Sovereign Grace Chapel, located
at 135 Annabel Lane in Beaver, West Virginia, invites you to
listen to a gospel message concerning Jesus Christ our Lord. All right, if you wish to follow
along, turn to Romans chapter nine. I was away a couple Sundays. Last Sunday, we had that horrendously
cold and dangerous weather, and we didn't meet there, or meet
here that day. Of course, Paul was able to live
stream for us. But the last time I was here, I basically spoke
on verses one, two, and three. And I'll not go back over those
again, but I do want to read those and then go just a few
more verses further and we will deal with those verses. Paul
in this chapter, what we have is chapter nine. Of course, everyone
here is aware of this, but there were no chapter divisions when
Paul wrote this. He was just writing out a letter
to this church. And he wrote these words of what
we have in chapter nine. I say the truth in Christ, I
lie not. My conscience also bearing me
witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual
sorrow in my heart. And I will just stop and say,
I know something of what Paul means there. All of us probably
has someone or a group of someones that we care very deeply about. And our hearts are in heaviness
toward God because of them, because we know they do not know God.
And that's what Paul's referencing here. And he continues, for I
could wish that myself were a curse for Christ for my brethren, my
kinsmen, according to the flesh. Now he describes them, who are
Israelites, who are Israelites. Now, let me stop just for a moment
and say this. When reading Paul's epistles,
we must be careful. I am and have often called myself
to be a literalist when it comes to reading and understanding
the scripture, and that is true. I still hold myself to be a literalist,
but you must look at the context because there are times when
Paul speaks of Israel that he is not talking about natural
Israelites. But here he is, because he has
just said, my kinsmen, according to the flesh, right? Who are
Israelites, to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory,
and the covenants. Think about this list of things
that these Israelites had, and the giving of the law, and the
service of God, and the promises. Whose are the fathers, that is
all of these And I mean to say it this way, all of those great
men and women of the Old Testament that believed God and were a
part of God's family, these people came from them, whose are the
fathers, and of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came. He, Jesus
Christ, was a full-blooded Jew. As who, concerning the flesh,
Christ came, Who is over all, that is speaking of Christ, not
the Israelites. Who is over all, God bless forever,
amen. But then this last verse, I wanna
include that for this morning. Not as though the word of God
has taken that effect. That is, the word of God has
not failed. If we read the word of God, and
we look at things like the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the
giving of the law, the service of God, specifically the promises. There are those who believe that
the promises have fallen to the ground for Israel, but Paul says
that's not so. Not as though the word of God
has taken none effect. Here it is, for they are not
all Israel, which are of Israel. Now they are all natural Israelites,
but they are not all Israel, that is princes with God, who
come forth out of, I am paraphrasing, but who come forth out of the
loins of him who was a prince with God. So consider the advantage
that these natural Israelites had. The adoption, the adoption. And I'm not gonna spend a lot
of time on these things. because I'm not saying you can't, I'm
just saying I'm not able to without it ending up being probably just
some large historical lesson, and I don't want that this morning.
The adoption, and our Lord even said, of Israel, the nation of
Israel, the nation, because when he sent Moses down to deliver
the Jews out of Egyptian bondage, he did not send him down to deliver
only the elect in Christ. but he sent him down to deliver
the whole nation of Israel. So the adoption, and even there
in Exodus 4.22, you can look it up sometime if you wish, God
said this of Israel, Israel is my son, even my firstborn. Then you have the glory. Think
about the brilliance that followed Israel when they left Egypt.
During the day, it was a pillar of cloud that gave them shade
from the heat of the sun. At night, it was a pillar of
fire to give them light on their journey, even, Mac, they sometimes
may have journeyed at nighttime, and yet that glory was there,
right? This was God Almighty's presence
with them. This wasn't just some supernatural
miracle as men often think of on a natural level. This was
the very presence of God clothed in this pillar of fire or this
cloud. And you remember when the tabernacle
was erected and all things were sanctified by blood that were
to be sanctified by blood? that the presence, the glory
of God came down and went into that little old cubicle called
the Holy of Holies, and God sat right between the two cherubims
whose wings come over the mercy seat, and that mercy seat, and
God sat right there. To them pertained this glory.
When Moses went on to Sinai, the presence of God came down,
and they seen the mountain lit up with fire and smoke and noise. And then we have the covenants,
the covenants. And there are many covenants,
but let me say this, because I was born and raised and was
taught that the covenants have to do with various different
things. All of the covenants. If there is a covenant that is
included in what Paul talks of here, the covenants, which were
these Israelites' advantage, what they had, what God gave
them, they all have to do with messianic blessing. There are those who teach there
are covenants that are just for natural Israel, and then there
are covenants for the church, a covenant for the church. You
gotta be careful there. But let me illustrate this in
two of the covenants. There is the Abrahamic covenant.
That is the messianic covenant. Blessing, the promise from God
to Abraham that through his seed, the nations, the nations, not
just your progeny, not just those that come forth out of your physical
loins, but the nations would be blessed by this one singular
seed. There's the Abrahamic covenant.
It is of messianic blessing, but then there is what is called
the Davidic covenant. But that does not negate the
Messiah, nor does it make the Messiah some special person just
for the nation of Israel only, because the Davidic covenant
declares of the Messiah that he shall reign on the throne. So we see pertained to these
Israelites, the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving
of the law. How can that be an advantage?
Because the law exposes sin and sins, and that's a good thing. It may not feel good when the
law exposes your sin and your sins to you, but it's a good
thing to have the law expose to you your sin and your sins. And I'm not going into the difference
on those, but most here I'm sure are acquainted with that. The
law lets me know this, and Paul dealt with it adequately this
morning, mercy from God is essential. Mercy from God is essential.
That's what the law teaches. That's what the law teaches.
So that was a great advantage to have this law, was it not?
I know most people think the law was just these 10 commandments
that God gave to humankind, here's how you're supposed to conduct
yourselves. There is a very small smidgen in which that's true.
but that law was given to expose what we really are in the fall
of our father, Adam, and what we are by nature when we're born
into this world. But Paul says, to whom pertaineth,
who are Israelites, to whom pertaineth the adoption, the glory, the
covenants, the giving of the law, what about the service of
God, the promises, the fathers, Christ's enfleshment, Christ
who is over all, God bless forever, amen. And there's one that Paul
doesn't list here because he's already mentioned it. And you're
aware of it, but in case you don't remember it, turn back
to Romans three. And this is where I got a portion of my title.
Great Advantage Squandered. And in our short passage here,
verses one through six, there is this sincere, true, great
heaviness of heart, but there is that ray of hope too, because
the word of God has not been found to be of no effect, because
they're not all Israel, which are of Israel. God has had and
still has amongst the natural Israelites a people chosen to
salvation in Christ Jesus the Lord. Israel as a whole, elect
or reprobate, was a part of an elect nation. but not every person
in that elect nation was elected to salvation in Christ Jesus
the Lord. And that's the whole of what
Paul absolutely teaches in this chapter. We'll look at that in
more detail, but again. Look at what it says, chapter
three. What advantage, then, hath the Jew? Or what profit
is there of circumcision? Much every way. And of course, in our text, we
find him listing adoption, right? Glory, covenants, the law, the
service, the promises, the fathers, concerning Christ coming in the
flesh. That's an advantage, much every way. But here's the chief
one. chiefly because that unto them
were committed the oracles of God. Now there's something about
this. Truth here, Paul expresses. The
oracles of God are not, and I know that's a word that in this day
and age with all of the sci-fi movies and just the weird kind
of movies of weird worlds, that they'll have oracles. And oracles
were these beings or people or demigods, whatever they were,
and when they spoke, you needed to really listen. But the oracles
Paul is talking about is not just some pronunciations from
some being. This is the written word of God. Granted, these natural Israelites
way back then, Mac, they didn't have all that we got today. But
they had, even in the beginning, once Moses arrived on the scene,
and before Moses died, God moved him to write down the first five
books of the Bible, and they are absolute truth from God. They are the oracles of God,
and the Israelites had these things. Now just as a side note,
how much more advantage and responsibility do we have? Because we got all
this. We have this book that tells
us the difference, it defines the difference between the first
covenant and the second covenant. The old covenant and the new
covenant, do we not? But, I don't wanna get into that
yet. Yet, in spite of all this advantage, and that's what he
says, chapter three, let me read it again. What advantage then
hath the Jew? What profit is there in circumcision? But remember,
he's just told us in the previous sentences, who is really a Jew? Well, just being a natural Jew
is not what he's talking about. And circumcision is not just
that of the flesh, it's in the heart. So a real Jew, a true
Jew, whatever word you want to use to describe it, an actual
Jew is one of the elect of God in Christ Jesus that God gives
life to. But then he turns around and
says, what advantage then hath the Jew? Well, now he's reverted
back to just being a Jew by nature. See, that quick. So you gotta
be careful. You just gotta be careful. What
advantage then hath the Jew, or what profit is there of circumcision? Much in every way, chiefly because
that unto them were committed the oracles of God. But he brings
up the same problem that he talks about in chapter nine, but many
Jews didn't believe, right? And look where the nation of
Israel was even in Paul's day. Look where it's at now. They're
not believers in the Messiah. There may be some who believe
the Messiah's still to come, but they don't believe he's already
come the first time in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. But Paul
introduces this problem. For what if some of them did
not believe? What about God's promise then? What about His
covenants? What about the adoption? What about all those things?
What about the service of God? What about the law? All those
would be included because this is one of the advantages you
had in being a Jew or being an Israelite according to the flesh.
For what if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make the
faith of God without effect? God forbid. So if I view the scripture in
some way that the scriptures, the truth of God has fallen to
the ground, then I am viewing the scriptures wrongly. Based
upon that, there is some who are called dispensationalists
that believe, well, since this thing really didn't seem to pan
out for Israel, then God kind of reverted to the church, and
he's gonna save a few people through the church, and then
he'll revert back to Israel one day. Listen to me, anything God
does for any natural Israelite, he will only do for them in Christ,
them being chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world.
God will not reestablish Israel as a nation, now listen, he's
already established them as a nation again. but he will not establish
them as a nation to start practicing all of this service again under
the law, all of these sacrifices of animals. That is done away
with in Christ Jesus. So clearly I'm not that kind
of dispensationalist. But what I am doesn't matter.
It's what this book says yet. The sad truth is, uh-oh, Paul,
I'm getting a tickle too. The devil must be out this morning.
No, I just need a drink of water. Yet, Israel squandered these
great advantages. Did they not? They squandered
it by neglect. How often did they neglect these
things? Even when they were offering sacrifices. Even when they did
offer a lamb. You know what they'd often do?
They didn't bring one without blemish, they'd bring the worst
one. One with a limp. or some kind of bad disease on
it. They bring that to the Lord. And God said, would your master
receive that from you? You see what I'm saying? They
had all these great advantages, but they squandered them by neglect.
They squandered them by distortion. They would distort. They distorted
the law. They distorted the law. You remember
when our Lord came on the scene, he said, you make void the commandment
of God with your traditions. And some of those traditions
were not in and of themselves bad traditions. The problem was
they were trying to skirt the reality and the truth of the
law by those traditions. Okay? So they squandered these
great advantages by neglect, by distortion, by pride, by self-righteousness,
by presumption. Most Jews just presumed that
because they were a Jew, they had the blessing of God. Right? Yet the evidence is God slaughtered
millions of them in the desert when they refused to believe
God and enter into Canaan right at the get-go. And God put it
in the Old Testament, and it's referred to in the New, their
carcasses. God don't talk about His people, even their bodies,
as just their carcasses. He redeemed even this body. Christ
died and when he returns, if I die before he returns or if
I'm living when he returns, if I'm in Christ, he's gonna transform
this body and give me a glorious body. But Israel, presumption,
ritualism, for many Jews, just going through all the service,
sacrifice, all the law, it was just a ritual. They also distorted
it by nepotism. There were many Jews in Christ's
day, and I'll say that because the testimony of scripture will
bear this out clearly. There were many Jews in Christ's
day that despised other Jews because those Jews were not as
holy as the first Jews were. You see what I'm saying? There's
nepotism. Well, yeah, a Jew has real good
blessing, but I'm not one of those publicans. I'm not one
that's gathering taxes for the Roman government, you see. So
all these days, squandered it by neglect, distortion, pride,
presumption, ritualism, nepotism. Even the scripture became what
we call a lucky rabbit's foot, right? And folks, don't we see
that today for sure? I mean, most folks, and I'm not
saying this is true of everybody, but most folks, if you go into
their home and they have a Bible on the coffee table, you know
that that Bible will be sitting on top of every other book that
may be on that coffee table. And you go in to visit them,
and you pick up the National Enquirer. That's kind of a rough
one, ain't it? And you lay that National Enquirer on that Bible,
it won't be long before they'll tell you, well, you need to move
that off the top of that Bible. Now maybe that, I don't see that
like I used to, but I'm sure that still happens. The Jews
took the Bible to be a lucky rabbit's foot. Ye do search the
scriptures, our Lord told them, do you not? but you don't see
what the scriptures are talking about. You don't see me, he said,
in the scriptures. But, oh, this is the glory. This, when you look at, and other
parts of chapter three, yes, as well, but specifically chapter
nine, verses one through five, it is very disheartening. Here's
a people who had great advantage Chief advantage, Paul calls it
both, chief advantage, right? And yet they squandered it. But
here's the glory. But Israel's utter failure did
not negate God's intent. You see that? And that's exactly
what Paul means when he says, not as though the word of God
hath taken none effect, and the reason is, he says, they are
not all Israel, which are of Israel. God's still doing for
his Israel exactly what he purposed to do for his Israel. Not a promise
has fallen to the ground. Not a promise has fallen to the
ground. And let me tell you something. The promise was that the Messiah
would sit on David's throne. Now, you think about this, and
I was always taught, well, that'll actually be fulfilled in the
kingdom in a thousand years. Well, a thousand years is gonna
end if he's sitting on some physical
throne. How can that be? Someone will sit on your throne
forever. Do you see what I'm saying? This
throne doesn't have to do with a piece of wood overlaid with
gold sitting in downtown Jerusalem. It has to do with the reign of
Messiah over all the earth. God giving him power over all
flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as God has given
him. That's what it's talking about.
So they're not all Israel, but you're of Israel. What if they
did not, what if some, and I like to think God, what if some did
not believe? What if they didn't believe?
Shall their unbelief make the faith? And some say that could
be faithfulness. And it's true, but faith is faithful. Or it's not faith. You don't
have a faith that ain't faithful. Although there's a lot of professed
Christians today that have that kind of faith. They went forward
and make their profession, so they got their faith, but they're
not very faithful. Such as that don't exist on the, that creature
don't exist. That's the hen's tooth. You ain't
gonna really find one. You might think you have, but
it's a P.T. Barnum deal. You've been hoodwinked. God forbid. God is faithful to everything
he's ever purposed to do. It will not fall to the ground
flat. God will fulfill it, and if we
think something's not been done, then it either means this, we
misunderstand it, or this ain't time for it to be done yet. because
if God promised it, it will come to pass. You see, think about,
turn to, now let's turn to 2 Corinthians, or I'm sorry, 1 Corinthians 10,
and I will try to move along. That food in there smells mighty
good, doesn't it? 1 Corinthians chapter 10, just
turn there, get to that spot, and I'll make this statement,
and I'll read through this and show you what I mean by this.
Yet in spite of Israel's utter failure, even men's utter failure,
Now, I know some folks don't like this, but that's tough.
I don't care what they don't like. Even men's utter failure,
God Almighty designed for his elect's good. Now, let's read
chapter 10 of 1 Corinthians. Moreover, brethren, I would not
that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under
the cloud. Do you see it? Whether they were
elect or reprobate. Do you see it? Whether they were chosen
in Christ or not chosen in Christ. But yet they were all what? Under
the cloud, they all experienced some benefit of being an Israelite,
did they not? Look at it. I would not have
you ignorant how that all our fathers were under the cloud
and all passed through the sea. There wasn't one Israelite left
on the other side of that Red Sea. They all went through it,
right? I mean the worst reprobate Jew
among them went across like everybody else did, right? and all were
baptized unto Moses in the cloud, in the sea, and did all eat the
same spiritual meat, the manna and stuff, the quails. Gifts
from God. He didn't just send that to the
elect, did he? He didn't just say, okay, there's
an elect in Christ, I'll send that tent some manna and some
quail, huh? He sent it to them all. They
all had some benefit. And there's a lot of people benefiting
today because of the church. A lot of people benefiting today
because of the church. But he goes on. Did all eat the
same spiritual meat? And did all drink the same spiritual
drink? And he's gonna say something
about this one now. For they drank of that spiritual rock
that followed them, and that rock was Christ. So they actually
drank literal water, but the water was coming out of a thing
called a rock. It was a rock, but it was Christ
also. And every one of them drank.
Not just the elect, but the reprobate as well. Well, you know, I'm
a good solid Calvinist. May not mean squat. It may not
mean squat. Now, you ought to be a good solid
Calvinist, but just being a Calvinist ain't gonna cut it. If you could
still drink the water that came forth from that rock, and that
rock was Christ, but look, but, With many of them God was not
well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. You see that? Now these, oh, here we go. Now
these things were written for our examples, to the intent we
should not. You see that? Everybody wants
the positive examples, it's the negative ones that hit home a
little further, don't they? Huh? We all want the good role
model. It's a little more difficult
to look at the bad role model. Correct? You see what I'm getting
at now? Remember what I said, even men's utter failure, God
designed for his elects good. To the intent, we should not
lust after evil things as they also lusted. Somebody says, well,
how you conduct yourself in this world don't make a difference
in this world. Yes, it does. It may actually manifest who
you really are. regenerate or unregenerate. It
may manifest who you are, reprobate or elect.