We will be reading from Romans
chapter 9 this morning. Romans chapter 9. Every Sunday
morning when you listen to this program, you can expect to hear
an honest, verse-by-verse exposition of God's Word. Nothing else. Not my opinions, but simply what
God's Word says. Not an outline provided by someone
else, the plain Word of God, and nor will you hear my interpretation
of the Word of God, because the Word of God is not open to interpretation. The Word of God is to be declared
and believed. In Romans 9, the Apostle Paul
writes, beginning in verse 1, and says, ìI say the truth in
Christ. I lie not.î my conscience also
bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost. Now, the book of Romans,
as with every epistle, is the inspired, infallible word of
God. Though penned by a man, it was
given them by God. Now, this is the truth. This
is the truth, how God saves sinners in Christ, who is the truth. Read on, verses 2 and 3. Paul
says, I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart,
for I could wish that myself were accursed or separated from
Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh. His Jewish
neighbors or brethren, he calls them, and family who were lost,
he says, I have sorrow for them. They don't know nor believe Christ. And I feel a sorrow for many
of my neighbors and friends and even relatives who do not know
Christ either, who apparently hate the same truth which Paul
is going to declare in this chapter. Read on, verses 4 and 5. He says,
These kinsmen of mine are Israelites to whom pertaineth the adoption
and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the law and
the service of God and the promises whose are the fathers, or who
the Jewish fathers came from, and of whom, as concerning the
flesh, Christ came, who is overall God, blessed forever. Amen. He says the Jews had many advantages
over the Gentiles in Old Testament days and in his day, and many
blessings from God. That is, his word, the prophets,
and Christ himself came. to Israel as a Jew. But the vast
majority of Jews rejected Christ. And even today, religious Jews
or Pharisees still reject the true Christ in our day. Read on. Verse 6. Paul says,
It is not as though the word of God hath taken none or no
effect. They are not all Israel which
are of Israel. He says it doesn't mean God's
Word, which speaks so much of the Jew and of Israel, so many
promises of an eternal kingdom and salvation for the Jew. That doesn't mean God's Word
hasn't been fulfilled or that it has failed, because he says
they're not all Israel which are of Israel. not all Israel
which are of Israel." Read on, verse 7, "...neither because
they are the seed of Abraham are they all children. But in
Isaac shall thy seed, or God's seed, be called." All right? Remember, Abraham had two sons,
Ishmael and Isaac. Well, it says here, "...in Isaac
shall thy seed be called." All right, what is this then? What
is Paul talking about here? What he is speaking of is God's
sovereign election, or God's choice. And here it is, one son
over the other. Isaac over Ishmael. Now, I doubt
that very many people would object to that, who hear this,
very few people would probably object to God picking Isaac over
Ishmael. Well, and don't think that this
means only temporal blessings or earthly kingdoms or prosperity,
but he's talking about salvation here. All right? He says not
all Israel are of Israel. And remember, who is Israel? Why, Israel is the name given
to Jacob by God. So he says, not all Israel are
of Israel. All right, read on. Verse 8.
He says, 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. He says, 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. God is not the father
of earthly Jews, nor is he the father of all mankind. See, Christ once looked at some
Jews, and he said to them, You are of your father the devil. And he went on to say, if God
were your father, you would love me, for I proceeded and came
forth from the Father, whom you call your God. And it's the same
today, people. If God were everyone's father,
they would know and love Christ. They would know and love the
truth of Christ. They would know and love the
true God and the true Christ whom he sent. Because John 6.45,
which is quoting the Old Testament passage, says, They shall be
all taught of God. All thy children, Isaiah said,
shall be taught of God. And he went on to say, And everyone
which hath heard and learned of the Father, if God is their
Father, he says, they will be taught by Him. And everyone which
hath heard and learned of the Father, will come to Christ. Now, that's what Christ said
in John 6, 45, and what Isaiah said. All right? But no, you
see, they're not all the children of God. Not all human beings
are the children of God, else God would teach them. Neither
is a Jew one which is a Jew outwardly. Romans 2, verse 29 says, a Jew
is one inwardly, a spiritual Jew, spiritual
Israel. God's kingdom is a spiritual
kingdom, not an earthly one. Christ said that. If my kingdom
were of this world, I would fight. The family of God, the sons of
God, are sons of promise, chosen by God in Christ, who is the
son of promise, or the seed. All right, he goes on to further
declare God's sovereign choice of his people. Verses 9 through
11, and I must hurry. He says, this is the word of
promise. At this time will I come and Sarah shall have a son. And
not only this, but when Rebecca also, that is, Isaac's wife,
when she had conceived by one, Isaac, The children being not
yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God, according to election, might stand, not of works, but
of him that calleth. It was said unto her, unto Rebekah,
The elder shall serve the younger." That is, Esau shall serve Jacob. Before they were born, God chose
one son over the other. That's what this says, doesn't
it? That his sovereign election, the purpose of God, his sovereign
election would span not of works, no, not chosen later after they
were born because one did better than the other. No, it's of God
that called it and of God that choose it. Read on. Verses 12
and 13, it was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger,
as it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated. This is not the only time this
is mentioned. Paul is quoting from Malachi
1, verses 2 and 3. All right? Word hated here doesn't mean
love less, as some, to use Peter's words, some who are unlearned
and unstable rest the Scriptures, or twist the Scriptures. It means
hate. It says hate. It means hate.
Besides, God's love is perfect. He cannot love one less than
another, but everyone whom He loves, He loves equally. He loves them the same. He cannot
love one more than another. All right? Verse 14. Some cry
now and some cried then. Verse 14. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? Or that is, in our modern language,
that's unfair for God to choose one over the other. That's unfair. for God to hate one and love
the other? And Paul answers in this way,
God forbid. How could you say such a thing?
Unfair. How could you? Read on. Verse
15, For he saith to Moses, in Exodus 33, verse 19, he saith
to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I
will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." Listen
very carefully to me, people. Those who cry unfair at God's
sovereign electing mercy and grace, they are ignorant of the
fact that neither Esau nor Jacob deserved the love of God. They
were both born sinners. They were both children of wrath,
even as others, Paul said in Ephesians. They both, as in David's
word, came forth from the womb speaking lies, as all human beings
do. They were both born dead in trespasses
and sins. They were both at enmity against
God, as Romans 8 verse 7 says, about all natural men. But God,
who is rich in mercy, chose to save Jacob. He didn't have to,
but he did. He chose to love Jacob. He didn't
have to. Jacob didn't deserve it, but
he did. He chose to have mercy and compassion
upon Jacob. He didn't deserve it, but God
did. Mercy, you see. is not getting
what we deserve. Mercy is being spared what you
deserve. Mercy is not getting judgment. Mercy is not getting condemnation
and eternal death and judgment. The Scripture says the wages
of sin is death. That's what we've earned. And
it's passed on all, Romans says, for all have sinned. God doesn't
have to elect someone to hell or force someone to hell. That
is their natural-born destination. But God must choose to save,
or else none would choose Him. God must give those elect to
Christ to come and save and do all that's necessary for their
salvation. They can't save themselves. In
the words of Scripture, we're dead. We're born dead. We're
lost. And Christ must give life. Christ
must find us. So then, verse 16, it says, it
is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God
that showeth mercy. Adam and Eve were the only human
beings ever born with a free will, and they chose sin. And so that free or dead, if
you will, will passed upon all human beings, for all have sinned. That dead, God-hating, sin-loving
nature passed upon all of us. And so he says, it is not of
him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but this thing's
of God. It's of God that showeth mercy. And he does it for whom he will.
Verse 18 says, he hath mercy on whom he will, and whom he
will he hardeneth. Now, God doesn't have to make
us hard. All he has to do is leave us
alone. And just like this Scripture, many will hate it. Many become
angry at it, hard-headed and hard-hearted against the truth.
But if God has mercy upon you and softens your heart, you'll
receive that. You'll receive the love of the
truth, the love of God's Word, all of it. And you'll say, with
all of God's people, salvation is totally by God's sovereign,
electing mercy in Christ. It's not my work, not my choice,
but it's God's. Well, I hope you do receive this
truth. Until next Sunday, good day. Okay. Okay.