verses four and five in chapter nine he says there 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." So on last week, we looked at the descriptions that Paul uses of his kinsmen, according to the flesh, that they are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, and the covenants. All of these, as we said, are important in our understanding of Paul's coming teachings regarding the Jews and us as well. We looked at the Noahic Covenant, the Abrahamic Covenant, and the Mosaic Covenant, and I hope that we understand that it is all one covenant. It is still the same covenant. This is the covenant that I made with your fathers. God continually reminds them. The covenant, one covenant, I'm now renewing it and taking you into this new phase of it. You have to understand this. And so he gave them the Ten Commandments and said, Now realize that you are my people. I am holy, therefore you must be holy. It is the same covenant made with Abraham. The failure to realize this was the whole misunderstanding of the children of Israel. And that was why they were rejecting Christ. God did not, as the Jews believed, lay aside the covenant with Abraham and bring in a new covenant of works and of law. And the tragedy is that certain people still believe that God did just that. It has only and always been one covenant based on the promises of God and not on the efforts of men. The law, given through Moses some 430 years after God's promises to Abraham, cannot disannul those promises. As Paul told us clearly in chapter 4, if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise. God gave his covenant to Abraham by promise. Whole point being, Paul is arguing that the fundamental covenant repeated through Moses was in no way doing away with the first one. It was just giving people what they needed. They had forgotten who they were, and they had forgotten whose they were, and they were going into this new land, so the legal emphasis was brought in. Not so that they could have a new covenant of law and save themselves by the law, so that they might be reminded of who they were in terms of the original promise which was made through Abraham. So Paul says, in effect, that the addition of the law did not do away with the promise. It just clarified and refocused them so that they might understand it in a better way than they did before. Same covenant repeated, but with a fresh emphasis to meet fresh conditions and circumstances. Which brings us to the last great covenant of the Old Testament, and the one that undoubtedly was in the mind of Paul at this point, that being the covenant made with David. It's in 2 Samuel chapter 7, if you want to turn there, verses 8 through 17, and we will read it in full because it is important. 2 Samuel chapter 7, starting with verse eight so god is here giving uh... instructions to the prophet nathan as to what he is to say to david and he starts with now therefore does use it you shall say to my servant david thus says the lord of hosts I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel. And I have been with you wherever you went, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth, And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more as formerly from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled, and you shall lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men. But my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever." In accordance with all of these words and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David. So this is important. It tells us something that we have not been told as clearly prior to this. that out of the seat of abraham through the seat of david in particular the messiah is to come the one who is going to be a king and who is going to rule over all he's going to be this great ruler same covenant but now with the emphasis placed on this aspect of the covenant that's the whole secret of understanding this matter of the covenants we see how the old testament history is involved without the Old Testament there is no possible way to understand the New Testament and in particular this section of Romans 9 through 11 or even the gospel according to Luke so now if you'll turn with me to Luke chapter 1 we're going to see the covenant restated Luke chapter 1, starting with verse 30, and it's the angel Gabriel addressing Mary. And the angel said to her, starting with verse 30, and the angel said to her, do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom there will be no end." So that's a repetition of the covenant given to David. The promise is safe. Here's the one who's to carry this out. and there will be no end to his kingdom also in the first chapter of blue we have the statement by zacharias that most people only read at christmas time uh... zacharias who by the way has been unable to speak you remember that for some months because of his doubt but now the child with who we know is john the baptist has been born and his tongue is loosed and so zacharias begins to speak And what does he say? So chapter one in verse 68, starting with verse 68. We saw the covenant with David, we saw Gabriel restating that covenant to Mary, and now Zacharias begins to speak, starting with verse 68. He says, blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, to show the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all of our days. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace." So Zechariah says in effect, he says, what God has been promising for centuries has come. The covenant that God made is now being brought to pass. Here is the one promised all the way back to the Garden of Eden. that seat of the woman that would bruise the serpent's head has arrived. We have to see the importance of the covenants because they are for us just as much as they were for Adam or for Noah or for Abraham or Moses or David. Paul is referring to these covenants made in times past to their forefathers. But now what he's referring to is we have been brought into those covenants. That is what happens when we become Christians. We are brought into this. And the same God who carried out his ancient covenants is still the same God, and he has pledged himself to their fulfillment. His character guarantees it. His sovereignty guarantees it. This one covenant, reiterated and renewed and clarified going all the way back to the garden, is our covenant. much more on that as we continue these three chapters as you are if you're reading ahead you know that there's a whole lot of this coming uh... to them belong the covenants that's what he says to them belong the covenants to these israelis belong the covenants to us also belong the covenants so the next privilege to them belong the giving of the law That word translated giving is found only here in all of the New Testament. This is the only time that you find it used. It is important. Paul does not say that they possessed the law or that they were the custodians of the law. He says they were given the law. So as we already saw, the actual law itself came under the covenant as it was repeated and reemphasized through Moses. But what Paul is concerned to show us here is the way in which the law was given to them. Why? Because that was one of the occasions on which, in effect, God came near to these people with an audible voice. What Paul is trying to tell them is that they do not realize their privileges. They have been elevated to this position. God has actually spoken to them with a voice that could be heard. It is described in Exodus 19, but a summary is found in Deuteronomy chapter four. If you want to turn there, this is a summary of God actually speaking to these people. Deuteronomy chapter four, starting with verse 32. And this is Moses speaking to the people. He says, For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of. Did any people ever hear the voice of a God speaking out of the midst of the fire as you have heard and still live? Or has any God ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? To you it was shown that you might know that the Lord is God. There is no other besides Him. Out of heaven He let you hear His voice, that He might discipline you. And on earth He let you see His great fire, and you heard His words out of the midst of the fire." So it is the way in which the law was given that Paul is referencing here. Receiving the law is a wonderful thing. It is a part of the covenant. But remember the way in which he gave it. he says that any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire as you have heard and still live this has never happened before this is the only people to ever exist to whom god has spoken with an audible voice that more she says yes and he did it when he gave them the law This is Paul's goal in all of these statements, to show that these people are absolutely unique in every respect. The common denominator is that God has made himself known to them and has pledged himself to them in a way that he has never done with any other nation. And yet it was these very same people who, in spite of all of this, rejected and crucified their own Messiah. That's why we are warned, let he who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. Their next privilege was the worship. Some of the translations say service to God. The term worship speaks here to religious service. A service that is rendered unto God. Hebrews chapter 9 if you want to turn there verses one through four Hebrews chapter nine starting with verse one now even the first covenant had regulations for worship, and an earthly place of holiness. For a tent was prepared, the first section in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the presence, it is called the holy place. Behind the second curtain was a second section called the most holy place. Having the golden altar of incense and the Ark of the Covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron's staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant." Now, Paul, or whoever you believe wrote the letter to the Hebrews, a lot of debate about that, is giving us a summary of what he has called the regulations for worship. Meaning that one of the peculiar and special privileges of these people was that God himself taught them how to worship him and how to enter his presence. again this had not happened with any other nation all the other nations of the world were seeking for god but had no idea how to find him and being gods from all from their own imaginations you wonder where all the religions of the world come from a did people in looking for god and inventing one because they can't find the real one okay even to the point of building a temple to the unknown god you remember the story in the book of acts and paul addresses those people the stoics or whatever uh... they build a temple to him but they did not know how to approach him they had never been given any instruction trying to worship but god but doing so in ignorance as paul tells them but the case of israel was entirely different they were not left in ignorance God himself had taught them how this service was to be done. That is what Paul is emphasizing here. There's a great account given regarding this in the Old Testament. God called Moses up to the mountain and gave him the specific, detailed instructions as to how he was to be served and worshipped. The building of the tabernacle, the measurements, the specifications of the different items, how it was to be furnished, uh... the colors the type of wood all of that list in Leviticus I mean it's really really detailed God had provided instructions for all of it that how he was to be worshipped how there was to be a great high priest and various priests under him how the Levites were to perform certain other tasks how this building was to be moved how it was to be carried everything that was necessary is there Nothing left to chance. Nothing left to their own invention or imagination. Now, again, there's a summary of all of it given to us again in the book of Hebrews, chapter 8. If you want to turn there, verses 1 through 5. Now the point in what we are saying is this, we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. That line is important. The true tent which the Lord set up, not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices, Thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer." He's referring to Christ there of course. Now if he were on earth he would not be a priest at all since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent he was instructed by God saying see that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain now everything involved in the making of the tabernacle everything involved later on in the band the building of the temple was not something that came out of moses' imagination instead of stand around and say why don't we do this i think we should do that yet when a lot of debate about it it was just like this is the way you do it everything was told to him in detail This is what Paul is reminding us, that all of this was true of the children of Israel. They had all the information. So, is this important or is this irrelevant? A lot of people get to that section where all of these details are and they're like, well, let's just skim over that and move on. What could be more important for every one of us than to know how to approach God? how to enter his presence and how to take our position petitions and our prayers to him there is nothing higher than that if we do not know these things if we do not know how we are supposed to worship god first came here alex the whole session session on the regulated principal okay we do not know those things then we end up doing things like dropping easter eggs from a helicopter to celebrate the resurrection that's local too so much stuff out there, people having circuses in the middle of church and doing baptisms on water slides it's nauseating quite frankly it's nauseating god gave specific instructions to these people so it is not surprising that in this list of privileges he puts the worship point being made here is that god has had direct dealings with this people group and that he has given them all the necessary knowledge and information to enable them to know his mind to know his will and to understand his way and his great plan and purpose of salvation. They had all of this knowledge. How important is this? So much so, that when the children of Israel tried to deviate from it, they were given a very terrible lesson. Four men, you remember the story I suppose, four men. Korah, I remember Korah, and Dathan, and On, and Abiram, four very important princes in israel met together one day and they had this little conference in the topic was why should this matter of going into the presence of god be confined to moses and aaron why does the who are they we're as good as they are we have as much right to do these things as they have so they agreed about this and persuaded the people that they were right and what was what followed was known as the rebellion of korah so what happened remember what happened they were punished the earth opened and they were swallowed up and they disappeared ever to be seen again terrible thing it was indeed but what they had done was also a terrible thing and that is why god punished them accordingly point is this It is God who decided and who has revealed how he is to be worshipped, not man. And they should have stuck with God's way instead of turning to their own ideas. This is as important today as it was then. There is only one way into the holiest of all, the holy of holies, and that is by the blood of Jesus Christ. There is no other way. You and I have been taken into Israel And God has taught us the only way that he can be worshipped. The worship and the service of God is something that is still determined by God himself. And if we alter it, or try to add to it, or ignore it, or neglect it, it is at our own peril. The rebellion of Korah, the punishment that followed, should be a permanent reminder to us of that. That is what is meant here by the worship. And so we move on to the next privilege, the promises. What does Paul mean by this and what is the difference between the promises and the covenants? It is the difference between a general announcement and the details of that announcement. In the covenants, as we have seen, God's great plan and purpose of salvation were revealed. That through Abraham and his seed, all the nations of the earth would be blessed. It is in this way that God will do His great work of salvation. That is the essence of the covenant. So what are the promises? They are a reference to the particular blessings which are the result of God's plan of salvation. Promises are a reference to the blessings and the glories of the age of the Messiah. It is the detailed blessings which will be given to everyone who belongs to Christ and to His reign. That reign has already begun, as it were, in His people, the Church. That reign has already begun in us. The Kingdom of God has already come, in that sense, in the hearts of all believers. It has come to the Church, even though it has yet to come in a visible, external form. But the Kingdom of God has already come, and so some of these promises are already fulfilled. Others are yet to be fulfilled. That is the meaning of the term promises. In the Old Testament, you see accounts of them by the multitude. It is there that we find the promises and the prophecies of what is true of us today and of what is yet to come. There are prophecies concerning the glory of the age of the Messiah. Genesis 49.10 is one. Jacob, now an old man on his deathbed, calls his family together and gives them his blessing. This is what he says of Judah. He says, The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him, and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. There are many, many more, as you're well aware. One stands out as most remarkable, coming from a hireling prophet named Balaam. Remember Balaam? Numbers 24 and 17, Balaam didn't want to give the right message, but he had to do so. He could not help himself, okay? He was trying his best to get out of saying this. But he says, I see him, but not now. I behold him, but not near. A star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel. It shall crush the forehead of Moab, and break down all the sons of Sheth. Book of Psalms contains many of these. The Song of Solomon, all the major and minor prophets, all of them have these promises, all of them have this. They tell us in different ways of the blessings that are going to come under the reign of the Messiah. The lame man will leap, the blind will see, the deaf will hear. It is all there, all through the Old Testament. Isaiah especially, chapters 35, 53, 55, 60, 61, 62. All of those are all promises of the blessings of the age of the Messiah. So all of this is what Paul is referring to as the promises. It is to the Jews that these promises were given. They were having a hard time. They were living a hard life. but God did not leave them to themselves. He not only made the covenant, he not only gave them the instructions as to how he was to be worshipped and how they were to live, he also gave them these great promises. However badly things might be going, they were always able to look forward to the age of the Messiah. It was the promises that sustained the people throughout the centuries. but they alone had them all other nations were outside the camp as it were. Ephesians chapter 2 if you want to turn there starting with verse 11 so only the Israelites had these promises all other nations were outside the camp pages chapter two and verse eleven uh... paul reminds the gentiles who have now become christians that before they didn't have this he says therefore remember at one time that at one time you gentiles in the flesh called the uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision which is made in the flesh by hands remember that you were at that time separated from christ alienated from the commonwealth of israel and strangers to the covenants of promise having no hope and without god in the world so that was every everybody that was in the israelite was a jew or was a gentile, sorry everybody that wasn't an israelite was a gentile had no hope had no promise had no covenant had nothing paganism that's what we had gentiles that's everybody all the gentiles were pagan paganism is hopeless there is no hope just as hopeless today as it was then the unbeliever the non-christian has no hope they have already been judged because of their unbelief as john tells us in chapter three of his gospel No hope at all. No promise at all. He listens to the promises of men because he does not have the promises of God and is constantly being disappointed. That's how politicians get where they are. They make promises. How many of you have ever seen one of them promises fulfilled? And yet we still keep listening to them, okay? Children of God do have these promises. The children of Israel had these amazing promises of a golden age, an age that was to come. What a special people they were. Small in number, small in country, surrounded by all of these larger nations on every side, but they had the promises. And whatever might happen to them, these promises upheld them. They saw dynasties rise and fall, and they were not surprised at all about it. They knew that ultimately the promises of God would be fulfilled to them. God had given them and God had confirmed them by his own oath. These are the promises. So the last thing that Paul tells us about their privileges is that they also had the patriarchs. Worship, the promises, and to them belong the patriarchs. Now, why specify that the patriarchs belonged to them? It is not merely that these patriarchs were great men. They were, of course, and great men are always to be honored. But it is more than that. This is the difference between the spiritual and the natural. The patriarchs were men that had unique experiences of God, and that is why he is interested in them here. God had dealt with these men in a very intimate manner. He had not done that with everyone. He had not even done that with everybody in the nation of Israel. These men were the exceptions. Abraham was called the friend of God. God came near to him and spoke to him intimately, as he did with Isaac and with Jacob. God spoke personally and intimately with these patriarchs. This is part and parcel with everything that Paul has been saying in all of these other privileges. He has emphasized over and over that God has dealt exceptionally and personally with these people. That's the theme through the whole of the Bible. And it is emphasized in the stories of all of these men. Jacob in his struggle at Peniel, and Joseph, and Moses, and David, all the patriarchs. the outstanding men in the story of this nation. This is a privilege, says Paul, that the Jews should have realized. It was through these patriarchs that God was speaking most distinctly about what he was going to do when he sent his Messiah. That is why he singles them out. God had made this covenant in particular to these men. even a man like i think we all know how i think was uh... in there do well okay but even a man like i think comes in because the covenant was repeated to him and i think you've got in this intimate way because he was in this line of abraham and i think in jacob we see that all the way through we keep seeing this phrase uh... constant repetition of the phrase For God says, I am the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. What does he mean by that? It is not simply that he is the God of these three individuals. It means that he is the God that dealt directly and intimately with these men. That is the emphasis. And these men are picked out as those to whom God had revealed particularly clearly the revelation of his glorious promise concerning the coming of the Messiah, the very thing that these Jews were too blind to see. They couldn't see it even when it happened. These were men who had had unusual experiences with God. They were also men of great faith, men who were sensitive to the truth, men who were sensitive to the will of God. And their descendants should have been the same, but they are not. They're blind. They have turned a deaf ear. Paul says, all day long, I have stretched forth my hand to a disobedient and gainsaying people. That is what Israel had become. Abraham was not like that. Neither were Isaac or Jacob or Joseph or Moses or David. None of them were like that. So Paul tells them, you have forgotten your fathers. You have forgotten your patriarchs. Paul says to the Jews, these men that you claim to honor, so they always brought up these men, that they were the offspring of these men, that they were, you know, the same as these men. He says, these men that you claim to honor, you don't even understand them. And so Paul is going step by step, climbing higher as he goes, and he comes to the climax. And he says, and from their race, according to the flesh is the Christ of all the privileges enjoyed by the Jews. This was the greatest, the most wonderful of all that the Messiah, the savior of the world came out of them. The Messiah was a Jew. These are his people. And it is, it is out of them that he came. the root of Jesse, the seed of Abraham, the line of Judah, the son of David, all of those names that were given to Jesus Christ. There is nothing higher than this. The Savior of the world came out of this nation. This is the highest of all privileges. And yet it is the very thing that they have missed. Now all of the things up to this point, all the privileges, up to this point are only true because they lead to this one privilege. That is the point and the purpose of all of these things. That they were Israelites, that they had the adoption, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, the promises, the patriarchs. Why has all of this been true of them? So that they might be the nation from whom the Messiah would come. That is why Abraham was called to come out of Ur of the Chaldees. Come out and leave your land, leave your people. That's why he was called out. That is why God produced a nation out of him in order that out of this nation might come our blessed Redeemer, the Messiah. The seed of the woman in Genesis was also the seed of Abraham, also the son of David. This is the whole point, says Paul, in effect. This has been made abundantly clear in the scriptures, but these people cannot see it. Galatians chapter 3 and verse 16, if you want to turn there. this is going to clarify a whole lot of stuff when we get into chapter 11 about three years from now. Galatians chapter 3 and verse 16 now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, and to offsprings, referring to many, but referring to one and to your offspring who is Christ. This is Paul's clarification. The Jews had become so blind that they had not noticed the difference between offspring and offsprings. They missed the emphasis on the singular. To your offspring, one. The one. To Jesus Christ, one. They didn't get it. They thought that the promises were to them as a nation. They thought the promises were to everyone who could trace their lineage back to Abraham. There are still those that believe that the geographical nation of Israel has some special place in God's eyes simply because of their location on a map. Millions, billions of dollars sent to the most godless nation on the planet right now. You should go read about it. That's the most godless nation on the planet right now. Because of their location on a map. They still miss the emphasis on the singular. Jesus even said, God is able from these stones to raise up children to who? Abraham. Right? Claim to be children of Abraham. God can take these rocks and make children of Abraham. Don't mean nothing. Okay? That was never what it was about. Okay? Abraham was never what it was about. which will see more on next week and maybe the week after is that's what's coming up okay it was about Christ then and it is about Christ now look says Paul it is perfectly clear in the scriptures it has now happened in actuality it was out of you out of the Jews as a nation that Christ came according to the flesh And so we finish with this. There's a lot of disagreement and discussion, and Martin Lloyd-Jones spends two chapters talking about all the disagreement and discussion about this last little part of this statement right here. And it's often those who would seek to mitigate the deity of Christ and those who do not believe in the Trinity. and there are certain translations that assist them in denying the trinity and the deity of christ not going to delve into that at all okay specially not the chapters because those that deny that christ is god are not worth the time to argue with you just go ahead and accept that those that did not the deity of christ are not worth your time to argue with and because the ESV translates it appropriately and we have no need to look further and so who is this Christ so they say that this part is talks about Christ and then the second part is just his like benediction or something it's not talking about Christ being God but we know better okay we know what it is who is this Christ that came from the Jews according to the flesh It says, He is the one who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. Two natures in one person. A Jew according to the flesh. God over all, blessed forever. Truly man, also truly God. There is something true of Him according to the flesh. So Paul tells us what's true of Him according to the flesh. came out of this people okay and there is also something true of him according to the spirit and so paul puts this year intentionally the supreme privilege that was given to the nation of israel was that out of them according to the flesh that is came the one who is god over all blessed forever the messiah the Savior of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Let's pray. Father God, I love you so much. Lord, I thank you that you have not left us in ignorance, that you have shown us that your plan goes all the way back to before day one. and how you have worked out that plan for some 6,000 years, and how we are involved in that plan. Lord, I pray that you would help us to understand that it is all of you and none of us. Lord, be with us as we commune with you this morning. Help us to focus on you and what you have done on our behalf. These things I ask in Crossmate.