Go to Romans chapter 9. Romans chapter 9. God has a remnant in this earth. And that remnant doesn't receive
the punishment that it deserves, just like Sodom and Gomorrah,
to be consumed by His almighty burning fire of wrath and judgment
because God sent the seed. I pray we can see that this evening.
Here in Romans 9, we'll see Paul quoting prophet Isaiah. Isaiah is the most quoted prophet
in the New Testament. If we read through Isaiah, we
see nothing but joy, don't we? It begins in Isaiah 1, just the
depravity of man, and brings us all the way up to our Redeemer. And he said, this is my servant
whom I'm well pleased. What comfort we have. But there
in Romans 9, we'll begin in verse 27. Isaiah, also crieth concerning
Israel. Though the number of the children
of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved,
for he will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness,
because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. And
as Isaiah said before, except the Lord of Sabaoth had left
us a seed, We had been a Sodom and been made like unto Gomorrah. Now we remember that Paul had
just spoke to us in this chapter of the benefit that the physical
nation of Israel had. All those wonderful pictures
all around them. They had the scriptures with them. They had
the tabernacle with them. They had the cloud by day and
the fire by night. They all drank, as we'll see
in a little while, from across the rock. A dry desert. No water. Get in line. You got one that will quench
your thirst. They had all these great benefits.
And not one of those benefits saved one of them. Didn't do
them no good. Why? Christ saves His people. A picture doesn't save His people.
An act doesn't save His people. He saves His people. And Paul
goes on and begins to tell us of God's electing grace. and
those that he chose to save, the people that he chose to save. They're in Romans 9, verse 7. Sorry, verse 7. Neither because
they are the seed of Abraham are they all children, but in
Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, he explains it for us.
They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the
children of God, but the children of the promise are counted for
the seed. Paul goes on and tells the story
of Jacob and Esau, the story of election. Jacob have I loved
and Esau have I hated while they were still in the womb, these
twin boys. He tells us about him raising
up Pharaoh, a crooked leader. He said, I raised you up to show
my power, bring my people up from underneath you. And then
he reminds us of what Jeremiah learned When he went down to
that potter's house, we see the illustration of the potter and
the clay. He's the potter, we all are the clay. Some vessels
to honor, some vessels are made to dishonor. All of this pointing
us to the almighty God that saves his remnant, his elect people. Now many people hate that. They
can't stand to hear it. Why? They don't know what sin
they are. They don't know the guilt they
have under God's holy law that justice is required of, blood's
required. You gotta die. I said, well,
let's find a workaround. Can't have that. They're not
naked and they're not helpless. They think there's still something
good in them. They think they're still alive. So Paul brings us a verse
from Hosea. points our attention back to
that story that these folks know so well. There was a time each of Christ's
sheep did not know Him. We thought we did, but we came
into this earth not knowing God. There was a time we walked around
not knowing we were the Lord's, not knowing of His love. And
just like Gomer, we thought all that oil was ours. Look at all
my corn. This money I've got, I got a
nice apartment. Mine, me, I. But then that day came. We were
hedged about, and we were made to see our unworthiness. Our great husband brought us
right to those gallows, right to that auction block, and showed
us our nakedness before a holy God. And we were cast down and broken.
on across that rock. We were taught in our hearts
that the work of Christ on the cross is where we were saved. Not by our hands, not by our
mouths saying something, not by our bodies doing something,
but in that place, Calvary. It was said, you are not my people,
and there we were called the children of the living God. That's
something. Believers see how precious this
is. That's not something to go against. It's not something to
butt against. We have hope. If you think you've
got something left to do, you haven't had all the wind took
out of your sails yet. You think there's still some
good in you. But if you've been brought to see your hopelessness,
your helplessness, and you hear God's going to save some people,
oh, that's good news. It's not that he only, that's
the inflection of it. He only saves some people. God saves
some people. There's hope. There's good news.
Paul goes on praying for his fellow Jews. That's who he started
talking about. His brethren after the flesh.
And he says there in chapter 10, verse 1, brethren, my heart's
desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be
saved. He prayed for them. Lord, teach
these people. For I bear them record that they
have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they, being
ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish
their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto
the righteousness of God." Isaiah also wrote concerning
them, concerning this nation Israel. There in verse 27, Romans
9, 27. Isaiah also crieth concerning
Israel, though the number of the children of Israel be as
the sand of the sea, you can't count it, a remnant shall be
saved. There was a lot of people that
appeared to be the Lord's children, but only a remnant shall be saved. Let's turn over to 1 Corinthians.
Turn over a couple pages there, 1 Corinthians chapter 10. I was reading Hawker's commentary
on this and he said one of his points was in his day. Is this
any different in our day? Any different than the days of
Israel in the desert? He said there are so many people
who walk around with Bibles in their hands and they can hold
the truth of God in their hands. We all have an end. We know the
end is coming. This life is going to be over.
Here is the Word of God. And they say His name, and they
use the words, and they don't know Him. Oh, it breaks my heart. 1 Corinthians 10, verse 1. Moreover,
brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that
all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through
the sea, through the Red Sea. They were baptized unto Moses
in the cloud and in the sea. and did all eat the same spiritual
meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink, for they drank
of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ.
They all sat under the same preaching. They all saw the same miracles
performed in front of them. Verse five, but with many of
them God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the
wilderness. I think I may have said this
every message, the last five of them, How many over the age
of 20 entered into the promised land? Out of those millions,
two. A remnant, only a remnant. Why? Verse six, 1 Corinthians
10, six. Now these things were our examples
to the intent we should not lust after evil things as they also
lusted. I ain't getting on to you and
saying don't do bad things. We shouldn't, we shouldn't have
a heart to. But things are not evil. Our desire for those things
are evil. A man can have a lot of stuff,
and there ain't one thing wrong with it. But whenever that starts
taking our desires, and that starts taking our time away from
the Lord, our heart away from the Lord, that becomes our lust. That becomes where our heart
lives. Then it's an evil thing. Verse 7, neither be ye idolaters
as were some of them as it is written the people sat down to
eat and drink and rose up to play. It was just a joke to them.
Neither let us commit fornication as some of them committed and
fell in one day three and twenty thousand. The Lord killed 23,000
in one day. Neither let us tempt Christ as
some of them also tempted and were destroyed of serpents. Neither
murmur ye. as some of them also murmured,
and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things happen to
them for examples, and they are written for our admonition, upon
whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore, let him that
thinketh he standeth take heed, lest he fall." What a strong
warning. Do I think I'm standing? I can
weather the storm by myself. I know some stuff. Pride comes before fall, doesn't
it? Verse 13. There hath no temptation
taken you, but such as is common to man. Ain't nothing different
between the children of Israel in the desert, the Lord's children
in hawker's time, and us sitting here this evening. They had all
that technology, or we have all that technology and all these
wonderful things now. We think it's worse. The heart
ain't changed. It's the same. But God is faithful,
who will not suffer you to be tempted above you are able, but
will with the temptation also make a way to escape that ye
may be able to bear it. What's our escape? What way of
escape did the Lord make for us that we still have today?
We're doing it right now. We can come here three times
a week, sit down and hear of Christ, hear of what He accomplished. That's a wonderful escape. That's
a wonderful reprieve in this world that's just like us. There
in Romans chapter 10, verse 2, Paul says that those folks that
are his physical brethren, that they're zealous. They are passionate. They are a fervent people. They
go to church and they mean business. They work hard at it, just like
those Israelites in the desert. But they do not know God and
they are still working out their own righteousness, their own
goodness. Now, right now, this town that
we live in, this city, this state, this nation and this world. Lots of folks look like they
are the people of God. But they're working. They're
trying to do something. They're trying to lean on something
in themselves. They're trying to stand by themselves. But the
Bible says there's only a remnant that shall be saved. That means
a little bit. Those, if you all ever sew, my
mom used to buy patterns. And I didn't know what they were,
but I knew that was important and I wasn't allowed to play
with them. She'd lay that fabric down on a pattern and cut it
out. And she'd sew it together and make a dress or something.
And all those little tiny scraps, she'd cut off the edges. She'd
pile them up. That was the remnants. Useless
scraps. And that's just a little bit.
That's what we are. If I was to preach the doctrine
of election, Lord saves only a people, only a remnant. And
then I turned around. and looked to somebody and told
them that, well, your loved ones might be the Lord's. They don't
have to know him. If they're his, they're just
going to be saved anyway. That would be what Paul called in
Galatians 1 a man pleaser. It's taking God's word and twisting
it to soothe someone's conscience. That's denying that the Holy
Ghost will accomplish what the Lord would decree. Our master said, my sheep hear
my voice and they will follow me. And we saw her in Jude recently.
So we will glory in the Lord now and ever. Child of God won't
wander through this world all the way to death and not know
they're a child of God. He'll reveal himself and they'll follow
him and they'll glory in him. That remnant that Christ saved
and life is put into them. They are taught of the spirit
and they Worship God in spirit and in truth We that are called
we that are the remnant We do not have pride in Grace, we don't
have a pride that Puffs us up that why I'm I'm one of God's
children I'm one of his elect and don't get me wrong. I'm happy
about these things. This is good news Tell anybody
I can but the source of our pride is not in ourselves We know we
are like Gomer, that we're just helpless and destitute. We were
dead in trespasses and sins, but God saved us. We rejoice
at salvations of the Lord and not in ourselves. We turn to
Romans chapter 11, over a page there. This is a rare thing for a person
to truly confess, that means tell the truth, that all of salvation,
all of regeneration, all of righteousness in doing so is of Christ alone. Not in me. Those that honestly
and heartfully confess that, that is a remnant. That's a small
fraction. There in Romans 11 verse 5. Even
so then at this present time, Also, there is a remnant according
to the election of grace. And if by grace, then it's no
more of works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. That was true in Paul's time.
That's true today. There's a remnant according to
grace. Those that truly believe that
it's all by grace and not by a work Because if there's one
work to be done, it's grace no more. It's all taken away. Then
who does the work? For this chosen people. For this
remnant. The God of all grace does the
work in and for His chosen people. Like in our text, chapter 9,
Romans chapter 9, verse 28. For He will finish the work. I can't think of any plainer
way to say that. for he will finish the work and
cut it short in righteousness because a short work will the
Lord make upon the earth. He will finish the work, not
me, not you, not anybody that tells you it's you. He finishes
the work. Well, God saves his people, but
you got it. That ain't finished. There's no buts. He told us in
Hebrews 12, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our
faith. Turn to Philippians 1.6, being
confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good
work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. He started that work of salvation,
and thanks be to God, he'll carry it all the way till we're home
with him for eternity. What a God. He is. What He begins, He finishes. And the Lord has a sense of urgency
in His work. He will cut it short in an act
of holiness and righteousness. What's this short work? The Lord
made short work of creation. He made this world in seven days. That's a short work. He finished
building all the earth. And then he rested, making everything
in it. That's a picture of our salvation.
Before we ever showed up, he started and he was done. Because
he decreed it. I tell Kimberly, I'm gonna do
a project at the house. I'm a remodel this bathroom,
and it's only gonna take me two days. And she was on. I think
the success of my Projects of building something at the house
is measuring how many trips to Home Depot I make. She said,
you only do that in two trips? That's good. You're going fast. And our Lord decreed how long
he would make something, and that's what he did. And it's
majestic. It's a short work. Our creation,
our bodies, it's only nine months. You've got everything you need
for a lifetime. We raise them chicken eggs. hatch our own eggs. You go from an egg that you eat,
you crack it. It's a yolk and a white. And 18 days later, there's
a beak and there's feathers and everything else. A little heartbeat,
everything that's needed. He makes a short work of creation.
Our God is a God of order and He is a God of completion. His
work is completed in its entirety and exactly on schedule according
to His will, right when He says so. The other thing he'll make
a short work of is a saving of his people. And that includes
the individual remnant, each person. The Lord made a short
work of saving each one of his people. It may have took one
message. That's a short work. It may have
took just a couple years of sitting underneath the gospel. That's
a short work. How long does it take the Lord
to make a short work of comforting his people? A word. Fear not. If he speaks it effectually
to your heart, it's effectual then. If the Lord doesn't save
one of his children until they're well up in years, I made it to
40, and I graduated high school that fast ago. If he waited until
a believer was 80 to save them, is that too late? That's a short
work. A short time. Our Master was on this earth
for a short season. He was here 33 and a half years.
From creation, believers waited for His coming for 4,000 years. He arrived on this earth and
He stayed 33 years. One day on the cross and it was
finished. He laid in that tomb for three
days. How long did it take Him to bear an eternity's worth of
punishment for the sins of his people of short time. That's a short work. We remember
the story of Noah. It took Noah 120 years to build
that ark. In the sense of time, that's
a short work. Noah was 950 years old when he
died. And in the short time that it
was built, when it was finished, the Lord only kept it open for
seven days. I know I've been preaching to
those people for 120 years. Do you think those last seven
days he had anything to say to them? Get in the ark. It's finished. It's complete. Get in the ark. Keep from dying. Come in. But the only ones that
entered that ark, picture across our ark, was the ones that the
Lord commanded to enter. He sent in those animals, two
by two, the clean animals, seven by seven, and that one family,
one family. And He put them and crossed their
ark, and He sealed them, kept them safe, didn't get a drop
of rain on them. And after that last one was sealed
in there, a short work of judgment came upon this earth. Some of
the mathematicians calculate that whenever that rain come,
they said, well, it would have had to rain 30 feet an hour,
30 feet of water an hour. That's fast work. I don't deny
it. The Lord said it was so, I believe
it. Throw in Matthew 24. Of that
judgment, the Lord makes short work of His judgment. Some people say, well, preacher,
when's His judgment coming? You guys have got to have an
idea. No man knows Not even the angels. Nobody knows when our Master
is coming. Or Matthew 24, look in verse 37. But as the days of Noah were,
so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the
days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered
into the ark. and knew not until the flood
came and took them away. So shall also the coming of the
son of man be. Just like in Noah's day, we are
carrying on just like nothing's happening. We're just giving in marriage
and taking a marriage and oh, somebody had a baby even all
this pandemic we have now people's having children or getting married.
Life as usual. But do we look for the coming
of Christ? If I were to rhetorically, if I asked believers, honestly,
do you think Christ is coming today? Many would say, no, I
don't think it will be today. Maybe soon, but not today. But we look for His return, don't
we? When He breaks us on that rock, when He brings us down,
makes us helpless, all we can do is just groan. We say, Lord,
make haste. Lord, come today. But times look
tough now in our world with all the stuff going on around us.
And just like Paul reminded us there in 1 Corinthians, though,
those Jews in the wilderness, they didn't have any different
desires, and they didn't have any different distractions than
we do in this day. Man's the same. Man's desire
is evil and always has been. So it could be any day. And we
know that. Everybody's worried about the
world. Individually. Whenever I go, I'll be the only
one going. The Lord takes me home. When this body is over,
it won't matter much what's going on around me, will it? We have
an end. After Christ ascended to heaven,
the apostles went out for 40 years all through Israel, preaching
all the areas around it to the very ones that hung him on a
cross. He sent the good news in their
presence. God saved some of them. but only a remnant. And then
in 70 AD, Jerusalem was wiped off the map. That was a short
work. 40 years is all they got. There's
a short work for you and I on this earth, like a thief in the
night. Our last day is coming soon. It could be tonight. Seek him while he may be found. I'm back in our Texter and Romans
done. All of this, the creation, the saving, the cross-select,
the judgment that is to come, it's all short in comparison
to the eternity. That's past, present, and future. It's just a twinkle of time.
Romans 9, 27. Isaiah also crieth concerning
Israel, though the number of the children of Israel be as
the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved. For he will finish
the work and cut it short in righteousness. He's going to
do that in holiness. Because a short work will the
Lord make upon the earth. We see the electing grace of
God. We see His sovereignty in all things and an ever constant
reminder. what sinners we are, what death
we deserve, we're always again turned to the one who saved us. Verse 29, and Isaiah said before,
except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, the Lord of hosts,
the Lord of armies, he left us a seed. We had been a Sodom and
been made like unto Gomorrah. If God did not choose some, all
would be damned forever. We would all be like Sodom and
Gomorrah, consumed by those fires. If the potter did not prepare
some vessels to honor, we would all be just lumps of clay, vessels
of dishonor. If the Lord did not choose Jacob,
he would have justly hated him and condemned him the same as
he did Esau. Verse 33, Romans 9, 33. As it
is written, Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone, a rock
of a fence. and whosoever believeth on him
shall not be ashamed. The scriptures tell us we will
either fall on cross the rock and be broken, be given a contrite
spirit, be humbled, and bow to that cornerstone, our Savior,
Christ Jesus forever. That's a beautiful thing. What
a mighty hand of God it takes to bring a sinner to that. Or
we will be crushed to powder under that stone. in judgment. What's the remnant's hope? What's
the source of our salvation? You go around and ask anybody
carrying a Bible, and you say, I know God. I'm right with the
man upstairs. All kinds of foolish, vile, blasphemous
things they say. And you say, why are you saved?
Why are you going to heaven? All but a remnant will say, I. to begin a statement with I. I accepted Jesus into my heart. I got baptized. I joined the
church. I let God, I, me, to look to
themselves. You ask any child of God, why
are you saved? Why are you going to heaven?
The answer will always be, if I'm saved, the Lord chose me. If I'm saved, it was God's being
merciful to me, a sinner. If it was the Lord who made Christ's
sin for me and made me His righteousness, it was out of His gracious love.
The Lord God of hosts left us a seed, Christ our substitute,
or I would have perished just like Sodom and Gomorrah. Rightfully
so. And if I'm saved, all the glory,
All the praise is to Christ alone and not to me in any part. I didn't do it. Are you ashamed
that God chose a remnant? Are you ashamed that he is the
one that began the work? Are you ashamed that he's the
one who finished the work? Are you ashamed that it took a short
time And he revealed himself to you, calling you by his grace
to his mercy. The child of God is not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ. We say with Paul, for I am not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto
salvation to every one of them that believeth. To the Jew first
and also the Greek, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed
from faith to faith. as it is written, that just shall
live by faith. Do you have eternal life? It's
by His faith. That's what we live on. For the
remnant, for those chosen seeds of Abraham, we know that the
Lord finished the work of our salvation. He did it in full
righteousness. It was holy the way He did it.
And we are only spared from eternal judgment because of Christ, in
whom we give all glory. So I'd say to you, people get
so worried, am I one of the Lord's? Am I His? Come to Him today while
He may be found. Get in the ark before the shortness of time
ends in judgment. And you will not be disappointed,
and you will not be ashamed. He won't let you down. Hasn't
yet, never will. Amen, I hope that's a blessing
to you. Let's pray together.