Romans chapter 10 please, Romans chapter 10. We've been reading chapter 10 for a good while and we're going to read it again this morning. Repetition is sometimes good and this is not a chapter for the most part that most of us are very familiar with so it's good for us to continue to read it Romans chapter 10, we'll begin in the first verse. Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For being ignorant of the righteousness of God and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandment shall live by them. But the righteousness based on faith says, do not say in your heart who will ascend into heaven, that is, to bring Christ down. or who will descend into the abyss, that is, to bring Christ up from the dead. But what does it say? The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that is, the word of faith that we proclaim. Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the scripture says, everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek. For the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, verse 14. How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news. But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us? So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. But I ask, Have they not heard? Indeed they have, for their voice has gone out to all the earth and their words to the ends of the world. But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says, I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation. With a foolish nation, I will make you angry. Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, I have been found by those who did not seek me. I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me. But of Israel, he says, all day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people. Let's pray. Father, this morning, as we look at this passage that seems to be a bit obscure, I pray that you would speak to us. Lord, as we look at Isaiah, from whom Paul quotes, give us understanding. This morning, let us see especially your great mercy. We trust you to do that, in Jesus' name, amen. So last week, we worked our way through verses 18 and 19. We didn't make it to 20 and 21. So that will be our focus this morning. So let me just remind you how this fits into the context. You remember in verse 13, he kind of sums up what he's been saying. And he says, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But then the problem comes in 14. He builds this long chain. And remember, we kind of attack it from the back end. Yes. they have been sent. Yes, people preach the word. Yes, people hear, and people believe, and people call on the name of the Lord. But the breaking down is often between the hearing and the believing, and we've talked about that in these verses. Go back to verse 16 again. They have not all believed the gospel. Now that's an understatement. As a matter of fact, most all of the Jews had rejected the gospel. And Paul is talking here about the Jews. We talked about that in verses 18 and 19 as he quotes from Moses in Deuteronomy. And especially this quote from Isaiah in verse I'm getting ahead of myself, we'll get there in a bit. So back in verse 18, but I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for their voice has gone out to all the earth and their words to the ends of the world. Now again, that comes out of Psalm 19, and it seems that he is comparing God's thorough revelation in the creation, you remember how it starts, the heavens declare the glory of God, he compares that with how the gospel had penetrated into all the world, so that the Jewish people could not say, well, we never heard that gospel. And then he comes to the second question in verse 19, but I ask, did Israel not understand? Maybe the Jewish people say, yeah, we've heard it, but we didn't understand it. this time, and instead of saying, indeed they have, like he says in verse 18, he immediately begins to quote, and he quotes from Deuteronomy chapter 32 these verses in verse 19, I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation. With a foolish nation, I will make you angry. He's talking about the Gentiles, how God is, he chose people out of that nation. I think he's calling on all nations. Often that word is translated Gentiles in the scripture. And he's saying, I have made you angry with this foolish nation. Now, when we get down to verses 20 and 21 this is where we want to focus today. He's quoted from Moses and now he's going to quote from Isaiah beginning in 20, and we're going to see that he does this extensively. So I want us to begin this morning by thinking about the faith of the Gentiles. That's what Paul is going to talk about in these verses, the faith of the Gentiles. So look at verse 20. Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, now he's going to quote from Isaiah 65, which we read. He's gonna quote directly from the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint. We read extensively from chapters 64 and 65 to get the context. There are similarities to Deuteronomy 32. In both of them, there is rebellion. There's some idolatry, as he talks about in Deuteronomy 32. In Isaiah 65, let me go down. He doesn't quote this part, but let me read from verses 6 and 7. Behold, it is written before me, I will not keep silent, but I will repay. I will indeed repay into their lap both your iniquities and your father's iniquities together, says the Lord. Because they made offerings on the mountains and insulted me on the hills, I will measure into their lap payment for their former deeds." Now, here in the first part of verse 20, he says, Isaiah is so bold as to say, If you read different translations, for instance, if I can find it here, the Good News reads, and Isaiah is even bolder when he says. I think the idea is Moses spoke, but Isaiah is even bolder than Moses was. Remember when Jesus went to his hometown in Nazareth and he began to read the scripture and talk to them, and they were impressed. They hung on every word, until Jesus began to say some things they didn't like. He said, you remember the famine in Elijah's day? Well, God didn't send him to some Israelite lady, but he sent her to a Gentile woman in Sidon. And then he said, and you remember that leper Naaman. There were many Israelites who had leprosy, but he didn't heal any of them. He healed Naaman, that Gentile from Syria. And you remember their response. They tried to kill Jesus by throwing him off the cliff. Jesus took a chance in speaking that way. Isaiah is taking a risk in speaking this way. I'll guarantee you the things he is going to say, the Jewish people did not want to hear those things, but he went ahead and he said them anyway. He was bold. And what did he say? Here it is in verse 20, Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, I have been... Now understand, this is the Lord speaking through the prophet. I have been found by those who did not seek me. I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me. Now just think about that a minute. The Lord is saying, I have been found by those who did not seek me. I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me. I can't read that without going back and thinking about Romans 9. If you want to flip back there, at the end of chapter 9 he uses that term Gentiles the first time in this section of Romans chapter 9 through 11. So let me start in verse 24 of chapter 9. Even us, we are the vessels of mercy, even us whom he has called, not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles. And indeed, he says in Hosea, those who were not my people, I will call my people, and her who was not beloved, I will call beloved. And in the very place where it was said to them, you are not my people, there they will be called sons of the living God. And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay. And as Isaiah predicted, if the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, we would have become we would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah. What should we say then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith, but that Israel, who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness, did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written, Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame. So Paul, as he does at the end of chapter 9, so it is here, he's talking about Gentiles. When he says, I will make you, I mean, I have been found by those who did not seek me, he's talking about Gentiles. Now get that in your mind. The Gentiles were not pursuing righteousness. They were not concerned about being right with God. For most of them, that was the farthest thing from their mind. They were going through life. They were not concerned about God or about their relationship with God at all. Now, guess what? They found God. We would say more accurately, they were found by God. But Paul is following Isaiah, and Isaiah speaks of it in these terms. I have been found by those who did not seek me. And then he says again, and this time it's more God's initiative. I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me. One translation puts it, I allowed myself to be found by those who were not looking for me. So he says it twice, a little bit different ideas. God did not show himself to the rebellious Jews as we read in Psalm 106, but he showed himself to those careless Gentiles. Now, there's a real sense in which Isaiah is speaking about more than just his own day. He is prophesying about the time when Yahweh, the Almighty God, will reveal himself to Gentiles through Jesus and through the good news that he proclaimed. so that those Gentiles might hear, believe, call on the name of the Lord, and be saved. Isaiah didn't realize, I don't think, that he was prophesying of this time, but he was. So we see the faith of the Gentiles. This is one of the things When he says back up in verse 19, did Israel not understand? This is one of the things they should have understood, is that Gentiles were finding God. Now, let's shift gears and let's talk about the disobedience of Israel. We get it in 21. But of Israel, he says. Now this makes it clear that in verse 20, he's talking about the Gentiles. But now he, but of Israel, he, that is Isaiah, says. And here's what he says. All day long, I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people. Now if you go back to Isaiah 65, if you want to keep your place in Romans, or you can just listen. Let me read again, Isaiah 65, 1, 2, and 3. I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me. I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. Now that part we understand. He's alluding to those words in what he says in verse 20. And then Isaiah goes on, I said, Here I am, here I am, to a nation that was not called by my name. Now Paul doesn't specifically quote that, but the context is all there. Now verse two, I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices, a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens and making offerings on bricks, and he goes on. Now Paul only quotes that first part, Verse two, I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people. But the two words he uses here in Romans 10, 21, they describe this whole context when he says, all day long, I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people. Now, I want to take a minute to just look at those words, disobedient and contrary. So stay with me. That word disobedient, It's very interesting. The root of that word means to persuade. And if you use it passively, it means to be persuaded. It is a word that is used in Hebrews 13, 17. You'll recognize some of you this verse. Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls. Now, that's strong, but it's, that's not a very literal translation. This is the word that is used here, and more literally, it's let yourselves be persuaded by your leaders and submit to them. Let yourselves be persuaded. Listen to them. Here in in Romans 10 21 this idea of let yourself be persuaded But it's it's got a little negative word in front of it And so it literally says I held out my hands all day long to a people who would not allow themselves to be persuaded Now surely God should be persuasive, but they were stubborn and rebellious. They would not listen to him They refuse to be persuaded even by God Those people in the synagogue, when Jesus preached, they would not be persuaded even by Jesus. The Jews should have been persuaded by Paul, who spoke the truth and the power of the Spirit, but they refused to be persuaded. This is the exact same word that is used in John 3. Right at the last verse, whoever believes in him has eternal life. Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life. More literally, whoever will not allow himself to be persuaded of the truth by the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. So this was a people who stubbornly refused to listen to God. And then he says they were not only disobedient, but they were a contrary people. And that word literally means to speak against. They not only refused to listen, but they spoke against God and his truth. They were guilty of contradicting God, especially the good news and the way of salvation in Jesus. It reminds me of when Paul and Silas were on the first missionary journey, and they were in Antioch of Pisidia. And while they were there, they go into the synagogue. Many are moved by what they're saying, and they beg them to come back the next Sabbath day. And then I pick it up in Acts 13, 44. The next Sabbath, almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul reviling him. It's kind of a play on words. What Paul spoke, they spoke against. That's the idea. This is a strong word, they contradicted God. So again, back in Romans 10 verse 21, but of Israel he says, all day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people. I really like the New King James because it's language we understand better. It says all day long I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people. This emphasizes God's long-continuing mercy toward his people, Israel. We read Psalm 106, God's unrelenting love and mercy to Israel, though they rebelled again and again, God would stretch out his hands to them in mercy. The Lord is still doing it today, and it's not just for Jewish people. He is stretching out his hands to those who desperately need him. We see it all through passages like 106. We see it in the New Testament. We see it today. In reality, if we once refused the good news of Jesus Christ. Who could blame God if he just wiped us out? But instead, he continues to stretch out his hands in mercy. What a picture of the love of God. So, did Israel not understand? They should have understood that the Gentiles were coming to faith. They should have understood it in Paul's day. They should have understood that the Jews, most of them, were rejecting the message of the Christ, the King, their Messiah, Jesus. But it's also about the message that was being received and rejected. The message of the gospel. The question implies that. The gospel is at the core of this. Did Israel understand the gospel? That God was working for their salvation in the sending of his son? Now we've been looking at Paul's answer to the question. in verses 20 and 21. And it is true that Paul speaks about the opposite reaction response of the Jews and of the Gentiles. But I want you to notice something in these two verses. I want you to see where the emphasis is. So I'm going to start again in verse 19. And I wanna give you an emphasis in these verses. He quotes five statements made by Moses and Isaiah. Listen, verse 19. But I ask, did Israel not understand? First, Moses says, I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation. With a foolish nation, I will make you angry. Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, I have been found by those who did not seek me. I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me. But if Israel, he says, all day long, I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people. The emphasis is on the speaker. God is the one who has done these things. Why were the Gentiles, quote, finding God? Because God was making himself known to them. And even though the Jews were rejecting that good news, God, I have stretched out my hands all the day long. That's where the emphasis is. God is the one who is doing all these things. If we didn't get it in chapters one through 10 up to this point, we should get it here. Salvation is of God. The gospel is God's idea. Salvation is God's idea. Paul asked, did Israel not understand? And so I ask this morning, Have you understood the gospel? Now just think, have you understood the gospel of Jesus Christ? Do you see that salvation is all of God? There's nothing you or I can do to make ourselves right with God. The good news is we don't have to. God did it in his son, Jesus Christ. The life that you couldn't live, Christ lived on this earth. And then the death that we should have died, he died in our place. And now he stretches out his hands in mercy, even to stubborn, back-talking people, out of his deep, deep love. None of us have any excuse. We have heard the gospel, and we should certainly understand it. So this morning, I want us especially to praise God for his mercy. If you are a child of God this morning, praise him for his mercy. If you are not a child of God, praise him for his mercy, because if it weren't for his mercy, where would you be? The only thing that stands between you and eternal punishment, if you don't belong to Christ, is the mercy of God. This morning for our conclusion, come ahead, Alex, we're going to sing that song. We sing it quite often for good reason. His mercy is more. I want us to focus on God's mercy this morning as we sing pay attention to the words, please Now just give you time right now to think about his mercy Father, I don't know that any of us here this morning are from Jewish descent, but Lord, we confess to you this morning, many, many times, we've been disobedient. We haven't allowed ourselves to be persuaded by you. Maybe not with our mouths, but inside in our hearts we've spoken against your truth. And Lord, I'm quite sure that we don't have the deep appreciation for your mercy that we need. We read about it in your word, we understand it intellectually, but oh God, bring this to bear on our hearts, that you are a merciful God and you have demonstrated it all through history. Thank you that we can read about it in black and white in your word. Even as we have this season of Thanksgiving, oh God, make us thankful for your mercy. We agree with the words we've sung, our sins are many, but your mercy is more. Where sin increased, Your grace abounded all the more. Thank you, Lord. Give us grace this week to meditate on your truth. Thank you above all that you sent Jesus, your son, in mercy you send him, that we might be forgiven, that we might become your righteousness in him. We give you thanks in his name, amen. I do want to give us one caution. So we get to the end and we read Romans 10.21 about how the Jewish people were disobedient and contrary. But let's be careful not to form our conclusions before we continue reading. This whole section, Romans 9 through 11, it fits together. You remember back when we were in Romans 5. And we got down there, that verse I just quoted, where sin increased, grace abounded all the more. And it would seem, well, if that's true, it doesn't matter how we live, we just sin all we want. But if you read the next verse in chapter six, it explains that. So hang on to what we've read, but we're gonna read more in chapter 11, so be ready for that. All right. Praise God that he is merciful. God bless you. We'll see you Wednesday evening at 6.30.