We have been in our study of the book of Romans now for a while, and having just finished chapter 8, which is filled with good meat, we are now starting Romans chapter 9. And as we begin chapter 9, I really want to urge you to read 9 through 11. because Paul's argument in this next section is three chapters long. And we've said before that the whole of the letter should be read straight through, and I would encourage you to read it straight through over and over and over again, but as you go through, if you keep breaking it into little bite-sized pieces, you're gonna miss the thrust of his argument. You're going to get certain parts out of context and misunderstand what he's saying because those parts are only properly understood if you're reading the whole. That's the problem with spending ten years studying the book of Romans. So we're not spending 10 years studying the book of Romans. We're kind of hurrying through trying to get the thrust of Paul's argument as he appeals to the Christians to understand what it is that God has done for us and how we are to live in light of the gospel. Our lives will never be what they should be if we don't believe the gospel. But if we believe the gospel, it doesn't leave us just forgiven. it causes us to be transformed. And so as we study now in Romans chapter 9, I'm only going to read chapter 9, but I want to encourage you to go back and read 9 through 11, because that's the next section that we're going to be studying. Romans chapter 9, this is God's Word. I speak the truth in Christ. I'm not lying. My conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit. I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart, for I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons. Theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship, and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs. And from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised. Amen. It is not as though God's word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children. On the contrary, it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. In other words, it is not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring. For this is how the promise was stated. At the appointed time I will return and Sarah will have a son. Not only that, but Rebecca's children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. Yet before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad, in order that God's purpose in election might stand, not by works, but by him who calls, she was told the older will serve the younger, just as it is written. Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all. For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. Therefore, God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. One of you will say to me, then, why does God still blame us? For who resists his will? But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, why did you make me like this? Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use? What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory, even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles? As he says in Hosea, I will call them my people who are not my people. And I will call her my loved one who is not my loved one. And it will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, you are not my people, they will be called sons of the living God. Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved. For the Lord will carry out his sentence on earth with speed and finality. It is just as Isaiah said previously, unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom. We would have been like Gomorrah. What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith. But Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. Why not? because they pursued it not by faith, but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written, see, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame. May God add his blessing to this reading from his holy and inspired word. Okay, theological disclaimer. The water doesn't get any deeper than this. All right? This is one of those areas of theology that has kept lots of people tied up in knots for generations, trying to understand how does it all work, God's sovereign choice. That's why Paul's addressing it right here. That's why he, in this very chapter, suggests some of the objections that some might make to the truth. But I want you to notice as we go through how Paul responds to those intellectual objections that people throw up. Because Paul's response is to not say, yes, and you're right, that's a very salient point. It's just a mystery. It's beyond our comprehension. That's not what he says. He says, who do you think you are to even ask such a question? You are a creature formed by a creator. Doesn't the creator have the right to do whatever he wants with his creation? Know your place, people. That's Paul's response. So it's with that attitude that we need to come to the scriptures and allow God to change the way we think. I speak the truth in Christ, he says. I am not lying. My conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit. I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. Brothers and sisters, I'm here to tell you today that if you believe the Bible, you no longer have to ever experience unceasing pain and anguish in your heart. You can be like me. Cheek implants, permanent smile, nice white veneers, and you can smile at all times, always happy and joyful. Well, apparently somebody should have explained that to Paul. The man who tells us, rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again, rejoice. It is possible, brothers and sisters, to have unceasing anguish and still rejoice. Because rejoicing is not predicated on how we feel, it is predicated on what we know. And there is a huge difference. I can feel really lousy, but I shouldn't act lousy. I can feel really fearful, but I must not let fear control my life. I can experience the attack of the enemy and still have victory in Christ Jesus. And the Apostle Paul was not lying or exaggerating or using hyperbole when he said he had unceasing anguish because he wasn't getting the recognition he deserved, people didn't appreciate his education, he had studied under Gamaliel, and he just wasn't getting the love. No. That wasn't what bothered him at all. Here's a guy who was imprisoned for his faith, who was beaten and stoned and suffered all kinds of horrible things because of his obedience to Christ. And the reason for his unceasing anguish was that he saw people who were his relatives, the Jews, going to hell. And that broke his heart. He was torn up inside, not about His circumstances, but about their destiny. I want to ask you today, what is it that causes you pain? What is it that really troubles you? Are you troubled because you don't get your way? Or are you troubled because you see people who still don't know Jesus and you care about them? The reason the Apostle Paul says what he does, listen, verse 3, for I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel. He says, I could wish that I lost my salvation if it would mean their salvation. Well, where would he get a thought like that? What in the world would make somebody willing to die in another person's place? Can you think of anybody? Just any name come to mind? Somebody who died so that we could live? Who bore God's wrath so that we would not bear God's wrath? Who suffered not just physical death, but suffered the wrath of God in our place. Jesus did that for us. And so it is the Spirit of Christ in Paul that is saying, I'd be willing to take their place. It's the same Spirit who taught Moses when God said, I will save you and make of you a great nation, but I'm going to destroy all these people. And Moses said, no, take me instead. I don't want to live and have them die. Jesus, when we didn't deserve it at all, went to the cross on our behalf. He took our punishment. That's what the gospel's all about. He died for us. And so Paul is in anguish seeing his brothers and sisters ethnically who don't know that Jesus is the Messiah. And he can relate, because he was once like them. Not just an unbeliever, but a persecutor of Christians. He had heard that Jesus was the Messiah, and he had rejected the gospel. And God saved him. You see, it wasn't all about God making the pitch, and then those who believe, they're in, and those who don't believe, too bad. But hey, God is a gentleman, and he respects our free choice. That's not what happened here. The Apostle Paul rejected the gospel, and God said, actually I have a purpose for you. You're going to be one of my apostles. And he knocks him off his donkey and talks to him in an undeniable revelation and changes his heart and causes him to believe. And Paul becomes a man who spends the rest of his life on mission for this Jesus whom he had despised and rejected. If that's not irresistible grace, I don't know what is. If that's not unconditional election, I don't know what is. No wonder the Apostle Paul says what he says in his letter to the Romans. I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons, theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship, and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ. who is God over all, forever praised, amen. Two points. One, relatively minor, but appropriate for us. The other, absolutely vital, essential, foundational. The minor one first. It's possible to have all this spiritual legacy and still miss it. That's what Paul says about the Jews. They've got this going for them, this going for them, this going for them, this going for them, this going for them. They've got all this history. They've got all this evidence. They've got all this around them, and they're missing it. They're missing it. Did you know that it's possible to grow up in a family that preaches the gospel, that teaches the word, that encourages prayer, that tries to get you on the right track, and you just absolutely miss it? You are not saved by your genealogy. You are not saved by your neighborhood or your ancestors. You are saved when God in his mercy reaches down and rescues you. That's the only hope. We need to understand that, and it ties directly into what else Paul's gonna say in this chapter. These folks had everything going for them, and they were missing the one thing that would make all the difference in the world. They didn't know the Messiah. Second point, more foundational than that. Don't miss this. because there are a whole bunch of nitwits with PhDs who are trying to suggest that, well, you know, the Bible never really says that Jesus is God. Well, what book are they reading? OK? I mean, if you don't know Braille and your only Bible is a Braille edition, you might possibly come to that conclusion. But if you are blind and you have to rely on a Braille edition, You're going to begin to feel it. It's right there. What does it say about Jesus in this passage? Look at it. Couldn't be clearer. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is what? Who is God over all, forever praised. Amen. I believe Jesus is a great man. I really do. I've I've always believed that I think you. I mean, you know anybody who would go around and teach the way he taught and do the miracles he did. I believe he's a great man and I and I'd even be willing to go so far as to see that the Bible refers to him as a son of God. But you know, we're all sons of God, sons and daughters. I mean, you know, it's just part of, but but I mean this idea that he is somehow God. That's, we can't go there, because then, I mean, that puts us at odds with Judaism and Islam. And how are we going to have syncretistic seminaries and churches if we don't do that? Have you heard that the Episcopal Church in the United States has now opened a seminary out in California? It was having some trouble financially, and they came up with a new business plan, and the new business plan Claremont, I think is the name of the seminary. The new business plan. It's been in Time Magazine, it's been all in the media. It's now a three-faith seminary. It is, on the one hand, Christian. Light. Real light. Like, not really. And it's Jewish. And it's Islamic. Isn't that great? So sweet. I think they ought to call it the Rodney King Seminary. You know, can't we just get along? Can't we just get along? That was Rodney. Some of you have no idea what I'm talking about. That's okay. That's all right. The rest of you are insiders. You have been privileged to the secret knowledge. We are the Gnostics. It's called we're old and we watch the news. I want you to understand something here. Paul doesn't say something that could be interpreted as suggesting that Jesus is actually God. He says explicitly, clearly, and unequivocally that Jesus is God overall. He's God. He's God. Now, if you can't accept that, You need to understand you're not accepting Jesus. You're accepting some idol. You are worshiping in a blasphemous, idolatrous way. Because this is not a thing that some Christians believe. This is at the core of what makes the gospel so amazing. God became one of us. and died on the cross to pay for our sins. And that just fractures our categories philosophically. Because, well God is infinite. Yes he is. And God is holy. Yes he is. But in the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. And the Word became flesh, and He dwelt among us. You see, that's who came to save. When it says He sent His Son, the Son and the Father are one. And so in John 14, Jesus says to His disciples, do you still not know who I am? I tell you the truth, if you've seen Me, you've seen the Father. Wow! So don't move on till you understand this. Christ is God over all, forever praised. Amen. Verse 6, it is not as though God's Word had failed. What's he talking about? Well, he says that there are these Jewish people who have all this legacy that is handed down to them and they don't know the Messiah and therefore They are cut off until they come to Christ. Well, how can that be? I thought God was going to save Israel. Well, that's what 9 through 11 is about. Chapters 9 through 11 deal with God's salvation of Israel. And Paul says the first thing you need to understand is that God's promises have not failed because not all Israel is Israel. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel, he says in verse 6, nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children. On the contrary, it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. That's what God said to Abraham. It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. Oh, did Abraham have other children? Of course, he had Ishmael before he had Isaac. But Isaac was the child of promise. In other words, it is not the natural children, verse 8, listen to this, it is not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring. For this is how the promise was stated, at the appointed time I will return and Sarah will have a son. So Abraham had other children. He had other children after Isaac, by the way. Okay. You go back. Is it not something that's preached a lot about, but it's it's in there. Well, I thought he was too old when he had Isaac. So did he, but apparently he kind of liked it. Got on a roll there after, after Sarah was deceased, he had another wife and had other children after he was over a hundred years old. I mean, that'd make Strom Thurman jealous. It's another reach back into old news stories, okay? Just so you know, I just try and throw those in every now and then so that those of us who are old feel knowledgeable. There's so much new stuff we don't know anything about, nice to know that somebody appreciates the old stuff. And we're talking old. Abraham had other children, but it was through Isaac. that God reckoned his offspring said these are the ones this is the line because it was all about salvation and it's through Isaac that Messiah would come but not even all of Isaac's descendants are part of the promise not only that verse 10 but Rebecca's children had one in the same father our father Isaac Yet before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad. Did you hear that? Before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad. One more time. Before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad. In order that God's purpose in election might stand. Not by works, but by Him who calls. She was told the older will serve the younger. Just as it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. I don't think that's fair. I don't think that's fair. I mean, yesterday I heard that thing in Romans 8 about, you know, those whom he foreknew. And I thought, well, there's your, there's your answer. God can see out in the future, knows who's going to do what. And then he makes his choice based on what we do. And that's fair. That's fair. But now it's saying God made his choice, not based on what they're going to do, but based on his purpose, his purpose in election. So that his calling might stand, not just, that just, that just doesn't seem fair. That doesn't seem just. Verse 14, what shall we say then? Is God unjust? I mean, I mean, it's not like these questions never occurred to Paul. Okay. It's not like Paul wrote all this stuff down and then people said, well, that doesn't seem fair. And he said, Oh wow. I hadn't thought of that. Writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, God breathing this word through him, he says, what then shall we say? Is God unjust? Answer, not at all. Not at all. Not at all. For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. I take you again to my adolescence, where my preacher would so often tell the story that I now tell so often of the woman who goes to the photographer to look at the proofs of her portrait. Those are the samples of the pictures that he's taken, and you get to choose the one that you think is best. That's what a proof is. So she's looking at the sample, she's looking at the proofs, and she's becoming discouraged. And she says to the photographer, I don't believe that these photographs do me justice. And the photographer says, lady, you don't need justice, you need mercy. I love that photographer. I love that guy. I don't know if she bought any of the pictures, but I do know this. We don't need justice. We need mercy. You see, it doesn't say that, no, God is just. He rewards the nice people and He punishes the bad people. If that were the case, we'd all be in hell. The only hope for any of us is not God's justice. It's God's mercy. It's God's compassion. Because what all of us have earned by our sin is the wrath of God. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The wages of sin is death. The wages of sin is death. We don't deserve to go to heaven. Well, I've been a good boy. I've read my Bible every day for over two weeks. And I learned my memory verse. And I set the table last night and I did my laundry. Well, good for you. That's all very nice. But as someone used the metaphor, if you've already thrown up in the soup, it's not edible. Got it. Let me just tell you, every single one of us has already wrecked our chance of earning eternity with God. We've all blown it. We've all sinned. Well, but I haven't sinned in two weeks. Oh, so the vomit's two weeks old? Okay. And frankly, I think if you knew God's law better, You'd probably know that you haven't actually gone two weeks without ever failing to do anything that you should have done or doing something that you shouldn't have done or embracing an attitude that you shouldn't have. Is that clear? So it doesn't therefore depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. And then he appeals to the scripture again. For the scripture says to Pharaoh, I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. Therefore, God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. One of you will say to me, then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will? That's a logical question, isn't it? But it's a wrong question. Why? Verse 20, but who are you, oh man, to talk back to God? If we were God's equal, then we could complain. But we're not. We're his creatures, his creation. He formed us. Shall that which is formed say to him who formed it, why have you made me thus? I wanted to be a teapot. You turned me into a clay jar instead. You're gonna put a plant in me. I wanted to be a lovely painted ceramic. Well, tough darts. You're a house for a potted plant. I don't like what God has done. Let me tell you, anything outside of hell is mercy. The fact that you and I are not toasting right now in the extra crispy section, that's mercy. That is compassion. That is God's grace at work. You and I need to appreciate the fact that God has had mercy on us. But what about people who don't get saved? Paul says, I don't care a rip about them. No, he doesn't say that at all. He says, I'm in anguish over them. My heart aches for them. This is not a cold, dispassionate, calloused heart. This is a guy who has compassion for lost people, but who understands that lost people are getting exactly what they're asking for. Paul says, my heart aches for them. But what they are doing is persisting in unbelief. And God is not unjust if they get what they asked for. You tell God, leave me alone, I'm gonna do it my way, I don't need you. Or, conversely, you tell God, okay, I got it, thanks for the instructions, I'll do it. Hey, this was pretty good, wasn't it? Trying to bring before him your life dressed in your self-righteousness. Both of those are blasphemous, idolatrous approaches to life. Whether you are the prodigal son who goes off to the far country, or you are the hard-hearted older son who despises the father and feels that you're not getting a fair shake. Both of those sons were estranged from the father. And that describes all of us. Because whether our approach is this or this, we're estranged from God. And the only hope, the only hope is His compassion, His mercy, His grace. This is not about the good people versus the bad people. This is about bad people, like us, and God choosing to display His glory in the salvation, in the salvation of those whom He calls. One of you will say to me, then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will? But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, why did you make me like this? Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use? What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath prepared for destruction? What if He did this to make the riches of His glory known to the objects of His mercy, whom He prepared in advance for glory? Did you hear that? Whom He prepared in advance for glory. Even us, whom He also called, not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles. And then he goes back into the Old Testament and he shows how again and again, this is exactly what God said he was going to do. He was going to save Jews and Gentiles, but it would be only the remnant. Unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants, he says through Isaiah, we would have become like Sodom. We would have been like Gomorrah. In other words, we all deserve God's wrath. What shall we say then that the Gentiles who didn't pursue righteousness have obtained it? A righteousness that is by faith, not deserved. It's imputed righteousness credited to our account by grace through faith. But Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. Why not? They were pursuing it. Yeah, but listen. They pursued it not by faith, but as if it were by works. They acted as if they could clean up their act and be good enough to deserve God's blessing. You can't. You can't. If you think you can clean up your act and make yourself somebody that God has to bless. I did what I was supposed to do. Lord, Lord, He says in Matthew 7. Didn't we prophesy in your name and in your name cast out demons? We did all this stuff for you. Jesus says, I will say to them, depart from me. I never knew you, you who practice lawlessness. As it is written, see I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame. I want to ask you this morning, are you trusting in him? Is He your hope? Is He your confidence? Is He your righteousness? Or are you still trying to find another way? Jesus is the only hope. It's only God's grace. It's only His compassion. It's only His mercy. That's our only hope. Trust in Jesus. He'll never fail you. He came to seek and to save that which was lost. Trust Him. Ask Him to have mercy on you. Don't try and explain to God that you're trying really hard and that you'll do your best and next week you'll do better. Jesus said, two men went up to the temple to pray. One of them said, God, I thank you. I'm not like those other people. I do this, this, this, and this, and I don't do that. The other guy said, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Jesus said, that's the one who went home justified. Where's your hope today? Where's your confidence? Are you trusting in God's grace? Are you trusting in Jesus? I pray so. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you that your word is clear, that salvation is your gift, not our attainment. It's not something we earn or deserve. It is your gift, the righteousness that comes to us by grace through faith. And so we come in Jesus' name and we pray that you would have mercy on us. Hosanna. Save us, Lord. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.