We'll go ahead and get started.
Like I said, I had prepared to have all the scriptures on
the screen because I've got so many. But I don't know whether
we had some lightning over the weekend or whatever, but can't
get the projector going. This morning, the title of my
message is God's Distinguishing Grace. taken from Romans 9, beginning
at verse 9, going through verse 13. If you want to go ahead and
turn there. Just a little background before
I get started with the main message this morning. The Apostle Paul
had been dealing with the matter of God saving not only the Jews,
but also the Gentiles. God had stated in his word that
all Israel would be saved. Therefore, the Jews had mistakenly
thought that God was speaking of all of the physical nation
of Israel. Remember, the majority of the
Jews thought that God would save them because they were the physical
descendants of Abraham, and that they were circumcised according
to the law, and also that they kept the law of Moses. This thinking
was of course contrary to scripture. My last message I had a few weeks
ago in this same chapter here, chapter 9, the title of it was The Potter
and the Clay. And that was taken from some of these verses toward
the end of chapter 9. I dealt with God's sovereignty
and saving whom he will. As we look at the verses that
we have this morning, where Paul deals with the doctrine of election
as it relates to salvation. And he uses Abraham, he uses
Sarah, and the child, the promised child, Isaac, the child of promise,
and Isaac's wife, Rebekah, and their two sons, Jacob and Esau.
I'm gonna begin by reading a few verses here, verses six through
13. where the Apostle Paul says,
not as though the word of God had taken none effect. For they
are not all Israel, which are of Israel, neither, because they
are the seed of Abraham, are they all children. But in Isaac
shall thy seed be called, that is, they which are the children
of the flesh, that is, born naturally. These are not the children of
God, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed,
for this is the word a promise, at this time I will come and
Sarah shall have a son, and not only this, but when Rebecca also
had conceived by one, even our father Isaac, for the children
being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the
purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but
of him that calleth. It was said unto her, to Rebecca,
The elder shall serve the younger, as it is written, Jacob have
I loved, and Esau have I hated. Before we begin with verse nine
here, which is gonna be one of the main verses that we'll deal
with, and I studied this morning, I'd like to say a few things
about the doctrine of election. It's clear in God's word that
he has a particular people. These individuals are the subjects
of his special favor. and they are his own dear children.
These children have been adopted into God's family. They are heirs
and joint heirs with Christ, God's dear son. Romans 8 beginning
with verse 14 says, for as many as are led by the Spirit of God,
they are the sons of God, those that God's called, those that
the Holy Spirit comes in regeneration and conversion It says, for ye
have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but
you've received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba,
Father. The spirit itself bear witness
with our spirit that we are the children of God, and if children,
then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ. In scripture,
Christ and his apostles describe these people in various ways,
and often, described and designated by the following terms, of which
the following scripture testify. Now I'm going to take, this is
the reason I wanted to have the scriptures up on the screen,
because I'm going to go through quite a few of them. It's going to take a few minutes
in order to show you just a few of these scriptures, speaking
of God's elect. Matthew, in Matthew, Christ says,
Matthew 24, 22, and except those days should
be shortened, that is, the last days, there should be no flesh
to be saved. But for the elect's sake, those
days shall be shortened. Also in Matthew 24, 24, for there
shall arise false Christs and false prophets and shall show
great signs and wonders, insomuch that if it were possible, they
shall deceive the very elect. Also Matthew says here in 24-31,
and he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet,
and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds,
from one end of heaven to another. That's in the last day. And the
book of Luke says, Luke 18-7, shall not God avenge his own
elect, which cry day and night unto him? And the Apostle Paul
says in Romans 8.33, who shall lay anything to the charge of
God's leg? Paul, also inspired by God, says
in Romans 9.11, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand. Then again in 2 Timothy 2 verse
10, says, I endure all things for
the elect's sake. And then the Apostle Paul says
in Titus 1.1, the faith of God's elect. And there are many more
passages that we could go over, but I think those right there
should be sufficient to let us know that God has an elect people. Now, keep in view as we look
at these verses that all of this concerning Abraham, Sarah, Isaac,
and Jacob is God's plan to send the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. He was the promised Messiah. He was that first seed. Now Romans
9.9, we'll get into right now, it says, for this is the word
of promise. At this time will I come and Sarah shall have a
son. Now we're going back to where
Abraham and Sarah and where God gave this promise to Abraham
and Sarah about having a son. And it said, Paul is simply referring
back to Genesis 18.10 that says, I will certainly return to thee
according to the time of life, and lo, Sarah thy wife shall
have a son. The son that Sarah had was Isaac. You also remember that Paul had
referred to Isaac back in verse seven, where it says, in Isaac
shall thy seed be called. Remember, Isaac was Abraham and
Sarah's miracle child. He was that child of promise
that Abraham and Sarah were around 100 years old when they had Isaac.
And, of course, that child of promise not conceived or born
by the power of the flesh, neither one of them. That's, like I said,
they were around 100 years old. This scripture which contains
the promise concerning the birth of Isaac, who was a product not
of natural birth, like Ishmael, but a product of divine grace
and power. Isaac's birth was typical of
the regeneration of God's elect in that our regeneration and
new birth is something that takes place not by our doing, but by
God's power and His grace alone. All of God's elect, just like
Isaac, are children of promise. And that, according to Galatians
4 and verse 28, says, now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children
of promise. Just as Ishmael was a type of
them that are born after the flesh, and after man's efforts,
you know. I'm gonna say this a little later,
but Ishmael, of course, y'all familiar with that, where Abraham,
Sarah talked to Abraham about going into his handmaid. She
had just got tired of waiting for a child and didn't believe
God. It was unbelief there, but Abraham
went in and he had a child, that child named Ishmael. Isaac was
a type of those who were born after the spirit and not after
the flesh. And they're spiritual men. Ishmael
was also a son of Abraham, but not Sarah. He came from Hagar,
the handmaid, and was born of the flesh, or of man efforts.
If physical connection with Abraham guaranteed salvation, and this
is what the Jews thought at that time, then Ishmael would have
been saved. The Jews could argue against
this by claiming that they were descendants from Abraham and
Sarah, which connected them to Isaac. We'll see in these next
verses where Paul begins to answer this objection by showing that
Jacob and Esau had the same father, their father was Isaac, and the
same mother, Rebekah. Yet God loved Jacob and he hated
Esau. Remember also that the main issue
in Isaac's birth was connected to the promise of God, to send
Christ, the Messiah, into the world to save all Israel, that
is, all of God's covenant people from their sins. Romans 9, beginning
in verse 10, says, And not only this, but when Rebekah also had
conceived by one, even by her father Isaac, for the children
being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the
purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but
of him that calleth. Now, Paul begins this verse here
with, And not only this, which has meant this example of Ishmael
and Isaac is not the only example which proves that Abraham's natural
seed, the children of the flesh, are not all the children of God.
He goes on to give the example of Jacob and Esau, who were born
not only of the same father Isaac, but had the same mother, Rebekah. Jacob and Esau were also twin
brothers. God's distinguishing grace between
these two boys was based solely on his sovereign choice, his
electing grace. Nothing outside of God himself
had any influence on his choice. Nothing done by either Jacob
or Esau had any influence on God's sovereign choice. For verse
11 says, for the children being not yet born, neither having
done any good or evil. God's choice of Jacob was solely
based on the purpose of God according to election. It was not of works,
but of him that calleth. This destroys the false notion
that some people have of election, that God looked down this telescope
of time and foresaw who would do good and who would do evil,
or who would believe and not believe, and then make his choice
based on this foresight that he had. This kind of false doctrine
dishonors God. It dishonors God in so many ways,
but mainly it makes God subservient or submissive to man's will. And it totally ignores God's
sovereignty in all things, especially his sovereignty in salvation.
Believing that God saves according to what man does or does not
do also denies God's grace. He is free and unmerited favor
toward sinners. not based on their works, but
based entirely on His grace alone. Believing this also exalts the
flesh, and it gives the sinner an opportunity to boast in themselves. The sinner could say, well, it
was my faith that made the difference between heaven and hell. I chose
Christ, and He didn't. The truth of Scripture is that
the only cause of a sinner's salvation is God's free, unconditional,
sovereign, electing love. And the only ground of our salvation
is Christ's blood and his imputed righteousness alone. Paul then
begins to give an example of God's free, sovereign, electing
love by giving us an example here of Isaac's and Rebekah's
two sons here. Romans 9.12 says, it was said
unto her, that is Rebekah, The elder shall serve the younger.
God spoke to Rebekah and told her that the elder son, Esau,
shall serve the younger son, Jacob. This is taken from Genesis
25 and verse 23, where it says, And the Lord said unto her, Two
nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be
separated from thy bowels. And the one people shall be stronger
than the other people, and the elder shall serve the younger. The elder son, Esau, had the
right of authority and blessings in the family, but God chose
the younger, Jacob, to receive this authority and this blessing.
This servitude spoken of here in this verse is to be understood
in a spiritual sense and not in a physical sense. This statement,
Romans 9, 12, The elder shall serve the younger speaks of Esau's
exclusion from the favor of God and the blessings of grace. It's
also meant by Esau being rejected from inheriting the blessings,
the blessings which was given to Jacob. Eternal salvation is God's sovereign
choice, not man's supposed free will. God chose the younger to
receive mercy and he left the elder to his own fleshly desires. When Esau sold his birthright,
he evidenced in his heart that he had no regard for the things
of God and no interest in a salvation God had promised by the Messiah,
the coming Messiah, who would come and establish righteousness
for his people. Jacob was no better than Esau
in character, in his character, in his conduct. you might say
he was far worse. By nature, Jacob had no more
interest in the things of God than Esau. Yet God showed mercy
toward Jacob. Why? Well, it's because of God's
sovereign, electing, predestinating grace in Christ. Why did God
not save both Jacob and Esau? Why did God not damn both Jacob
and Esau? We have no biblical answers to
these questions except what our Lord stated in Matthew 11, 26.
Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. We can't know and grasp all the
reasons God does what he does. We know it is for his glory and
the good of all his chosen people, no? According to Romans 8, 28,
it says, and we know that all things work together for good
to them that love God, to them who are called according to His
purpose. God does not tell us all the
reasons, but He does show us His justice in damning Esau and
His mercy in saving Jacob. He shows us that the mercy for
sinners is only found in Christ on the cross, shedding His blood
to put away our sins. He commands us to come to Christ
for all salvation, righteousness, and eternal life, and to repent
of our own works and our own efforts to gain salvation. He
shows us that if he left any of us alone and to ourselves
as he did Esau, we would all be justly damned forever. He shows us that we're no more
deserving of salvation and eternal blessings than Esau. or Jacob. And he reveals enough to us to
cause us to repent of our sins and run to Christ and beg for
mercy. Now verse 13 of Romans 9 says, as it is written, Jacob
have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Now it was written in the first
chapter of Malachi that God loved Jacob and hated Esau. Malachi Chapter one, beginning
verse one, says the burden of the word of the Lord to Israel
by Malachi. I have loved you, saith the Lord,
yet ye say wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's
brother? Saith the Lord, yet I loved Jacob,
and I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste
for the dragons of the wilderness. Now, some want to soften this
to say Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I loved less than Jacob. Such reasoning comes from self-righteous
men who assume that we all deserve to be loved. And it's unfair
of God not to love all of us without exception. This is man's
reasoning, not God's. By nature we wonder how God could
hate Esau. That's how we all think by nature.
How could he hate Esau? Why shouldn't we think that God
loves everyone without exception? We're told this not only by our
parents as we're coming up, but also by almost all the preachers
of the day. Don't they tell you, smile, God
loves you? What should truly amaze us is
that God should love Jacob, or any sinner for that matter. God's redemptive love can only
be found in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. As we think about
these two brothers, both Esau and Jacob, and how both were
born in sin, and both sinned in Adam, both were sinners who
deserved nothing but God's hatred and justice towards sin, Both
would have continued in rebellion had not God intervened and brought
Jacob to repentance and faith. There's no reason outside of
God himself why he should love any natural descendant of Adam. Also know this, God's love and
hatred are not emotional. God's hatred is his justice against
sin. God's love is his purpose to
save us in Christ. God's purpose to save Jacob with
no consideration of our contribution from Jacob and his deeds under
the law is explained in 1 John 4, 10. Where it says, herein, herein
is love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent
his son to be the propitiation for our sins. On the other hand,
God purposed to leave Esau to himself. Esau acted like any
sinner would act if left to ourselves. We will rebel against God in
his way of salvation. Just think back when those of
us that believe the gospel, those of us that God has brought to
faith and repentance, think back on how we were and what we thought
at that time. And we know that he had to miraculously
come by the Holy Spirit and convince us of sin and of righteousness. We will choose to attempt to
work our way to heaven and we'll perish eternally because by the
deeds of flesh, no sinner can be justified or made righteous
before God. Let's look at what the book of
Galatians says about this. Excuse me. Galatians 2.16 says,
knowing that a man is not justified by the works of law, but by the
faith of Jesus Christ, his faithfulness, even we have believed in Jesus
Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not
by the works of law. For by the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified. God acted in strict justice toward
Esau, and in sovereign mercy toward Jacob. Both Jacob and
Esau were natural descendants of Isaac. Both were part of natural
Israel, but only Jacob was a citizen of spiritual Israel. Concerning
spiritual Israel, God says, all Israel shall be saved. Boy, I'm having a cough and spell
this morning. In John 6, beginning at verse
37, I'm going to continue reading some more. Here's what Scripture says. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. For I came down from heaven,
not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
And this is the will This is the Father's will which has sent
me, that of all of which he hath given me I should lose nothing,
but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will
of him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth
on him may have everlasting life. And I raise him up at the last
day. And verse 41 says, the Jews then murmured at him, because
he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. And they
said, is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and
mother we know? How is it then that he said,
I came down from heaven? Jesus therefore answered and
said unto them, murmur not among yourselves, no man can come to
me except the Father, which has sent me, draw him, and I'll raise
him up at the last day. And then again in John, in chapter
10, beginning verse 11, here's what Christ says. I am
the good shepherd. Thank you, man. Excuse me. John 10, beginning verse 11,
I'm the good shepherd, the good shepherd, giveth his life for
the sheep, but he that is a hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own
the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the
sheep, and fleeth. And the wolf catches them, and
scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because
he is an hireling, and cares not for the sheep. I am the good
shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the
father knoweth me, Even so know I the Father, and I lay down
my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which
are not of this foal, that is, the Jewish foal, them also I
must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be
one foal and one shepherd." Also in John 26, 30, But ye believe not, because ye
are not of my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep
hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give
unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall
any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them
me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out
of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one. And
lastly, in John 17, 2, says, as thou hast given him
power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as
many as thou hast given him. All that the Father gave to Christ
in the everlasting covenant of grace have been redeemed by the
blood of Christ. And in time, in each successive
generation, they will all be born again by the Holy Spirit. Christ's righteousness alone
ensures the salvation and final glory of all of spiritual Israel. All others, like Esau, who refuse
to believe God's promise of a salvation in Christ alone and repent from
dead works and form idolatry, they shall perish. So the promise
of God is not ineffectual due to the fact that majority of
the nation Israel that Paul is mainly dealing with, but he's
also dealing with when he talks about all Israel, all of spiritual
Israel, but due to the fact that the majority of nation Israel
refused to believe and repent. What is the lesson of this for
us? It is that we, like Jacob and
Esau, are sinners who deserve God's wrath. Salvation is based
entirely on the crucified and risen Son of God. We must run to Christ and beg
for mercy, as did blind Bartimaeus. Look at Mark 10.46. It says,
And they, Christ and his disciples, came to Jericho, And as he went
out of Jericho and his disciples and a great number of people,
blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highwayside
begging. And when he heard that it was
Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and he said, Jesus, thou
son of David, have mercy on me. Well, as blind Bartimaeus called
out to Christ for mercy in the case of his physical sight, may
God in his great mercy call some poor sinner today to call out
for spiritual sight. I know one thing. If God chooses
to give that sinner spiritual sight, it'll be because of God's
distinguishing grace, which bestows on each and every one of his
elect, not because of any work that they've done, but because
of his great love and his great mercy. Amen.