My text this morning is taken
from the 22nd verse. We will be discussing the first
part of that text. Behold, therefore, the goodness
and severity of God. I say then, have they stumbled
that they should fall? God forbid. but rather through
their fall or through their trespass, salvation is come unto the Gentiles,
for to provoke them to jealousy. Now, if the fall or trespass
of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of
them the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their fullness.
For I speak to you Gentiles inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles,
I magnify mine office. If by any means I may provoke
to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of
them. For if the casting away of them
be the reconciling of the world, What shall the receiving of them
be but life from the dead? For if the firstfruits be holy,
the lump is also holy, and if the root be holy, so are the
branches. And if some of the branches be
broken off, and thou being a wild olive tree were graft in among
them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the
olive tree, boast not against the branches. But if thou boast,
thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say
then, the branches were broken off that I might be grafted in. Well, because of unbelief, they
were broken off. and thou standest by faith, be
not high-minded, but fear. For if God spared not the natural
branches, take heed, lest he also spare not thee. Now for the text. Behold therefore
the goodness and severity of God on them which fell, are on
them that trespass. Severity. But toward thee, goodness,
if thou continue in his goodness, otherwise thou shall also be
cut off. And they also, if they abide
not still in unbelief, shall be graft in. for God is able
to graft them in again. For if thou were cut out of the
olive tree, which is wild by nature, and were graft contrary
to nature into a good olive tree, how much more shall these, which
be the natural branches, be graft into their own olive tree? For I would not, brethren, that
ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise
in your own conceit, that blindness in part is happened to Israel
until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. I had intended to bring the last
message tonight on reprobation and speak to you this morning
as I announced last Sunday evening the subject of acceptance in
Christ. In the light of Ephesians 1.6,
and then using the Old Testament principle, going back and making
a study of the Israelites' acceptance, not in Christ as you and I are
accepted in Christ, but they were accepted before the Lord. whereas we are accepted since
Jesus Christ has already come and paid the price for our redemption
in him. But I felt that there needed
to be at least two more messages, and I wanted to discuss the 22nd
verse of Romans chapter 11 with you. It is a controversial text. The word severity is used only
in this particular verse of scripture in the New Testament. It means
to cut off. That can be easily understood
from the context. First of all, I want to give
to you the outline that we will be following this morning. in
the course of the discussion of this subject. First of all,
we want to investigate the text. Behold, therefore, the goodness
and severity of God. We want to go through the scriptures
and show how, that in every revelation of God, there is always the manifestation,
not only of his goodness, but also of his severity. Number two, we want to learn
that God has decreed to exterminate certain individuals
for the purpose of preservation. Number two, we want to learn
from the Scriptures that God has decreed extermination for
the purpose of preservation. And finally, we must be informed
that God does not pay at the end of every day, but at the
end he does pay. Please observe the way I stated
that. We must be informed that God
does not pay at the end of every day, but at the end he does pay. We're talking about the goodness
and severity of God. One cannot talk about the goodness
of God without discussing to some extent God's
severity. No individual can discuss the
severity of God without to some extent covering the subject of
God's goodness. God is good. The Bible says so. You and I as recipients of grace
know this to be true. He has been very good. to you
and to me." Now look at the text. Behold,
therefore, the goodness and severity of God on them which fell, or
on them which trespassed. Severity. The word is used here
in connection with national Israel being cut off. and God turning
to the Gentile nations to take out of them a people for his
name. In the discussion of the first
10 verses of this chapter last Lord's Day morning, we showed
that God always has an elect remnant, even in the midst of
his elected people, nationally speaking. We will not review
the things that we discussed with you last Sunday morning.
The time came, however, when God turned from national Israel. National Israel was cut off,
and the statement cut off is used to explain the meaning of
the word severity in the 22nd verse. Paul was an apostle to
the Gentiles. He magnified his office, as the
context informs us. Being an apostle to the Gentiles,
he ministered to them. That does not mean that he did
not minister at all to the Jews, but his primary concern was to
carry the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to the
Gentiles. While he was carrying the message
to the Gentiles, he often came in contact with Jewish people.
He had a deep feeling for his own people according to the flesh.
That is why he made the statement in the 10th chapter, My heart's
desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be
saved. for I bear them record that they
have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. They have left
the righteousness of God and have gone about to establish
their own righteousness, and thus they are not submitting
themselves unto Jesus Christ, who is the end of the law for
righteousness to everyone who shall believe. Now, Paul must
warn the Gentiles that as God cut off Israel, I'm talking about
God cutting off national Israel. He is saying to the Gentiles,
the goodness of God that was experienced by national Israel
is no longer being experienced by national Israel. You might
raise the question, what goodness are you talking about? I am talking
about the general goodness of God to the nation of Israel as
a whole. As long as the Israelites walked
in the ways that God had revealed to them through Moses, they enjoyed
the common goodness of God. But when national Israel became
rebellious, when National Israel apostatized. And we have the
climax to Israel's apostasy during the ministry and at the time
of Christ's death. Even during the ministry of our
blessed Lord, the time came when he turned from the Jewish people
and turned to the Gentiles. The Lord Jesus made the statement
that other sheep I have which are not of this foal, that is,
of Judaism. And I will find my sheep, I will
bring them into the ark of safety. The time will come when there
will be one foal and one shepherd. The time came after God cut off
national Israel and turned to the Gentiles that the common
goodness of God that had been experienced by national Israel
was experienced by the Gentile nations. Paul said, now don't
be high-minded. Just as God cut off national
Israel, God can cut off you Gentiles. So don't be high-minded about
your position. We also find within the context
of the passage which I read, the reason that national Israel
was cut off. God had a purpose in doing so.
that through the Israelites salvation could come to you and to me.
We must never forget the important place that national Israel plays
in history. It is from the Israelites that
not only the written word of God, which we hold so dearly,
has come to us, but also the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
according to John chapter 4. Salvation is of the Jews. Thus, both the written word and
the incarnate word have come to us through the Jewish people. Thus, we can say that the Jewish
people serve as the instrumental cause of blessings coming to
us as Gentiles. Paul went on to say, now as they
were cut off and you are wild by nature, talking to the Gentiles,
you have been grafted into this stump. That is, you have been
grafted into the covenant that God has made with national Israel,
as you will find in the 26th verse of Romans 11. So you're
enjoying these blessings from God who is good. But do not be
high-minded but fear, because the time is going to come when
the natural branches that were cut off shall be grafted in once
again. Two references are made to the
fullness of the Gentiles. You will notice first of all
in verse 12, now if the fall or the trespass of them, the
Jews, be the riches of the world or of the Gentile nations, and
the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentile, how much more
their fullness. The last reference to the fullness
is given us in verse 25. I would not, brethren, that ye
should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your
own conceits, that blindness or hardness in part is happened
to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. Then I would like for you to
look at one other text. In this chapter, it is verse
15. For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the
world, What shall the receiving of them be but life from the
dead? Life from the dead is an expression
used by Paul to explain Ezekiel chapter 37. You should, in the
margin of your Bible, put down Ezekiel 37. You remember the
familiar story. of the dry bones and how that
the dry bones came together and there was a resurrection of the
bones after having, of course, received life from the Lord.
So the Apostle Paul is giving a statement here in the 15th
verse that describes the historical account of that great prophecy
of Ezekiel chapter 37. But now after those introductory
remarks, let us notice first of all our text. We want to examine
the phrase, behold the goodness and severity of God. I want to first of all draw an
illustration from nature. Recently, I read this illustration,
and I think it illustrates as far as man is capable of illustrating
this particular point. That is, when one draws an illustration
from nature. First of all, we know that the
Bible speaks of God as being light. 1 John 1, verse 5, and in him
is no darkness at all. We're told, as we draw an illustration
from nature, that there are seven rays. Light is compounded of
seven different rays, but light has two main ingredients. First of all, we have what is
known as the somber rays, and then we have what is known as
the bright rays. The somber rays are blue, indigo,
and violet. The bright rays are orange, red,
yellow, and green. Both are essential to the delicacy
and purity of the substance of light. You see, light is a substance. Now, without the somber rays,
light would be a glare. We could not look at it if it
consisted only of certain rays. So without the somber rays, the
dark rays that we have mentioned, you could not look at light.
So you can see that the eyes would ache beneath the light
if it were not for the somber rays. Without the bright rays,
light would approximate to nothing but darkness. What do we have,
therefore? We have the union of both of
these important ingredients. First of all, the somber rays
united with the bright rays. Now let's leave that natural
illustration for a moment and think about Jehovah God. We're
not to think of him as being a God of love merely. We must think of him as being
a God of wrath. From the very beginning of the
Holy Scriptures to the very last statement in God's word, As I've
already stated, wherever there is a manifestation or a revelation
of God, there is always a revelation not only of his goodness, but
also of his severity. We're going to prove that to
you this morning from the scriptures. We know that holiness justice
and truth are attributes of God's nature as essential to His perfection
as mercy, love, and goodness. Some persons would refer to God
as being a God of love. They do not want to think of
Him as being the God of wrath. But He is the God of wrath and
He is as perfect in his wrath as he is in grace. Suppose there
was no stern defiance on the part of God against sin. I said
just suppose God would be degraded to the level of a pagan deity. And I must tell you this morning
that the God that most religionists is worshiping today has been
leveled to nothing more than a pagan deity. They do not know
the God of Revelation, the God who is revealed in the Holy Scriptures. Suppose, on the other hand, there
was an absence of love. God would be supplanted For God
is love, we're told in 1 John chapter 4 and verse 8. When we
combine goodness and severity, or when we combine love and righteousness,
we have the scriptural idea of the Most High God. Look at the text now. There is
a goodness. And according to the same text,
there is also severity. You cannot deny there is goodness
in God, neither can one deny that there is severity. I've already told you that severity
is used only in this particular passage in the New Testament
scriptures. It denotes that which is involved
or it does involve God's justice or his retributive justice. Now, first of all, let us look
at the statement. Goodness, there is goodness. This fact is seen in every realm. It doesn't make any difference
whether you look into the realm of nature into the realm of providence,
generally speaking, into the realm of Holy Scripture. It doesn't
make any difference whether you consider the ministry and work
of Jesus Christ or the prophetical scriptures. Wherever you look,
you find the goodness and severity of God. Let's take nature for
a moment. and observe nature. We wake up this morning, the
sun is shining beautiful. Beautiful blue sky when we first
get up. After a good rain during the
night or late yesterday evening or afternoon, we say, everything
looks so refreshed this morning. And that's true. So we talk about
the goodness of God. We are reminded of that prophecy
in the 23rd chapter of 2 Samuel, a statement made by King David
when he referred to the bright shining sun after a tremendous
storm. He talks about the morning without
clouds. clear shine after a night storm. We say that the rain is a manifestation
of God's goodness, and it is. To the farmer, when he gets rain
in season, he talks about the goodness of God. To you who have
your gardens, If things begin to get dry, you look forward
to a rain, because after all, a rain can do more for your garden
than all the water that can come from your hydrant. So you talk
about the goodness of God. Well, don't forget, just as there
is a manifestation of goodness in the rain, in the snow, and
many other manifestations in nature, There is also a manifestation
of his severity when he sends the tornado, when he sends the
cyclone, when he sends the hurricane. These are manifestations in nature
of God's severe action upon the earth and upon his people. So we have in nature, a manifestation
not only of goodness, but of his severity. This cannot be
denied. Any rational person knows this
to be a fact. Let's go to Providence. When
we think about providence, I know of no greater passage of scripture
than the second chapter of 1 Samuel. When we think about providence,
we know that God raises up some, and he takes some off of their
high pedestal. He kills some, and he gives some
life. He is the sovereign God. He has
a right to do with his own as he pleases. You'll notice beginning
with the very first of the second chapter of 1 Samuel, references
made to the holiness of God. I think references made to the
holiness of God for a reason. Before we get to the subject
of God's severity, which is also described in this chapter. The
holiness of God must be mentioned as the basis for everything. Verse two, there is none holy
as the Lord, for there is none beside thee, neither is there
any rock like our God. In verse three, talk no more,
so exceeding proudly. Let not arrogancy come out of
your mouth, for the Lord is a God of knowledge. He's omniscient. He knows all things, and by him
actions are weighed. Drop down, if you will, please,
now to verse six. The Lord killeth. Have we ever forgotten that every
step we take, every breath we breathe, is because of the sovereign
God? We talk about living moment by
moment, and that's right. But let us not forget that we
live breath by breath. by the sovereign God of the universe. The Lord killeth and maketh alive. He bringeth down to the grave,
he bringeth up. The Lord maketh poor and maketh
rich. He bringeth low and lifteth up. This is seen throughout God's
providential dealings with mankind. He raises up the poor out of
the dust and lifted up the beggar from the dunghill to set them
among princes and to make them inherit the throne of glory for
the pillars of the earth of the Lord's and he has set the world
upon them. What are we talking about? We're
talking about the manifestation of the goodness and severity
of God in Proverbs. He makes the poor rich, that's
a manifestation of his goodness. He makes the rich poor, that
reveals his severity. He kills some, that's a manifestation
of his severity. He gives life to others, that manifests his goodness. You and
I who have assembled in this auditorium this morning have
experienced not only the general goodness of God, but most of
us have and do experience the grace of salvation. That's God's goodness. So when one looks at this portion
of Scripture, and this is only one out of many, that teaches the absolute sovereignty
of God. Let's leave Providence for a
few moments and go to the Bible itself. You can start in at the
very beginning of Genesis. You can discuss, for instance,
the subject of the fall. In the study or the discussion
of the subject of the fall, you see not only goodness, but also
severity. The goodness of God is reflected
in the fact that he made Adam in his own image and after his
likeness, and pronounced him not just good, but according
to the record, very good. Very good. When you leave the
fall of Adam, we know that in the fall, we have the severity
of God. The goodness of God reflected
in God's creation of Adam in his image and after his likeness.
Adam sinned, and when he sinned, we see the manifestation of God's
severity. because he said, the day that
you eat of the forbidden fruit, that day you will die. That reflects
his severity. We go from this portion of scripture
to the account of the flood in the seventh, eighth, and a portion
of the ninth chapters of Genesis. Here, once again, we see a manifestation
not only of God's goodness but of his severity. Corruption had
covered the earth as waters cover the sea. God looked upon man
whom he had made and repented that he had made man, as we're
told in the first part of the sixth chapter. But Noah, That's a significant
statement. But Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. In the midst of all the corruption,
Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. The time came when
God must exterminate man from the face of the earth
because of his corruption for the preservation of those who are fit. Did you know that the first 11
chapters of Genesis give to us one half of the historical account
of God's dealings with mankind? Most of us do not stop to think
about that. We have in the first 11 chapters one half, one half
of the historical record of the Bible in that one little portion
of Scripture. Can't you see now why that religionists
today are attacking this portion of Scripture? I can understand
it and so can you. There is no portion of scripture
being attacked by higher criticism any more than the first 11 chapters
of Genesis. In those chapters we have compressed
one half of the history of mankind on the face of this earth. That's
something to think about. We leave the account of the flood
where we have seen not only a manifestation of God's goodness in Noah who
found grace in the eyes of the Lord, but his severity in destroying
every person with the exception of Noah, his wife, his three
sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their wife. eight persons
were preserved by God to begin a new beginning on the face of
the earth. We leave this account and we
go to Solomon Gomorrah in the 18th and 19th chapters of Genesis. Once again we see a manifestation
of God's wrath, but do not forget Abraham Abraham was God's friend, his faithful friend. Abraham
had faith, he believed, and Abraham was God's righteous
servant, serving in the midst of chaos and confusion. It became necessary to destroy
both Solomon and Gomorrah, and God did just that. What is the lesson for us to
learn from that portion of scripture in the 18th and 19th chapters
of the book of Genesis? We must learn that the world
is under judgment. Unless Christians accept the
fact that this world system is under judgment, the testimony
will never be what it ought to be for the Lord. You and I know that this world
system is under judgment, just as Sodom and Gomorrah were under
judgment. We leave this period in the history
of mankind And we go to the entrance of Israel into the promised land. Once again, we see throughout
the warfares that existed in Canaan, a manifestation of God's
goodness and severity. The subsequent dealings of God
with his stiff-necked people, the Israelites. also reflect
the same biblical truth. We come to the ministry of our
blessed Lord. We know that throughout the ministry
of Christ, he not only manifested love and compassion, but there
were times when he showed that he was the God of
wrath. He was severe. He was severe. when he drove the money changers
out of the temple and said to them, you're making my house
a house of merchandise. There is severity. It cannot be denied. When one
goes to the cross, and we'll use this in some of our concluding
statements this morning, we see once again, and I think really,
the greatest manifestation, not only of goodness, but also of
severity on the part of the holy and righteous God. There is goodness. I said not only is there severity,
there is goodness. Along with God's severity, there
is goodness. They meet together. in the fullest
harmony to the student of Scripture, who is spiritually illuminated. When God is severe, it is never
because of his delight in human suffering. It is always because
of his justice, holiness, and truth. There are two different
views of the Godhead that are prevalent today. as well as in
times past. First of all, there are some
who think of God as a God of goodness and nothing else. Such
a false view apart from severity would lull the individual into
a state of fatal complacency. On the other hand, There are
those who are in danger of looking only at the severity of God and
they cannot see His goodness. That leads to fatalism and there
are a great number of fatalists today. Man's distance from God
sheds a darkness over God's character and ways. over his wrath as well as his
goodness. Now, how are we to look at God?
We're to look at God just as he is presented in this text
of Scripture. Behold, therefore, to whom is
Paul writing? He's writing to Christians. Christians
who were residing at Rome. Behold, therefore, that's important,
isn't it? For you to behold, behold the
goodness, he doesn't stop, and severity of God. Don't be guilty of beholding
his goodness and rejecting or just passing by his severity,
but put them together. I like what someone has said,
and I quote, Persons who do not see both severity and goodness
in their proper perspective are at a great distance from God. That's it. Whenever you talk
to an individual and all he wants to talk about is the goodness
of God, he wants to ignore the severity of God. That is proof
that he is at a great distance from God. And I'll tell you how
far that distance is. It's far enough to not know him
as Savior and Lord in the light of the epistle to the Ephesian
saints. Paul in addressing the Ephesians referred to them as
having been afar off. Afar off. But now, having been
brought nigh by the blood of Jesus Christ. The writer was
right. He was correct when he said,
having been brought nigh by the blood of Jesus Christ. The writer
was right. He was correct when he said that
unless persons see both goodness and severity in their proper
perspective, It is an evident fact that they are at a great
distance from God. When one magnifies his severity
and doesn't have anything to say about the goodness of God,
once again we say that individual is at a great distance from God. But beloved, there is another
picture for us to see. And what is that picture? What
is that picture? We see, first of all, the meaning
of the text. The goodness and severity of
God. He's not only good, he's not
only a God of grace, a God of love, but he's a God of wrath. He's a just God. He's a righteous
God. He is so holy, he can't even
look upon sin. That's how righteous he is. That's
how holy he is. God's righteousness and his mercy
are found combined in Jesus Christ. who was made sin for us, who
was made a sin offering for us. The justice of God is revealed in the death of Jesus
Christ. Sin had to be paid for. Justice has been satisfied. Righteousness and peace have
met. in Jesus Christ, and the glorious
gospel which we proclaim today is the message of God's righteousness
and his goodness meeting in the person of Jesus Christ. Without Christ, there is no hope. In Christ, the righteousness
of God has been satisfied. The justice of God has been satisfied. We're clothed with his righteousness.
We experience his goodness and grace because of our relationship
to him. I'd like for us to think about
the Old Testament prophets. The Old Testament prophets were
called seers. They saw something. were not
able to make the distinctions that you and I, this side of
the cross, are capable of making. We sometimes wonder why Isaiah
the prophet, in the ninth chapter of his prophecy, would talk about
the Lord Jesus Christ as being the Prince of Peace, and the
government resting upon his shoulders. We know that Jesus Christ is
going to come as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is the
Prince of Peace. When we go to the 53rd chapter
of the same prophecy, Isaiah sees the Lord Jesus Christ not
as the reigning king, but there he pictures him He gives a prophecy
of his suffering, of his death. Now Isaiah was a seer. How can
we explain this? It seems that they couldn't make
any distinction between the coming of Jesus Christ as the man of
sorrows, acquainted with grief, and the one who would come in
power and great glory. I think I can illustrate it in
a very simple manner. Since the prophets were seers,
that means that they were able to see things from a great distance. They were prophets. They were
giving predictions. They were prophesying as to what
would take place in the future. Those of us who have done a little
traveling, and especially those of us who enjoy the mountains,
have, I'm sure, when we would be some 50 miles distance from
a range of mountains, and as we would look at the mountains,
we would see maybe two peaks that would stand up above all
the other peaks of the mountain range. To us it looked like those
two peaks were real close together, because we were looking at those
two peaks, maybe from a distance of 50 or 60 miles, as we would come nearer and nearer
to the mountain range. we would find as we approached
the mountains that there was a large, long valley between
the two major peaks of the mountain range. Now, that long valley could not
be seen by us from a great distance. All we could see in that mountain
range would be the two peaks standing up above all the others.
But we couldn't see the long valley in between them. Do you get the picture? As Isaiah,
a seer, looked into the future, because that is the meaning of
prophet, seer. He could see from a distance.
Thus he prophesied. First of all, he saw the mountain
peak of Christ's first advent. He would come as the men of sorrows
acquainted with grief. He saw also in that same mountain
range the other peak, and he talked about him coming as the
Prince of Peace. You and I stand this side of
the cross. We know that Jesus Christ has
come. The prophets could not see that
valley in between, that long valley in between the two peaks. You and I can. What do you think
the Apostle Peter meant? I'd like you to turn to 1 Peter
chapter 1. Peter had this in mind in his first letter, a general
epistle. We'll begin reading with verse
11. Searching what are what manner
of time the spirit of Christ, when it testified beforehand
the sufferings of Christ. That's mountain peak number one.
and the glory that should follow. That's the second mountain peak. Now verse 12, unto whom it was
revealed that not unto themselves, but
unto us they did minister the things which are now reported
unto us. Notice But unto us they did minister
the things which are now reported unto you by them that have preached
the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven,
which things," he said, the angels desire to look into. You and I, beloved, stand in
a position to be able to see this long battle. We're standing
between the prophecy of Christ's first advent, he's already come,
and his coming in power and great glory. Now the prophets could
not see that in this long valley, there will also be another manifestation
of God's goodness and severity. I want to explain that to you.
This is where we are today, and since this is where we are as
Christians, this has a very important lesson for us. So the Old Testament
prophets presented the coming of Jesus Christ under two very
contrasted aspects. Our Savior was presented first
of all as the man of solace and secondly as the prince of peace. The early Christians could distinguish
between the first coming of Jesus Christ for crucifixion and the
coming of Jesus Christ the second time for coronation. You and I, can make that same
distinction. We know that Jesus Christ has
come. He has been crucified. He is coming the second time
for coronation. Not for crucifixion, but coronation. The apocalyptic hope has been
too long obscured in present-day Christianity. Many have tried
to establish the kingdom by their own efforts during the absence
of the king. Religions today are trying to
do that very thing, but they are failing, and many of them
are beginning to realize that they are failures. Because of
their failures, some of them are becoming quite discouraged,
and they should. They should. In fact, they need
to be pointed to the great prophetical truths of God's Word. There is
a great deal of pessimism today. Pessimism. Now, I believe that
our blessed Lord was not only a realist, but he was an optimist.
Did you know that every Christian is a realist, but he's also an
optimist? What do you mean by that? The
hope of the present is in the future. You think about that
a moment? That's exactly what the Apostle
Paul is presenting throughout the latter part of the 11th chapter
of the book of Romans. The hope of the future, or the
hope of the present, rather, is in the future. So even during
the ministry of our blessed Lord, He was a realist. But while he
was a realist, he was also an optimist. Why? Because the hope
of the present was the future. And the hope of our present is
the future, it is not the present. Now let's look at this long valley
in between these two mountain peaks of prophecy. This is where
we live. We're pilgrims and strangers
here. We're journeying through this time. Informed Christians
know that Christ came the first time not to bring universal peace
and prosperity. He came not to bring peace, but
a sword. Matthew chapter 10, verse 34. I will use an expression drawn
from the gospel according to Luke. Luke words it a little
different. Luke says he came not to bring
peace, but rather division. I want to illustrate something. So many people today, even though
they talk about religion and they're affiliated with some
religious organization, If you were to confront them with these
two passages of scripture, Matthew 10, 34, and Luke chapter
12 and verse 51, they wouldn't know what to do with them. I
was telling a couple of our men before the service this morning,
they wouldn't know what to do with those two texts any more
than they would know what to do with Romans 9. The very idea of Jesus Christ
coming, not to bring peace, but a sword. You see, the sword must
do its work before there can be real peace. The sword of the
word must do its work before there can be peace in the heart.
And there has to be division before there can really be the
enjoyment of peace. One of our young men is experiencing
something right now that many of you have already experienced
in your Christian life. All Christians are tested in practically the same manner.
Now, the Lord doesn't always use exactly the same thing to
test one person that he does to test another person. He doesn't
test one person as severely as he might test another individual.
The Lord knows just exactly what each one of us is capable of
bearing. Therefore, according to 1 Corinthians
10, verses 12 and 13, Whenever we are tested, as Christians
we have the assurance that God has made a way for our escape. He will not tempt us or try us
above that which we will be able to endure. Isn't that a blessing? That's a manifestation of His
goodness, isn't it? He isn't going to test you. He
isn't going to put anything upon you that you are not capable
by grace to withstand. This young man was telling me,
and I rejoiced in this because actually the letter or a portion
thereof which he read to me reflected not a condemnation in the eyes
of informed Christians, but a great testimony. In fact, it
was a compliment. This young man's sister was in
our services some, oh, two months ago. And after returning back to her
home, she had not talked with this young man since he has,
I guess, face-to-face, since he has become a Christian. And
so after leaving and thinking about her conversation with him,
She wrote back and she said, you know, I would not have known
you except for your facial appearance. You're not the same person. That's
right. And you know what has happened
in that home? Here's what's happened. A division. Christ Jesus said,
I came not to bring peace, but a sword. I came not to bring
peace, but rather division. Now this young woman after leaving,
she didn't see him, and you know what she said? I would rather
have you as you were, not as you are. How do you like that? He saw through it immediately. Beloved, that is exactly what
takes place. That is what is taking place
during this valley experience through which we're traveling.
It's a time of suffering. It's a time of God's grace rescuing
the elect from among the Gentiles. But when the fullness of the
Gentiles has come in, then the Lord Jesus Christ will rule out
of Zion. He will deal once again with
national Israel because he has not forgot his covenant which
he made with national Israel according to the 26th verse of
Romans chapter 11. Now what have we seen thus far
in our study of this text this morning? We have seen, first
of all, the manifestation of God's goodness and severity. We also know that God has decreed
extermination for the purpose of preservation. Someone stated
it like this, extermination of the filthy for the preservation
of the fit. I like that. You say, well, that's
puritanical. That's okay. It's good, isn't
it? And then think about that statement
for a moment and go back. What would have happened to the
world had not God exterminated, so to speak, corrupt mankind
from the face of the earth during the time of Noah? What would
have happened if God had not exterminated the people of Solomon
Gamara.