. Sorry, you guys. I love what Moses recorded in Numbers 23 verse 19. God is not a man that he should lie, nor a son of man that he should repent. Has he said and will he not do it? Or has he spoken and will he not make it good? Implied answer is, God always keeps his word. God always does what he says he's gonna do. Folks, what God says, he always, always, always does, and nothing can thwart him. Now look back at the end of verse six. And I want you to underline this statement, because it's that important. He says, for they are not all Israel, who are descended from Israel. This is important. Paul means that not all the physical descendants of Abraham are true heirs of God's promise to him. Believe it or not, there are pastors and teachers, people on YouTube who teach that if you're a Jew, we don't need to evangelize them because they're already a part of God's covenant, they're gonna be saved. That's hogwash. Back in chapter two, verses 28 and 29, Paul explained the spiritual application of this statement. This is what he said in Romans 2, 28 and 29. He says, for he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh, but he's a Jew who is one inwardly. And circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the spirit, not by the letter, and his praise is not from men, but from God. Amen. So merely having Jewish blood in your veins is not enough to make you spiritually a Jew or a true Jew. And that right only belongs to those Jews who, like Paul, had been circumcised in their hearts. Who does that work? The Holy Spirit. Only those, listen carefully, who are born again Jews are true Jews. That's what he's talking about here. Now, beginning in verse seven, Paul traces the lineage of Abraham, reminding his audience that the promises made to Abraham were not made to every physical descendant of his, but only to those who came through Isaac. And this is important, because he narrows this down. He said, yes, you can have the, you can be a descendant of Abraham, but that's not gonna help you, per se. So how many sons did Abraham have? Ishmael, you remember, it's kind of a trick question. Few of you would get this right. Ishmael was his firstborn through Sarai's maid, remember? What was her name? Hagar, good. Then came Isaac, who was the only child that Abraham and Sarah had together. And after Sarah died, you remember this, he married a woman by the name of Keturah. And she bore him six more sons. And it's interesting to note that four of Abraham's sons became fathers of nations. So here we have eight sons. But did all of them, all eight of these boys inherit God's covenant promise with Abraham? The answer's no. Only one of them did. of Abraham's eight sons, only Isaac inherited God's covenant promises, and this is important. So he has these eight sons, and he pushes seven of them aside and says, through this guy, my promise is gonna come. And then in verse seven, Paul quotes Genesis 21-12, and then in verse nine, he quotes Genesis 18-10, showing that God's covenantal promise was passed on to Isaac. And even though Arabs can trace their physical lineage back to Abraham through Ishmael, God's promise never went to them. It went to Isaac and to his descendants, the Jews. Now if you want to do something this afternoon with your children, read Genesis chapter 17, which clearly teaches that Isaac was the son of promise, right? So contrary to Islamic claims, the promises given to Abraham, the nation, the land of Israel, and the worldwide blessings through Messiah, came to Isaac and not to Ishmael. But it's so funny, if you look at the Islamic claims, they reverse that. They say it came to Ishmael and not to Isaac. And Paul's point here is that just as not all of Abraham's descendants belong to the physical people of God, so too, not all of Isaac's children are spiritual people of God either. Paul continues to narrow down the children of promise in verses 10 through 13. Let's read these verses again together. Don't lose the point of this passage. Verse 10, and not only this, but there was Rebecca also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father, Isaac. For though the twins were not yet born, and had not done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose, according to his choice, would stand, not because of works, but because of him who calls, it was said to her, the older will serve the younger. Just as it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. You guys following me so far? Stick with me. Paul continues to narrow down who the children of the promise would be. Not even all of Isaac's children received God's covenant blessings. Isaac and Rebecca had how many children? Two, right? Jacob and Esau. Listen to what the Lord said to Rebecca while the boys were still in her womb. This is Genesis 25, 23. He said this, two nations are in your womb, and two peoples will be separated from your body, and one people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger. Hmm, now the subject of this prophecy was the two nations that would come about through these two boys. There's no biblical evidence that Esau himself served Jacob. We don't see that. As we read the rest of the story, everything that we have, we don't see that anywhere. However, listen carefully, there is a however. There is plenty of evidence that Esau's descendants, who were they? the Edomites, did serve Israel, the descendants of Jacob. We see that in 2 Samuel 8, verse 14. Furthermore, in verse 13, Paul quotes Malachi 1, 2-3, one of our minor prophets, we'll get to that, which refers to the nations that would come from Jacob and Esau, rather than to the individuals themselves. Thus, both here in Romans nine and in Malachi chapter one, the context is the nations of Israel and Edom, and not necessarily the two boys, Jacob and Esau, right? And that's important here. There's no scriptural indication that God hated the man Esau, but he clearly did hate the cruel and idolatrous nation of Edom. Scripture tells us that they were a rebellious people whom the Lord chastised and eventually destroyed. And guess where we find that? Obadiah chapter one, another one of the minor prophets. God had a lot of harsh things to say about the Edomites. But again, we'll get to that too. But Israel was also idolatrous and rebellious at times, was she not? Oh my goodness. You bet. So why didn't God hate them too? And you'll remember that God made a promise to Abraham long ago that he would bless his descendants. And that's exactly what God did. Even though Israel played the spiritual harlot again and again and again, And God would punish her over and over and over, even to the point of completely taking into captivity the northern 10 tribes of Israel, right? And they would be lost pretty much. And then also bringing the southern kingdom of Judah into captivity for 70 years. Nevertheless, God always has a remnant. And that's exactly what he did. He preserved the remnant and brought them back into the land after 70 years. And this was done because God's grace and mercy was extended to them while he was bringing about his plan of redemption. Even today, the nation of Israel exists, not because, listen carefully, not because of their faithfulness, but because God is not yet done faithfully fulfilling His promises. A student once came to seminary, to a seminary professor and said that he was having difficulty with this passage because he could not understand why God hated Esau. And the professor answered and he says, I am having a problem with that passage too, but mine is different. I do not understand why God loved Jacob. And I could say the same thing after reading the book, right? It's so well said. So why did God choose Jacob and not Esau? Was it based on anything that the boys had done? Or was it based on God's foreknowledge of what they would someday do? Right, down the corridor, he looked in his heavenly crystal ball and saw what they would do, so therefore he backtracks and says, okay, I'm gonna do this? No. It's nothing like that. Listen once again to what the Apostle Paul says under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. This is verse 11. For though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, you guys following this? So that God's purpose according to his choice would stand not because of works but because of him who calls. Folks, Scripture is crystal clear that the choice was made simply by God's sovereign purpose and not based upon anything that either one of those two boys had done, whether good or bad. Paul says it right here, not because of works, but because of him who calls. Again, we might not understand that. and all that that entails, but we need to allow Scripture to inform us about who God is and what He's like, amen? Listen, you guys, in order to allow Scripture to inform us about who God is and what He's like and what He does, we need to be humble. And along with humility comes teachability. I pray this all the time for myself and for you all. even though I do not fully understand how God's sovereignty works alongside of human responsibility, guess what? I'm okay with that. When God's word says that he is absolutely sovereign, I believe that with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. Okay, I do. And when God's word stresses the importance of man's responsibility to repent and to believe upon the gospel of Jesus Christ, then I too believe that with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. And the fact that I cannot fully reconcile those two strains of doctrine or thought In my own mind, I'm okay with. And it's only after some maturity that I've been okay with that. Again, the fact that I cannot fully reconcile the two is not a problem, and why not? Because Isaiah 55, eight and nine is true, is it not? Which says this, for my thoughts, what? Are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, declares the Lord, for as the heavens are higher than the earth, how far is that? Say a long ways. So are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. You guys starting to follow along here? You gotta take all of scripture in mind when you build your theology. about who God is, who you are, right? How he looks at the Jews, how he looks at the Gentiles, you guys get the idea. Folks, don't fall into the trap of thinking thoughts like, well, my God would never act like that. Right? As you talk to your local millennial. Right, your Gen Z-er. Let God be God. Don't twist the interpretation of a clear passage of scripture so that you yourself can fit God into a nice, neat little theological box that you have constructed. Rather, you need to allow him to inform you about himself. We must always remain humble and teachable. And we must remember that he is infinite and we're not. Thus we are not always going to fully understand Him or His ways. And once again, I'm okay with that. Let God be God. Think back to Noah. Think through this with me. Think back to Noah, think back to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Elijah, Elisha, King David, King Solomon, John the Baptist, Mary, the mother of Jesus, or the 12 apostles. And in each one of those instance, it was God who chose that individual. Do you realize that? Out of nowhere, Abraham shows up and God makes this covenant with him. And then say, hey, I chose you because you were really better than all the rest of your kinsmen. I was waiting for a guy like you to be born. And in like manner, just like God chose individuals, in like manner, God chose the nation of Israel, not the nation of Edom. And that's Paul's purpose here. Cultural tradition demanded that Esau, the firstborn, would receive the blessing and the younger would serve the older, right? Even among twins, but God chose the opposite. And I've often tried to convince my older twin brother of this fact, but for whatever reason, he just won't see it. Maybe you guys can help me. Folks, God is not bound by our cultural traditions, amen? Listen to Deuteronomy 4, 37. Because he loved your fathers, therefore he chose their descendants after them, and he personally brought you from Egypt by his great power. Now this is Moses' last week of his life, right? Which Deuteronomy covers pretty much that last week of right before he dies. moses and so then in deuteronomy 9 5 and 6 moses says this i love this passage it is not for your righteousness he's talking to his fellow jews or for the uprightness of your heart that you are going to possess their land for it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the lord your god is driving them out before you in order to confirm the oath which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." Then verse six, "'Know then,' he doubles down, "'know then that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stubborn people.'" Were they stubborn? Absolutely. How about one more? Deuteronomy chapter 10, verses 14, 15. Moses said this. Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that is in it. Yet on your fathers did the Lord set his affection to love them and he chose their descendants after them, even you above all peoples as it is this day. God chose. And he doesn't tell us why. He chooses some and he passes over others. When we put all these passages together, we learn that God did not choose Israel based on something inherently good in them. Not at all. Again and again, God calls them stiff-necked and rebellious. And I don't think they've changed much. Even when they were given the land of Israel, it was not because he was rewarding them for their good behavior or their great faith, but rather he gave them the land of Israel because he was fulfilling the promise he had made long ago to their fathers, specifically Abraham, and because he was judging the wicked, perverted nations that were then living in that nation at that time. You guys, I don't think our nation has much time left. I'm not saying that because I don't love America. I love America. But God judges nations when they become wicked and evil, like Sodom and Gomorrah, like these nations that were living there, right? I hope I'm wrong. Let's pray. right, for our nation, that God would save men and women, and they would lead us back into a righteous way. Now we see this understanding of the sovereignty of God explained even further in the next couple of verses. Let's read our last verses in 14 through 18. This is number three, a glimpse of God's honor. Verse 14 says, what shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be. Paul answers his own rhetorical question. For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion, so that it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. Love that verse. For the scripture says to Pharaoh, And for this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth. So then he has mercy on whom he desires, and he hardens whom he desires. And that's gonna be enough for today. Paul anticipates a strong reaction to God's choice of Jacob over Esau. So he asks the questions that his readers no doubt were thinking. What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? In his answer, in the strongest possible way he can, Paul says in verse 14, may it never be. Perish the thought. We know from his attributes that God is never unjust, amen? So here we see, as one commentator put it, where human logic comes to a logical but very wrong conclusion. It's what our human logic does. Folks, we may not fully understand God's sovereignty, but we can never conclude that God is ever unjust, amen? There's lots of things that you and I don't understand. Don't ever go down the road of Proverbs 18, 17, the first to plead his case seems what? Right until another comes and examines him. Unless you've listened to the other side of the story, don't be foolishly taken away Deuteronomy 32 is known as the song of Moses. Listen to what Moses said in verse four. Deuteronomy 32, four, the rock, his work is perfect for all his ways are just. A God of faithfulness and without injustice. There it is. Righteous and upright is he. That's our God. Amen to that amen, brother. From beginning to end, this book declares that God is perfectly just. So let me ask you this, would God have been just, would God have been just if he had chosen to destroy Adam and Eve right after their first sin in the garden? Yes or no? Absolutely. No question about it. He even warned them, in the day that you do this, you will surely die. Folks, God is not obligated to extend his love, his mercy, his grace, and his forgiveness to anyone. No one deserves to be saved. That's a line I'll stand in too. Certainly not Kerry Green. If we got what we deserved, every one of us would be in hell right now. We would. The amazing thing is that God saves anyone at all. That's the amazing thing. And yet, because God is also loving, He is merciful, He is gracious, He is long-suffering and forgiving, He does extend His salvation, right, to undeserving creatures like you and me through the person and work of Jesus Christ. That was a plan from the very get-go. And so friend, if you are a Christian today, if you are a believer right now, it's because of God's free grace and nothing else. Do you understand that? So who gets all the glory? God does. Now look at verses 15, 16 with me where we see the complete or absolute sovereignty of God. And this is number two B in your outline. Verses 15, 16, for he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion, so then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. Pretty clear there, is it not? about God's sovereignty. Now again, if you're thinking that Paul's being one-sided, he is, but that's okay. He's declaring something true that's about, that's true about God. In chapter 10, he's gonna get to the human side, so stay tuned, right? Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Folks, is God free to do whatever he wants to do? Of course he is. He's God. Take Moses himself. From a human perspective, he was not a very likely candidate for God's mercy. Remember what he did? He killed an Egyptian, buried him, then he fled into the desert where he lived in hiding for the next 40 years as a fugitive. So as a fugitive murderer, Moses didn't have a very glorious beginning. Nevertheless, God determined to use Moses to lead his people out of Egypt. In other words, Moses was handpicked from God himself. Moses never planned on being a great leader or deliverer. As a matter of fact, that was the very last thing that Moses wanted. Remember, he said, Lord, send anybody but me, right? I can't speak, my tongue is thick, right? But it was God's plan and God's desire to make Moses who he made him into. God chose to show mercy to a man who certainly didn't deserve it. But as I say that, it's true of each and every one of us as well. Look again at verse 16, Romans 9, 16, so then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, next verse, next word, but on God who has mercy. Folks, this should cause all of us to fall down on our face and cry out to God, Lord, have mercy on me, even though I justly deserve hell. Now look with me at the last two verses of our passage today, as we see another aspect of God's sovereignty. This is verses 17 and 18. For the scripture says to Pharaoh, for this very purpose, now he's gonna give us a picture of Pharaoh, for this very purpose I raise you up to demonstrate my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth, So then he has mercy on whom he desires and he hardens whom he desires. Now some have taken verses 17 and 18 to mean that God hardened Pharaoh's heart in the sense of double predestination. How many of you guys have ever heard of that doctrine before? Double predestination. In other words, he was elected for condemnation. The fact is though that the whole planet deserves condemnation. We're all going, heading to hell. And unless God sovereignly plucks out a few, we're all going there. That's not what Paul's saying here. The quote in verse 17 is taken from Exodus 9, 16. Follow along with me. At this point in time, Pharaoh had already seen and endured six of the 10 plagues that God was bringing against Egypt. Pharaoh had already hardened his own heart. Do you remember this? He'd already hardened his own heart in Exodus 7, 13, when Aaron threw down his staff, remember, and it became a snake. The magicians did the same, but Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs, or their snakes, excuse me. Staffs don't eat other staffs, but snakes do. In Exodus 7.22, he hardened his heart after the water was turned to blood. Pharaoh hardened his heart again in chapter 8.15 when the plague of frogs came. Then in chapter 8.19, he hardened it again when the plague of gnats came. Then in verse 32, after Moses removed the plague, he hardened his heart again in verse 32. Then in chapter 9.7, Pharaoh, Pharaoh. Pharaoh hardened his heart after the plague of the Egyptian cattle dying. You remember all this, right? And it isn't until the plague of boils that we read for the very first time in Exodus 9 verse 12, and the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart. There it is. And the Lord said this to Pharaoh in verses 16, 17 of Exodus 9, but indeed for this very reason I have allowed you to remain. Oh. I have allowed you to remain in order to show you my power and in order to proclaim my name through all the what? Earth. And then verse 17, still you exalt yourself against my people by not letting them go. Pharaoh was responsible for his own actions. He had repeatedly hardened his heart, hardened his heart, hardened his heart, hardened his heart, after seeing miracle after miracle after miracle. And finally, God said, enough, enough. And he sealed Pharaoh's fate by confirming that hardening. And at that time, there could be no more repentance. And the Bible teaches that God has mercy on whom he has mercy, and he hardens whom he hardens. And it was God's sovereign choice. But man is still responsible for his rejection of God and his refusal to repent and to seek God's kindness, his mercy and his favor. Again, it started off with Pharaoh hardening his own heart time and time and time and time and time again. And then finally God said enough. That's it. I'll take over. Because we're not quite done with the plagues. So, in conclusion, As we wrap up this portion of Romans together this morning, let me ask you, is God sovereign? Answer? Absolutely. Jesus said this in John 6, 44, no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. Who gets all the glory then? God does. You don't pat yourself on the back someday in heaven saying, hey, I guess I was just smarter than all the rest of them. Nope. Then in chapter 15 of that same gospel, Jesus said this, in John 15, 16, you did not choose me, but what? I chose you. And then in 1 John 4, 19, the apostle John tells us that we love, next word, because he first loved us. You guys starting to get the picture? So on the one hand, we see that God is absolutely sovereign. It's what our scriptures point out today. However, scripture also teaches with just as much emphasis that man is responsible for his sin and that he has to come to Jesus in order to be forgiven from his sins. He has to repent and believe. And Jesus said this in John 3. 14, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever, whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. And then finally in Matthew 11, 28 through 30, Jesus said this, come to me, next word, all. who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Folks, though we may not fully understand how God's sovereignty fits together with human responsibility, we can nonetheless trust God that he has it all perfectly within his infinite mind. My seminary professor illustrated it with a simple drawing. He used to have a whiteboard. You guys know what whiteboards are. with two lines going up into the sky. One he wrote on there, God's sovereignty, and the other one, human responsibility. And the lines were drawn at such an angle that you knew that they were going to meet, but the exact point of the intersection is hidden behind a cloud. He drew a cloud around it, and then he erased the lines in the middle, and it looked something like that. and we simply can't see this side of heaven exactly how they fit together. Again, I'm talking about God's sovereignty and human responsibility. And there are also many other tensions in scripture, folks, but rather than trying to make them fit into our own nice, neat little theological constructs, we would be wise to leave those tensions alone. Remember, go where the Bible goes, And what? Stop where the Bible stops. If you do that, you'll be on safe ground. If not, you're most likely gonna fall into a ditch where there's a bunch of brambles and briars and things that you don't wanna get into. When Charles Spurgeon was asked how he reconciled divine sovereignty and human responsibility, he said this, I never try to reconcile friends. Well said. I totally agree with you. Those who have been saved must thank God for His love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness, as well as His sovereign election. And for those of you who might not yet be saved, then I would plead with you to respond to God's offer, His free offer of salvation today by repentance and faith. If you respond and believe to what Jesus Christ has done for you on the cross, then praise God, He will give you a clean heart. But if you reject Him, or if you casually ignore Him in His offer of forgiveness, then understand that you will one day stand before God Almighty Himself, fully responsible for your own sins and your rejection of His gift of salvation. And if you're still sitting on the fence with a thought that, well, you know what, I think I'll just repent, when I'm old and gray like you are, Pastor Cary, after I've taken my fill of the world? And if that's your thought, then let me warn you that there could easily come a point in time in your life when God seals your rejection and your hardness of heart just like he did with Pharaoh. I have no idea when that day might come, but neither do you. And therefore, scripture solemnly warns us in Hebrews 3.15, today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, because no one knows for sure if there's gonna be even a tomorrow. Amen? Father, again, we thank you for such a glorious passage like Romans 9, 1 through 18, and there's so much there, Lord, and we covered so much even this morning, and I just bow my head and my heart to you, and I thank you for being an all-sovereign God. God, thank you for your sovereign choice. Thank you for your kindness in coming after men and women. And Lord, you still extend out that offer of salvation to anyone who would come to you on your terms, not theirs. All those who would repent from their sins and place their faith and trust in the person and work of Jesus can be saved. Lord, I pray that you would save many and you would use this church to boldly proclaim the good news of the gospel. We pray these things in Jesus' name. All God's people said.