All right, if you open your Bibles to Romans 8, we are going to get to 9. Romans chapter 8. So we always emphasize context. So we can't start in Romans 9 without remembering where we are in Romans 8. So I'm not going to read all of it. We've read through it so many times but a little bit of it. Romans 8 Paul starts, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And then So much about the assurance he gives us, and we get down to verse 28, and we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined, he also called. And those whom he called, he also justified. And those whom he justified, he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? And remember he answers that with five questions and then we get down to the statement he makes in verse 38. For I am sure that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers nor things present nor things to come nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Let's pray. Father, thank you so much this morning for the way you've guided us through the study of this powerful letter. And Lord, as we embark on chapter nine this morning, we're asking that you especially guide us There are things here that are not quite so easy to understand, but we know that you can shed your light on your word, and that's what we're asking, Lord. Get us off to a good start this morning, we pray, in Jesus' name, amen. So, those last verses that I read, what a glorious climax to everything Paul has said in this letter, especially to what he said in chapter 8. Now when we get to this point, there are those who would say that this is the end of the doctrinal section. Most of you are aware that Paul's letters, some more than others, but especially Romans, Ephesians, they are divided into the doctrinal section or the teaching section and then the practical section. And some would say, when Paul gets here, this is the end of the doctrinal section. He's said everything he can say. This is the climax. However, turn over for a moment to chapter 12, Romans chapter 12. And for some of you, this is a review. Romans chapter 12 begins like this. I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, and so on. Notice especially that word, therefore. He takes that therefore and he gathers up everything he said up to this point. And on the basis of God's mercies, he appeals to them. And then he begins to talk to them about very practical things. So it seems very clear that chapter 12 is where the practical section begins. And so that leads us to the question, what do you do with chapters 9 through 11? Can you just throw out these 90 verses? Well, obviously you can't. Some have said it's an appendix. Some have called it a parenthesis. Some even a digression. Part of that is because 9 through 11 is rather difficult. I know a young pastor who came to a church and the first book that he began to preach through was Romans. He got done with chapter 8 and he quit because he didn't feel like he could handle chapters 9 through 11. That was this pastor. I can't say that I'm more qualified to deal with chapters 9 through 11, I do believe I have more confidence in our Lord, and I believe the Holy Spirit can guide us as we study these chapters. But they're not easy. So what do we do with 9 through 11? I agree with author Bruce Corley. He says, far from being an appendix, the passage at hand is crucial for interpreting the entire letter. Without it, much of Romans lies undiscovered. In other words, it is important in Paul's argument. Though Paul doesn't use the terminology he's used earlier like, what shall we say to these things or what then shall we say? There are questions behind what we see as we come to Chapter 9. Much of what Paul says revolves around strong statements he's made throughout the letter. For instance, if you go back to chapter 3, we've been over this many times. I'll just read a little of it. 321, But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it. The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe for there is no distinction for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God now what does he mean when he says there is no distinction by the way talk really loud my ears are plugged up what does he mean by there is no distinction come on distinction between what Jews and Gentiles you were shouting right all right That's exactly what he's saying. Or go back to our memory verse. I'm not ashamed of the gospel for it is a power of God for salvation to the Jew first and also to the Greek. He makes this distinction so I want you to keep that in mind. So then of course we come to the letter and he comes to chapter 8. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ. Now what a climax. That's right. Now let me ask you a question. So what was Paul? He was a Jew. Obviously, he's made that very clear. His pedigree is in Philippians 3. I'll just read it for you. For we are the circumcision who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh. Though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also, if anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more. Circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel. the tribe of Benjamin a Hebrew of Hebrews as to the law of Pharisee as to zeal a persecutor of the church as to righteousness under the law blameless in other words Paul says I was the cream of the crop when it came to Jewishness absolutely an Hebrew of the Hebrews he calls himself but then in verse 7 he tells us but what things were gained those things I counted loss why so he could know Christ now Then he continues by explaining in that, if we went on in Philippians 3, about how he received the righteousness of Christ. It was through faith. He's big on that. It was through faith. Now we come to chapter 9. Let's read now the opening verses of chapter 9. I am speaking the truth in Christ. I am not lying. My conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen, according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. Now, I don't know if you see it yet, but can you imagine a question coming up something like this? So Paul's just finished chapter 8 now with those strong statements. What about the Jews? Are they not God's chosen people? Isn't that what we read throughout the Old Testament? How God rescued them from Egypt and made them his people? Did he not give their father Abraham great and wonderful promises? If this gospel of righteousness through faith in Christ is true, as Paul says it is, then why aren't the Jews coming to Christ? If it's God's way of righteousness, then why are his chosen people missing it? That doesn't make sense. So the bottom line is, according to what Paul says, they're not in Christ Jesus, and therefore they are condemned. Get this link between chapter 8 and chapter 9. Now, that is not to say that no Jews had come to Christ. Paul himself was a Jew. Start with the apostles. They were Jews, obviously. But you remember on the day of Pentecost, when they were gathered in that upper room, how many believers were there? Loud. 120, thank you Ken. There were 120 of them. He said, well man, that's big. That's a lot bigger than we are. But think about Jerusalem. Jerusalem, it's hard to estimate, but some much higher, a few lower would say a conservative estimate, 50,000 people. But during the major feasts such as Pentecost, Some believed that they were maybe a million or two million people there. How many ever it was, 120 was a tiny number compared to all these people in Jerusalem. There weren't many believers. Some believers, some Jews, had come to Christ, but the great majority of the Jews had rejected Christ the Messiah, Jesus the Messiah. That stands behind what Paul is going to begin to say. You can go on and we could read about how Paul, he went to the synagogues first, and did he find great reception in the synagogues? Some. But not great. That's why when he went to Antioch of Pisidia, he said, OK, we told you first you wouldn't listen. Now we're turning to the Gentiles. And then to give reason for that, he quotes out of Isaiah in the Old Testament. Jesus himself. Remember what he said, Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it. how often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings and you were not willing see your house is left to you desolate there weren't many Jews who were embracing the Messiah this is the link between chapter 8 and 9 Paul was overjoyed at the advance of the gospel in the Roman world but he was devastated by the fact that the Jewish people were not embracing that gospel. That's what it's behind, what we're getting ready to read right here again in verse two of Romans nine. Now at this point, at this point I was gonna give kind of some overall view of chapters nine through 11, but I'm gonna save that for later. So let's just dive into these verses All right, so come again. I want to read these first three verses in chapter nine. I want you to get these solidly in your mind. I am speaking the truth in Christ. I am not lying. My conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen, according to the flesh." Now, notice how he starts. I'm speaking the truth in Christ. I'm not lying. What is this all about? Why does Paul find it necessary to make these strong statements about I'm telling the truth and I'm not lying? What's he talking about? Is he talking about what he's just said in chapter 8? When he says, nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus? Is he saying, I'm not lying about that, I'm telling the truth. That is possible, you understand that these chapter and verse divisions didn't come until centuries later. There were no divisions, it was just written, it was a letter. It's possible, but I don't think that's right. The reason that our translators, every translator I've ever seen, the reason they made the verses and chapters this way is they believe that what Paul is saying in verse 1 goes along with what he's going to say in verses 2 and 3, and I would certainly agree. It's almost like Paul's anticipating the Egyptian when he's going to say these things later. Paul, are you sure this is not apostolic exaggeration? Are you fudging on us a little bit? Are you really being honest about this? So Paul's going to tell them beforehand, listen, I am speaking the truth and he doesn't stop there. in Christ. He anchors it in Christ. He is speaking as a man who is in Christ. And then notice what he says about his conscience. Not the conscience of just any common man. My conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit. And of course we know now that Paul was writing these very things under the inspiration of the Spirit. Paul is not exaggerating one bit. What he is going to tell us the absolute truth and what is it that he's going to tell us what is so earth-shattering that he has to emphasize I'm not lying here it is in verse 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart that's what he's telling the truth about and we might say what's the big deal. Lots of people have great sorrow and unceasing anguish. What's the news. Those people in Gaza are a lot of those people used to be in Gaza. Then you watch that. You talk about great sorrow and unceasing anguish. So what's so special about Paul. Why does he emphasize his great sorrow and unceasing anguish. Now at this point I need to remember to remind you Was Paul a sad man? Would you call him a very sad man? A down-in-the-dumps guy? No. I mean, go back to chapter 5. He says in there, We rejoice in God, we rejoice in Christ. And then he says, we rejoice also in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces endurance and character and hope, and so on. And then at the end of that section in chapter five, he says, more than that, we rejoice in God, in Christ Jesus, our Lord. This is a man who wrote, rejoice in the Lord always, and again, I say rejoice. And he lived it out. Nevertheless, he could say, I'm telling you the truth. I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. Now get that down. Yes, he was a man of joy. But as he said, what did he say? Sorrowful, but always rejoicing. Yes, he was rejoicing, but he could not escape this continual sorrow in his heart. Now, when it talks about this great sorrow, the word for great is megala. And we use that in English a lot. You have a megaphone. That means you're not just going to broadcast a little bit, you're gonna make it loud. If you talk about megabucks, you just don't have a little money, you got great money. That's the idea, that's a word he uses here about his sorrow. And when he talks about this anguish, it's a word that refers to deep pain. Deep pain. And it's not just once in a while, he says unceasing. This is not a come and go emotional thing for Paul. This is something that weighs on him continually. So, now comes the question. Why does he have such great sorrow and unceasing anguish? Verse three. Four, or because I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen, according to the flesh. Let me read it again. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen, according to the flesh. Translations are pretty similar. It's really hard to get a really good handle on some of the wording of this verse. uh... i could wish uh... the word translated wish their uh... i'd leave issues seven times a new testament uh... five times in the e s v in the king james both it's translated pray it's kind of a request is the idea uh... paul says i i could wish that's that's probably a good translation and then this i could wish myself were accursed and cut off from Christ. I've examined this pretty closely and you can't find the words cut off. It's literally a curse from Christ. But the idea of cut off is certainly there. Paul says, I could wish that I myself were a curse. Now when you think of curse, I think of Galatians 3. where it talks about Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. And then he quotes from the Old Testament, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. Jesus Christ took the curse for us. He became a curse. That's part of the wrath of God coming on him. And for Paul, He is basically saying, I would take this curse so that my fellow Jews wouldn't have to take it. He's implying they are cursed because they're not in Christ and they are condemned. And that tears his guts out so much so that he says, I could wish that I myself were a curse from Christ. A curse meaning being cut off from Christ. It certainly means that. Now, just let this weigh on you a little bit. That word curse, by the way, it's the word anathema. We've brought that word over into English. A very, very strong word. The New Living Translation, it's never very literal, but it certainly captures the idea. For my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters, I would be willing to be forever cursed, caught off from Christ, if that would save them. That's the idea. Next week, the next two weeks, we will talk a great deal about Paul's kinsmen according to the flesh. He calls them, first of all here, his brothers. For my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. Now we've talked about this before. In the New Testament, that word brother is used. And the question is always, does it mean your fellow man or does it mean your brothers and sisters in Christ? I checked this out, used 130 times in the New Testament, 126 of those times it is very clear it's talking about brothers and sisters in Christ. The other times when it doesn't, it makes it very clear that it's not, and that's what he does here. Notice what he says, for the sake of my brothers, and then he defines who those brothers are, my kinsmen according to the flesh his fellow Jews he is not saying they're Christians he's calling them brothers in the sense that I'm a Jew just like they are and for their sake I would be willing to become a curse cut off from Christ so that they wouldn't have to be cut off forever This expresses how deep the desire in Paul's heart that his fellow Jews be saved. It's hard to think about what he says. Now, I think the way we handle a lot of times, we say, well, it's not possible anyway. While that is true, There's a reason that Paul said this. There's a reason we have this preserved in the Word of God. You know, every time I read this, it makes me think of an Old Testament passage that we read this morning. And you probably caught it. Exodus 32. I want to read it for you again. You remember that Moses is up on the mountain getting the Ten Commandments on the two tablets of stone. while the Israelites, the Jews down below, led by Aaron, are making and worshiping the golden calf. God is not happy with them. Moses isn't happy with them either. After some severe discipline, then we read these words. The next day Moses said to the people, you have sinned a great sin, and now I will go up to the Lord. Perhaps I can make atonement for your sin. So Moses returned to the Lord and said, alas, this people has sinned a great sin. They have made for themselves gods of gold. But now, if you will forgive their sin, but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written. But the Lord said to Moses, whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book. This is the Old Testament version of Romans 9.3. It wasn't possible for Moses to stand in for them and be a substitute and be blotted out of the book, but it appears that he is willing to do that. Amazing. That's the attitude that Paul had. Now, I want to remind you of something. When you get further down into Romans 9, Romans 10, there are places where you may get the idea, well, Paul's kind of hard on the Jews. Don't ever forget what he said here in the first three verses of Romans 9. And we'll talk about some of that. But always remember, Paul had a love for his fellow Jews that we will probably never totally understand. a deep love, a great sorrow and unceasing anguish to the point that he would be willing to be a curse and cut off from Christ for their sake. Now, if I were to ask myself, would I be willing to be cut off from Christ forever in order that the people I love might be saved? Could you ask yourself that question? I'll just be honest, I'm not there. Paul was. I can't give an explanation of why, except for the way God was working in Paul. But this is not something we sweep under the rug. We need to let this ring in our minds and hearts. I want to encourage you as we get here. Here's kind of the plan. The next two weeks we're going to look at verses 4 and 5. You said well that's a long time on 4 and 5. Yeah I know. But the more I look at it we need to do that. And then the next week we will jump into verse 6 and that's where things really begin to fall into place in Romans 9 where things get really interesting when we get to verse 6. So I would encourage you read chapter 9. Sit down. I mean it won't take you but five or five minutes probably read chapter 9 Once in a while sit down and read chapters 9 through 11 because they are a unit Pray that the Lord will guide us If you want the theme for Romans 9 through 11 more than anything else, it's God's faithfulness I put a little outline at the end of your bulletin kind of for chapters 9 through 11 if you want to look at that Hang your hat on that a little bit God's faithfulness, and in the process, in chapter 9, we're going to learn a lot more about the doctrine of election. We don't need to fear that. It's not always easy to understand, but we pray that God will guide us. If you turn in your Bibles to Galatians chapter 1, I want to close by reading these verses that are fairly familiar to us from Galatians chapter 1. Galatians 1, after a very brief introduction, Paul says in verse 6, I am astonished that you were so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel. Not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we are an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preach to you let him be accursed. Same word that he uses in Romans 9. As we have said before so now I say again if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received let him be accursed. So Paul is willing to call down curses on people who preach a distorted gospel. Paul is even willing to call down curses on an angel who would preach any gospel other than the one he had preached to them. And we kind of get that, don't we? The purity of the gospel is really important. Vitally important. So it's no wonder that Paul would call down curses. But when we come back to Romans 9, Paul is willing to call down a curse, a separated from Christ curse on himself in order that his fellow Jews might be saved. We search for an explanation in vain. Paul's heart, what's in his heart is more than we can comprehend. But not only was Paul's heart moved to preserve the purity of the gospel, but also we see the love that was produced by that gospel in the heart of Paul. It was what Christ had done in him that allowed him to make this statement in Romans 9. So, I want to leave you to contemplate on those three verses in Romans 9. Now, the one last thing I want to say this morning is this. What we must get out of this, the general thing we must get out of this, when we're talking about the gospel of Jesus Christ, this is a life and death matter. When Paul was writing this, whether he was dictating it to someone or he was writing it himself, it's not like he had some jerky in one hand and his pen in the other and he's just kind of writing along. He wasn't dialoguing with somebody over here and writing in between. I mean, he is deadly serious about this. You cannot miss this. I have to ask myself, when I think about The gospel of Jesus Christ. The stakes that are there. If we're in Christ, there's no condemnation. If we're not in Christ, there is nothing but condemnation. And then I read these verses in chapter 9. I have to ask myself, am I serious about the gospel of Jesus Christ? I'm not talking about going around with a sad face or anything like that. I'm not talking about that. But do I understand that this is a life and death matter for the lives of the people I love? Do I get that really? Does that stay with me? Is that something that I pick up on Sunday morning when I stand before you and preach and not the rest of the time? Think about that. We need to get that. This is serious business. Let's pray. Father, I want to thank you this morning for preserving this deep desire of the Apostle Paul. We admit we don't know exactly what to do with it. But I know that we are richer because you put it here for us to read. Lord, forgive me, forgive us. When we're less than serious about the good news of Jesus Christ, when we don't seem to get the implications of what it means to not be in Christ Jesus. Lord, it tore Paul up that the people he loved were going to hell. And Lord, we need some of that. Work on us by the power of your Holy Spirit. And Lord, we pray this morning for those who are here who are still outside of Christ. Oh God, bring home the seriousness of this and then what you've done in Christ to rescue sinners in this world who are lost without you. Oh God, thank you for the power of your word. May these truths be our meditation for your glory. In Jesus' name, amen.