It's good to see you all here
this morning. I'm so glad the Lord has brought us back together
again. We might worship him for the
preaching of his word. We want to remember those who
have great needs this morning. And I first of all want to give
thanks. We always want to put the needs
first. We should rather put the thanks
first. And I'm thankful the Lord blessed
Wendy that she is doing better. We asked and he gave. What a blessing. What a blessing
it is. Tia, you're doing well. You didn't
get sick through the COVID that they had at the conference that
they were seen to spread around. But you, the Lord saved you from
it. And here's Terrence, the Lord
was sick and he brought him here. And God has done wonderful things
for us. And these are just These are
just small things. The tale of His excellent greatness. He is worthy of praise. I know
we sing so feebly here in this world. Can you imagine the joy
and the praise of the saints this morning? This morning. You say this morning and they
don't have any concept of this morning or that morning. It's
an eternal day. where they are, and they are
praising Him with all of their souls. Is that not what we want
to do? I want to praise Him with all my soul, all my heart. I pray He give us such thankful
hearts. He's given us small benefits,
but what shall we say to these things if God be for us? God for you? Is God for you? Who can be against you? Great
things he has done for us. What great things. And yet there
are still people who have needs. I tell you, we have a needy bunch
of people. How long do you think he would
put up with you? If you had to deal with you and your needs,
Always clamoring. You know, we get tired of hearing
people come to us with problems. We get tired. He's never tired. He's never worn out. Never frustrated
with you. You're frustrated with you, but
he's not. His shoulders can bear any load
you put on him. That's why he said, cast all
your care. on him. For he careth for you. Continual, constant care for
you. That's amazing. But we do have
people that have needs and we will ask God for them. Dee and
his family. Pray for God's grace. Pray for
his healing. Just as easily as he got you
out of COVID, Terrence, he can get him out of cancer. Just how
easy that is for God. It's not hard. Just a whisper. Just a whisper, and it would
be gone. But yet we are constrained to
submit to the will of God. I had wanted to preach another
message, and I mean, I really was wanting to do it. And every
time I turned around, the Lord said, no. about tribulation work
with patience. Patience experience. I really
want to preach that someday. I keep working at it. Probably
because I'm not past patience yet. Maybe if I ever get to the
experience, then He'll let me preach it. But I'm still stuck
on the patient part. Because I'm not patient yet.
I've not gotten through that. So maybe one day the Lord will. But pray for them that God would
be gracious in this. I pray for Linda. She's still
in ICU and they've started some dialysis she took well but it's
still, she needs your prayers and so
ask God to be merciful to our sister and her family and Mary
and her daughter and son-in-law They're taking care of her, and
she had some benefit for her. I'm glad for them. I'm very thankful
for them. I'm thankful Lord placed them
there, and they have the ability to stay and be with her. So pray for that family and others. Jean, as well as Angela and others
who have needs of prayer and healing, that God can do so. And I especially want you to
consider this morning, because this will be part of the message,
the lost. You that are saved that are sick,
that's one thing. But the lost, they may have physical health,
but they're in worse condition than any sick relief. They're
in worse. Would to God we'd have a love
for the lost. Not a condescending heart, but compassionate one. I pray God will give that to
us as a congregation, as a body of believers. We should have
a heart for them. Not as a false church trying
to trick them into something. Holding up Christ. God help me get through this
message. Let's go to him in prayer. Our Father, we bow before thy
throne of grace. We lay bare our hearts, our souls, our cares, our troubles. We bring them to your feet, knowing
you alone can heal, you alone can save. You alone can show mercy and
compassion. Father, grace and mercy belong
to you. We recognize it is given by your
sovereign and wise hand. Father, today we lift up our
hearts in thanksgiving and praise for what you have done for us. The sicknesses that you have
healed. The troubles you have delivered
us from. Thank you. But above all, thank
you for Christ. Thank you, Father, for your sovereign
election. Thank you for your redeeming
blood. Thank you for your quickening
spirit. Thank you for faith and love,
for keeping us. And Father, for those of our
brethren who are suffering in the body, those who have great
need, O Father, be merciful. Take pity on us. Father, I pray that you would
heal our brother Dee and Linda, others in our congregation. We
pray for healing, God, from your hand. Just a word, just a word
and it would be done. But I recognize that we must
also bow to your sovereign will. We must, Father, submit to your
wisdom and set aside our own. I pray, Father, that you would
help us to do that. Today, I long that you would
give me grace to preach this gospel that you have set forth
in your Word, that, Father, you might pour it out from my heart,
through my lips, And Father, into the hearts of your people. My heart's desire is that you
would be gracious to lost, hell-deserving sinners. That you would give such power
and grace that they should believe on Christ. I pray for this congregation
that you would give us hearts of love and compassion, hearts
of mercy and grace, that you would give us love for
the brethren even as you have loved us. We can't do this in ourselves,
but only you We pray for it. We ask for it. Bless it according to your mercy
and forgive us our many sins. We plead. We plead in the name
of our blessed Redeemer for these things. In Christ's name. Amen. Alright, if you take your Bibles
now and turn them back with me to Romans, Romans chapter 8,
my text will be found in Romans 9 verses 1 through 8 this morning. And the first point I have, I
have two points, the title of the message is this, true love
and true Israel. True love, that's my first point
this morning is true love. The Apostle Paul in chapter 8
reaches the highest point of joy and assurance for every believer. He reaches the pinnacle, the
crescendo of his argument of justification by faith in Christ. He said because God chose us,
He predestinated us to be holy and righteous, He has called
us to life and faith and justified us. Justified us. Therefore, we who are in union
with Christ by faith have this promise. That because God justified
us, there can be no accusations against us. Because God justified
us, there can be no condemnation against us. And so then, because there is
no accusation, there can be no condemnation, he says, who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Is God that justifies? Who is he that condemneth? Who
can condemn God's people? Yet, we are still in the flesh,
believer, we daily feel the corruption of this vile nature, daily. We are pressed down by troubles
and trials and difficulties without and within, and though we charge
ourselves, you justly should charge yourself. You did it. We condemn ourselves, we confess
our sins, and listen, this is the promise of God who justified
us, that he who confesses his sin, God is faithful and just
to forgive us. our sins. And we know this because
of the four pillars of justification in verse 34. This is why no one
can charge you, this is why no one can condemn you, because
Christ died. Christ died for our sins, therefore
we are justified, innocent. The sin has been removed. Christ
paid the debt. Secondly, He is risen again,
which proves our justification by His death. God raised Him
from the dead because there is no more sin to charge. And not
only this, God exalted Him to the right hand so that He has
all power as our High Priest, our King, our Mediator, and therefore
He intercedes daily, constantly for us. He makes intercession. And then that question comes,
who then can separate us from His love? If there's no sin to
condemn us, no sin to charge us, how then can we be separated
from the love of God? The love of God is eternal, it's
immutable, it's unchangeable. Who shall separate us from this
love? And listen, if one could charge
us with sin, surely He would have reason not to love us. But
because there is no more sin, there is no way that God could
reject us. Who shall separate us from His
love? Paul said, not all the trouble of the flesh, not all
the trouble of the mind, not all the accusations of conscience
or of Satan, nothing in death, nothing in life, no power of
man, no power of devils will ever be able to separate us from
His love. We like to sing that, how firm
a foundation, you saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith
in His excellent Word. What more can He say than to
you He has said, who you who to Jesus for refuge have fled
in every condition, in sickness, in health, in poverty's veil
or abounding in wealth, at home or abroad, on land or the sea,
as thy days may demand, shall thy strength ever be. Fear not, I am with thee. Oh,
be not dismayed, for I am thy God, will still give thee aid.
I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand, upheld
by my righteous, omnipotent hand. How firm a foundation of justification
we have. Therefore, regardless of our
troubles, both within and out, nothing, no nothing, no nothing
shall ever be able to separate us from the love of God, which
is where? Where's the love of God? It is
in Christ Jesus. Don't you see the love of God
and the love of His people are anchored in Christ Jesus? That He would have to cease to
love Christ to cease to love me? It's impossible for Him not to
love me, who is in Christ Jesus, in union with Him. But now in chapter 9 you see
crescendo of this. It's a bundle of joy and praise. He's reached the pinnacle that
nothing can separate those that are justified. But now he comes
in chapter 9 and the apostle descends from these heights of
assurance and now with great compassion, with great mercy
and love, He looks upon those who have no claim of God's justification. He looks in mercy upon those
who have no right to claim God's love for them. Paul turns now in a heart of
full assurance towards the lost. Look at this in verse 1 of chapter
9. Paul says, I say the truth in Christ, I lie not. My conscience also bearing me
witness of the Holy Ghost, that I have a great heaviness and
continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish myself were
a curse from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh. Paul says, look, this is the
truth. My conscience and the Holy Spirit bear me witness of
this, that I have a continual longing and sorrow for my lost
brethren. In chapter 10 and verse 1, Paul
says, Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel
is that they might be saved. Here is the heart that is so
grieved for the lost souls that Paul makes a statement that is
so astounding, so hard to comprehend such love. But he says this,
if it were possible, I could wish myself a curse from Christ
so that they might be saved. I don't want to enter into that
statement because I don't really have I really can't explain that
very well. I think it's a hyperbole. I think
it's something that he's showing the great extent of his love. And think about this. Isn't that
what Christ did for us? Did he not wish himself a curse
from God so that he might save us? So Paul was reflecting the
love of Christ toward his brethren. Not that it was possible. It's
not possible for that to happen. Paul knew that. He just told
you that. Nothing's going to separate me from the love of
God and Christ. So he knew it was not possible, but he makes
this statement to show the greatness of his love, the greatness of
his sorrow for the lost, for his lost brethren. He said, I've
got a continual sorrow in my heart. And what moved him to
have this love? What moved his love now? I mean,
you got this switch. He's up here, and all of a sudden
he drops down in sorrow. What moved him so much to love
his brethren and desire their salvation? Listen, it was the
consideration of God's love for him. If we ever understand God's love
for us, It would move us to love others. It would. It would move
us to have compassion on others that are outside of His love. Outside of this justification. And that's what moved Paul toward
them. And should this zeal and love not be in every believer's
heart? I mean, should it not be? It should be in every believer. So let the mind let this mind
be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Like I just told
you, he's he has the mind of Christ in this love. And so as
though Christ, yes, he was God manifested in flesh, yet what
he took upon him the form of a servant. Even so, should we
have this mind of love in us? It's truly shameful for us who
are objects of God's immutable love to neglect, to show great
compassion to the lost. Often because of what we know,
we are condescending to the lost. It's as though we're trying to
lift them up to us. We were no different than they
are. You suppose because you came
to Christ you were better? I'll tell you this, if you came
to Christ, you knew you were worse. We too were in chains of darkness
and ignorance. We were going about to establish
our own righteousness. We look at them going about to
establish their righteousness and we say how foolish. Weren't
we foolish? But even Christ is not our father,
having to elect people in this world. Does he? A chosen people? Does He not
have objects of love who have not yet been brought in? Our
Lord said that in John 6. He says, Other sheep I have which
are not of this fold. He said a good shepherd lay down
his life for the sheep. And listen, I've got other sheep
that are not of this fold. Look around you. You have this.
This is part of the fold. You are part of the fold. Listen,
He has other sheep that are not part of this fold. I know that. Do you? Do you realize that,
that He has other sheep? He said, Them I also must bring. And how will He bring them? They
will hear My voice. How is He going to bring them?
Through the preaching of the Gospel. They will hear His voice.
And they will follow Him. And they will be one fold and
one shepherd. Our Lord swore to this. He said, All that the
Father giveth Me shall come to Me. Now, right? We believe that. With all of our heart, we believe
that He has a sheep and they are His. They are His by election
and they are His by purchase. And He says, I'm going to call
them to me. They're going to come to me. And listen to the comfort. If
you're a sinner outside of Christ, listen to this comfort. Him that
cometh to me. I don't care where you've been,
I don't care what you've done. Anyone that comes to Christ,
He says, I will not cast him out. Isn't that the most amazing statement
that you ever heard in your life? Now why could He not cast them
out? Because this is why I came into the world. He said, I came
not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me.
And this is the will of Him that sent me, that all He give me,
I should lose nothing but raise it up again at the last day.
And this is the will of Him that sent me, that everyone that seeth
the Son and believeth on Him may have everlasting life. That's
why I came into the world, to save sinners. And that sinners
should come to me. Believe on me. And when they
do, I'm not going to cast them out. Why? Because that's the will
of the Father. But how are these elect, these
redeemed, these sheep to come? I told you they'll hear His voice.
And the only way they hear His voice is through the preaching
of the Word. Preaching of the Gospel. Read this to you in 2 Thessalonians. Let's see, 2 Thessalonians chapter
two. He said this, we are bound to
give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the
Lord. Bound to give thanks for you.
I'm so thankful for you. Why? Because God loved you. Because God hath from the beginning
chosen you to salvation. Here's the means through sanctification
of the Spirit. The Spirit of God should come
and set you apart by giving you a holy nature. Sanctification
of the Spirit. And what's the result of sanctification
of the Spirit? And belief of the truth, which
comes first. Belief of the truth or sanctification
of the Spirit. Sanctification of the Spirit,
the power of the Spirit must come first, and then faith comes. But how does faith come? Verse
14, Whereunto He called you by our gospel to the obtaining of
the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. How did you obtain that? Through
our gospel. That's a means of God, that we
should preach the gospel. Our Lord told us, Love those that hate you. Why
would he say such a thing? Love those that hate you and
despitefully use you and persecute you. Why? I'll tell you why. Because you have no clue if they're
his or not. These people Paul loved, they
were actively persecuted. He was in prison writing this
because of them. And yet his harsh desire and
love for them was that they might be saved. Why? He didn't know
who they were, if they were Christ or not. He loved them all. I
like that when Spurgeon was asked about election, he said, if God's
only going to save those people, then why preach? He said, sir,
if you'd kindly point out the elect to me, I'll only preach
to them. That's why we preach to all. Is that not why we should
love all? Because we have no idea if they'll be his or not. Even as our Lord pleaded for
those who crucified Him, Father forgive them, they know not what
they do. Let us also love and forgive
those who cause our suffering, cause our grief and our pain. Because those very ones that
Christ died for, no doubt were His. When He said, Father forgive
them, they know not what they do. You listen, the Father forgave
them. Whatever Christ asked, the Father
gave. Remember, believer, that we are
not left here upon this earth to take up space. We're not left here to fulfill
our pleasures and desires. That's not why you're here. We are here for the elect's sake.
You understand that? You are here for God's people's
sake. We are to preach the gospel,
support the gospel, further the gospel of Jesus Christ so that
the elect should be called, those who are redeemed by Christ should
believe on Him. And we are to do this in love
for them even in their lost condition. even in their lost estate. Don't
wait for them to come to the church to love them. You love
them before they come in to the church. Go to 2 Timothy chapter
2. Look at verse 8. Paul says this, that Jesus Christ of the seed
of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel. Remember how I preached to you
how Christ died and rose again? You remember that gospel? And
what was the result of this gospel? When I preached the gospel, what
was the result? Wherein I suffered trouble as
an evildoer, even unto bonds. What happens when you love as
God has told you to love and have compassion on the lost?
What's going to happen? You think they're going to reciprocate
it? When you love them and tell them the truth of God's mercy,
of Christ, do you suppose that they'll just run to you and say, no. The opposite will happen. They will hate you. You've not
found that out? You that have witnessed and loved
just your family, those who are supposed to love you the most,
you not found that to be true that they hate you when you tell
them things like this? I don't want to hear that. But, what he says, I may be bound
but the word of God is not. They may hate me, but I'll tell
you this, if the Word of God is effectual to them, it's going
to have power and they're not going to be able to stop it.
They can bind me, they can hate me, they can persecute me, but
they can't stop the Word. If God intends to save a man,
He's going to save him. That's good. He's going to. I think we think God needs us.
I know we think that. We have children, we have people,
and we love them so much we want them to hear, we want them to
believe. And yet, when nothing happens, we're like, well, okay,
God just keep me around, keep me near Him. What does God need
you for? God speaks through a jackass.
He doesn't need us. Maybe He'll use someone else. Well, whatever He uses, I pray
He'd use Paul says this about preaching,
he says, we, he said, now thanks be to God. In 2 Corinthians 2
he said, thanks be to God which always causes us to triumph in
Christ. You got that? I don't feel successful
when I'm done preaching. I've never felt successful when
I'm done preaching. I've never walked out of here
and said, man, that was a great job. I bet that's really going to
work. I hang my head in shame every
time I preach. But in faith, I know it's always
going to have the desired effect God wants it to. Not what I want
it to. What God, we always try, we are
a saver of life unto life to some and a saver of death unto
death to others. Who's sufficient for such things? So why do we suffer? Why are
we here? Why do we grow? You ever ask
that question? Why is God left us here to grow
in grace? Aren't you already perfect? Hasn't
Christ already made you perfect? What scripture tells us, he says,
by his one offering, he hath perfected forever them that are
sanctified. You're already perfect. You're
perfect. What is it? You're justified. You're sanctified. You're redeemed. Christ put away
your sin, gave you a holy nature. Why do you need to grow? Why are you still here growing
in grace and knowledge of Christ? Why did He just take you home? Look back at 2 Timothy chapter
2 and verse 10. Therefore, I suffer these things,
the gospel is not bound. Therefore, I endure all things. For who? The elect's sake. the Elexi, that they might also
obtain salvation, which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
May the Spirit teach us such love, such compassion, such zeal
for the lost, because God's elect are among them and they must
be called. They must be called. Jesus said, Other sheep have
I out of this fold, them I also must bring. He must bring them.
And he's going to bring them through the love and the witness
of God's people. That's why you're still here. And so the means then is bringing
them is preaching. Preaching the gospel. And secondly, I want you to see,
let this love. Not only be. Let this let us love one another,
even above. The love of the lost, I'm talking
about those who are in Christ, we are to love the lost, but
even above them were to love one another. Jesus gave us this
commandment, did he not? love one another and just as you're confused as
to how you're to love one another you know how you're to love one
another even as I have loved you Paul says in Galatians as
we have therefore opportunity let us do good to all men especially those of the household
of faith. There's nothing worse than a
proud believer, a condescending believer. Nothing worse. One who boasts of his knowledge
above others. One who boasts in his gifts and
understanding above his brethren. I'll tell you this, we are never
to compromise the gospel. Remember Paul and Peter, when
Peter made that grave error about the law, how he included the
law and he separated himself from those Galatians and he was
teaching an evil thing. And Peter withstood him to the
face because he needed to be rebuked about it. Paul withstood
Peter to his face because he needed to be rebuked. We are
never to compromise the gospel and call that love. That's not
love. Paul did not do it to the Galatian
church. He said, look, if this is how
you really believe, then I stand in doubt you're a believer at
all. Now, did he do that out of hatred or love? He did it
with the heart of love. He would not compromise the gospel
and call it love. I've seen believers do that.
I've seen believers with their own children, their own family,
their children, they go off to some false church and they say,
well, you know, at least they're in church. That's not love. I've seen believers leave The
gospel to attend those kind of congregations out of love, they
say, for their children. You're not loving them by not
telling them the truth. You should tell them the truth
in love, in compassion, in mercy. Don't accept it. That's not what
he's talking about. Paul loved his brethren, but
I tell you this, he did not go back and start sacrificing. And
the time he did, he was chastened. That one time, remember, he did
that, he shaved his head and did the Nazarite. That was, boy,
the Lord, that's when the Lord arrested him. The Lord had him
arrested, put him to prison, chastened him. He didn't love
his brethren by going back under the law. He loved them by telling
them that Christ is the end of the law. Don't compromise the
gospel. I'll tell you this, how often
do we who have a greater knowledge of the gospel condemn our weaker
brethren for his lesser knowledge? I'm not talking about essential
things, I'm talking about non-essential things. Paul dealt with this
many times in the book of Corinthians about people eating those things
offered to idols, and there's others whose conscience, they
say, well, I can't do that. My conscience just bothers me. What does he say? He said, well,
you need to whip those boys into shape. That's not what he said.
He said, love them. Have compassion on their conscience. We see our brothers fall into
sin, and yet we look at them as though
we had some special ability to keep ourselves. Have compassion. You that are spiritual, restore
such in a spirit of meekness, considering yourself. Love our brethren. We remember this, that the gospel
is not a creed, a catechism, a confession of faith, it's a
person. It's a person. And what you know of this person,
how do you know it? As much knowledge as you have,
how do you attain that knowledge? Was it by your superior intellect
or was it by a gift? How then can we look down upon
our brethren who don't have the same understanding? I'm not talking
about the gospel, friends. I'm talking about non-essential
things. And I'll tell you what, I've seen brethren separate over
stupid things. over silly things that have no
essential grounding in the Word of God, not to the Gospel. Christ is a person. He accomplished
our redemption. He keeps us in the faith. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith, and it was by His grace He gave us
this knowledge and it's by the preaching of the Christ named
crucified in love that this knowledge was revealed to us. Let us do
the same. Let us do the same. This is true
love. Now go back to your text. I don't believe I'm going to
have time to go through this. I'm going to go through this
somewhat quickly. True Israel. True Israel. Now Paul says to those who he
loves, He says in verse 4, Who are Israelites to whom pertaineth
the adoption, the glory, and the covenants, and the giving
of the law, and the service of God, and the promises? These
ones that Paul loved, these kinsmen according to the flesh, these
are the ones that caused his bonds. These men who were so
moral, consider how low they stooped to make him hurt. They hired a no good lawyer. I mean they knew this guy was
a shyster when they hired him to go against Paul. And yet they
lowered their own moral standard just to make him hurt. They hated
him so much they despised Christ. But do you suppose Paul was compassionate
on them because he himself was also at once in the same condition? Paul was a Jew in the flesh.
Paul hated Christ. He said of himself, he hated
and persecuted the church, but God who separated me from my
mother's womb called me. There's a difference. Who maketh
thee to differ from another? What hast thou that thou hast
not received? And if you receive it, why in the world are you
not acting like it? Look at these people, the Jews,
they were Israelites. Now, the Jewish people were given
privileges above every nation, every other people. Paul says
they were Israelites. Now, this speaks to their election.
This speaks to their election, that they were a chosen people
above all the people of the earth. God chose that nation, that one
nation. He says these people were called
the children of God. They were adopted. They had the
adoption. In Exodus 4, God calls them his
son. He said to Pharaoh, Israel is
my son. In Jeremiah, he speaks to them,
he said, for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn. In promise of deliverance of
Israel from the captivity of bondage, he says, is Ephraim
my dear son, a pleasant child? For since I spake against him,
I do earnestly remember him still." These people were truly, as God
said, His sons. Thirdly, the glory was given
to them. What does this mean? God manifest His glory to this
people alone. When God came down, He condescended
on Mount Sinai and manifest His glory. only to this people. He came down in that tabernacle
and manifested His glory in their presence. He gave them the law
and the covenants and the promise, and it was to them Christ was
promised to come. Look what he says. He said, Whose the fathers are,
verse 5, of whom concerning the flesh Christ's sake came. These
people were the ones that God promised to save. He promised
Christ should come and save Israel, that He would come in the flesh. Look over at Psalm 130. Look
at this. Look at the promise that God
gave in Psalm 130. Now these are the people that
Paul set his love on. These are the ones, they had
special privileges above all peoples of the world. Psalm 130,
and look at verse 7. He said, Let Israel hope in the Lord. Only Israel. You got that? Not
the world, only Israel. Let Israel hope in the Lord.
For with the Lord there is mercy, for with Him there is plenty's
redemption. He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities. Is that
plain? Is that understandable? Who is
He going to redeem? Israel. Who should hope in the
Lord? Israel. Only Israel. Not the
Canaanites, not the Jebusites, not the Levites, just Israel. Only nation in the world, God
said, should hope in the Lord. Now the question is, here's the
question Paul's going to answer now. Is God's Word of none effect? Is all Israel saved? Now, they
were given special benefits, they were given promises, they
were given the glory, they were called the sons of God. God swears
that He'll save them, and yet look at them. What happened when
Christ came into the world? They crucified Him. They rejected
Him. Now, why were they now cast off? Why were they cast out? Well,
the truth is, he says in verse 6, ìNot as though the word of
God had taken none effect.î Four, this is why. ìThey are not all Israel, which
are of Israel.î ìThey are not all Israel, which
are of Israel.î Is the word of God of none effect? God forbid.
Here is the answer to the mystery. They are not all Israel who are
of Jacob. That's what he means. The seed
of Jacob. Those were the people of Israel. Neither because are they the
seed of Abraham are they children. So then the purpose of this nation,
what was it? That they should be a type and
figure of God's spiritual Israel. So when God promised to save
Israel, He is going to save Israel. It's just not that nation. God intended it, that nation,
to be a type, a picture of the true Israel of God. I told you,
only Israel should hope in the Lord. Are you a Jew? You're the
seed of Abraham? Well, if God meant it nationally,
then we're all in trouble. Paul is telling us that's not
what it means. He's telling us that God has
an Israel, has a special, peculiar people that He will save, who
He calls Israel, but it's not national. It's spiritual. And the circumcision, what a
picture that was. God gave that nation a token
of salvation. Circumcision. The cutting off
of the flesh. But that, like everything else
that was done in the worship of God in that day, was only
a picture of something spiritual. When the Passover lamb was slain,
how many sins were eradicated? How many sins were expiated by
the great day of atonement? How many? None. Not one. It was a picture. That lamb was a picture of Christ.
And listen to me, that high priest was a picture of Christ. That
tabernacle was a picture of Christ. And the people for whom that
sacrifice was made was a picture of spiritual Israel. The spiritually
elect of God. In Galatians chapter 3 and verse
6 he says, Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made,
not seeds as of many, but one seed, Christ. To Abraham and
Christ were the promises made. The promises made to Christ and
not to that national seed. And they were made, therefore
they were made to Christ, they were made to all of us who are
in Christ. You are the seed of Christ. So all who believe on Jesus Christ,
listen, you are the spiritual Israel of God. When God promised
to save Israel, he promised to save you. When God said you should
hope in me, he was talking about you. You should hope. Let Israel
hope in the Lord. Who's he talking to? He's talking
to me. He's talking to everyone that believes on Christ. In Galatians
3.26 it says, For you all are the children of God by faith
in Jesus Christ. Therefore Israel national, they were blessed with great
benefits. But the eternal blessing and
spiritual benefits of righteousness, redemption, reconciliation, forgiveness
of sin, only belong to spiritual Israel. To those who believe
on Christ, you are Abraham's seed. You are the children of Abraham. Why? You do what Abraham did. Abraham believed God and it was
counted to him for righteousness. What does his seed do? You believe
God and it's counted to you for righteousness. You are the true
Israel of God. This is great because then all
of the promises of God to Israel belong to you. They belong to
you. So every time you read a promise
to Israel nationally, to you it belongs spiritually. I'm going
to give you an illustration of this and I'll close with this.
I've got plenty of this. I'll just have to do it in another
message. Go to Ezekiel chapter 37. I want to show you a spiritual
thing here. It's a physical promise to Israel. But to you, who are loved of
God, you true Israel, it's a spiritual promise. Ezekiel chapter 37. And the Lord said unto me, The
hand of the Lord is upon me, and he carried me away in the
Spirit, and sat me down in the midst of a valley full of dry
bones. And he calls me to pass over
round about them, and behold, there were many." Man, there
were so many bones. As he passed over, he didn't
notice there were just many. He said this, they were very
dry. They were very dry. They were in an open valley,
no shade, in a desert valley, and there were many of them,
and they were dry. They were really dead. And he said to me, son of man,
can these bones live? What a question. Can these bones
live? Lord, you know, look, if you're
going to make them alive, yeah. That's the only way you know
that if they can or they can't. You know. He said to me, prophesy
upon these bones and say to them, oh, you dry bones, hear the word
of the Lord. Well, saith the Lord unto these
bones, Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.
And I will lay sin upon you, and bring flesh upon you, and
cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall
live, and you shall know that I am the Lord. So, I prophesied
as I was commanded. Though that seemed foolish, I
was not submitting to my own wisdom in this, I just did what
He said. I prophesied, I preached to these
bones. As I was commanded, and as I prophesied, there was a
noise, and behold, a shaking, and the bone came together. Look,
bone to his bone. That's amazing. Not bone to another
man's bone. That bone that belonged to that
man specifically went to that other bone. And behold, lo sinew
and flesh came upon them, and skin covered them about, and
there was no breath in them. And he said to me, prophesy to
the wind. Son of man, say to the wind, thus saith the Lord.
Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain
that they might live. So I prophesied as he commanded
it. Breath came in them and they lived and I stood on their feet
exceeding great army. Now what in the world does this
mean? And he said unto me, Son of man, so you're not confused
as to why I did this. These bones are the whole house
of Israel. Behold I behold they say our
bones are dried and our hope is lost and we are cut off for
our parts Therefore prophesied them say thus said the Lord behold.
Oh my people. I will open your graves I will
cause you to come out of your graves and behold Bring you into
the land of Israel and you shall know that I am the Lord when
I have opened your graves Oh my people and brought you out
of your graves I shall put my spirit in you, and you shall
live, and I shall place you upon your own land. Then shall you
know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it, saith the
Lord. Now then, what is this to Israel? This meant this, that Israel
nationally was in bondage and dead. They said, our bones are dry,
there's no hope for Israel anymore. Because we sinned against God,
there's no hope out of this captivity. And God says, you tell them,
I said there is hope, and I'm going to bring them out of a
grave. And what did He do? Nationally, what did He do? He brought them out. As though
they were dead, yet the nation of Israel survived. Now what
does that have to do with us? That was a great benefit to them,
wasn't it? But where are they now? Where's National Israel? Gone. Dead. There's Jews running
around, but there's no more National Israel like there was before.
What does this mean to us? This is a picture of us spiritually.
We were dead and cut off for our part. We sinned. We were the dry bones. And God
said to his man, you preach to dead sinners and tell them this,
I'll give them life. Are you dead? Are you without
hope? This is what God says to you.
I'll give you life. And what happened? There was
a shaking. Now what happened to you? Wasn't
there a shaking? Didn't everything seem to come
together? And what did you see? You saw
nothing but a dead skeleton of a man. You saw a ruined condition.
You had no breath. You knew you needed life, but
you couldn't get it yourself. What did he say? Prophesied to
the wind and say to the wind, the spirit of God is the wind. And he gave them breath and there
stood an exceeding great army. And he said, this is the whole
house of Israel. Who's true Israel? Those who
were quickened by the Father. Those who were loved by God the
Father. Those who were redeemed by the
Son. Those who were called by the Holy Spirit. These are true
Israel. And to us belong all the promises
of And I pray that God would give
us, who are Israel, the same heart of Paul, that we should
love Israel. You know who they are? I don't.
So I just love everybody. I mean, that's the sense of it.
We should love them because God has a people. And how do we love
them? We love them by telling them the truth. Don't compromise a gospel and
call it love. Love them by telling them the
truth. Pray for them as they use you
and despitefully hurt you. Because they may, they may be
God's elect. And I'm sure of this, God will
call them. He will. Not another gospel, our gospel. I pray God bless this to your
hearts. Let's stand and be dismissed in prayer.