of Romans chapter 9. Romans chapter 9. We continue our study together in God's Holy Word. And if you would give careful attention now as we hear the Word of God read. 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. But it is not as though the Word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but through Isaac shall your offspring be named. This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. For this is what the promise said, about this time next year I will return and Sarah shall have a son. And not only so, but also when Rebecca had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born, and had done nothing either good or bad, in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works, But because of him who calls, she was told, the older will serve the younger, as it is written. Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means, 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 depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy. For the scripture says to Pharaoh, for this very purpose I have raised you up. that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. You will say to me then, why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will? But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, Why have you made me like this? has the potter no right over the clay to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use. What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? in order to make known the riches of His glory for vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory. Even us, whom He has called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles. As indeed He says in Hosea, Those who were not my people, I will call my people. And her who was not my 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 been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah. What shall 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. Well, we'll stop there with the reading of God's very word. Let's pray. Oh, Lord, we pray that you would come now by your blessed Holy Spirit And Lord Jesus, that you would take this, the word of your mouth, that sharp two-edged sword that comes out of your very mouth, and you would wield it this day to touch our hearts. Those of us who know you, oh Lord, to impress upon us the gospel, the good news, the amazing news that you save sinners like me. And Lord that you would wield this sword and that those that are apart from Christ. Oh Lord that you would have mercy and that you would draw men and women and boys and girls unto yourself. You would give them ears to hear. and eyes to see the beauty, the glory of Jesus and their own plight, their own condition like that thief that they would experience your amazing grace. Oh Lord, thank you for your word. Help us to rightly understand it. and to respond appropriately, to repent and believe in you and glory in you, the only God who is and can save. In Jesus we pray. Amen. Well, we come now in this section of Holy Scripture to a passage that is greatly neglected or maligned. Those are basically the two ways that most people in our day and time deal with this passage of scripture. They either ignore it or they try to soften what it is actually saying. But as we will see, this passage of Scripture teaches us about God, the sovereign God, who is pleased to save whom He is pleased to save. Indeed, this is a humbling passage of Scripture. Indeed, this is a passage of Scripture that if we rightly understand it, not only will calls us to be humble before the living God, but it will also thrill our hearts that God has a people that he is going to save and is saving and will keep and take to heaven. Praise God, there is A God who has the power to save lost, helpless, hopeless sinners. The Apostle Paul has labored for eight chapters, one through eight, in the book of Romans unfolding the beauty, the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is introduced in chapter 1 where the Apostle Paul says, I am not ashamed of the gospel. Because it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written, the just shall live by faith. If the gospel is so great, If the gospel is so powerful, what about in the Apostle Paul's day? And sadly, even down to this day, the vast majority of the physical descendants of Abraham are rejecting this gospel. If the Gospel is so great, then how do we deal with that objection? And the Apostle Paul, writing with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, answers that supposed objection to the truth and the power and the validity of the Gospel in chapters 9, 10, and 11 of the book of Romans. And we see this problem put forth in verse 6 of Romans 9. But it is not as though the Word of God has failed. He declares that God's Word has not failed. We see in Romans chapter 9, the Apostle Paul explaining in great detail, God saves whom he is pleased to save as the sovereign of the universe. Romans chapter 10, God's gospel is powerful and God has freely and continues to freely offer that gospel. Romans chapter 10 ends with God declaring, all day long, I have reached out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people. And then Romans chapter 11, gives to us a very surprising end of this whole matter where you would think, well, if these people had rejected the gospel, if these people as natural olive branches had been broken off from the tree of God's people, and wild olive branches, Gentiles have been grafted in to that tree of God's people. You would think, well, God is just finished with these people, but he says, no, indeed. Before history ends, God is going to so bless the Gentiles who now are grafted into the tree of God's covenant people. to be so blessed and so shining forth the glory of God that it will provoke the Jews, the physical descendants of Abraham, to jealousy. And God will awaken them by His mighty Spirit and open their eyes and a revival will take place that the world cannot imagine. as the bulk of the Jewish people at that time confessed Jesus of Nazareth is indeed Messiah and Lord. And they are grafted back into the people of God and the whole world will experience an amazing revival before history ends. So that's how the Lord answers this supposed objection. And so let's jump back in now in chapter 9 where we left off last Lord's Day. And we come now to the next illustration that the Apostle Paul, writing by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, brings forth to press home the truth that God is the sovereign Savior who saves those that He is pleased to save. That you can't just pull your papers out and say, well, I'm descended from Abraham and therefore I'm good to go. It is only those who repent and believe in Jesus of Nazareth, confessing from the heart, Jesus is Lord. Only those who believe in Jesus are saved. That's how it's always been, how it always will be. And we come now to the next illustration in history, in verse 10. And not only so, but also when Rebecca had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac. We looked last Lord's Day at the distinction that God made between two children of Abraham. Abraham was the father of both Isaac and Ishmael. Ishmael was not a child of the promise. He was a mocker of the Lord Jesus Christ. He mocked the promises of the gospel. And because of that, the Lord instructed Abraham that he must be driven out. No, it was through Isaac. Well, they had different mamas. And some people might say, well, that's what the difference was. And it is interesting that the physical descendants of Abraham trace their lineage through the mother, even to this day. And so people might think, well, that's how people are made right with God. Well, verse 10, and not only so, but also when Rebecca had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad, in order that God's purpose of election might continue, Not because of works, but because of him who calls. She was told the older will serve the younger as it is written. Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." As we think about this passage, I said that there were two ways that most people, even who are professing Christians, tried to get around the clear, plain teaching of this passage, that God is the sovereign Savior who saves those He is pleased to save, either by ignoring it or by trying to soften. what it actually says. And for example, let's jump to verse 13, and then we'll go back. But I want you to see, Jacob I've loved, but Esau I've hated. And so there have been many, many people who have echoed this. One of the men that I have great love for and look forward to meeting in heaven and giving him a big hug was a professor, in the seminary that I went to. He died before I went there, but his commentary on the book of Romans, his name is John Murray, and he was quite a character. But in his commentary, he mentions one of these false attempts to try to soften And it is in verse 13, Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated. And there are people, and you can go on the internet, I don't encourage you to do so, but you can go on the internet and hear this same exact objection or attempt to try to soften, to try to divert people from taking to heart what this text is actually saying by saying, well, when God said he loved Jacob but he hated Esau, he really didn't mean hate. What he meant was he just loved Esau less. And you might think, well, where would anybody get something like that? Well, turn with me to Luke chapter 14, and it is true that there are places in Scripture where God uses the terms love and hate in a way to describe how You ought to love God supremely and love your parents, hate your parents. Clearly, here's a passage that uses this term in a way that we would call an idiom of speech or hyperbolic language. And there are places in the Bible where terms like love and hate are used this way. Let's look at one of them. Look at Luke chapter 14 verse 25. Now great crowds accompanied him and he turned and said to them, if anyone comes to me and does not hate, It's the same word. His own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters. Yes, even his own life. He cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple." And we know the fifth commandment, God says, honor your father and mother. Ephesians 5 says that husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. God tells us that children are to love their parents. And so what do we do with this language here in Luke 14? Well, God is using this language to shock us and arrest us to see that God is the one that we must love supremely. And that in comparison to all the other people that we are to love, we must love God supremely and in a category all his own. And that all other love is defined by God and subservient to our love for Almighty God. And so here's the question. Even the people who try to take us down this road say, now, there are places in the Bible where the term hate is not used in that way. There are places in the Bible where the term hate does indeed mean God's righteous, holy wrath. And so here's the question. How is it used in this passage? Jacob I've loved, but Esau I've hated." Well, let's go back to the book of Malachi, because that's where it's quoted from. And let's look first of all at the text in its context in Malachi chapter 1. Here we have, in verse 1, the oracle or burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. I have loved you, says the Lord, but you say, how have you loved us? Is not Esau Jacob's brother, declares the Lord? Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert. If Edom says, we are shattered, but we will rebuild the ruins. The Lord of hosts says, they may build, but I will tear down and they will be called the wicked country and the people with whom the Lord is angry forever. Your own eyes shall see this, and you shall say, Great is the Lord beyond the border of Israel." And so, let me ask you a question. In the immediate context of Malachi chapter 1, are we talking about an idiom of the speech, or are we talking about literal hatred? judgment, the holy anger of God Almighty upon people who are in rebellion against the living God. It doesn't look like this is being used to describe a comparison of God loving Jacob supremely, but he loves Edom less. The language of Scripture is, the Lord of hosts says, they may build, but I will what? I will tear down. They will be called what? The wicked country. And the people with whom the Lord is what? Angry forever. Well, let's look at a few more passages of Scripture. The book of Ezekiel, chapter 25. What does God say about Edom? And you remember that Esau, he was the one who rejected the promises of the Christ, the birthright, for a bowl of red stew. He said, it would be better for me to have a bowl of red stew than the promises of Messiah, than the gospel of Jesus Christ presented in the Old Testament. It would be better for me to have my own way and my own desires than to follow the promised Lamb of God to come. And sadly, his descendants followed in his footsteps of unbelief. They also lived against the living God and they evidenced their hatred of God and of God's people. When the enemies would come against Israel over and over, the Edomites, The descendants, the term Edom means red, Esau, he had a reddish complexion. And the Edomites, the descendants of Esau, acted like cheerleaders, cheering on the enemies of God, destroying Jerusalem and the people of God. Ezekiel 25. Look at verse 12. Here's what God says to the descendants of this unbeliever Esau, who followed in his footsteps of unbelief. Verse 12. Thus says the Lord God, because Edom acted revengefully against the house of Judah, and has grievously offended in taking vengeance on them. Therefore thus says the Lord God, I will stretch out my hand against Edom and cut off from it man and beast. And I will make it desolate. And so the people who say this reference in Romans 9, Jacob I've loved, Esau I've hated, is just idiomatic language. It just means that God loves Esau a little less. Is that what scripture teaches? Is that how this term hate is used or is it a description of God's holy, righteous judgment that is being poured out upon a man who shook his fist in the face of God and said, I do not want the gospel. I refuse the promises of the Christ. I'd rather have this bowl of red stew. than all of the promises of redemption in the Christ. Keep reading in verse 13. I will make it desolate from Teman even to Dedan. They shall fall by the sword and I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel. And they shall do in Edom according to my anger and according to my wrath and they shall know my vengeance declares the Lord. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter 63. Isaiah chapter 63. Now, I'm not going to take the time. We could go over to the book of Amos and the book of Joel. If you want more references to what God says he's going to do to Edom, see me afterward. I'll be glad to give you more. But this is the last one we'll look at in the Old Testament. Isaiah 63. Here God gives his servant Isaiah a prophecy about Messiah. And Messiah is coming from the land of Edom. He is marching back to Israel from the land of Edom. That's what Isaiah sees in this vision. And here's what we read. Look at verse 1. Who is this who comes from Edom in crimson garments from Basra? Now Basra was the capital city of Edom. It was the capital city, just like Washington D.C. is the capital of the United States. Basra was the capital of Edom. And here is this kingly figure marching back from Edom, from Basra. He who is splendid in his apparel, he's got kingly robes on, marching in the greatness of his strength. And so Isaiah says, well, who is this who comes from Edom with these kingly robes on, coming from Basra? And this one answers, it is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save. And there is only one who fits that description. There is only one who speaks in perfect righteousness. There is only one who is mighty to say, it is God Almighty. And here we have the Son of God. who is marching back from the land of unbelief, from the land of Edom, with his kingly robes. Here is the one who not only is a king, but is a prophet. He speaks what is true. Here is the one who is the great high priest who alone can save his people. Well, Isaiah has another question. Look at verse 2. Why is your apparel red and your garments like his who treads in the winepress? I've never been to a vineyard I've been by them. I've never been to the place where they squish the grapes. I don't think they do it with barefoot servants in this day and time. Although, I don't know, maybe they still do. But in those days, they would put the grapes in a great big pit. that was watertight, that had one drain, and they would stomp the grapes. And the grapes would squish and squirt out their grape juice. And Isaiah says to this kingly figure who's coming from the land of Edom, I see your kingly apparel, but how come it's all splattered red like somebody who has been squishing grapes in the wine press?" And he answers. It's a shocking answer. I have trodden the winepress alone and from the peoples no one was with me. I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath. Their lifeblood spattered on my garments and stained all my apparel." That's shocking. When I was growing up, the church that I attended had a huge mural painted in the back of the church. It was beautiful. It had a picture of pastures and sheep. Oh, it had a little stream flowing through it. And it had the picture of a shepherd looking over the sheep. And he had a shepherd's crook and all was so peaceful and sweet and calm. Now don't misunderstand. Jesus is the good shepherd. He is gentle and kind and gracious and full of mercy. He laid down his life for his sheep. He lives to take care of His sheep. But that's not all Jesus is. Jesus is also pictured in the book of Revelation chapter 1 as a mighty, powerful warrior. And when the Apostle John The apostle who was the closest of all the other apostles, he was the favorite. He was the one who leaned on Jesus' chest the night before they went to the cross. And when people had a question, they would look to John and say, John, ask him, what's he talking about? When this John saw the risen, exalted Lord Jesus, you know what he did? He didn't walk up to him, slap him on the back and say, good buddy, it is great to see you again. He fell at his feet, scared to death. because he was in the presence of the holy, holy, holy God who is full of power and might and has stepped forward in human history to destroy all of the enemies of God. Now this glorious warrior reached out his hand and said, John, put his right hand on him. John, don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. I'm not here to destroy you. I love you. I'm the first and the last. I had the keys of death and hell. Get up. I have some things to show you. I have work for you to do. So, how is this language used in scripture? Jacob I have loved, Esau I have hated. Well, I trod them in my anger, I trampled them in my wrath, their lifeblood spattered on my garments and stained all my apparel. For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and my year of redemption has come." And so, you see, Jesus, He is the Good Shepherd, He is the Redeemer, and He is the holy, holy, holy warrior who has stepped forth in human history. Keep reading. Verse 5, I looked, but there was no one to help. I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold. So my own arm brought me salvation, and my wrath upheld me. I trampled down the peoples in my anger. I made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth. And so in Romans chapter 9, when God says, Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated, how is it used? Well, the quote over in Malachi chapter 1, it is God's righteous, holy anger that is being poured out upon a man and his descendants who walked in unbelief and rebellion against the living God. But now the question is, why did God love Jacob? Wonder of wonders! When you go back to the book of Genesis, you remember Jacob and Esau, they were brothers, and here is Jacob, a man who had grabbed his brother's heel, and he had his brother by the heel when he was born. And it was declared by God Almighty, the older will serve the younger. The next attempt is to say, well now, Romans 9 isn't talking about salvation. Romans 9 is talking about service. Well, what do we say? Come again? How did Jacob serve God? As one that God had sovereignly redeemed. How did Esau serve God? As a trophy of God's justice. That is true. But the point of the passage in Romans 9 is that God saved Jacob. The love that is being talked about here was God saving love upon Jacob. And the point is that just because other people were physically descended from Jacob didn't mean that they experienced salvation. God did have a people that He had called His people, but out of that people, it was those that God was pleased to save that He had redeemed. That's the point of the passage. And what purpose did these other people serve? Are they then illustrations that the gospel is not able to accomplish what God intends? Just the opposite. The passage goes on to tell us that God saves those whom He is pleased to save. That's the point of the passage. And indeed, these people do serve the purpose of God. And their descendants serve the purpose of God. But Jacob and Esau were particular men. That's the point of the passage. These men, one of them was left to his unbelief and the other was saved by God's amazing grace. Jacob lied to his old blind daddy. You've got to be a pretty hard-hearted rascal to lie to your daddy, but to lie to your blind daddy? Whoo! That's a whole another level of wickedness. It's bad enough to lie to your daddy, but to take advantage of your blind daddy? who's way up in years in the infirm. And when you come in, you have to put a sheep, a little lamb's skin tied on your arm so that you can pretend to be your hairy brother. And old blind Isaac goes, you don't smell like Esau. Come on over here. Let me feel you, son. He goes, well, yeah, you're hairy like Esau, must be Esau. What wickedness? And Jacob was a man who thought he had the world by the tail. He was a man who would connive and he would try to trick and dish it out to Laban just like he had been dished to. But then when he comes back, at the direction of Almighty God to meet brother Esau that he had treated so horribly. You remember what Jacob finally does the night before he's going to meet his brother and he hears his brother is coming with hundreds of armed men. And the last time that they had talked, it was not pretty. What does Jacob do that night? He sends everybody across and he stays by himself. And he wrestles. He wrestles all night long. And the book of Hosea chapter 12 gives us a commentary on what was going on. Jacob wrestled with God. It was the angel of the Lord, a pre-incarnate appearance of the Son of God in the flesh. And toward the morning, the angel of the Lord reaches out His hand and just touches Jacob's thigh and puts his hip out of socket if you have ever had a Shoulder or an elbow or a knee or hip out of joint? It is painful If you've ever been around somebody it I mean it is painful And Jacob This angel of the Lord just touches him. He demonstrated, Jacob, I've let you wrestle with me all night long. I could have just flicked you once at the beginning of this and the contest would have been over. But Jacob was crying to God for mercy. Lord, I'm not going to let go of you until you bless me. I need you to protect me. I need you to save me. I need you. I can't rely on myself. I'm done with that. I'm trusting in you. All of my conniving ways, I turn my back on it. I'm trusting in you. And the Lord said, Jacob, I'm going to bless you. The Lord had reminded Jacob it was his grace that was his hope and help all along. When Jacob first left, you remember the vision that God gave of the stairway to heaven. We call it ladder, but it was a big stairway, like a pyramid. that was built up into heaven and the angels were coming down and angels were going up and who was standing at the top? The Lord himself. And the Lord Jesus tells us in John chapter one, he is that stairway. And Jacob comes to realize, indeed, I need the Lord Jesus. I need him. And so That's why Jacob was blessed. It was the grace of God. God sovereignly chose to change this lying, conniving, wicked man who was trusting in his own works and he throws himself upon the mercy of Christ. What then shall we say is there injustice on God's part? 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 depends not on human will or exertion but on God who has mercy. Well, we'll stop there and we'll pick it up, Lord willing, next Lord's Day to learn more about God saving those He's pleased to save. Let me ask you two questions as we close. Do you love Jesus? And if you say yes, do you understand you and I are Jacob's? Why do you love Jesus? Why do you not live a life of arrogance and trusting in yourself and full rebellion like Esau did and like Jacob had lived up until when he wrestled by the grace of God with the angel of the Lord? Why do you love Jesus? That's the second question. And the reason is God's grace. Why did the thief turn to Jesus? God's grace. Oh how we praise God. It's humbling isn't it? It's not because I was smarter. It wasn't because I was better. Oh no. Even after I have become a Christian, I've demonstrated that that cannot be the case. You can ask my wife. I am saved by the grace of God. The sovereign grace of God. Not only is it humbling, But oh, it causes us to break out in praise to God. Not only is it humbling, not only does it cause us to break out in praise to God, it makes us bold. Because God has a people, he's gonna save. And hell cannot stop him. Evil men and movements cannot stop the gospel from accomplishing the sovereign God's purpose. Don't be afraid to stand for Jesus. Let's pray. Lord God, thank you for your word. When we read that you loved Jacob and you hated Esau, Lord God, it should have been by justice my blood splattered on your garments. Lord, you would have had every right to destroy me and send me to hell. That's what I deserve, Lord. That's what I've earned. But oh, how we praise you for your amazing grace. And so, Lord, we pray that you would cause our hearts indeed to be humble before you. You would cause our hearts to Turn to You, Lord Jesus, begging for forgiveness and mercy like Jacob did in Your grace. And You would grab hold of us, Lord, that we would stand in awe of You. We would worship and adore You and praise You. And Lord, that You would make us bold and full of compassion to be spreading your sweet gospel in our homes, in the workplace, with extended family, with neighbors, with friends, with enemies. Oh Lord, how we praise you that you have the power to save. In Jesus we pray, amen.