Now let's go back to Romans chapter
9. Romans chapter 9. This section of Paul's epistle
to the Romans, Romans 9, 10, and 11 is what I'm referring
to specifically now. All three of those chapters or
that section has quite a while for for many
who call themselves christian it's taken a real beating and
uh... a lot of it has to do with uh... just lack of study lack of really
understanding the scripture course we know that we have ears to
hear it's because god has given us ears to hear you know we've
been studying the book of revelation in our sunday school and when
he uh... when the Lord tells John that
he's going to give this message to the seven churches of Asia
Minor, each message to each of those churches, he says at the
end of it, he says, he that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And
so I pray, Lord, give me ears to hear. I pray that I'll give
you ears to hear also. And you know what I mean by that.
It's not just hearing the sound of an audible voice. It means
to understand. and heed what the scripture says. But Romans chapter 9 and 10 and
11, most people and many of the scholars will call this the Jewish
section of Romans. Then they relegate it, well that
just refers to the Jews or that just pertains to the Jews. And
I thought one time when I heard a preacher say, I said, those
poor old Jews, boy, they get saddled with a lot of stuff that
so many believers don't even want to fool with, you know.
And then you'll hear stuff like this, especially Romans 9, you
know, that, well, there's things in there that we just can't understand.
They're just too deep for us. And I've come to see from studying
this passage so many times and in the context of the whole Bible,
that that's just cover language. That means I don't want to deal
with it, and I don't want to believe it, therefore it's too
deep for me. And I don't want to do that,
and you certainly don't want to do that either. We want to
know what God's Word says. If it's written in God's Word,
it's for us, and it's for our good. And then, many times in
these passages, you know, people have a tendency just to say,
well, well, I even heard of, I had a seminary professor one
time, he said, well, if I preach Romans 9, it'd kill my church.
And I thought, well, maybe that's what ought to happen. But the
thing about it is, let's study the script, let's see what God's
Word says. Read through it. Read through
the whole book of Romans. Read through Romans 9, 10, and
11 on your own. I hope you study the Bible at
home, but some of you may not even open the Bible until you
come here. Aren't you glad we have these services? But study
them and read. These are the words of life now. Don't forget, when you read through
these things and you come to these what they call deep truths
and all of that, don't forget what's being said before and
what's being said after. Because there's a context here
that's very important. And as I said, most people relegate
this to the Jews. They say, well, this section
is just for the Jews. Well, let me show you something
before I get into Romans 9. Turn to Romans chapter 2. And I'll say, okay, I agree.
This section is just for the Jews. All right? This is just for... Romans 9,
10, 11 is just for the Jews. Now, but what I'm going to show
you something here. First of all, I want to show
you who a Jew is. And secondly, I want to tell
you that Genesis through Revelation is just for the Jews. Now, some
of you may be sitting there saying, well, why should I read it then?
Well, look at verse 28. Romans chapter 2. Paul writes here by
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, for he is not a Jew which is
one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward
in the flesh, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and circumcision
is that of the heart. in the Spirit, not in the letter,
not according to the law, whose praise is not of men but of God."
Now, that's the kind of Jew that these scriptures are for. Those
who have been circumcised in heart. Now, who is that? That's
the born again. That's people who've been born
again by the Spirit. That's what circumcision of the...
Physical circumcision of the males under the Abrahamic and
the Mosaic covenant was a type and picture of heart circumcision
by the Holy Spirit. The cutting away the filth of
the flesh, which means repentance. Repentance from dead works and
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. So by definition here, a Jew
is not... He's not talking about Jewish
nations here. He's not talking about an ethnic
Jew or a political Jew. He's talking about a spiritual
Jew. He's talking about a believer. It's talking about one born of
the Spirit, who's been convicted of sin and of righteousness and
of judgment, who's been brought to Christ for salvation. For
salvation. Now, are you a Jew? Spiritually,
I am. Because he's not one who's one
outwardly. That's physical. That's the physical
seed of Abraham. But he is one who's one inwardly.
That's what he's talking about. Talking about spiritual Israel.
Now, go back to Romans 9. Well, there's a lot of talk about
Israel, the nation Israel, Palestine, the Mideast, and a lot on the
news. And one of the most popular,
fastest growing movements today is something in the form of the
Christian-Jewish alliance. You'll hear that a lot. Christians
and Jews alike and then the question is is how should we view Israel
the state of Israel? How should we view? Israelites
the Jews the physical Jews and Paul mainly deals with that in
Romans 11 when we get to that I'll deal with that mainly there,
but Let me tell you something here now I When we're talking
about the Jews as a nation, or politically, or anything like
that, that's not what this book is about. All right? What about
this Jewish-Christian alliance, or Christian-Jewish alliance?
Is there a Christian and Jew alliance? Not religiously. Not religiously. I heard a man
say, he said that Christianity has its roots in Judaism. My friend, that's not so. That
is absolutely untrue. And I can prove that to you from
Scripture. What is a Jew? Well, the word Jew doesn't even
come up in Scripture till the book of Esther, when it identifies
a man named Mordecai. Mordecai the Jew. He was a child
of God. He was a believer. Come from
the name Judah. Judah, one of the 12 sons of
Israel, the 12 sons of Jacob. When Jacob was on his deathbed,
it's recorded in Genesis chapter 49, he was pronouncing blessings
upon his 12 sons. And when he came to Judah, he
spoke of Judah as being a lion's whelp. And he made this statement. And
here's the blessing upon Judah. And this proves that Christianity
does not have its roots in Judaism. And first of all, you'd have
to define Judaism, too. What do you mean by that? Here's
what Jacob said to Judah. He said, the scepter shall not
depart from Judah until what? Until Shiloh come. Now what is
Shiloh? Well, that means peace. The Hebrew
word shalom. That means peace. Jerusalem,
city of peace. Shiloh. Who was Jacob speaking
of there? He's talking about the promised
Messiah. The Lord Jesus Christ who is
the Prince of Peace. Who is the bringer of peace between
God and sinners by the blood of His cross. That's who he's
talking about. And this Shiloh, this Messiah,
this Prince of Peace, had already been set up before the world
began to be the savior of his people. The Bible calls him the
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. It says of this person, Paul
wrote this in 2nd Timothy chapter 1 verses 9 and 10, he talked
about God who hath saved us with a salvation that he gave us in
Christ Jesus before the world began. Christ is the Alpha and
the Omega. He has no beginning, no end.
He's the eternal Son of God. He's the second person of the
Trinity. He's the Word which was in the
beginning. The first prophecy of the Lord
Jesus Christ, the first picture of Christ in the Bible is when
God said, let there be light. Because he is the light. That
was before Judah was born. That was before Israel was ever
formed as a nation. That was before Abraham. The
first prophecy of Christ is in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15
when the Lord was pronouncing the curse upon the serpent. He
said that there's going to be enmity between your seed and
the seed of woman. And he said, you'll bruise his
heel but he'll bruise your head. Who is the seed of woman? That's
the Lord Jesus Christ before Judah was ever born. Listen, before Israel was ever
formed as a nation, before Abraham. The first revelation in picture
and type of the Lord Jesus Christ is when God removed the fig leaf
aprons from Adam and Eve, which they had sewn together with the
works of their hands to hide their shame. He removed those
fig leaf aprons, which represents salvation by works, And did what? In Genesis chapter 321, he slew
an animal, he shed blood, and made them coats of skin. What's
that a picture of? What's that teaching? It's teaching
Christ was made sin by imputation in order that we might be made
the righteousness of God in Him by imputation. It's teaching
that without the shedding of blood there's no forgiveness
of sin. There must be a substitute. There must be satisfaction of
God's law and justice by one whom God appoints, the seed of
woman, by one who is able to do it. He's God in man and one
person, God in human flesh, and by one who's willing to do it.
He agreed in the covenant before the foundation of the world to
be the savior of his people. And he loved his own until the
end. to the finishing of the work. That's the Lord Jesus Christ
before Abraham, before Judah, before Sinai. Abel came to God
seeking acceptance and blessedness by bringing what? The blood of
a lamb. Which pictured who? The Lamb
of God, which beareth away the sin of the world. You see what
I'm saying? It's a fallacy when people tell
you, well, Christianity didn't begin until A.D. 35 to 39. No. Christianity is as old as
eternity, my friend. And then the Lord himself said
of Abraham before Judah was ever born, he said, Abraham, rejoice
to see my day. And he saw it and he was glad.
Read it in John chapter eight. And then when Moses came along,
he told them, he said, Moses wrote of me. If you'd believe
Moses, you'd believe me, for he wrote of me. You see, Christianity doesn't
have its roots in Judaism, and what is Judaism? Well, if you
read Romans chapter 9 and 10, Paul, who was a physical Jew,
he characterized it this way. that Judaism was a religion that
sought after righteousness, but they didn't find it. They didn't
make it. Why didn't they make it? He says
in Romans chapter 9, read it in verses 30, 31 on down, he
says, because they sought it by works of the law and not by
faith. They didn't seek it in Christ.
They rejected Christ. They stumbled at the stumbling
stone. Now, are you telling me that
Christianity, the religion of grace, the religion that teaches
of salvation completed by the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross,
by the forgiveness of sin through his blood, and justification
before God by his righteousness complete, has its roots in a
religion that's seeking righteousness by works and didn't make it? No, sir. Didn't do it. Now, What about Israel? That's the question, right? Well,
let's read Romans 9. What about Israel? That's the
title of the message. Well, now the first thing that
Paul states here in Romans 9 is his compassion and his love for
his kinsmen in the flesh. He says in verse 1, I say the
truth in Christ. What I'm going to tell you doesn't
deny Christ. It doesn't rival Christ. It'll
exalt Christ. It'll bring him to the forefront
of salvation. It will lead you to Christ. I
say the truth in Christ. And what I'm telling you is from
Christ. He said, I'm not lying. I lie not. My conscience also
bear me witness. I'm not hypocritical about this
now. I'm not believing one thing and then saying another. My conscience,
and his conscience was cleansed and purged, how? By the blood
of Christ. That's how a believer's conscience,
that sense of guilt that we have because of sin, how is that purged?
Read Hebrews chapter 10 about that subject. It's purged by
the blood of Christ. The only thing that's going to
remove my guilt is the blood of Christ. The only thing that's
going to give me peace of conscience, peace of mind, peace of heart,
is seeing how Christ, by the grace of God, came and died for
my sins, was buried and rose again the third day, and how
I'm righteous before God in Him. So Paul says, my conscience also
bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, what I'm telling you is
by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. You see that? And he says in
verse two, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow
in my heart. I am so sorrowful. Sad, that's
what he's talking about. Continual sorrow, this doesn't
let up. What is making Paul? Now, Paul,
remember in Philippians, he talked about rejoicing Christ, have
joy in Christ. And here he's talking about having
continual sorrow. Well, his joy and rejoicing was
in Christ, but his sorrow, continual sorrow, was for what purpose?
Look at verse 3. For I could wish that myself
were accursed. That's separated from Christ. For my brethren, You talking
about your Christian brothers, Paul? No, he says, my kinsmen
according to the flesh. Now, every one of you sitting
here today, if you're a believer now, you really, in a sense,
have two families. You have a spiritual, eternal
family that will never, a union that'll never be broken. But
you have earthly families. Wives, husbands, children, mothers,
fathers, aunts, uncles, and then a national family in that sense,
but that's fleshly. You see what I'm saying? You
have a fleshly kinship with certain people that you have no spiritual
kinship to, that's what I'm saying. And you have a spiritual kinship
to people that you have no fleshly kinship to, other than we can
all trace our roots back to Adam. the human race, the fallen human
race. So Paul here identifies who he's
talking about. He's talking about his kinsmen
according to the flesh. He's talking about national Jews,
national Israel of the flesh, the physical seed of Abraham.
And what does he say here? He said, I could wish myself
accursed from Christ for them. Verse 4, who are Israelites?
What's he saying? His compassion men, his compassion
for sinners. My friend, listen, being a Christian
should never make us hard or mean or unloving. Now I know that the world will
identify and classify hard and mean and unloving with being
uncompromising about the truth, but don't go by the world's definition. Paul, look over in chapter 10,
in verse 1. He says, brethren, my heart's
desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be
saved. Now Paul is saying that the nation is lost. And my heart's
desire and prayer is that they be saved. I want them to be saved. Now the world would say Paul
is mean and harsh and unloving just because he says Israel's
lost. But why does he say that? I'll tell you exactly why. It's
not because Paul was mean or unloving or unkind or harsh or
proud or a doctrinal Pharisee, as some would say. He said it
because that's what God's Word says. Here's what God's Word
says. God's Word says that anyone who is not saved by the grace
of God in Christ is lost. It might be my fleshly family
or fleshly nation. It doesn't matter who they are.
It doesn't matter how much I love them. And for me to say otherwise
is not love. That's the most deadly thing.
You know, my children. The most deadly thing that I
could tell my children is that I believe they're saved when
I know they don't know and believe and trust and love Christ. You
know, that's the most deadly thing that I could do for my...
That's the most self-centered... Somebody says, well, I want peace
at home. Well, I do too. But my friend,
peace at the expense of the glory of God is a deadly peace. You understand what I'm saying?
Paul said, my heart's desire and prayer for them is that they
be saved. He said, I love them. He said, I could wish my... And
let me tell you something now. These were not just people who
were kind to Paul. There were 40 Jews one time who
put a contract out on Paul's life and said they wouldn't eat
or sleep until he was dead. Paul said, I could wish myself
a curse from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh. Listen. And I know, and people
talk about the Jewish nation and how they've been persecuted,
and they have, and let me tell you something. Any persecution
of the Jews or any other people, or any other nation, or any persecution
of any individual that comes in the name of Christianity is
a false Christianity. There is no Christian way or
mandate that we can persecute anybody. And those who persecuted
the Jews in the past in the name of Christianity were false Christians. They were Christian in name only.
I'm telling you. No, sir. I'll tell you what I
know about lost people. That the only reason that I'm
not lost with them is the grace of God in Christ. I was lost,
but now I'm found. If we're believers, if we're
saved, it's by the grace of God. We are what we are by the grace
of God. Who made us to differ? God did. We were born in sin, Paul wrote
in Ephesians chapter 2, dead in trespasses and sin, and we're
by nature children of wrath even as others. You know what he means
by that? He means that even us believers, even we who have been
born again, That as we were born in the flesh, there's no difference
between us and the children of wrath. You couldn't tell the
difference. Religion wouldn't make it different. Because man by nature is a religious
creature. But we are what we are by the grace of God. We're
chosen by the grace of God. The scripture teaches that. Over
there in Romans chapter 11, he's going to talk about a remnant
according to the election of grace. That's a small piece that
God chose because of grace. That means this, we didn't earn
it and we didn't deserve it. You can go up and down this,
if you believe you're one of the chosen of God, and if you
do, you better have scripture to back it up, but if you believe
that, you can walk up and down this earth all day, all night,
wondering, why did God choose me? And there's not one, one
human answer that will satisfy you. Christ gave us the only
answer in Matthew chapter 11, when he said, for so, Father,
it seemed good in thy sight. That's it. chosen by grace, justified
by grace. How can I, a sinner, stand before
God and be accepted? It's not by my works. And men
and women will bring up all kinds of reasons. They'll say, well,
I joined the church, or I got baptized, or I've tithed, or
I went on a missionary journey. No, no, no. There's only one
way a sinner can stand before God accepted in His sight, and
that's in the Beloved, Ephesians chapter 1. Verse 6 and 7. That's
in Christ. Paul wrote in Philippians chapter
3, Oh that I may know Him and be found in Him, not having mine
own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through
the faith of Christ, His faithfulness to keep the law and to die for
me. Sanctified by grace, set apart
by grace, redeemed by grace through the blood of Christ, regenerated
by grace, Christ told a Jew named Nicodemus, he said, you must
be born again, Nicodemus, or you can't see or enter the kingdom
of heaven. How are you born again? By the grace of God. It's not
of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth. It's of God who
shows mercy, Romans chapter 9. It's not by the will of the flesh,
nor by the will of man. It's not by blood, but it's of
God, born again of God. Preserved by the grace of God
the only reason we stay saved is by the grace of God in Christ
and Then ultimately glorified by the grace of God. We have
no reason to be mean or unkind to anybody who's lost We ought
to be like Paul and I'll tell you For somebody to say that
by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that's some statement, isn't
it? If you want to see something
mind-boggling in the book of Romans, it's not God's electing
grace. Right here it is. I could wish
that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen,
according to the flesh. I think that the only way that
you and I might be able to enter into that, and I want you all
to think about this, is when you think about your children. I believe we can come close to
what Paul was expressing there in genuine heart sorrow. Think about our children. Now
the next thing Paul does here is he brings forth the advantages
of the nation Israel, the advantages. Well, they're lost, but now they
had some advantages. Privileged people. And listen
to what he says. He said, who are Israelites?
Verse 4. And he lists these things. Now, I want you to notice, everything
he lists here, everything he lists here, has for its ultimate
reason and its ultimate fulfillment the truth of salvation by the
grace of God in Christ. And yet the Jews as a nation
now, not every individual Jew, Paul was a Jew, Peter was a Jew,
and that's why Paul says in Romans chapter 11, we ought to thank
God for the Jewish. Now listen, if we're Christian,
no, Christianity doesn't have its roots in Judaism, but I sure
thank God for that nation. How about you? God used them
in a mighty way to accomplish his purposes. And we ought to
thank God every day. The first believers in the New
Testament were Jews. And I read the Bible, read the
New Testament. God used Jewish men to write
it. And I thank God for them. Thank
God for His using them in a mighty way. But everything here that
he lists for its ultimate reason and fulfillment, the salvation
of sinners by God's grace in Christ and the Jewish nation
as a whole down through that old covenant, which was a period
of about 1,500 years from Sinai to the cross, they missed it. Now again, if it weren't for
the grace of God, we would have missed it too. Being a Jew or Gentile has nothing
to do with that, see? Look at what he says. He says,
"...to whom pertaineth the adoption." That's their national adoption
as a nation. Not in the sense of eternal salvation
for every person born a Jew. but as to God choosing and using
them for His special purposes. He adopted that nation. He chose
that nation mainly to do one thing. Now, they did a lot of
things. There were some other reasons,
but mainly to do one thing, to bring the Messiah through that
nation according to the flesh. That was the main thing right
there. He chose that. Christ had to have a humanity. Now, let me show you that. Turn
to Hebrews chapter 2. You see, in order for God to
save His people, spiritual Israel, His elect out of every tribe,
kindred, tongue, and nation, Jew, and Gentile, Christ, the
Son of God, Christ God, He is God, He had to have a human body
and soul. He had to be made flesh. Now
why? We'll look at verse 14 of Hebrews
2. He says, "...for as much then as the children..." Whose children?
God's children. That's God's elect. Children
of the promise. "...and they are partakers of
flesh and blood." In other words, they're in partnership, in fellowship
with flesh and blood. That's what we are. "...he also
himself..." That's Christ. "...Christ also himself likewise
took part of the same." Flesh and blood. Why? That through
death he had to die. Sin demands death. Without the
shedding of blood, no forgiveness. He had to die, that through death
he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the
devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their
lifetime subject to bondage. He had to have a human body.
The word had to be made flesh to dwell among us. He had to
be God-man, that's who Christ is. And think about this, God
chose this nation and adopted them as a nation to bring Christ
according to the flesh. He was made of the seed of David
according to the flesh, Romans chapter 1, verse 4. Look back
at Romans 9. It says, who pertaineth the adoption
and the glory. The glory there refers to the
Shekinah glory of God in the tabernacle. That's where the
mercy seat was. That's where the high priest
went one time a year into the holiest of all with the blood
of an animal. All of that picturing and symbolizing
and prophesying of the one great high priest to come, the Lord
Jesus Christ, who would present the sacrifice of himself upon
the altar of his deity to save us from our sins. That's what
that was all about. That's the glory of God in the
face of Jesus. That's what that picture... But
they had that tabernacle. They had that holiest of... They
had that Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat. They had
all that. And that was not to be an end in and of itself. The
blood of bulls and goats can't take away sin. But that was to
point them to Christ, but most of them missed it. He says the
covenants. What about those covenants? Well,
he made a covenant with Abraham and the Jews. You know, he made
many promises to Abraham. Some of them were physical promises,
some of them were spiritual promises. The physical promises pertained
to that nation. That physical nation. The spiritual
promises pertained to the spiritual nation. I'll show you that in
just a moment. But the covenant of Abraham, the covenant of Sinai,
they had the law given to them. That law, Galatians chapter 3
tells us, was to be a schoolmaster to lead among the Christ. They
had the priestly covenant. They had the covenant of David,
the royal covenant. All of that pointed to Christ,
but they missed it. He said they had the giving of
the law, the law on Sinai. They had the moral law, the ceremonial
law, the civil law, all one law. He says they had the service
of God, that's the service of the tabernacle and the priest
and the temple later on. They had that, again, all picturing
Christ. They had the promises, physical
promises connected with the Old Covenant, and ultimate, eternal
promises connected with Christ. Verse 5, it says, whose are the
fathers? That's Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
You remember they would always say, many times when they wanted
to prove that they were children of God, they'd say, we have Abraham
as our father. We're Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
What was Abraham? Abraham wasn't saved by his works.
Read Romans 4, he was saved by grace. He's an example of how
God justifies the ungodly based upon the imputed righteousness
of Christ. The Jews as a nation rejected that. Christ told him,
he said, he said, you seek to kill me. Abraham didn't do that. Abraham rejoiced to see my day.
Isaac, he was the child of promise, picturing Christ, the ultimate
child of promise, and his people who are all children of promise.
And old Jacob, what a picture of a sinner saved by grace. They had the fathers. And it
says in verse 5, and of whom? As concerning the flesh, Christ
came through that nation in His humanity. He came through that
nation, not with the aid of man, but He was conceived in the womb
of the Virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit. And she was of that tribe
of Judah. The scepter shall not depart
from Judah until Shiloh come. And he says, who is over all
God blessed forever. And he makes sure that he testifies
of this fact that was very offensive to the Jews, the unbelieving
Jews. And that is that Christ came of the seed of David according
to the flesh, but he's God, he's over all. Jesus of Nazareth is
God. That's what he's saying. He's
God incarnate. Now the third thing Paul does
here is he shows God's power and grace in eternal salvation
as it pertains to Israel. What about Israel? All right,
well let's look at it. First of all, what does Israel
mean? Well, the first time the term Israel is used is in Genesis
chapter 32. And it's verse 28. You can mark
that down. That's the segment where Jacob
wrestled with the angel. And you remember what happened
there. Jacob wrestled with the angel, and Jacob would not let
that angel go. And remember that angel disjointed
Jacob's hip, made him lame. And all of that is a picture
of salvation, how a sinner, God's people, God's elect, will not
quit until we seek and find and have Christ. And that angel, who I believe
was a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ, he blessed Jacob.
And he gave him a new name. Jacob was the name of his fallen
humanity. Jacob was the name of his sin
and depravity. Jacob was the name of his rebellion.
But he gave him a new name. He said, now you're going to
be called Israel. Now, what does Israel mean? Well,
if you go back to Genesis 32, 28, rather, and you have a concordance
in your Bible, it may say something like Prince of God. Now, those who are saved by grace
are made princes of God in that sense. But you know what Israel
really means, the theme Israel? It means God prevails. That's what Israel means. The
E-L on the end of Israel, that's El, Elohim, God. God prevails. And that's kind of weird because
if you look at it back there in Genesis chapter 32, 28, Jacob's
wrestling with the angel and it looks like Jacob prevails. No, not so. God prevailed. Yeah, all that was going on there.
And Jacob, yeah, he wouldn't let go. He said, I'm not going
to let go until you bless me. What's he saying? I must have
Christ. That's what Jacob was saying.
I've got to have Christ. And I can't let go of him. He's
my only hope. He's my only righteousness. He's
my only forgiveness. I've got to have Christ. Whenever
a sinner does that, you know who prevails? God does. Because
that's the work of God, my friend. That's the work of God. That's
what Israel means. And what Paul's talking about
here is God prevailing in salvation, and look at what he says. He
says, first of all, in verse 6, he says, "...not as though
the word of God had taken none effect." Why does he say that? Well, back in the Old Testament,
God promised this. You can read this in Isaiah 45,
17 and other scriptures, give you an example, you read that,
Isaiah 45, 17. He said this, he said, Israel
shall be saved with an everlasting salvation, world without end. Israel shall be saved with an
everlasting salvation, world without end. And yet we see in the Old Testament
and in the New Testament that Israel wasn't saved. National
Israel wasn't saved. Hebrews chapter 3 verse 19, they
couldn't even enter into the Promised Land because of what?
Unbelief. Their carcasses, he said, perished
in the wilderness. Remember Christ, O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, how oft I would have gathered you together as a mother
hen gathers her chicks, and you would not. Israel wouldn't receive
him. He came unto his own, and his
own received him not. They rejected him. In the book of Romans chapter
11, Paul quoted Isaiah 45, 17. In verse 26 of Romans 11, he
said, All Israel shall be saved. All Israel shall be saved. Well,
what's the problem then? Did God make a promise He couldn't
keep? Or did God go back on His promise?
Was the Word of God, has it not taken effect? Is God's Word void
and weak like mine? I may promise to do something
for you and it may not get done. And you know why? Because I'm
human. And a sinful human. But when
God makes a promise, the Bible says in Hebrews chapter 6 that
when God makes a promise, He swears an oath by Himself. He engages Himself behind His
reputation and glories on the line to fulfill His promise.
Well, He promised to save Israel back there, and He's made that
promise several times. Is the Word of God of no effect?
Well, Paul says, no, that's not the case, fellas. It's not as
though the word of God had taken none effect. Here's the issue,
here's the answer, look at verse six. For they are not all Israel,
which are of Israel. What do you mean by that? What
he means is this, not all Israelites of the flesh are Israelites of
the spirit. A person may be a physical Jew
and not a spiritual Jew. He says in verse 7, neither because
they are the seed of Abraham are they all children, but in
Isaac shall thy seed be called. The physical seed, that physical
connection with Abraham does not make one a child of God.
Physical connection with Abraham did not give identity here. What
does? God's promise does. Physical
circumcision didn't get it. Spiritual circumcision does.
And he says, but in Isaac shall thy seed be called. Even the
natural descendants who received the national promises were not
determined by natural birth. Abraham had two sons, one Isaac,
one Ishmael. Ishmael wasn't the child of promise,
Isaac was. But that's only determined by
the promise and the power of God. Well, the same is true of
those who receive the eternal promises of God through Christ.
The child of promise who is Christ. And then he says, verse 8, he
says, that is they which are the children of the flesh, these
are not the children of God. Now did you read that with me? Did you see that? What does that
say? Read it again. That is they which
are the children of the flesh, born physically children of Abraham,
these are not the children of God. But the children of the
promise are counted for the seed. Now let me read one scripture
to you, turn to Galatians chapter 3, and I'm going to come back
next week and go through some of this again. But let me show
you who these children of the promise are. Who are the children
of the promise? That's the children of God, that's
spiritual Israel. Galatians chapter 3, verse 26,
just read this and we'll conclude with this. He says in verse 26, for you
are all the children of God, how? By faith in Christ Jesus. For as many as you have been
baptized, placed into Christ, have put on Christ, believed
in Him. If you've been placed into Christ, united with Christ,
you will believe in Him sometime by the power of the Spirit. There
is neither Jew nor Greek. Greek was a way to refer to the
Gentiles back then. There's neither Jew nor Gentile.
There's neither bond nor free, there's neither male nor female,
for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Do you see that? And if
you be Christ, that's a possessive, if you belong to Christ, then
are you Abraham's seed, children, Abraham's children and heirs
according to the promise. All right.