If you would, turn in your Bibles
to the book of Romans, chapter nine. Ha, it's not what you think though. But it is Romans chapter nine,
it's the results of what you think. I want to read verses
30 through 33. Romans chapter nine, verse 30.
What shall we say, then, that the Gentiles, which followed
not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even
the righteousness which is of faith? But Israel, which followed
after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law
of righteousness. Wherefore, because they sought
it not. by faith, but as it were by the
works of the law, for they stumbled at that stumbling stone. 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. Now before I get started, I did
want to make this point where I read verse 30. Our faith is
not our righteousness. Our righteousness is of faith.
There's a difference there. There are those who think that
they're righteous by believing. That's not even what that says.
That's faith the noun, not believing the verb. Our righteousness is 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 which is of God by faith. I just want to
make that clear. Don't ask me why. I just did.
What I want to speak about is verse 33 and a little bit of
verse 32, but mostly verse 33, the stumbling stone, the rock
of offense. It starts out, verse 33, as it
is written, behold, I lay in Zion. First word we want to look
at is behold, which means look. That's what it means. Behold! That's the way Paul starts it
out. This is very, very important. I want you to behold this. I
want you to see this. And I want you to perceive this. This is an imperative. It's not
a request. It's not a question. It's an
order. And this is Paul quoting the
words, thus saith the Lord, from the Old Testament, which hopefully
we'll get to in a little bit. But that's what it is. It's an
imperative. It's a command. I want you to see this. And I want you to perceive this. Because God is getting ready
to speak. Now behold what? I lay in Zion. The first word there is I. This
is the work of God. This is not the work of man.
This has got nothing to do with man as far as accomplishments
go. This is the work of God. I was coming up here in that
little place there before the big dip, the open door church
or whatever it is. For the last three weeks, they've
had a sign up, which I haven't commented on, because I'd forget
about it after I drove by. But I remembered it and wrote
it down, Walter. The sign says, the more you read the Bible,
the more you'll fall in love with the author. I wish that
was true. I wish it was true. It's not,
as far as the world is concerned. This book is a book about God.
This is a book about Christ. This Bible, the author is Jesus
Christ. The author is God Almighty. But then you'll see and you'll
hear from people who have this idea that, well, the Bible is
the story of man seeking God. And that ain't even close to
right. The Bible is a book about God and how man doesn't seek
him. How man doesn't know him. And
how the only way anything ever gets done is, behold I. Of any value. Now any evil you
want to look at, guess what? Man does plenty of it. And it's
in here too. But this is not a book of men seeking God, this
is a book of what God has done someone is performing an action
here and it's not me and it's not you it's I lay in Zion and
behold this is the work of God from beginning to end but it
says I lay in Zion a stumbling stone a stumbling stone and a rock
of a fence. What a wonderful subject to behold. Literally translated, it means
a stone of stumbling. It's something you trip over.
This stone will trip you up. Now how did this stone get there? Behold! I put it there. Put it there God put him there
Because it is talking of Christ no question about that Paul writing
about Israel stated that they stumbled at that stumbling so God put in Zion a stone purposed
to make people stumble. Wait a minute. That's what it's saying. I lay
in Zion a stumbling stone. Does that mean God doesn't want
everybody saved? Yeah, kind of. He's put it there for people
to trip over. This stumbling stone was for
stumbling. Because they would study the
scriptures, and in them they thought they had eternal life.
Christ told them, he said, these are they that testify of me. You trust in Moses. Moses saw
my day and was glad. And that's the stone they stumbled
at. He came to his own, and his own what? Received him not. They didn't. But some did. And a rock of offense. And I
thought about this. It's simple enough. Our Lord
Jesus Christ offended people everywhere He went. Our Lord Jesus Christ offended
people whatever He did. And our Lord Jesus Christ offended
people whatever He said. It didn't matter whether we were
talking about religion, politics, law, grace, family. He was offending
people. Wherever he went if he healed
a man somebody was offended because it was the Sabbath day Lord knows what they said when
he raised the dead They asked should a man pay taxes
he said give me a penny And he gave him a penny and he said
whose pictures on this thing They're trying to get him against
Caesar Trying to get him to say something treasonous so they
could stick the Romans on him. That's what they were trying
to do They were trying to entrap the Lord who created this world
And he said whose whose pictures that they said it's Caesar he
said well, okay Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar. I
didn't stop there render unto God the things that are God And
guess what? They were vexed They were mad. They stumbled. They will not have this man to
reign over them. They'll have religion. They'll
have good works. They'll use the word grace, but
they don't believe it. They'll say just about anything
and do just about anything because it runs the gamut. From wearing
tennis shoes and purple shirts and drinking cyanide to going
up screaming and yelling and hollering and gibbering in what
they call is an unknown tongue, but which is just basically nonsense. They will do anything and everything
except bow to this man. And they'll do it on television
so you can watch. and to lead others away with
their heresy, because that's what it is. The rock also was purposed to
offend, just as the stone was purposed for stumbling. Christ
asked him one time, does this offend thee? He said, wait a
minute, I'm going to make it better. No, he didn't. What if you see the son of man
ascend up where he used to be? He told them I and my father
are one, and they took up stones to stone him. He spoke the absolute,
perfect, complete truth. And they knew exactly what he
was saying. Thou being a man, trying to make
yourself equal with God. He is equal with God. He is God. He spoke the truth But we're
gonna stone you for that But where Paul wrote this is
as this is written it was in Isaiah chapter 8 and I wanted
to look at that Isaiah chapter 8 Verse 13 and 14 sanctify the Lord of hosts himself
and let him be your fear and Let him be your dread Last week
Verse 14 of Isaiah 8 and he shall be for a sanctuary But for a
stone of stumbling for a rock of offense to both the houses
of Israel for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself
That's who we're talking about here the Lord of hosts This is
the eye from Romans 9 33 Behold, I lay in Zion, who the
Lord of hosts. This is one of the names of God.
It says, sanctify him. Set him apart in your heart.
Love him. Worship him. Bow before him.
Kiss the sun, lest ye be angry. And ye perish in the way. And Walter, I did look at that
fear, dread. What's the beginning of knowledge?
What's the beginning of wisdom? Fear of the Lord. But then it says, now I like
this, because in this verse it starts off, and he shall be for
a sanctuary. But for a stone of stumbling
and for a rock of offense, he is the sanctuary. He is the tabernacle. He is the temple. That's what
that word means. I looked it up. Our true sanctuary
is a person. Our true tabernacle is a person. The temple, the tabernacle, all
the furniture, all the coverings, all the fasteners, all of the
offerings is Him. Christ Jesus. Jesus Christ is
the Lord of Hosts. Wait a minute, you mean Christ
is in the Old Testament? Oh yeah, yes he is. Isaiah continues on in chapter
47, verse four, he says, as for our Redeemer, the Lord of Hosts
is his name, the Holy One of Israel. He says it again in Isaiah
54 and verse five, for thy maker is thy husband, the Lord of hosts
is his name, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. The God
of the whole earth shall he be called. Jesus Christ, our Redeemer,
is the Lord of hosts. Who's the Redeemer? Christ Jesus.
Who's the Lord of Hosts? The Redeemer. And who is the Holy One of Israel?
The Lord of Hosts. He, the Lord of Hosts, the Redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel, He is our sanctuary. He is the place
of safety. He is the place of security.
He is the place of protection. He is the place where everything is. By Him do all things consist. And that's not only just this
world. That's our salvation. Christ is the sanctuary and believers
are in Him, alive in Him, righteous in Him, safe in Him, secure in
Him, and we are complete in Him because He's the sanctuary. Where is life? Where is light? And where is love? It's in Him. It's in our sanctuary. Then Isaiah kept writing, because
God said, but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of a
fence. Guess what? I looked this word
up. It means stone of stumbling and a rock of a fence. This is
the word of the Lord. This is the proclamation of the
Lord to Isaiah. And Paul was repeating. I want to lay hold of this, and
I want you to lay hold on this, because the Lord of hosts, the
Holy One of Israel, the Redeemer, is our sanctuary, is the sanctuary,
and He is a stumbling stone and a rock of offense, all at the same time. How can this be? Well, Christ is so much more
than the world knows. Jesus Christ is so much more
than religious people know. And I'll tell you this, Jesus
Christ is more than religious people want. The true Christ. Because this world does not want
this man. this God, this one who is the
sanctuary and a stumbling stone, this one who is the sanctuary
of his people and a rock of a fence. And this is the Christ they don't
want because he is all this at once. Now back to Romans 9.33,
Paul, Isaiah started it with he is our sanctuary But Paul ended it up. Whosoever believeth on him shall
not be ashamed. See, Paul put it in this order.
It's still saying the same thing. He's our sanctuary. Whosoever believeth on him shall
not be ashamed. The stone of stumbling The rock
of offense and the one that we need to believe are the same
person. Does Christ put things in the
way of some people? Yes. And some people have a problem
with that. They want him for a sanctuary but they don't want
a stone of stumbling and they don't want a rock of offense. They want him to be what they
want him to be, if that makes sense. They have a God, they
have a Christ of their own imagination. You'll hear it every day. But here's the thing. I believe
him who is my sanctuary. I believe him who is the rock
of offense, the stumbling stone. And it's all the same person. It's all the same person. Jesus Christ is a rock of offense. Jesus Christ is the stumbling
stone and Jesus Christ is the sanctuary. See, all of the above. It's not multiple choice. It's
all of the above. I believe God who is love, and
I believe God who is a consuming fire. I believe God who is holy. He is holy in love, and he is
holy in wrath. He is holy in mercy, and he is
holy in anger. He is holy in grace, and he is
holy in righteousness, but he's also holy, and he's also holy
in judgment. I heard I was listening to a
fella on a recording yesterday, Deb and I were, we went to Walmart,
and I want to repent, but This fellow was making a point
and I'd never really thought of it this way, Walter, and it's
actually, to me, it was very, very good. God is always and
at all times holy. God is always and at all times
righteous. God is always and at all times
just. But he is very clear about other
things. The one in particular this fellow
was talking about was I will have mercy on whom I will have
mercy. I will be gracious to whom I
will be gracious. He has particularly and explicitly
told us that He is saving a particular people. And that's the Old Testament. It's the same in the New Testament.
And to others, He is. a rock of a fence and a stumbling
stone. We are told when we preach the
gospel, when the gospel is proclaimed, it is the savor of life unto
life to some, but it is the savor of death unto death for us. We are told that you preach the
message unto us as well as unto them, But they didn't receive
it, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. And we're
told faith is the gift of God, not of works. By grace, through
faith, and that not of yourselves. We are told that light came into
this world, and men loved darkness. rather than the light. We look at Christ and we see
the sanctuary. We see the Savior. We see the
Lord of glory. They look at the Christ we preach.
They hear the Christ we preach. They're going to stumble over
that stone. They're going to be offended
by this rock. And that's the way God has planned
it. That's not to say there's no
hope for some who are offended, because I believe Paul was offended
at one time. But God brought him around. God
gave him life. God introduced himself as that
rock of offense, that stumbling stone, and that sanctuary and
whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. Now I talked
about it a couple of weeks ago that you know we are ashamed and we are of
ourselves but we have no shame of him. I am not ashamed of the
rock of offense. I'm not ashamed of the stumbling
stone I am not ashamed of the sanctuary. I'm not ashamed of
Christ. Some people, they don't want
to talk about stumbling. They don't want to talk about
offending. I don't take a great deal of
pleasure in offending people, except in certain cases, and
generally that's at work. But it doesn't normally have
anything to do with the gospel. But I don't take any pleasure
in the fact that this gospel offends people. But I know that
it does. And I know that it's His purpose.
And I know that it's His will. And I know that it's His Christ,
His Son, they're offended at. They're not offended at me. They're offended at Him. They
don't stumble over me. And they don't stumble over you.
They'll stumble over the Christ you speak of. They'll stumble
over Him. Because it's in here playing
in black and white. And the more you read this Bible, if you have
been given eyes to see, the more you will love its author. But
that's not true of the world. Because they can read this book
from cover to cover, and they don't know who authored it. They don't know the author and
finisher of our faith. They don't know Christ. Because that's what happens. And some believe the things that
were spoken, and some did not. Some will believe this Christ,
and some will not. But it's never by accident. God has purposed a stone of stumbling
and a rock of offense just as much as he has purposed our sanctuary. It's the same person. The same
Christ is salvation and a rock of offense. and a
stumbling stone. That's the way it is. That's
what this book says. And that's the way it is, whether
we believe it or not. But thank him for his grace to
us that we do know him. Our Heavenly Father, we are thankful
again for this time in this place. But most of all, Lord, thankful
for you, that you have chosen to reveal yourself to your people
in your good time, at your good pleasure, and in your way. Thank you, Lord, for helping
us, giving us the knowledge, giving us life, faith. In you,
we have our hope. You are our hope. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.