We have a saying in Colorado on beautiful days. Stick around-the weather changes.

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1 Introduction We now come to Romans chapter 9. In Romans 8 we have climbed to a glorious summit. In Romans 8 we discovered there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom.8:1). The Bible does not say there is no sin, or no mistakes, or no failures, or no struggles, or no pain or no disappointment. There is no judicial pronouncement of guilt. We are no longer under judgment. We are free. The law cannot condemn us, the law cannot control us. We are free from defeat we are under no obligation to our flesh everything we are apart from Jesus Christ. We have the Spirit of God. God is for us. Christ died for us. God justified us. The Spirit prays for us. Christ intercedes for us. We are saved. We are saved from sin. We are rescued from hell. Our sin is forgiven. We have a right relationship with God through Jesus Christ s death and resurrection. We have a saying in Colorado on beautiful days. Stick around-the weather changes. The weather changes in chapters Paul is a Jew. Paul loves the Jew. But the Jews have rejected Jesus Christ as Messiah and resisted the Holy Spirit. Both the Hebrew Jews in the homeland and the Hellenist Jews of the dispersion seemed adamant, recalcitrant, hardened in their rejection. So what about God s promises to Israel? Where does the Jew fit in God s plan today? Is there any future for the nation Israel? Has God cancelled forever, or simply postponed the great promises He once made? Paul confronts these questions in the next three chapters. Let me give you a brief peek where we are going. In chapter 9 we see God s past dealings with Israel (Rom.9). The key to understanding the chapter is the concept of God s sovereignty. In chapter 10 we see God s present dealings with Israel. The key concept in the chapter is God s salvation. In chapter 11 we see God s promised dealings with Israel. The key concept is God s sincerity. What are we to make of Romans 9? Paul will show that as a nation, Israel was persistently rebellious and only a small remnant constituted the true Israel. In Romans 10 Paul shows that the Jew today is on the same footing as the Gentile and needs to accept Christ his Saviour. In Romans 11 he shows that, in a coming day, God will regather and restore Israel and fulfill all the ancient promises, which centered in the people and the land. I believe the rebirth of Israel is a divine harbinger of this coming national and spiritual future for Israel, once God s purposes in the church are complete (John Phillips no. 50; adapted from 100 New Testament Sermon Outlines). Paul refuses to remain alone on the mountain top. He will march back down into the valley from where he came. Paul loves the Jewish people so much, he will suffer whatever sacrifice is necessary to preach Christ and him crucified for the remission of sin. Paul will not go quietly to heaven, or go alone. Paul wants his family saved. Paul 1

2 wants his people saved. Why are Christians so heaven-bent as to insist everyone must come to Christ? Why can t you just leave people alone? Eternity is at stake. There is a hell to be avoided at all costs. And there is a heaven to be obtained no matter the loss. Jesus Christ is the answer to man s ultimate need! Paul s Love for Israel (vv.1-3) Paul peers out from the mountain top of salvation by grace alone through Christ alone but realizes he must not go to heaven alone. It s as if a tug takes place inside of his heart and remembers his Jewish roots and his Jewish family. Paul describes his motive for ministry. It is sincerity, sorrow and sacrifice. There is a sense of urgency toward those who are lost without Christ. Paul is accused of being a traitor to his faith, and his family and his heritage. Do you realize that many people who come to Jesus Christ are accused of the exact same thing? I felt that way. Do you remember when you got saved? Do you remember the emotion that welled up inside of you as you considered the circumstances of your family and friends? Do you realize that when Paul preached Jesus Christ, he preached freedom from religion, he ministered to Gentiles and spoke of freedom from the law of Moses. Paul was accused of not really loving his people. Nothing could be further from the truth. When people are saved from their religious traditions people are accused of not loving their family. People come to Christ from Catholicism, liberal Protestantism, Mormonism, Jehovah s Witnesses, the New Age, atheism, skepticism, agnosticism. What is your attitude towards your lost family? Love and Sincerity (v.1) Romans 9:1 (NKJV) 1 I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, Paul calls his conscience as a witness, but the witness of the conscience is not always reliable. In this case it is informed and instructed by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit attests to the truth of Paul s statement. Paul s conscience confirmed his feelings in the Holy Spirit. Paul s motive was not to win converts in order to add notches to his Bible. Paul s motive was not crowns or reward. Paul s motive was not to build a big church or win the admiration of thousands of people. Paul was motivated by sincerity, sorrow and sacrificial love. Have you agonized over your love ones who have rejected the message of salvation in Christ Jesus the Lord? They don t seem to like what I say. Paul was beaten, imprisoned, wherever Paul went the Jews seemed to stir up trouble for Paul and his ministry. Even Christian Jews seemed bent to try and undermine the gospel of grace for lower forms of Christianity with Judaistic rules and rituals which undermined the gospel of grace. I suspect Paul would have thought his admission of love would be met with skepticism, so Paul uses the language of solemn affirmation I tell the truth in Christ. 2

3 Love and Sorrow (v.2) Romans 9:2 (NLT) 2 My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief. One of the challenges Paul faced was the accusation is God really faithful? Paul has argued that the Christian believer is secure in Christ. What about the Jews? They were chosen by God, yet now Paul is saying they have been set aside? God is building a church? Did God fail to keep his promises to Israel? If God is not faithful to Israel, how can we trust God to be faithful to us? The very character of God is at stake! Paul looks at Jesus and rejoices. Paul looks at the Jews and weeps! Love and Sacrifice (v.3) Romans 9:3 (NLT) 3 for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters. I would be willing to be forever cursed cut off from Christ! if that would save them. Exodus 32:32-33 (NLT) 32 But now, please forgive their sin and if not, then blot me out of the record you are keeping. 33 The Lord replied to Moses, I will blot out whoever has sinned against me. How do we understand the love of a Moses or Paul? We have only brief glimpses, but the ultimate revelation is the heart of Jesus. Jesus is not willing that any perish, but all have eternal life. Paul is willing to stay out of heaven for the sake of the saved. Paul is willing to go to hell for the sake of the lost! We owe it too Paul to at least reflect over his sorrow and willingness to sacrifice himself. Shall we let Paul have this unceasing sorrow and pain alone? I think Paul expects our sympathy in the Spirit of God! There were grace-hating Jews in Paul s day who accused the apostle of being an apostate Jew, one who denied the faith of his fathers, bitter against his own race in order to cultivate the favor of Gentiles. Paul was accused of being a basher of Judaism! Acts 21:28 (NLT) 28 yelling, Men of Israel! Help! This is the man who teaches against our people and tells everybody to disobey the Jewish laws. He speaks against the Temple and he even defiles it by bringing Gentiles in! How do we begin to comprehend the love of one man who was willing to be lost in order to reach his blind, disobedient, kinsmen? Paul was willing to go to hell if that meant his religious relatives could be saved. What are you willing to do? Are you willing to at least love them? Are you willing to tell them 3

4 about Jesus? Are you willing to suffer their ridicule and misunderstanding? Are you willing to have them question your sincerity and love? Are you willing to pray for your family? Are you willing to learn the Bible? Are you willing to be at least equipped for the task of tenderly telling them about Jesus? Are you willing to reason from the Scriptures with your Mormon, Catholic, Jewish, Atheist, no religion, every religion, kooky religion family member? Gino, I am offended. Are you suggesting my Catholic family members are not Christians simply because they are Catholic? No I am suggesting your Catholic family members are unsaved for the same reason you were unsaved but involved in a religious tradition. I am suggesting that all people who have resisted the Holy Spirit and rejected Jesus Christ as the sole, exclusive means of salvation are lost. Jude 3 (NKJV) 3 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. There are grace hating Catholics and Protestants and world religious communities. What is the faith once delivered for all the saints if it is not the gospel of grace? Is the gospel of Rome, is the gospel of liberal protestants and loony latter day saints different from the gospel of Paul the apostle and Jesus Christ? This love is reflected in the many missionaries who have risked their lives to tell people about Jesus in every generation, on every continent. This is the kind of love that sent Hudson Taylor to China, Livingstone to Africa, and John Wesley to the Americas. This is the kind of love where ridicule and pain does not make the love go away. This is love stronger than death. This is the kind of love that drew God s Son away from the glory of heaven to the mission field of the earth, to die in agony, blood and shame upon a cross. Israel s Special Privileges before God (vv.4-6) Israel s Specific Adoption (v.4a) Exodus 4:22 (NKJV) 22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, Thus says the Lord: Israel is My son, My firstborn. Deuteronomy 7:6 (NKJV) 6 For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. Amos 3:2 (NKJV) 2 You only have I known of all the families of the earth; Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. No other nation has this unique position before the Lord God. Is God s election of Israel absolute and eternal? I believe the answer is yes! 4

5 Isaiah 66:22 (NKJV) 22 For as the new heavens and the new earth Which I will make shall remain before Me, says the Lord, So shall your descendants and your name remain. Israel s Experience of the Glory of God (v.4b) What is the glory? It is the presence of God, the Shekinah. When Israel was being led out of Egypt the presence of the Lord appeared as a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night. The presence or glory of God filled the tabernacle. No other nation have experienced the glory of God in such a way. Exodus 25:8; 21; 22 (NKJV) 8 And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. 21 You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you. 22 And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel. Israel s Partnership In Covenants (v.4c) A covenant is a binding legal arrangement. Do Gentiles have a covenant with God? Hebrews 13:20 (NKJV) 20 Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, God made a covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15. God promised to give Abraham s earthly seed, the token of circumcision. In Genesis 22 God confirmed the promise to Abraham s seed, which is Christ (Gal. 3:16). With David God made an earthly kingdomcovenant that one of David s descendants should sit upon his throne forever (II Sam. 7:13); we find Gabriel announcing to Mary in Luke 1.32,33. God says He will make a New Covenant in the future with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah (Heb. 8:8-12, quoted from Jer.31:31,ff), in connection with which He promises to bring Israel back into their land, to take away the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, to put His Spirit within them, to cause them to walk in his statutes, and keep His ordinances, and to do them (Ezek )(Newell p.359). Israel s Stewardship Of the Law (v.4d) The Jewish people were entrusted with the Bible, with the Word of God. Every single writer of the Old Testament was a Jew. Other nations have received instructions from God but it was always in relation to Israel. No nation received a direct Word from the Lord unless you count some of the pagan nations like Assyria who were told of impending judgment. Egypt was warned by Moses, Nineveh was warned by 5

6 Jonah. There were written messages Isaiah but these were given to Israel concerning the nations. Israel s Worship In the Temple (4e) The word service is the Greek word latreia. The word refers to worship, ordinances, worship in connection to the service in the tabernacle. In other words temple worship service. These services will be resumed in the Millennium Kingdom we learn in Ezekiel. At that time the ordinances and offerings will serve as a memorial, rather than prophetic, as in the days before Christ died. It will be kind of like a reenactment. You should take special note that this outward-form worship belongs to the nation Israel and not to Christianity. We cannot reintroduce this without returning to paganism (see Newell p.360). Galatians 4:9-10 (NKJV) 9 But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? 10 You observe days and months and seasons and years. Paul is making reference to the forms and ceremonies of Jewish tradition. Israel s Salvation Promises (4f) Salvation promises were found in Abraham. Kingdom promises are found in David. No such promises were given to the Gentile nations. Think carefully. The gospel as it is now proclaimed is not so much a promise as an announcement of fact to be believed; the gospel is not so much preached to nations but to people individuals good news to sinners everywhere. But Israel was given promises as a nation. Gentiles do not have to become Jews in order to obtain Christ. We can enjoy God s salvation in Jesus Christ the Lord not through rules and ordinances and sacrifices we are in Christ. The promises apply to Israel as a nation and to no other nation. Israel s Family Heritage (v.5a) Paul is referring to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and to Jacob s sons. More specifically to Joseph and Judah the vessel of royal promise and blessing to Israel. Our hearts include Moses, Samuel, David and the prophets when we think of Israel and remember the fathers. But to Abraham he is the father of all them that believe. So he is our father. Israel s Messiah (v.5b) 6

7 What a powerful statement of Jesus Christ s deity. In the beginning of Romans 1:3 Jesus is born of the seed of David according to the flesh. Jesus was a Jew. In John 1 14 we read, The Word became flesh. Hebrews 2:16 (NKJV) 16 For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. Matthew 1:1 (NKJV) 1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham: Colossians 1:16-17 (NKJV) 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. What is Paul doing? Why is Paul saying all of this? Because Paul wants to remind us of the sovereignty of God. Paul is defending himself (and us) against the charge of teaching that God has been unfaithful in his promises toward Israel. He also shows that Israel s own Scriptures had foretold their temporary rejection and the salvation of the Gentiles. He then shows the great future blessing which will come to Israel, in God s sovereign mercy. Paul is saying all of this because all the blessings of God were given to Israel so that Jesus Christ, through Israel might bless and then save the world. Jesus Christ is God. In spite of all these blessings, Israel did not receive but rather rejected her messiah. In spite of all the blessings you have received, some of you have still rejected the messiah. Israel rejected him and crucified him. Israel persecuted the band of believers. No one knew this better than Paul. No one hated Christians more than Saul the Pharisee in the beginning. Does Israel s resistance and rejection mean God has failed? No? Does your family or friends resistance or rejection of the gospel mean Christ has failed? No! Sneak peak at verse 6: But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel. The word taken no effect pictures a ship that has gone off course. God is faithful no matter what men may do with His word. Conclusion 7