Now let's look at Jeremiah chapter
40. We've covered quite a bit of
ground in this book of Jeremiah, haven't we? Somebody asked me
how many messages I preached. This is, I think this is 74.
But there's 50 chapters, a little over 50 chapters in this book.
And we're not in a race, are we, to try to get through it,
just simply trying to gleaned from the word of God. Well, tonight
I want to deal with the first 12 verses of chapter 40. And there in verse 13 of chapter
40 is really the beginning of a new section of history. It covers quite a bit of ground. If you've read ahead, there's
a lot of history from verse 13 all the way through over into
verse 41 and some in verse 42. So we'll cover a lot of ground
next time. in seeking to glean from God's
word out of this prophetic history, this prophecy that God gave to
his servant Jeremiah. Tonight I want to deal with this
subject, God's servant and God's remnant. God's servant and God's
remnant. This portion of scripture begins
with something that is quite puzzling and very interesting
at the same time. And I want to just begin reading,
look at verse one, the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord,
after that, Nebuchadnezzar, the captain of the guard, had let
him go from Ramah, when he had taken him, being bound in chains
among all that were carried away captive of Jerusalem and Judah,
which were carried away captive unto Babylon. Now this is This
is all this time during the period of time of the destruction of
Jerusalem, and this man named Nebuchadnezzar, we're told back
in 2 Kings chapter 25, 2 Kings 25, we don't have to turn there,
but that recorded history, that this man came one month after
the capture of Jerusalem, and his job, as given to him by King
Nebuchadnezzar, was to oversee the complete destruction of the
city. So this man here, just as Nebuchadnezzar
and the Babylonian army were agents of God's judgment against
the people for their sin, this man specifically was an agent
of God's judgment. We're the same. But here we're
told that Jeremiah, having been in and out of jail, in and out
of prison, in and out of chains, sometimes it was a very harsh
imprisonment, Remember we talked about that when Ebed-Melech interceded
for Jeremiah to get him out of that miry pit. He was up to his
armpits in mud. Got him out of that, and he was
still in prison, but it was a lighter sentence. And here, Jeremiah
was back in chains, and they were taking people from Judah
to Babylon. That's what they're doing. You
know, Daniel, Ezekiel had already been carried off to Babylon,
and then Daniel had been carried off. Well, this is about the
last wave of people right before the entire complete destruction
of the city, and especially the temple. And here this man, look
at it, verse two, he says, the captain of the guard took Jeremiah
and said unto him, the Lord thy God, now this is this man, Nebuchadnezzar,
this pagan Babylonian general, And he said to Jeremiah, the
Lord thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place. Now,
when he says the Lord thy God, what's happening here in that
culture, they did recognize the existence of many gods. That's
the way they looked at things. I mean, this man was not a believer.
Back then, when they conquered a country, it wasn't uncommon
for them to acknowledge, well, your God is this way and our
God is this way. Apparently, our God is stronger
than your God because we beat you. We conquered you. And so we'll just add this God
to one of the many in the catalog of gods. And that's what's happening
here. He's saying, your God has pronounced
evil upon this place. Why? Verse 3. He says, now the
Lord hath brought it and done according as he hath said. Apparently
this man had heard Jeremiah's message. Jeremiah who preached
the wrath of God upon Judah and Jerusalem for the sins of the
people. And so he's saying, well, your God has done what you said
he said he would do. And he says, because you have
sinned against the Lord and have not obeyed his voice, therefore
this thing has come upon you. What a message from a pagan Babylonian
captain telling Jeremiah that the people of Judah were sinners. And he was right. Here's what
he's simply saying to Jeremiah. He says, you guys are getting
what you deserve, what you've earned. And that's true. Now what's wrong with this as
it applies to this man himself? Now we know, turn over to Romans
chapter two with me. You know, Isaiah the prophet,
about a hundred years before this or so, maybe 150 years, When he saw the Lord high and
lifted up and he said, Holy, holy, holy. Remember Isaiah chapter
6. Isaiah made this statement. He
said, I dwell amidst a people or among a people of unclean
lips. I dwell in a nation of sinners. But Isaiah said something
before that. Remember what he said? He said,
I'm undone. I'm cut off. I'm a man of unclean
lips. I deserve God's wrath too. I'm
a sinner. And that's the difference. You
see, the fact is that we live in a nation of sinners who if
God were to give any of them what they deserve or what they've
earned, it would be eternal damnation, eternal judgment. We live in
a world of sinners. But the difference between a
true child of God, a true believer, and this man is this. I'm in
the same shape they're in. I deserve it too. If God were
to give me what I deserve. And that's what this issue of
judgment is all about. Look over here in Romans 2. He
says in verse 1, Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever
thou art that judgest. Now he's not just simply talking
about all judgment. I believe it was years ago, and
I think it was Brother Tim James, he made this statement. He said,
he got it in the pulpit and he said, what do you think is the
most misunderstood, misquoted verse of the script of the Bible?
And most people, you probably think John 3, 16. That's because
that's what came in my mind. And that is one of the most misunderstood,
misquoted verses. But no, there's even one that's
even worse, it's Matthew 7.1. What's Matthew 7.1? Judge not
that you be not judged. And people use that to act that,
well, we're never to judge anything. Well, first of all, if you're
saying that teaches we're never to judge anything, then you're
guilty because you judge everything. You say, no, I don't. Yes, you
do. And I do too. We judge everything. We put value
on everything or devalue something. Right now, I've told people,
right now you're judging what I'm preaching to you. Is it true
or is it not? You've got to make that decision,
don't you? You've got to make that assessment. Is this guy
lying to me or is he telling me the truth? Now you have to
make that judgment. And here he says, therefore thou
art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judges. What's
the point that he's making here? He's not forbidding all judgment.
He says, for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself.
The moment you look at any person, any fallen son or daughter of
Adam and say, now they're a sinner, they deserve damnation. You've
just condemned yourself. That's what he's saying here.
Talking to the self-righteous Jews who judge self-righteous
judgment. You've just condemned yourself,
and you want to know why? Because you're a sinner too. You see, here's the fact of the
matter. If God were to give any of us, the best of us, the worst
of us, and everybody in between, what we deserve or what we've
earned, it would be eternal death and damnation. And that's why
he says, thou condemnest thyself, for thou that judges doest the
same things. You're a sinner too. Verse two,
but we're sure that the judgment of God is according to truth
against them which commit such things. And thinkest thou this,
O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the
same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? You say,
well, I haven't done the same thing as, oh, so-and-so does.
Let me tell you something. Maybe not in action, but in thought,
word, and attitude. And even at that, you're still
a sinner. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. As long as we fall short, of
the righteousness that God requires in His holy law, what do we deserve? Condemnation and death. How then
is it possible for any sinner to be justified, to be saved?
Only by the grace of God in Christ. Christ is the only person who
ever deserved blessing and eternal life. And let me tell you something. He did it because he deserved
to be condemned and killed by the judgment of God. How? Based
on our sins charged to him. And by his death, he put sins
away. He drank damnation dry. He fulfilled
the law. He paid the debt. He brought
in everlasting righteousness. He bore away our sins. You see
that? Go back to Jeremiah 40. Now this
man was right. He's simply telling Jeremiah,
listen, your God has pronounced evil upon you, you're just getting
what you deserve. We've come in here and wiped
this place clean, you're sinners. And then look at verse four.
He says, and now behold, I loose thee this day from the chains
which were upon thy hand. He sets Jeremiah free. Now you
know why he did that? Because Nebuchadnezzar told him
to. Nebuchadnezzar, we're not told why Nebuchadnezzar had that
kind of attitude towards Jeremiah. We know, number one, it's the
providence of God. The king's heart is in the hands
of the Lord to turn it as he will. Isn't that right? What
the Bible tells us. But we also know that he may
have heard of Jeremiah's message like this man did here, that
Jeremiah was telling the people to submit to Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians. Just take sides with God against
yourself. We do deserve what we're getting.
We're sinners. So he set him free. Look at verse
four. If it seemed good to thee to
come with me into Babylon, come. Not only did he set him free,
he let him go where he wanted to go. He said, if it seems good
to you, come on to Babylon. Now there was peace in Babylon.
even for the remnant of the people of God. Think about Daniel. Now,
I know Daniel, he went to the lion's den, all of that, but
basically, you know, he held a high office in the court of
the king and still maintained his integrity as a child of God. That kind of blows my mind. I
don't know about you all, but it does. That's the mighty power
of almighty God, isn't it? and him alone. But he says, if
it seemed good unto thee to come with me into Babylon, come and
I will look well unto thee. I'll keep my eye upon you. That's
what that means. I'll make sure you're safe, Jeremiah.
Nobody's gonna harm you. That's the way Christ is with
his people. He sets us free. He gives us
a heart to follow him, and he keeps his eye upon us. his eye
of power, his eye of love, his eye of grace. And he doesn't
take it off. But now this man said to Jeremiah,
but if it seemed ill under thee to come with me into Babylon
forbear, behold, all the land is before thee, whether it seemeth
good and convenient or necessary for thee to go, then thither
go, go where you want to go. If you don't have a heart to
go to Babylon, go where you want to go. He says in verse five,
now, while he was not yet gone back, he said, go back also to
Gedaliah. Now remember, Gedaliah was the
governor. He says, the son of Ahicham, the son of Shaphan,
whom the king of Babylon hath made governor over the cities
of Judah. And look here, he says, dwell with him among the people. Dwell among the remnant. What
people? Look at. or go wherever it seemeth
convenient unto thee to go. So the captain of the guard gave
him, look here, gave him three things. He gave him victuals.
You know what victuals are. In the hills of Kentucky and
Tennessee, they call them vittles. Vittles. Well, that's food. That's food. And they give him
a reward. Well, now this is the only time
this Old Testament Hebrew word is translated reward in the whole
of Genesis to Malachi. It's translated different ways,
but one way it's translated is a gift. He's certainly not telling Jeremiah,
well, I'm gonna give you what you've earned because he's already
said you're getting what you deserve in this destruction.
So it has nothing to do with earned reward here. And we know
that here what we have is a picture. It's a wonderful picture of God
taking care of His people and taking care of Jeremiah, how
God saves sinners and gives us food, the bread of life. We have
Christ. We feed upon Him. We drink His
blood and eat of His flesh. What does that mean? That means
we believe in Him. We rest in Him as our Savior
and our sustenance. We believe in Him. We rest in
Him. We live by Him. That's what that's
talking about. And he is our reward, and our
reward is not of legal earned mercenary work that we do. The reward is the reward of grace.
It's an inheritance, incorruptible. And then he says, then let him
go. There's liberty. There's the gift of spiritual
life given. So he released him. That's a
picture of our freedom from condemnation and our freedom from darkness. And he said, remember he said,
go to Getali. Now what does Getali mean? The name means God is great. God is greatness. You see, this is all owing to
the greatness, the goodness, the power of God. There's nothing
here And I think about this, you know, and you read the history
of it and all. There is nothing in the history
of this to give a sinner room to boast. It's all of God. And I thought about my own history.
I don't have anything in my history that gives me room to boast.
I really don't. Because it's all, I mean, what
God has given to us, what God has done for us, What God has
gifted us with is all, all his mercy. It's all his grace. And then look at verse six. He
says, then went Jeremiah to Gedoliah, the son of Hycum, to Mizpah. The word Mizpah means watchtower. He went to watchtower. God is
great in the watchtower. That watchtower has nothing to
do with what we know today to be the Watchtower Society. That's
a false gospel. This watchtower is Christ upon
whom we set our gaze, and from whom we look at the world, and
in whom we're safe. And it says, and he dwelt with
him among the people that were left in the land. There's the
remnant. God's servant and God's remnant.
Now, he dwelt with Gedoliah. among the people that were left
in the land. He dwelt with God's greatness. Get a life, God's great. How
do we dwell with God's greatness? We dwell with Christ. We dwell
in Christ. We're in him, in him, in him. And he is our greatness because
he's great. We're not great. We're nothing. He's everything. He's our all
and in all. He's our wisdom, our righteousness,
our holiness, our redemption. In Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily and we're complete in Him. We dwell with
Christ and then we dwell with the people that were left in
the land. Who are those people? That's
the poor. Remember the poor that they left? Who they judged to
be nothing. Not worth taking to Babylon.
We don't want them kind of people in our city. Babylon was an impressive
place, you know that. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon,
you remember, that was put in by Nebuchadnezzar. That was one
of the seven wonders of the ancient world. We don't want this kind
of people there. But that's the kind of people
God saves. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are the meek. That's what we are by nature.
Spiritually bankrupt, poverty stricken, poor. We have nothing
and can get nothing to recommend us unto God. Our only plea, Christ
died for me. Jesus Christ and Him crucified
and He's everything. So there's the remnant. There's
Christ and His remnant. Now, from verses 7 to 12, here's
what we've got. We see Galiah, as a type of Christ. And then we see the remnant,
which is a type of the church. Let's look at it, verse seven.
It says, now when all the captains of the forces which were in the
fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon
had made Gedaliah the son of Hicam, governor in the land,
and had committed unto him men and women and children, and of
the poor of the land, of them that were not carried away, captive
to Babylon, Now these men, these forces, captains of the forces
that were in the fields, these were the rebels who still had
not given in. These were Jewish rebels who
still had not submitted to the Babylonian captivity. They were
out in the fields, hiding, like somebody said, like a guerrilla
warfare. But then they heard that Gedaliah
was the governor. And that all these, this remnant
of the poor, that had not been carried captive to Babylon. It
says in verse eight, then they came to get a lie to Mizpah,
the watchtower. And he named some of them Ishmael,
the son of Nethaniah. You are gonna learn later on
that this guy's a scoundrel. He says, and Johanan and Jonathan,
the sons of Kareah, and Sariah, the son of Tanhumeth, and the
sons of Ephi, and Netophathite, and Jezaniah, the son of Maakathite,
they and their men." Got through those names again, didn't he?
And he says in verse nine, now look at this. He says, now this
is important. He says, and Gedaliah, the son
of Haikam, the son of Shaphan, swear unto them and to their,
get the page here. swear unto them and to their
men saying, feared not to serve the Chaldeans, the Babylonians
dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon and it shall
be well with you. So get a lie. He became obedient
to the judge, the judgment of God against their sin. He became
one with Jeremiah in that message. And look on, he says, serve the
king and it shall be well with you. And remember now, that's
always an emblem of repentance. When they're told to submit to
the king of Babylon, they're not told to forsake God and become
idolaters like the Babylonians. They're told to accept the punishment
that God had wisely and justly inflicted upon. That's what they're
taught. And that's what repentance is, you see. When you repent,
you don't turn from an idol to another idol. When you repent,
you turn from an idol to Christ. And in that repentance, you're
taking sides with God against yourself. You're saying like
the psalmist, Lord, if thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities,
who would stand? Not me. And knowing that your
only hope of deliverance, of salvation, of justification is
in Christ, you turn to him. But now look at verse 10, he
says, as for me, now this is Galiah. He says, as for me, behold,
I will dwell at Mizpah to serve the Chaldeans. You might have
this in your concordance to stand before the Chaldeans. And it's
kind of like he's saying, I'm gonna represent the remnant before
the Chaldeans. Now the Chaldeans, the Babylonians,
they represented the judgment of God. You could say they are
representing the law of God against the people of God. And get a
life, God's greatness is saying I'm gonna stand before them to
represent the remnant. Now isn't that exactly what Christ
did? When he was made of a woman, made under the law, as the representative,
the substitute, and the surety of the remnant of grace, the
elect of God, and took our place under its judgment. We'll look
on, verse 10, let's read the whole thing again. As for me,
behold, I will dwell at Mizpah to serve the Chaldeans, which
will come unto us. But you, he's talking about the
remnant now, and these others who are coming in, you gather,
gather you wine and gather you summer fruits and oil and put
them in your vessels Dwell in your cities that you've taken
Now this is what I'm going to do. I'm gonna stand before the
law. This is what Christ said I'm
gonna go under the judgment of my father I'm going to be obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross. I'm going to be made
sin. That's what Christ said. I'm
going to be your surety, your substitute. I'm going to be your
sin bearer, your sin offering. I'm going to be the lamb of sacrifice. I'm going to be the scapegoat.
I'm going to be punished for the sins that you committed because
I'm going to make them mine as the Father will impute or charge
them to me. I'll take your debt. Hold me
accountable for it. If they owe you anything, put
it on my account. I'll pay for it. That's what
Christ said. Do you remember what He said? I'm going to serve
the Chaldeans. What did Christ do when He took
our place on the cross? He was serving. He was serving
His Father. He was serving under the law. Under the condemnation of the
law. Under the curse of the law he
was made a curse for us over there in isaiah 42 When he's
prophesied as the servant behold my servant It is said here in
verse 4 of isaiah 42 he shall not fail nor be discouraged till
what I? till he hath set judgment in
the earth, and the isles shall wait for his law. Now when did
he, when did he set judgment in the earth? On the cross of
Calvary when he died in our place. When he satisfied justice. Our
sins, we ourselves were judged in Christ. And he drank damnation
dry. Now that's what get a lie back
here in Jeremiah 40.10 is a typo. He said, I'll serve the Chaldeans.
I'll stand before them. But now what happens to his people?
Well, look at it. You gather wine. Wine's an emblem
of joy, joy and peace that comes in believing. Summer fruits flourishing
like the palm tree. That's flourishing. That's life.
You get life and oil. That's the work of the Holy Spirit,
isn't it? out of the Gedoliah being the governor, overseeing
the workings of what was left, serving before the Chaldeans,
which was God's judgment for their sins, what do they get?
What does the remnant get? Well, we get wine and summer
fruits and oil. We don't get punishment. We don't
get condemnation. There's therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ. We don't get death. Christ has
conquered death. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
We get life. Life abundant. We get blessings
untold, unnumbered, blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. We get the forgiveness of sins.
We get let off the hook. We are exonerated. We are justified. Our sins cannot be charged to
us, you see. Because they were charged to
Christ. And He separated us from our sins as far as the east is
from the west. We flourish like the palm tree. We have the Holy Spirit indwelling
us who has given us life. And we dwell in the cities which
we've taken by virtue of our conqueror. We're more than conquerors
through him that loved us. Well, look at verse 11. He says,
likewise, when all the Jews that were in Moab and among the Ammonites
and in Edom and that were in all the countries heard that
the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah. There's that
remnant. and that he had sent over them
Gedaliah, the son of Ahicham, the son of Shaphan. Even all
the Jews returned out of all places where they were driven
and came to the land of Judah to Gedaliah. There they come,
those Jews, unto Gedaliah, unto Mizpah, the watchtower, and gathered
wine and summer fruits very much. That's a picture of God calling
the His remnant to Christ. Where'd they come to? They came
to get a life. Just like we come to Christ, that remnant. You
know, I love studying about that remnant. I do. I think about old Isaiah over
there. You know, in his day, he made this statement in Isaiah
chapter 1. I'll just read it to you. He said this, he's talking about
the sin of Judith in his day, Jerusalem. It's amazing how over
periods of time, years and years and years, man still hasn't improved
much, has he? I think we've just made ourselves
more comfortable, but certainly not less sinful. And here Isaiah
said in verse 9, he said, except the Lord of hosts had left unto
us a very small remnant. We should have been a Sodom and
should have been like Gomorrah. But you know what? You know,
that sounds bad. You think how in the world, how
many people is he talking about there that are perishing in unbelief? There's a bunch. But it's not
all bad because there's a remnant. Oh, it's a very small remnant,
he says. And the thing about it is Isaiah
is writing by inspiration of the Spirit of God here. A very
small remnant. And I think about that. Look
over at Romans chapter 9 with me. Let me show you a couple
of scriptures here and then I'll conclude. Could you imagine? It's just,
to me, it's just overwhelming. When I think about these things.
Here's a very small remnant. Now certainly today, most people
would say, well, there may be a remnant, but it's a very large
remnant. I don't think that's true. I think that kind of thinking
mostly comes from self-righteousness. Because I think most people by
nature think that we're just better. We're Americans. We got in God we trust on our
coin. Listen, that stuff doesn't make
us any better than these unbelieving, self-righteous Jews. And that's
the way we all are by nature. But I think about that a lot.
Here in verse 27, he quotes Isaiah, Paul does, in his day. He says
in verse 27 of Romans 9, 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. A remnant. And he said, and Isaiah, and
he said, for he will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness
because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. It's
not going to take long. And he said in verse 29, as Isaiah
said before, except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed,
we'd been a Sodom and been made like unto Gomorrah. What shall
we say then? Now listen to what we're going
to say to all of that. Well, the Gentiles, which followed
not after righteousness, have attained a righteousness. Now
he's not talking about all Gentiles without exception there. You
know better than that. He's talking about the remnant.
The remnant of the Gentiles. Here in Romans 9 all the way
over to Romans 11, he's talking about the remnant of Gentiles
and the remnant of the Jews. There's a remnant. And the Gentile remnant which
followed not after righteousness, what does that mean? Does that
mean they were all immoral and all irreligious? No, you know
better than that. They're not all immoral and all
irreligious according to worldly standards. But they didn't have
the law. They didn't have the law of Moses. But it says they have attained
a righteousness. Now can I say, can you say that
I have attained righteousness? Now, whoever he's talking about
here in this remnant, they've attained righteousness. And he says, even the righteousness,
which is of faith. Now that's the righteousness
they attained, the righteousness, which is of faith. Well, what
is that? Well, let's see. Verse 31, but Israel, which followed
after the law of righteousness, they had the law of Moses. They
had the 10 commandments. They have not attained to the
law of righteousness. Wherefore, why? Because they
sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. Now what is it? We know what
it is to seek righteousness by works of the law. That's a sinner
trying to work their way into God's favor. But what is it to
seek righteousness by faith? Well, he tells us. Look at the
last part of verse 32. For they stumbled at that stumbling
stone. Now who's that stumbling stone?
Well, that's quoted from the book of Isaiah. The prophecy
of Isaiah chapter 8 and chapter 28 is probably what you have
in your concordance. The stumbling block. And he says,
As it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and
rock of offense, and whosoever believeth on him shall not be
ashamed. That stumbling stone is a him.
It's a person. What is it to seek righteousness
by faith? It's to seek righteousness in
that person. And who is that person? We'll
look down at verse four of chapter 10. He says, for Christ is the
end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believe. It's
not to seek righteousness in our works. It's not even to seek
righteousness in our faith. It's seek righteousness by faith
in Christ. And that's the difference. That's
the remnant. One more passage, look at Romans
11, this remnant. Now, the time that Paul is writing,
it was almost like there was a mass rejection of the nation
Israel of Jesus of Nazareth being the Messiah. And as you know
how the gospel was catapulted out through the Gentile world
and God began to save many Gentiles and raise up many of them. I
say many, it's still a remnant. And many of the Gentiles had
become sort of puffed up thinking that it was impossible therefore
for any man or woman who is a Jew to be saved. But that's not the case. Verse
1 of Romans 11, he says, I say then hath God cast away his people.
Now we know they were called the people of God. You can read
in Isaiah 45, it says, Israel shall be saved. Paul quotes that
over here later on. He says, all Israel shall be
saved. Look at verse 26. He says in verse 1, I say then,
have God cast away his people? God forbid. I also, I'm an Israelite. Paul was a sinner saved by grace
and he was a Jew. He said of the seed of Abraham
physically of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people
which he foreknew, foreordained. God's elect. That's what he's
talking about. Chosen in Christ before the foundation
of the world, whose names are written in the Lamb's book of
life before the foundation of the world. What ye not or know
ye not what the scripture saith of Elias or Elijah? How he maketh
intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they've killed
thy prophets. They've digged down thine altars. I'm left alone. They seek my life. But what saith
the answer of God unto him? God said to Elijah, I have reserved
to myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to the image
of Baal. That's a remnant. You say, that
sounds like a lot of people. Not compared to the whole population, but it is a remnant. Now how
does he describe this remnant? Verse five. Even so then at this
present time also there is a remnant according to what? The election
of grace. There you go. And if it's by
grace, then it's no more of works. Otherwise grace is no more grace.
But if it be of works, then it's no more of grace. Otherwise work
is no more work. Can't be both. What then, verse
seven, Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for. That's
talking about the nation Israel who rejected Christ. They were
trying to attain righteousness, but they didn't attain it. Sought
it by works. But look at verse seven. The
election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded. Now what
overwhelms me in all that is to even think that I could be
a part of that remnant. That's amazing to me. And I'll
tell you why. I know what I deserve, and I
know what I've earned, and I can remember just like it was yesterday,
sitting back there right around where Paul is, just gritting
my teeth at hearing the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace.
I mean, I can remember it just like it was yesterday. If somebody
were to come back here and told me and said, Bill, one day you'll
be pastoring that church and you'll be up there preaching
that same message, I would have said, you are out of your mind. I mean it, I'm telling you. There's
no way that you'll ever hear me say the things that that man
says about myself and about other people. And yet God, in His mercy, saves
sinners just like me. A remnant. A remnant. Well, why does He do it? Because of His servant, the Lord
Jesus Christ, who did all the work to secure our life in Him.