Now I'd like for you to open
your Bibles with me to Romans chapter 9. Now the title of this message
this morning is, God's True Israel Identified. God's True Israel
Identified. And when I'm going through these
scriptures, I'd like for you to ask yourself, as I will ask
myself this question and as I did in preparing this message, when
it comes to a relationship with God, when it comes to salvation,
and I'm assuming that most people in here would claim to be saved,
saved from sin. A lot of times you ask a person
who says, what are you saved from? They don't even know what.
They might say saved from hell. Hell is because of sin. We're saved from sin. What is
it in this matter of salvation, in a relationship with God, in
spiritual matters, that identifies you? That identifies me? one of the most popular movements
today among some who claim to be Christian is what they call
the Identity Movement. I didn't know anything about
this except for 10 or 12 years ago, a fellow used to come by
my office down in Albany and talk to me about it. It's called
the Identity Movement. And what they basically are trying
to prove is that those who are white Anglo-Saxons are really
the true physical descendants of Abraham. Some of you may have
heard of that. There's a popular preacher on
TV that promotes it. But they're the true descendants
of Abraham, and the way they kind of go about this is they
talk about the lost tribes. You remember, you know, after
Solomon, the kingdom of Israel, the physical nation of Israel,
was divided. You had the northern kingdom
made up of ten tribes, and the southern kingdom made up of the
two tribes, Judah mainly, and Benjamin. And the Assyrian Empire
invaded and destroyed the Northern Kingdom and scattered those ten
tribes throughout that empire, and that's what they call the
Lost Ten Tribes. There's a lot of legend, a lot
of stories, a lot of fiction about that. But this group, this
identity movement, they say, well, somehow they migrated to
the European continent and then especially up into the British
Isles and that's where they settled and then that's what developed.
And so, if you're a descendant from that British Anglo-Saxon
descent, then you're one of the true physical children of Abraham. And the fellow that came by and
is trying to convince me of that, finally, I told him, I said,
you know, he was talking about that and the identity and we're,
you know, it's not the people that live in Palestine today
that are the true physical descendants of Abraham. It's the white Anglo-Saxon. And he asked me one night, he
said, what do you think about that? And I said, I'll tell you
exactly what I think about that. I think big deal. That's what
I think about. I don't believe it's true. But if it were true, that's what
I think about it, big deal. So what? It means nothing. Did you hear that? If you could
trace your roots back to Abraham, physically, it means nothing. I'll tell you really what it
means. It just means you're a fallen
son of Adam just like Abraham was. What it means is that you're
a sinner in need of salvation by God's free and sovereign grace
in Christ, just like Abraham. That's what it means. But as
far as having any pride, or anything to recommend you unto God, or
any righteousness in yourself because you're a physical descendant
of Abraham, what does it mean? It means nothing. absolutely
nothing. If that's what identifies you
as a child of God, then you are in sad shape. But what does identify you? What
identifies me? Is it my church membership? Is
it the fact that I'm American and when I pull out a coin it
says, in God we trust? Is it the fact that I served
in the military, or you served in the military and went to war?
Do you believe the gospel, they call that the gospel of the flag?
Is that what this book teaches? I'm proud of those who serve
in the military, and I support them, don't get me wrong. But
what I'm saying is, that's not salvation. Do you understand
that? I'm proud to be an American,
but that's not salvation. If that's what identifies, if
I think that's what identifies me as a child of God, then I'm
in sad shape. Is it baptism? What is it that
identifies? Well, as Brother Gary read there
in John chapter eight, what identified these that the Lord was speaking
to? Well, they said it. They said, we be Abraham's seed. That's our identity. We be Abraham's
seed. They lied to themselves there. In verse 33, they said, we be
Abraham's seed and were never in bondage to any man. Well,
Abraham's physical seed was in bondage right then and there
under the Roman government. And before that, they were in
bondage to the Greek empire. And before that, they were in
bondage to the Medo-Persian empire. And before that, they were in
bondage to the Babylonian Empire. They'd been in bondage for about
500 years. But you know, people love to
be lied to, and we especially love to lie to ourselves. What
is it that identifies us? Well, look here at Romans chapter
9. I dealt with some of these verses last week, but I want
us to look at them again and draw a conclusion here. And when
I finish this, you're going to have some questions. People are
going to have some questions. Some of you may even have objections. And I'm going to get to those
next week mainly, but listen to what he says here. As I said
last week, you know, Paul was talking about his compassion
and his love for his physical relatives, his physical nation. He looked at the Jewish nation.
from which he came. Paul was truly a physical descendant
of Abraham. He was from the tribe of Benjamin,
that's what he said in Philippians chapter 3. He was a Hebrew of
Hebrews, he said. He was circumcised the eighth
day. And at one time, before Paul was saved by the grace of
God, before he came to know his sin, and before he came to know
the glory of Christ, and him crucified and risen. Before he
saw salvation totally by the grace of God in Christ, he really
thought that identified him and meant something. The fact that
he was a Hebrew of Hebrews of the tribe of Benjamin, circumcised
the eighth day, trying to keep the law. He thought that recommended
him unto God. But when the Holy Spirit brought
him down from his pride and his self-righteousness, and showed
him his sin. He said, I count all that but
dung. That's what he said. He said,
that which I really was so proud of, that which I thought made
up my righteousness before God, that which I thought identified
me as a child of God, now I count it but dung that I may win Christ. and be found in him. Not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness of God, which is by faith." Now
what identified him? Christ identified him. He said
in Galatians chapter 6, God forbid that I should glory save in the
cross. There's my identity, the death of the Son of God incarnate
on the cross to put away my sins by the shedding of his blood
and to justify me before God by his righteousness imputed
to me. Now that's what identifies me as a child of God, Paul would
say. But he had compassion for his
lost family. We have compassion for our lost
family, don't we? Don't we desire that God would
be gracious to them, merciful to them? I do, you do. But it's
said back there, and I read this at the opening, in Isaiah 45
and verse 17, it's said back there that Israel shall be saved
in the Lord, it's said now. Now, do you notice that? Look
over there just quickly, Isaiah chapter 45. Listen to what this
says now. Isaiah 45, 17. It says there in verse 17, it
says, but Israel shall be saved. Now, who's he talking about Israel?
Well, most people would say, well, he's certainly talking
about the nation Israel. There is a physical application
to that in their return from the Babylonian captivity. But
listen to what this verse says. He says, but Israel shall be
saved in the Lord. not by being a physical descendant
of Abraham, not by being circumcised, not by keeping the law, but in
the Lord. Who's the Lord there? That word
is Jehovah. Who's Jehovah? He's the God of
the covenant. He's the God of all grace. He
say Jehovah saves sinners by grace, not by their works. The name Jesus God saves. God, our Savior. You say, that's
Jehovah, the I Am. He saves by sovereign mercy and
grace. And it says He's going to save
them with an everlasting salvation. This is not a temporary thing.
This is not just a time-oriented, this is eternal. This is eternal
life and glory. This is not just bringing them
out of Egypt. and leaving them in the wilderness. This is not
just delivering them from a physical bond. This is eternal salvation. Deliverance from the bondage
of sin and Satan. This is salvation. He says, with
an everlasting salvation, you shall not be ashamed nor confounded,
world without end. And then look over at verse 23
of Isaiah 45. We'll look at verse 22. He says,
look unto me, Look unto who? Well, he identified himself as
a just God and a Savior, one who is both just and who saves. And he says, look unto me and
be ye saved all the ends of the earth, not just Jews, not just
Americans, but all the ends of the earth. For I am God, there
is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word
has gone out of my mouth in righteousness, that's the gospel, the promise
of salvation. By the grace of God, through
the righteousness that God would provide through His Son, the
obedience unto death of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, it shall
not return, it's not going to be void, it's not going to fall
on deaf ears in this situation. There'll be many who won't believe,
but not God's people. He says, that unto me every knee
shall bow, every tongue shall swear, surely shall one say,
in the Lord have I righteousness and strength. Not in Abraham.
See, the Jews said, we be Abraham's seed. In Abraham, we have strength
and righteousness. Or in circumcision, no, in the
Lord, Jehovah, Christ, have I righteousness. Even to Him shall men come. Now,
they're going to come to Christ. They're not going to come to
Abraham. They're not going to come to Jerusalem. They're not going to come to
the wailing wall. They're going to come to Christ. Do you understand
that? That's what salvation is. Christ
is my salvation. Old Simeon lifted up the Christ
child and he said, mine eyes have seen thy salvation. They're not gonna get, you know,
when I got, I never really heard of this much until I moved down
south, but everybody down there had been to Israel and been baptized
in the Jordan River. You ever heard of that much of
that? And that was special to them. That old dirty, muddy river. You might as well go down and
jump into the Ohio, folks. It means nothing. I'm serious. It means nothing. You see, in the Lord have I righteousness. Not in the Jordan, but in the
Lord. You say, well, Christ was baptized
there. He actually wasn't baptized in
the Jordan. That's not where John the Baptist was. But it
says, even to him shall men come, and all that are incensed against
him shall be ashamed. Now look at verse 25. In the
Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, be declared not
guilty, be declared righteous in the Lord, in Christ, and shall
glory. Now what Israel is he talking
about? Go back to Romans 9. Look at verse 6 again. Let's
just read through some of this. He says, "...not as though the
word of God hath taken none effect." God promised to save Israel,
but the majority of the nation rejected Christ. Was God's promise
of none effect? Did God make a promise He couldn't
keep or wouldn't keep? No, it's not as though the word
of God hath taken none effect. "...for they are not all Israel,
which are of Israel." He's talking about two different Israels here.
There's a national Israel, And then there's a spiritual Israel.
Neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all
children. Just because they're physical descendants of Abraham,
that doesn't mean they're all children of God. But in Isaac
shall thy seed be called. Who was Isaac? He was the child
of promise. Now, Isaac had a brother. His
name was Ishmael. He wasn't the child of promise.
He was the child of the flesh. What's the point he's making
here? Well, look at verse 8. That is, here's my point now,
he said in Isaac. Now, and through, it was through
Isaac that Christ came according to the flesh, the promise. But
listen to his point here. He says, that is, they which
are the children of the flesh, physical descendants, these are
not the children of God. How much plainer can it be there?
He says, but the children of the promise are counted for the
seed. Now, physically speaking, it was the descendants of Isaac
who were the children of promise. But spiritually speaking, who
is it? Well, look at verse nine. He
goes on, he proves the point even further. He says, for this
is the word of promise. At this time will I come and
Sarah shall have a son, Abraham and Sarah. You know, Ishmael,
he was the child of the bondwoman, Hagar. But Isaac was the miracle child. He was the child born not of
the power of men or the natural ways of men because Sarah couldn't
have children. But she had this child and she
was what, 90 years old? And Abraham was 100? Can you
imagine having a child at 90 and 100? I can imagine living
to be 100. I don't have a child. But she did. Now, whose power? What is the power of God? When
somebody says, well, God's power, if anybody has a child, that's
the power of God. Yes, it is, because God gives life. But this
was something out of the ordinary. This was based upon a promise
that God made. And this is something that we
would conclude naturally could not happen. And you know what?
That's right, naturally it could not happen. The children of the
flesh. These are not the children, but
the children of promise. So God made a promise. And then
look at verse 10, he goes on, he says, and not only this, but
when Rebekah also had conceived by one, even by her father Isaac,
Isaac and Rebekah, it says in verse 11, for the children being
not yet born, Neither having done any good or evil. Now this
puts the brakes on any notion that people have about election
being God looking down through a telescope of time and foreseeing
who would be good and who would be evil. It says here, Eve being
not yet born, neither having done any good or evil. Now listen
to this, that the purpose of God according to election might
stand. God's purpose according to election,
not of works, it's not of works, but of him that calleth, but
it's of God. And it was said, verse 12, it
was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger. You
know, under the Jewish law, under the old covenant, the firstborn
male child was to have the preeminence as the head of the home. That
was the birthright. And they were to be the spiritual
head of the home. They were to lead the family
in the ways of God. And you remember Jacob and Esau.
You know the story, Esau was the first, but they were twins.
But Esau came out first, so he was technically the firstborn.
He was to have the birthright, which was the place of preeminence
in the family as the spiritual head of that whole family. But
Esau didn't care about that. When Esau sold his birthright,
it had nothing to do with land and money and things like that.
It had to do with the fact that he did not care for the things
of God. He didn't care for the things
of the promise. He didn't care for the promise
of salvation by the grace of God, the gospel, wherein the
righteousness of God is written. Esau didn't care about that.
He didn't believe that. He was interested in other things. He
was a hunter. He had things to do. He was a
man's man. And he had other things to occupy
his mind, his heart, and his time. The things of God did not
interest him. The things of Christ did not
interest him. So he sold his birthright for
a mess of pottage, a lentil soup, because he was hungry. Esau was
a man of the flesh. But even before they were born,
God told Rebekah that that elder would serve the younger, that
Jacob would get the birthright. Why? That the purpose of God
according to election might stand. And look at verse 13. As it is
written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Now you
know what people do with that. They say, well I thought God
loved everybody. Well, Romans 9 and verse 13 says
he didn't love Esau. Said he hated. And some Greek
scholar says, well, that doesn't mean hate. That means loved less. No, that means hate. That's exactly
what that means. A young seminary student went
to a gospel preacher one time about that verse. He said, I'm
having trouble with that verse. And the preacher said, well,
what's wrong? He said, well, I have trouble with God hating Esau. And the preacher said, well,
I have trouble with that verse too, but not the same kind as
you're having. He said, what do you mean? He said, I have
trouble with God loving Jacob. Did Jacob, did Jacob with his
character and his conduct, did he deserve to be loved of God? Well, read the life of Jacob
sometime. If you're not familiar with that, just read about that
boy. He was a cheater, a liar, a conniver, a mama's boy? Went
behind his daddy's back? Did Jacob, in his character and
conduct, did he do anything to deserve or earn the love of God? No. Why did God love Jacob and
hate Esau? Well, you'll have to ask God
that question. Am I right? You'll have to take that up with
him. Don't get mad at me, that's where, that's what, I didn't
write this. My name's not, I'm not the author
of this book. God the Holy Spirit's the author
of this book. God is. Well, verse 14. Now, I'm gonna
go more in this next week, the rest of these, because I know
it brings up questions and Even objections. Paul anticipates
the objections. But listen to this. He says,
what shall we say then? Now, what are you going to say
about that? Well, you say, I don't like that. Well, it doesn't matter
if you like it or not. It says, is there unrighteousness with
God? Is there unfairness with God? Is there unjustness with
God because he hated Esau and loved Jacob? Why didn't he love
both of them? Why didn't he hate both of them?
They both deserved his hatred. Just like us. Do you know that's
what we deserve and what we've earned? That's why he says in
Malachi chapter 3 and verse 6, I'm the Lord, I change not, therefore
you sons of Jacob are not consumed. You sinners, that's what that
means. You sinners who deserve nothing
but wrath are not consumed. Because God, in His everlasting
covenant, chose a people and gave them to Christ. Set His
love upon them. So is there unrighteousness with
God? Well, here's the answer that the Holy Spirit gives. God
forbid. No, there's no unrighteousness,
no unfair... Whatever God does is right, whatever
God does is fair. Verse 15, For he saith to Moses,
I'll have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. That's what God told Moses. It's
not up to you, it's up to God. You say, well, does God have
that right? Well, you bet he does. Verse 16, now here's the conclusion
I want you to see this morning. He says, so then it's not of
him that willeth. It's not of the will of man.
Man's will is fallen. We're born dead in trespasses
and sin. Left to ourselves, we would not choose God. And I'm
sorry if you've all this time thought that your salvation was
because you had a holier will than other people. Or that you
were less obstinate, less rebellious than other people. No, it's not
of him that will it. nor of him that runneth." It's
not of man's activity, it's not of his works, but it's of God
that showeth mercy. Now, Paul anticipates other objections
there. How can God find fault? Who hath
resisted His will? We'll get to that next week,
but what I want you to see, I want you to look at some scripture
here. What is he teaching here? He's teaching us that salvation
is of the Lord. and that if we're going to find
salvation, we must seek it in the Lord. You seek it anywhere
else, you're not going to find it, whether you're a Jew or a
Gentile. Salvation is in a promise that
God made, just like Abraham's child Isaac was the product of
a promise that God made. Salvation is the product of a
promise God made. and he made it in Christ. And
those promises are not conditional towards you or me, they're conditioned
on Christ, the Son of God incarnate, who fulfilled all those conditions. That's what he's saying. And
all, listen, all who are spiritual children of God are recipients
of that promise and believe that promise. Now, do you believe
the promise? Now, you can sit around and speculate about election
and predestination and all that, all you want to. They're true. Scripture says they are. You
can argue about it. You can try to reason and wrap
your mind around it. You won't get anywhere. I'm telling
you. I've been there. You won't get anywhere. You can
reason it out. And you can come out on the end
denying God, which most people do. They deny God's sovereignty
and elevate man's accountability and will, as they say. Both are
true. God is sovereign, man is responsible. I cannot explain that to you,
but neither can anybody else without denying God or elevating
man. Now that's so. What are we to do? Well, what
did he say back at Isaiah 45 and verse 22? He said, look unto
me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. Does the Bible
say, whosoever calleth on the name of the Lord shall be saved?
It sure does, and I believe that wholeheartedly. I know man left
to himself will not call on the name of the Lord. Somebody called
Brother Mayhem one time and said, I don't believe what you're preaching.
I believe the Bible says whosoever will. And Henry said, well, I
believe whosoever will just as much as you do. But he said the
problem is, is a man by nature is a whosoever won't. That's exactly right. Left to
ourselves, we won't. What's he talking about here?
He's talking about seeking the Lord as He is, as He reveals
Himself, not because you're a physical descendant of Abraham or an American
or a Baptist or anything else. Just as a sinner seeking mercy,
fall at the feet of Christ and beg for mercy. Think about it. Look over at Romans chapter 4
with me. How was Abraham saved? Well,
Abraham just got within himself one day. Here he was in the Ur
of the Chaldees. That's modern-day Iraq. That's
where Abraham was. and he was living in a family
there and they were all idolaters. The scripture says that. But
all of a sudden, Abraham, being better than the rest of that
bunch, got the idea that he was going to seek the Lord. Is that
what happened? No. Read the Bible. God chose
Abraham and brought him out. Abraham didn't know anything
about God, didn't want anything to do with God. He was a sinner. He says in verse 1, What shall
we say then that Abraham our father as pertaining to the flesh
hath found? That is his pedigree, his own
works. He says, For if Abraham were
justified by works, if he were made right with God, not guilty,
righteous before God, by works he hath whereof to glory, but
not before God. No sinner can glory before God
based on their works or their own will. He says, for what saith
the scripture, Abraham believed God, and it was counted, imputed
unto him for righteousness. Abraham's justification before
God was based upon a righteousness that he didn't produce. It was
based upon the death of a substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ, God in
human flesh, who died for Abraham's sins, charged to him. And Abraham
was justified before God based upon the merit of the obedience
unto death of Christ, the righteousness of Christ, charged to him. He
says in verse 4, Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned
of grace, but of death. If you work for it, it's not
grace. He says, But to him that worketh not, but believeth on
him that justifieth who? The ungodly. That's who God justifies. His faith is counted for righteousness. What was Abraham's faith? His
faith was in Christ. Verse 6, even as David also described
it, the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness
without works. Saying, blessed are they whose
iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is
the man unto whom the Lord will not impute sin. Now listen to
verse 9. Now listen to this. Cometh this blessedness then
upon the circumcision only? Is that just for the Jews only?
or upon the uncircumcision also, for we say that faith was reckoned
to Abraham." That's not Abraham's believing there. That's the content
of Abraham's faith. That's the righteousness of Christ.
Let me show you that. We say that faith was reckoned,
imputed to Abraham for righteousness. How was it then reckoned? When
he was in circumcision or in uncircumcision. In other words,
did this happen before Abraham was circumcised or after? Well,
he says not in circumcision but in uncircumcision. This all happened
before Abraham. was ever circumcised. It had
happened before Abraham ever came to know. And he says in
verse 11, and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal
of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet been uncircumcised. Now listen, that he might be
the father of all them that what? Believe. Though they be not circumcised.
that righteousness might be imputed unto them also. Look at Galatians 6 and I'll
close. I read this last time but I want to read it again just
to emphasize the point. God's true Israel identified
the spiritual children of Abraham. Look at it again. This is what
he said, and you remember what Gary read there in John 8? They
said, where Abraham see? He said, well, if you were Abraham's
children, you'd do the works of Abraham. What did Abraham
do? He believed God. He looked to Christ. Christ said
that later on in John 8. He said, Abraham rejoiced to
see my day, and he saw it and he was glad. Look at Galatians
6. In verse 14, one more time, he says, God forbid that I should
glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. There's the
identity of the children of God, the true identity of God's Israel.
We have confidence in Christ and Him crucified and risen.
By whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world.
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision.
Jew or Gentile means nothing but a new creature, a new creation.
We're created in Christ, Jesus. And as many as walk according
to this rule, that's their identity now. Peace be on them. They're
at peace with God. Mercy, God's been merciful to
them. And upon the Israel of God. You
remember what Israel means? It means God prevails. That's
what the word literally means. God prevails. Well, you know
where God prevails in salvation? in Jesus Christ, the Lord of
Glory. God prevails, and He prevails
in salvation when He sends His Spirit to bring His people to
see Christ through the preaching of the promise of salvation by
grace. And that's something. That's
God's true Israel identified.