Flipside Christian Church

just to reiterate what Jeff said
at the beginning, there was a little,

medical issue at the beginning,
at the end of last service.

And that's why we got,
just holding people off.

So thank you for your patience.

And, I think everything's
going to be all right.

But if you think about it,
just just put a man named Mark

in your prayers this week, that,
he continues to walk.

And I think what what God intervened in,

in a good way. So,

we're in Romans nine,

and we're going to we're going
to we're going to unpack Romans nine.

But before we do, I need

to let you know that, Sean,
I got really good news this week.

And yesterday our third grandson was born,
which is really cool.

They named him Randy after my dad.

And, he is perfect and precious.

And at the.

I leave today to go to Portland to run
the Discovery Center till Wednesday

of church planters
and a bunch of planters from Ukraine

that were coming over to
so I can go do churches there.

And then we

leave
on Friday after I get back to be in Idaho

with our family for a few days,
which is going to be a lot of fun.

Our eldest grandson gets to play
in his first flag football game,

which is exactly as God intended it to be,

although there is still sin in the world

and he has to be on the Patriots team,
which is

really unfortunate.

In chapter nine.

Most people who have read the Bible,

when it comes to Rome and say,
I love the book of Romans,

what I've discovered is what they love
is chapter eight

on love the book of Romans.

They love chapter eight
because we love the idea.

There's no condemnation
in Christ. I love that

God works all things together for good.

I love that
nothing can separate him from his love.

I love that
I have no clue what's at nine, ten, 11.

The way the book is, is structured
verse chapters

one through the first part of chapter
three is about the wrath of God,

and that we're separated from God by sin.

The last part of chapter three

all the way through chapter
eight, is about the grace of God.

And that's
what people love from nine, ten, 11.

Those chapters is about the plan of God

specifically
as it relates to the Israel nation.

And then 12 through 16
is about the will of God

and how we live this out in the world
as apprentices of Jesus.

And so we finished the section
on the Grace of God last week,

and we enter this section
about the plan of God

specifically as it relates to the, the,
the Israel nation.

And so most people, when they read this
like, what does this have to do with me?

There are so many parallels

and so many truths that we can gain

from the study of nine, ten,
11 as God relates to his people

and how he relates to those who are not
Jews, in other words, called Gentiles.

Chapter nine is about his rules past.

Chapter ten is about Israel's present,
and chapter 11 is about their future.

And so there is
there's a lot for us in this.

But before we get into it, I need

I just need to give it a little bit of of,

insight as to where this
where chapter nine is headed.

It Paul talks a lot about the Jews

and the Jews he talks about are Jews

ethnically those born Jewish

and religiously those who obey Jewish.

So it makes sense.

And then he talks about Gentiles.

That's just a fancy word for non-Jews.

And so biblically, the whole world is
divided, been Jews and Gentiles.

We I haven't checked your DNA,
but most of us are Gentiles, okay.

Just non-Jews.

And then as in unpacking

what he does in chapter nine
about the grace of God,

Paul goes back to Jewish Hebrew
Old Testament, had deep history

because he wants to drive home

the fact that though the Jews
have been called, God shows, right?

Anybody here
that God's chosen people, the Jews.

You heard that even though they're known
as God's chosen, they're God's chosen.

Not because they merit it,
not because they're good,

not because there's something valuable
innately in them.

They're chosen because of God's grace.

Just like anybody
who has a relationship with the father

is not because
we've done something to merit it.

It's because of God's grace.

And so Paul goes back to the Old
Testament, deep in the Old Testament

to say, these people are mine,
but not because they're so special.

I chose them now because I chose them.

They're special, but I didn't choose them
because they're special.

Same thing with us.

And so he goes all the way

back to talk,

to talk about the history of Abraham,
and then talks about the history of

Ishmael and Isaac,
the two sons of Abraham.

And then he talks about Esau and Jacob,
the two sons of Isaac.

And then he talks about Moses
the liberator out of slavery in Egypt.

And he talks about the Exodus
and the golden calf.

Exodus 31 3233
and then he talks about the prophet

Jeremiah, Leah and Hosea, and Isaiah,
and he uses all of this stuff.

This is a deep dive in Old Testament.

Here's part of understanding the Bible.

We cannot understand the New Testament,
Matthew through revelation

if we don't understand
the Old Testament that came before it.

And so Paul is writing to those
who understand Old Testament history,

the Romans, and in Rome, right to Judah.

They understand Old Testament history.

So he draws on all this Old Testament.

So we're going to take a deep dive
into the Old Testament

as you go through chapter nine.
You okay with that?

Okay.
This is what I love about our church.

Like we don't mind
getting in the weeds of the Bible.

And I love the fact
that we're becoming Bible students.

And so if that's already you,
you're going to love this.

If this is newer to you, you're gonna be
like, wow, that was a whole bunch.

But we'll make it through it.

And so,

Paul has just got done
and through these first eight chapters,

making the case that everybody,

Jew and Gentile
alike, are separated from God by sin.

And what has repaired that relationship
is not

the Jewish law of do's and don'ts,
but what's repair?

That relationship is faith in Jesus
because of God's grace, not our own doing.

And so he spent all this time saying,
look, I know that you have the law.

I know you've tried to be good,
but your religion has failed

because religion cannot make that.

It can't fill in the gap.

The only thing that is faith in
Jesus is what he did on the cross

because of God's grace.

And so the natural reaction
to those statements

from the Jew is,
well then what good is being a Jew,

right?

I mean, if non-Jews get what we get,
we're supposed to get what good is earned?

Meaning, what good is all this?

Does it even matter?

And Paul's point is that, oh,
it matters greatly.

Greatly.

And so to that end, verse one
two and three, he says this I'm speaking.

Just follow along. Back there
on the computer.

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 wish 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.

Here's what he's saying.

He's saying God loves the Jews
so much, and I do, too, that if I could

trade places with those who have rejected
Jesus, I would trade places with them.

I would choose to be cursed
and damned to hell if,

my brethren,
the Jews, could come to faith in Jesus.

Can you imagine? That's what he's saying.

I remember
I read this when I was in high school

and I thought,
you have got to be kidding me.

Like when you understand what hell is.

To say, I'll take that
so someone else can be in heaven.

Let me just tell you,
I don't love any of you all that much.

I don't know that.

If you understand.

Hell, that's a profound statement.

If you understand
hell, you want to do everything

within your power to make sure that those

in your heart all know Jesus.

And Paul
isn't just simply being altruistic here.

He is going back to the Old Testament
Exodus,

chapter 32 verses 31 and 32.

Let me set the stage.

He knows Old Testament history,
and he knows that when Moses

was up on Mount Sinai and met with God,
and God downloaded to him

the Ten Commandments
chisel them out and stone Moses.

God's like, hey, Moses, something's
going on in the camp down the hill.

You better get
that he's Moses gone for 40 days.

And so Moses goes
back down and finds all the

Hebrews.

What would be the Jewish
people just living in debauchery and sin?

And they'd taken all the gold

they got from leaving Egypt
and melted it down and made a golden calf,

and rejected God, who had been
so good of them and liberating them,

and started worshiping a golden calf
and God's like.

I'm done with these people.

I'm going to kill them all.

I started without them.

I'll kill them
and start over with some other people.

And Moses says,

he says, alas,
this people have sinned a great sin,

and they've made for themselves
gods of gold.

Look what he says.

But now, if you will forgive their sin.

But if not, please blot me
out of your book that you've written.

He's saying, God, you chose these people.

You've chosen them
when they didn't deserve to be chosen.

You said you'll be faithful to them.

And if you're not going to be,
then white me out of your book.

Moses has said

the same thing that Paul said
Moses said about God's people

when they were running away
from him in the desert.

So this isn't something new.

This is profound.

And Moses is reiterating, I'm sorry.

Paul is reiterating what Moses had said
generations earlier about God's people.

I wish if they could just come,
I would sacrifice my eternity for them.

Now, the good thing is that God doesn't
operate like that.

There's one who did sacrifice herself

for the saving of many,
and that was Christ and Christ alone.

But they do understand Paul's heart here.

You feel his heart.

He's got such a love for his people.

Now look at verse four.

They are these these people.

They are the Israelites.
They are Israelites.

And to them belong the adoption,
the glory,

the covenants, the giving to the law,
the worship and the promise.

What he's saying is these
people are special, not because there was

something innate in them to begin with,
but because God chose them,

and God chose them to reveal to the world
God's plan.

And he starts from them,
from the Israelites, from the Jews

comes the adoption. Now,

earlier when Paul talked about adoption,

we understood that as when a benevolent

person sees something of value
that's in peril,

adopts them into their family, wipes out
all of their bad past, and gives them

all the rights and responsibilities
and identity of the adopted family.

And that's what God has done to us
Gentiles.

He's a doll.

He saw something in us.
He paid a great price for us.

His son and adoption shown
that we are co-heirs with Jesus, his son.

Now Paul says that same adoption
first happened with the Jews.

Here's why.

Because when God started this whole thing,
he didn't have a special people.

There was Adam and there was Eve.

And out of Adam came Noah
and all these others, all

before Abraham, everybody was

they were just people.

And it was with Abraham in Genesis
12 that God says, I will call you out

and take you to
and out of you will come, my people.

So even the Jews were adopted by God.

And the reason why God adopted the Jews,

Abraham's offspring is not
because they were worthy,

and not because they were credible,
and not because they were special.

They were the least
of all the people on the earth.

And God said so that I can look good.

I'm going to choose someone like you

as my special people, and I'm going
to put my specialness on you.

Do you understand?

Israel is one of the names of God,

and the people of God bear his name.

Those who struggle with God,
that's what it means.

So he put his name on them,
not because they were special,

but because he chose them
because of his grace.

Same thing with me in you.

He has sought us.

He has called us
not because there's something innately

good and special about us,
but because of his grace.

Do you understand God?

And the moment we respond to that grace,

then he pours his special ness on us.

So we are special and chosen,
but not because of who we are.

And Paul saying,
yeah, the Jews are important

because it's through them first
that the adoption came.

So any Gentiles been adopted into God's
family is only there

because God adopted the Jews first,

the special because God means so,

and then he goes through this ordeal
and the glory.

It's through the Jews
that the glory of God was revealed.

The glory he's talking about
is the Hebrew word, Tina.

It's the presence of God.

The presence of God
was shown to the world in his glory

through the desert, by a pillar of fire
at night, and a pillar cloud in the day.

And then when the tabernacle was set up

in the ark of the covenant,
all this Old Testament things, God's

glory rested on the ark of the covenant,
on the mercy seat.

It was the mercy of God that expressed
and held the presence of God.

His glory is said.

It's through the Jews that you even
are aware of the glory of God

and the covenants,

the covenant of land through Abraham,
the covenant of law through Moses,

the covenant of the Messiah, of a kingdom
through David,

the New Covenant in Jeremiah

31 of a new law written on our hearts
that we celebrate in communion.

The covenants,
he said, have all come through the Jews.

God chose them.

The giving up the law,
the law that that was intended to express,

our inability to keep it and foreshadow
the one who would keep it for us.

That all came through the Jews,
the worship,

all the worship elements
that had to take place through the Jews,

the sacrificial system,
the washing of everything.

So one would be able to come into God's
presence,

foreshadowing the one who would be
the ultimate sacrifice, Jesus.

All of that came through the Jews

and the promises.

God has made special promises to the Jews

specific to that nation
that he will fulfill.

And what Paul is saying
is, God has chosen you people.

So and he's placed his his love,
his choosing of you on him,

not because you're special,
but God has placed the revelation

of who he is to the world through you

because of his grace,

not just for you, but for the world.

And then and then Paul says this,
and this is a big deal.

Verse five, to them, to the
the Israelites,

the Jews belong the Patriarch
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

And from their race,
according to the flesh

is the Christ who was God
overall blessed forever.

Amen.

This is the strongest statement
of the divinity of Christ

that Paul makes in all of Scripture.

And what we mean by the divinity of Christ
is this truth

that Jesus was fully God and fully human.

It's called the hyper static union,

the only one in all of history

to be fully God and fully human.

Jesus had to be fully both

complete deity in flesh.

We used to call it back in the day,
God in a bad.

And he had to be that.

Here's why.

Because for sin to be forgiven,
it required a perfect sacrifice

and the only perfect eternal sacrifice
is God Himself.

But so you and I can't make a charge

against God said,
you don't know what it's like to be me.

You've never been me.

Jesus had to also be fully human.

So Jesus can say, oh yeah, I do.

I was tempted in every way
like you and yet without sin.

So Jesus
had to be fully both to understand.

So this is Paul strongest statement
of the divinity of Christ in

you, saying that this

God has placed his specialness on you

not because you deserve it,
but because I've chosen you.

Look at verses six and seven,

but it is not as though
the Word of God has failed,

because you made all these promises to the
to the Jews.

For not all who are descended
from Israel belong to Israel,

and not all are children of Abraham,
because they are of his offspring.

But through Isaac
shall your offspring be name.

Let me just explain what's going on.

He's saying, God's made
all these promises to his people,

the Jews, and most of them reject him.

So what good are his promises?

Did God fail?

He chose them. They rejected him.

Doesn't seem like a success, right?

Here's what he's saying.

He said that the rejection by the majority

does not negate
his promises to the minority,

that there will always be
some of his people who believe

and what he says here.

For not all who descended from Israel
belong to Israel,

and just because they were born
a Jew doesn't mean they're God's.

Not all are children of Abraham
because they're his offspring.

Through Isaac,
your offspring will be named.

Now look at verse eight.

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.

Abraham had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac.

Before Abraham had any sons, God told
Abraham, you're going to have a son.

And he and his wife sure were really old.

They couldn't do it.

And so they were waiting and waiting,
waiting for the promise,

the grace of God
to bless them with their son.

They got tired of waiting.

And so, like we
they said, I'm going to do it on my own.

Obviously God's taken too long.

I'm going to do it on my own.

He gets this other gal pregnant name,
Hagar, and he has a son named Ishmael.

So that's the son of the flesh.

Later, God fulfilled the promise

through his wife Sarah, and she had a boy
and they named him Isaac.

And what Paul is saying here is,
just because you're

of the flesh of Abraham
doesn't mean you're descendant of him.

Only those who are sons of the promise,
which is the grace of God.

So every one of us, though Gentile,

are related through the promise to God.

Do you understand?

I'm saying that's Israel,
that's spiritual Israel.

So even Gentiles are spiritual Israel

because we're children of the promise.

Some may choose to follow God
through the flesh.

The law, the Jews.

It doesn't work.

Those of us who choose to follow God
through the promise

spiritual Israel
have the relationship with the father.

You follow, you follow.

God's promise, are still to his people.

He's made other promises
to spiritual Israel

who believe through the promise,
not through the work of the flesh.

Look at verse.

Let me jump down to ten.

Oh, let me just say that.

Let me just say this.

Just because someone claims
the name Israel,

the name of God, doesn't mean
they're people of God.

Similarly, just because someone claims
the name Christian

doesn't mean they're like Christ.

That's the point Paul is making.

Israel was the part of the.

The L was the name of God
is is that to wrestle with?

And so they claim the name of God,
but they're not God's.

Just like how many I how many people
claim, yeah, I'm a Christian.

Sure.

Without ever having a relationship.

And so

what Paul saying here is
look what Christian means.

It was a derogatory term
that means little Christs.

And the early followers of Jesus were made
fun of

by calling them Christians.

Because why would you want to be,
Why would you want to be

like a poor itinerant preacher
who was crucified?

That's shameful.

So they made fun of them
because it was identity with Christ.

What it means to be
a Christian is an apprentice of Jesus.

That as I an apprentice of Jesus,
I walked so closely to him

I get the dust of his footprints
on my clothes.

So though one claims to be a Christian

but doesn't walk as an apprentice

isn't in relationship,
that's what Paul saying.

You follow.

So although I may claim the name,
when you look at the dust that's on me,

I have the dust of the culture,
but not the dust of the Messiah.

I don't act like

I don't date, like I don't post,
like I don't talk like an apprentice

and claim the name
all you want, just like the Jews do.

I mean, there's a relationship.

You follow

jump down to verse ten.

And not only so, but also when.

Rebecca, this is a whole
nother Old Testament thing had conceived

children by one man, our forefather Isaac,
though they they the babies,

though they were not yet
born, had that 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've loved Esau.

I've hated.

That sound harsh?

Yeah,

it sounds harsh,
but let's understand what he's saying.

He's saying Rebecca had these,

had these two babies in her.

And God chose one over the other.

Though they had done nothing yet.

Good or bad,

they were in the womb.

And God chose one over the other,

Jacob over Esau.

And God says, I'm doing it differently.

Normally,
the younger would serve the older.

I'm switching it. And here's why.

Because God, in his omniscience

and foreknowledge,
knows how these lives are going to go.

He knows the nations

that will come from them,
because each will bear nation in them.

And he says, because I know how this is
going to go, though I will call both.

One will respond, Esau is going to reject

me, and his people that eat
him will reject me.

Jacob will choose me.

So because I know he's going to choose
me, I'm going to choose him.

You follow.

And so when the Scripture says, is Jacob,
I've loved Esau.

I've hated
what he's really saying is not love.

Hey, like I don't like him.

God loved Esau still because he

I mean, he blessed him incredibly,
but he didn't choose him for the promise.

What God is saying
is, I have chosen one for the promise.

I have rejected the other for the promise.

It's not a love hate
like I don't like you.

It's a rejection of the promise.

Because he knew in his foreknowledge
that Esau was going to reject him.

So here's what election looks like.

We make the choice to follow God,
and we step through the door

and knock on the door.

Behold, if anybody hears
my knock and opens are all come,

and we open the door and Christ comes in
and we think, yeah, I chose him.

And then we look behind us
and we see written on the door, yeah,

but I chose you first.

Do you understand?

And chose not.

My God hated. He saw.

He loved him, but he knew that
he was going to reject him, which he did.

Before they done anything,

just like us,
we can't do anything to make God love us.

He just offers the invitation

to be his, to receive the promise,

not the work.

Verse 14.

What shall we say
then? Is there injustice on God's part?

By no means.

For he says to Moses,
I'll have mercy on whom all have

mercy, and I will have compassion on
whom I'll have compassion.

So then it depends not on human will
or exertion, but on God who has mercy.

Again, Paul's going back to Old Testament

and way back in the Old Testament
and Exodus 33 verse 19,

When Moses comes down from the mountain,
sees the people

getting stupid, throws
the law on the ground, breaks the law.

What he's saying is,

in that Old Testament
scenario, God had just downloaded his law.

This is how you walk in step with me.

The moment he gave that law,
the people broke it,

which was symbolized by Moses breaking
the statute, the tablets on the ground

and the moment that happened,
God said, Moses, I told you,

these people are stiff necked rebellions,
and they keep rejecting me.

I'm going to wipe them out and start over.

And that's what Moses said.

But if you do that, kill me first.

That's a no, no, no. Okay, fine.

I'll have compassion.

God, then 3000 people died.

There was consequence
for breaking the law.

No consequence,
because that's what the law does.

We can't keep it. We always break it.

And because we break the law, we stand
as law breakers, condemned to death.

And in
that, in Exodus 33, 3000 people died.

But here's the correlation.

This is what we don't later

in in acts two,

verse 41,

the Holy Spirit is given

by God's grace.

When the law came, was broken.

3000 died. In acts two.

When the spirit was given by grace,
3000 came alive,

3000 were saved,
and God was painting this picture.

Listen, the law,

you're going to break it.

And the consequences. Death.

That's
what Paul talked about in Romans 123.

But the gift of God
by his grace is the spirit of life.

And when you make yourself open to that,

you're no longer dead.

And what God said to Abraham back
then is, I will have compassion.

God does say, everybody deserves death.

Everybody. Why?

Because everybody sinned.

Everybody deserves death.

The amazing thing is not that
that some die.

The amazing thing is
that God had compassion on most.

You do understand that.

And so God says, yeah, my initial reaction

was, I'm done with these people,
but I will have compassion.

I will have compassion.

And you know what he says over me and you.

Now your sin deserves death,

but I will have compassion,

I will.

It's a promise.

And watch this.

Verse 17.

For the Scripture

says to Pharaoh, for this very purpose
I've raised you up,

that I might show my power in you,

and that my name
might be proclaimed in all the earth.

So then verse 18, he has mercy on

whom whomever he wills,
and he hardens whomever he wills.

Again, Paul's going back to Pharaoh
in the book of Exodus.

And favorite one.

And God had this real interesting
dialog ongoing.

And God says, fair.

I set you up so I can show the world
how great I am.

But Pharaoh kept rejecting God
and rejecting his work.

And in the Bible
there are Pharaoh and God.

And sometimes the Bible says
Pharaoh hardened his heart.

And sometimes the Bible says
God hardened Pharaoh's heart.

So. So his heart gets hardened.

Targets are sometimes
it's Pharaoh's choice.

Sometimes says God does it.

Does it make any sense?

Is it just for God to condemn someone

when God's the one who hardened his heart?

Now, yeah,

most of you don't want to answer
because we're in church

and we're supposed to say the right thing,
but it's

here's the difference.

There are two words
used for hardened between Pharaoh and God.

One is the word.

I'm making the choice to reject you.

The other is
I am confirming your choice to reject me.

And so when Pharaoh hardened his heart,

Pharaoh made the choice.

God, I've heard your law.

I've seen your work, and I am choosing
to reject you and do my own thing.

And so God confirms his
choice of a hardened heart.

That's how God works with me.

And you.

When we've heard the word,
when we've heard the truth,

when we understand the standard,
when we get it, it's faith.

Because of God's grace.

And we say, God, no,
I'm going to do my own thing.

I'm going to live my own life.

I'm going to make my own standard.

That is you, me choosing a hard heart.

And God will confirm your choice.

That's why the more we say
no to God, the easier

it is to say no to God.

Conversely, when I say God,

my heart is soft and open and tender,
and I will respond,

that's my choice.

And God hardens that choice in me.

And the more you and I say yes to God,
the easier it gets to say yes to God

to understand.

And that's what he did with Pharaoh.

It's interesting.

God worked through both Moses and Pharaoh.

Both were sinners,
and both were murderers.

And one chose to harden

his heart and one chose to soften it.

God confirmed both.

And he will, and you and me to.

Know.

Look,
I realize I'm three minutes over already,

and I got verses
19 through 33 to get through.

And so I'm to do my best to go fast.

Verse 19.

But you will say to me,
why does he, God still find fault?

For who can resist his will?

Who can resist God's will?

But who are you?

Oh man, to answer back to God, well,
what's molded say to its molder?

Why have you made me this?

Like this.

Verse 21 has the potter
no right over the clay to make out of the

same lump one vessel for honorable use,
another for dishonorable use.

Here's what he's saying.

He's going back to the prophet Jeremiah.

Jeremiah chapter 18, verses
one through six.

God tells Jeremiah his prophet, go down
and watch this potter make some call.

Make some pots out of clay.

So Jeremiah goes to the potter's house

and he sees the potter making clay.

And in this one pot
he's got this real hard

like knob of clay that he just can't
work out and mold what he wants to mold.

And so the Potter digs in.

It's like he digs in
and he removes that hard piece of clay,

and it puts more water on
and keeps molding and molding and molding

and makes out of that clay
that's marred and scarred,

that vessel that he wants.

And he's saying,
this is what I do with my people.

I'm the potter,

and I can make it out of my people
what I want to make out of my people.

And sometimes they get real nasty,
hard stuff stuck in them,

and they won't let me mold them.

And rather than cast them away
and throw them out in the potter's

field, just broken and cast off,
I dig that out.

And there might be scars there,
and but I dig that out,

and so I can put the water of my spirit
on them and keep molding them.

So what right does
the pot have to say to the potter?

I don't know what I'm doing.

I'm going to make out of you

something that's crafted by me,
not because you're a worthy piece of clay,

but because of my grace.

Because my grace is greater
than your hardness.

You get it.

What if God is trying to show
wrath visible?

Verse 22.

What if God designed to show his wrath

and to make known
his power has endured with much patience?

Vessels of, of wrath

prepare for destruction in order
to make known the riches of his glory.

For vessels of mercy
which has prepared beforehand for glory.

Look at Paul gets hard to understand.

I get it right so much.

You're like, what are you talking about?

I don't even know what you're like.

Let me explain. You're seeing.

He said some vessels are prepared
for wrath.

Not that God made him for wrath.

They prepare themselves for wrath
because they kept saying no.

So God confirmed their decision.

Say no
and they prepared themselves for wrath.

But what if God allowed that to happen
so he can show them how impatient he is?

Hasn't God been really

patient with some of us?

I mean,

look, God already knows what a knucklehead
we've been, so let's just smile about it

and admit it. We've been knuckleheads

and we prepared ourself for wrath.

We kept saying
no, and God's confirmed that decision.

Yet he's still patient

and he's still merciful.

He says, I will still make out of you
an object of my grace

if you let me.

So that you can be shown
as a vessel for mercy.

And then watch this.

He goes back to Hosea,
even as us whom is called

not from the Jews only,
but also from the Gentiles,

as indeed verse 25,
he quotes this passage from Hosea,

those who weren't my people, I call
my people those who were never loved.

I called, loved the very place
where is written of them.

You're not my people.

They're going to be called
sons of the living God.

Here's what he's going back to.

Hosea,

if you know the story of the prophet
Hosea, Hosea had a really tough ministry.

Hosea was a prophet.

And God said, Hosea,
I want you to go marry this name,

this girl named Gomer,
okay, that's strike one right there.

Like if you're never going to have a baby
like don't name her Gomer.

That's I don't know if there's anybody
named Gomer here I apologize.

But that's just like really like

here's the problem.

Gomer is a prostitute.

So God said marry this woman.

She's going to start hooking.

Like way like I

when I wanted to be a pastor I didn't
want to be that kind of like this. No

he said not only
is she going to be a prostitute,

she's going to keep prostituting herself.
You're going to marry her.

And she was going to have all these babies
from all these other men,

and you got to raise them.

Not only that, she's going
to go back to the house, to prostitution,

and you got to go there as an average John
and buy her out of prostitution.

She's already your wife now.

You got to go pay for her as a prostitute
to buy her from her pimp.

So anybody want to go to ministry with me?

Anybody?

No, I wouldn't want to do that.

I'm like, you got to get somebody else.

But here's what God was saying.

We are not Hosea in the story.

We're Gomer.

Because spiritually
we keep prostituting ourselves

to disobedience

and rejecting God

when he has loved us
and committed himself to us

and continues to come back to us
time and time and time again.

Those spiritually were whores.

So much so, we bear fruit of sin

and he comes back to us
and pays our price.

Not because we were worthy.

Gomer wasn't worthy.

But because he's faithful.

Second Timothy 222.

When you are faithless, I remain faithful.

And God says, I will never divorce you.

I will always choose you.

You don't deserve it.

But I love you and I've chosen you,
and I've called you my.

Because my grace is greater
than your affair

with sin.

You get it?

You just go quickly.

He then goes to Isaiah

and he says, though
the number of the sons of Israel

be as the sea,
only a remnant of them will be saved.

What he's saying
is what we said in the beginning.

The majority have rejected,
but the rejection

of the majority doesn't negate the promise
to the minority because God is faithful,

not because they deserve
to receive his blessing, but because he is

gracious and full of mercy.

Let me jump to

30 and 31 and 32

says witness by faith.

But that Israel, who pursued a law
that would lead to righteousness,

did not succeed in reaching that law. Why?

Because Israel didn't pursue it
by faith based on works.

They stumbled over the stumbling stone.

But when it's through the law,
the Jews tried that.

They missed faith and they tripped over
Jesus.

The Gentiles had no idea about the law.

We're just dumb
and happy, had no idea about God.

And then we hear the message of Jesus

faith by grace and we receive it by faith.

Beautiful.

And Jesus.

The Bible says

in verse 33, he's he's quoting in Isaiah,
behold, I'm laying in Zion

a stone of stumbling
and a rock of offense,

and whoever believes
in him will not be put.

So look, Jesus is offensive to the Jew.

It's just he's just offensive.

Because how does the how does the Messiah,
the chosen one, how does God himself

come as a, as a as a,

a homeless

cross?

It's just shameful.

And they look at that
and they think, there's no way.

And God has said it is so simple.

It's not about your religious behavior.

It's not about who you are.

It's about what I've done
and the simplicity of faith and grace.

Don't trip over this.

See, and that's what the Jews have done,
not all of them.

And God's still faithful to the minority.

Don't trip over this,

as those who don't understand
the totality of God's law were like,

well, yeah, manifest
through Jesus. Fine. Give me Jesus.

Don't trip over it.

So because I'm going to take these vessels

and I want to share
and bear the name of God.

You follow.

He is so good.

And so

choose a soft heart

and a responsive heart.

And let God confirm that in you.

Otherwise,

what will be confirmed is your hard heart.

And I want to warn you about that.

Let's pray.

God, thank you.

Thank you for your faithfulness
to your people.

Thank you that down through the air

so we can see how you have chosen those

who weren't worthy to be chosen

as objects of your mercy and your grace.

Thank you that you confirm the choices
that we choose

about you.

That those who would choose a soft.

That's right.
You confirm that in us. Thank

that repentance.

What?

So, dear friends, I invite

to turn a no into a yes

and say father.

God, I agree with your word

that apart from Jesus,
I'm separated from you

and I cannot solve that problem on my own.

So give your promise

of both forgiveness and eternal life

through Christ.

As I make the decision to say yes,

confirm that decision in my heart

so that it becomes easier to say,
all of you who would so choose this,

I encourage you in this moment,
you are profound.

Help us to live in that truth.

Help us live in that truth.

Bible.

You're going to read chapter nine
this week, and as students of the Bible,

you're going to read chapter
ten and get ready for next week.

This word is profound, man.

It is life changing, a life giving.

And I want us all to experience that.

I love you, it's
been good to be here today.

We got one song
right. Let's stand up and sing.