I'd like to go ahead this morning
and deliver a message. The message is entitled, A Remnant
Shall Be Saved, taken from Romans 9, 25 through 29, if you want
to go ahead and turn there. Every time I begin a lesson here
in Romans that I've been working on for some time now, I always
want to go back and give a lot of introduction on what we've
recovered, like at the beginning of Romans 9, and give a lot of
introduction on what we've covered. But when I go back and start
looking at it, it winds up being a sermon by itself. And it winds
up being too long, taking up too much time. But I always do
want to give some context As we begin each study, like in
verse 25 here, you start off here, but it's good to know some
of the things that's going on as we get to verse 25. And I'm
not going to say much, but I will tell you, here in Romans 9, Paul wrote, he's writing to the
church here at Rome, And one of the main topics he's dealing
with is this thing about that all Israel shall be saved. God promised that. And then Paul
had to go in and as he's explaining all of these things concerning
national Israel, which God did establish as his people. in a
national sense, not in a spiritual eternal sense, he established
them to bring the Messiah through this nation. And he, Paul makes
it clear here in Romans 9, no, that they are not all Israel,
which are of Israel, which means that God, speaking of him saving all
Israel, he's speaking of spiritual Israel. not the entire nation
of Israel, every Jew and every Israelite. And he goes on to
explain some of these things. He brought up, pointed to Abraham's
sons, Isaac and Ishmael, and pointed out that Isaac, the promised
child there that him and Sarah had, God saved Isaac, but not
Ishmael. And then he pointed out Jacob
and Esau and pointed out that both of these were Israelites,
they were Jews, but it says that he saved Jacob and he didn't
save Esau. And so all of these things Paul
is dealing with here in Romans 9. And I'm gonna begin here reading
back in verse Romans 22. here where Paul just wrote in
verse 21 concerning the potter and the clay and how the potter
has power over that clay. It is speaking of God and his
sovereign power to create. And he says he has power over
that clay to make one vessel under honor and the other under
dishonor. He brings up Pharaoh as an example,
how he raised up Pharaoh. to show his wrath and then we'll
begin reading in verse 22 where it says, what if God willing
to show his wrath and to make his power known endured with
much long sufferance the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction
and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the
vessels of mercy which he had afore or before prepared unto
glory. Even us, Paul says, whom he had
called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles. Now,
in verse 25, the verse that we'll begin reading here, Paul begins quoting a couple
of the Old Testament prophets to point everybody back to this
is not something new. that God had come up with, it's
always been that way. And he starts with verse 25,
he says, as he saith also in Hosea, I will call them my people,
which were not my people, and her beloved, which were not beloved.
And it shall come to pass that in the place where it was said
unto them, you are not my people, there shall they be called the
children of the living God. And then he says, Isaiah also
crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of
Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved,
for he will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness,
because a short work would the Lord make upon the earth. And
as Isaiah said before, except the Lord of Sabbath had left
us a seed, we had been as Sodom and been like unto Gomorrah. Now verse 25 here, the first
verse that we'll look at. In the preceding verse, verse
24, where it says, even us, whom he had called not of the Jews
only, but also of the Gentile, the apostle has spoken of those,
he's spoken of those who were called among the Jews and the
Gentiles, whom God had prepared before unto glory. In this verse,
verse 25 and the following verse, he explains. that the calling
of the Gentiles was not an unforeseen event, but that it was clearly
foretold by the prophets. God, by the prophet Hosea, alluded
to the calling of the Gentiles by the gospel. When he says in
Hosea 2, 23, and I will sow her into the earth, in the earth,
and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy.
And I will say unto them, which were not my people, thou art
my people, and they shall say, thou art my God. Whenever Paul
was confronted with the difficult question concerning the position
of the Jews and the nation Israel, as it relates to their relationship
with God, whether it be the sovereignty of God and saving whom he will,
or whether it be in man's responsibility toward God. Paul didn't argue
with the men based on human logic and human understanding. He simply
appealed to the Old Testament scriptures. We see this in Romans
9, 13, and 15 when he quoted the Old Testament books of Malachi
and of Exodus. Let's look at a few of these
quotes. First, the quote from Malachi here in Romans 9, 13,
as it is written, written back in Malachi, Jacob
have I loved, but Esau have I hated. He did the same when he used
the example of Pharaoh and quoted again from Exodus from the book
of Romans, look at Romans 9.15. It says, for he saith to Moses,
pointing back to Exodus here, I will have mercy on whom I will
have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Here in verse 25, he quotes the prophet Hosea and Isaiah to show
that Israel, that God showed that the Israel that God had
purposed and promised to save eternally was not national Israel,
but spiritual Israel, who are made up of God's elect, both
Jew and Gentile. He had stated that spiritual
Israel is made up of those, according to Romans 9.24, whom he had called not of the Jews only, but also
of the Gentiles. These that Paul said whom he
had called not of Jews only, but also of the Gentiles, it
is these individuals who are the vessels of mercy, which God
had afore or before prepared under glory. Look at Romans 9.23. And that he might make known
the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had
afore prepared under glory. Paul's point in verse 25 is that
this is no new message, as I said earlier, no new revelation. It has been the case from the
beginning and God foretold it by the prophets in the Old Testament
of which we can plainly see as we look throughout the book of
Romans as Paul goes back and quotes a lot of the Old Testament
prophets. Now, as we go on here in verse
25, as Paul quotes from the prophet Hosea in Hosea 2.23, Hosea says,
I will sow her unto me in the earth. Our God will quicken and
convert all the spiritual Israel, both Jew and Gentile. Then he
says, and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy. According to the terms of the
old covenant, those Gentiles had not obtained mercy. God had
chosen the nation Israel, had mercy on that nation Israel.
He chose them to reveal himself. He chose them to bring the Messiah
through, and all these pictures and types throughout the Old
Testament, as he revealed himself to this Jewish nation, the Israelites,
something that the Gentiles didn't have. They didn't have that at
all. Then it says, and I will say
to them, which were not my people, that is, the Gentiles were not
God's people according to the terms of that old covenant. He
says, he will say unto them, which were not my people, thou
art my people. That is according to the terms
of the everlasting covenant of grace, Jew and Gentile, he says. And then he says, and they shall
say, they'll say this whenever God comes to them in his power
of the Holy Spirit and converts them, they'll say, they are my
God. Now, even in the Old Testament,
there was a distinction revealed between national Israel, a rebellious
and unbelieving people, and spiritual Israel. And they're also rebellious. By nature, they're rebellious
and unbelieving. We all were by nature. but we've
obtained mercy, obtained salvation by God's grace through faith
in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. Here in verse 25 where it says,
the people which were not my people, described Gentiles during
the time of the old covenant. This statement only describes
the Gentiles during that time where they were compared to national
Israel under the old covenant. In describing the Gentiles under
the old covenant, Let's look at Ephesians 2, beginning at
verse 11, where it says, wherefore remember that ye, being in time
past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by
that which is called circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that
at that time ye were without Christ being aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise,
having no hope and without God in this world. This is as he
speaks of the Gentiles at that time. God's elect Jew and Gentile
have always been his people though. They've been his people spiritually
and eternally in Christ. But during the time of the old
covenant, God chose the nation Israel to be his people. But
he did this in a national sense, in a temporal sense. The Gentiles were excluded from
this national and temporal covenant In this sense alone, they were
not God's people. But in an eternal, spiritual
sense, God's elect, both Jew and Gentile, had been chosen
in Christ and chosen in Him before the foundation of this world,
justified by Christ's righteousness imputed to Him. The same righteousness
that would be worked out in time and also in time Christ would
come and redeem those by His blood. And all the spiritual
Israel, both Jew and Gentiles, would eventually, in each successive
generation, be regenerated by the Holy Spirit. Then it says
here in the last part of verse 25, her beloved, which were not
beloved. The sense is not that God's chosen
ones among the Gentiles were not the objects of his love before
calling. The Lord loves his own with an
everlasting love. In Jeremiah 31, 3, says, the
Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, yea, I have loved
thee with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. God's love toward the objects
of his love never changes, and it never diminishes. Never changes,
never diminishes. God's love is unconditional.
It's unearned toward us. We can't do anything to earn
God's love. God's love's in Christ. Look
at 1 John 4.10. Herein is love, not that we love
God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation,
satisfaction for our sin. Always remember that God's love
is in Christ. And his love toward his elect
is never conditioned on their love toward him. nor is it conditioned
on any work done by them or in them in any way. Also, the calling
of God's people to Christ is the fruit and the effect and
the evidence of God's love for them. So the love of God is from
everlasting to everlasting, consistently, and it's unchangeably the same. However, under the old covenant,
the majority of the Jews supposed that God had no love for any
of the Gentiles and that he had no purpose to save them. As it
relates to how the Jews felt about the Gentiles, let's look
at what happened to Jonah as God sent him to Nineveh. And
y'all all familiar with the story about Jonah. He sent them to
Nineveh, and Nineveh was a Gentile nation. John Gill says, and I
quote, that this preaching by Jonah to a heathen people after
his deliverance out of the fish's belly was a type of the preaching
of the gospel to the Gentiles by the apostles, unquote. I say this in order to point
out that God saved Gentiles even during the time of the Old Covenant. Other examples of Gentiles that
God chose to save were Ruth, Rahab, and many others. The Jews,
however, viewed themselves as loved of God in an eternal, spiritual
sense, and they viewed those Gentiles as those whom God did
not and could not love. And anyway, let's look at our
next verse, verse 26. Verse 26 says, and it shall come
to pass that in the place where it was said unto them, you're
not my people, there shall they be called the children of the
living God. The phrase, and it shall come to pass, means that
it was purpose and it was ordered by God from the beginning and
is prophesied by Hosea here in Hosea 1 verse 10, which reads,
yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand
of the sea which cannot be measured nor number, and it shall come
to pass that in the place where it was said unto them, you are
not my people, there it shall be said unto them, you are the
sons of the living God. In the place here, or in the
stead of, referring where it was said, you are not my people,
there shall they be called the children of the living God. Paul's
point is this. God's elect among the Gentile
would be brought to faith in Christ, not by coming to Israel
and converting to the Jewish traditions as it was ordered
under that old covenant, but by the grace of God and the power
of the Holy Spirit, who brings them to faith and repentance
in Christ, repenting from all dead works and former idolatry.
When it says here, that when it says here in Romans 9 in the
last part of verse 26, you're not my people, it means that
the Gentiles under the old covenant, the covenant given only to the
nation Israel, were not God's people. They were not his people
in a national sense. The phrase here in Romans 9,
26, once again, the last part of this verse, the children,
you'd be called the children of the living God, or as Hosea
described them as the sons of the living God. This describes
specifically the Gentile believers, but it also includes any and
every believer, both Jew and Gentile, who are washed in the
blood of Christ, clothed in his righteousness, imputed. It describes
any and every sinner, Jew and Gentile, who believes and rests
in Christ for all of their salvation. The chosen of God among the Gentiles,
as well as the Jews, was from all eternity predestinated to
the adoption of children. This blessing was provided, it
was laid up, and it was secured for them in the covenant of grace.
As chosen of God, they were given to Christ as their surety, who
in time did partake of the same flesh and blood with them, and
he died to gather them together, both Jew and Gentile, all of
the children of the living God. In our next verse, verse 27,
it reads, Isaiah also cried concerning Israel, though the number of
the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant
shall be saved. The Apostle, having already in
verse 25 and 26 discussed the calling of Gentiles, here in
verse 27 he begins to mention that there are also some of the
Jews that are called. He uses Isaiah to show this is
all according to prophecy, which is founded upon divine election
and predestination. Paul gives proof of the calling
of some of from among the Jews, yet at the same time, points
out the casting off of a greater number of them, of the Jews. Paul quotes here from Isaiah
10, beginning at verse 22, showing that even though the number of
the children of national Israel will be as the sand of the sea,
they will be great. Only a remnant, a small number,
shall be saved from that nation. We see here that it was never
God's intention or purpose to save all national Israelites.
Never was his intention or purpose. But it is also true that he has
chosen his chosen people in that nation. It says here a remnant,
a remnant, a small number shall be saved. Also, let's look ahead
where the Apostle Paul speaks of himself as an Israelite. whom God had not cast away. Look at Romans 11, one through
five. Paul says, I say then, hath God cast away his people? God forbid, for I also am an
Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God
hath not cast away his people which he foreseen or foreknew. Woe ye not, What the scripture
said of Elijah, how did he make an intercession to God against
Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets and digged
down thine altars, and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of
God unto him? I have reserved to myself 7,000
men who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Even so
then, at this present time also, there is a remnant according
to the election of grace. Now in verse 28 of Romans 9 reads,
for he will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness
because a short work would the Lord make upon the earth. Each
time God revealed in the Old Testament the calling of the
elect among the Gentiles, he also foretold the rejection,
not of every individual Jew, but of the nation Israel as a
whole. This vindicated God's faithfulness to save all, all
of spiritual Israel, Jew and Gentile, as well as prove that
God's purpose and promise to save has never been universal,
never been universal. And that salvation has never
been conditioned on sinners in any way. At the appointed time,
God would take vengeance upon the nation Israel, for rejecting
the Messiah and for rejecting salvation by his grace. Their destruction at that time
would be short, swift, and thorough, and in righteousness, and he
would be just in doing so. Under the old covenant, God used
the nation Israel in picture and in type. It was through this
nation, Israel, that the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, was to
come in time and do his great work of redemption. God promised
it throughout the Old Testament, and Christ accomplished it. He
accomplished it by his incarnation, his perfect obedience to God's
law, and by his sacrificial death on the cross, wherein he paid
the sin dead of all the father gave him. from all eternity. By Christ's work in abolishing
the old covenant, by way of fulfillment, Christ finished his work, and
by this work, the Gentiles were brought nigh unto God. Look again
in Romans 9, 26. And it shall come to pass that
in the place where it was said unto them, you are not my people,
there shall they be called the children of the living God. God did make a, you know, God,
there's many times when they were accusing God or saying things
like, when's he gonna come back? When is this gonna happen? And
questioning God in these things. And God's gonna do his work.
He's gonna complete his work and he has. It was a short work
that Christ had accomplished when he worked out that righteousness.
It wasn't short to individuals that look at it, they look forward
to it, and it was a couple thousand years, and even now since Christ
has come, it's been just a long period of time, but God's faithful
to his promise. He's faithful to his promise
to save all of his children, all of spiritual Israel, all
that come to him by faith, And he's going to do it in his time.
And with us, it looks like a long time, but with God, it's not. And so in Romans 9, 29 here,
it says, and as Isaiah said before, except the Lord of Sabbath had
left us a seed, we had been like Sodom and been made like unto
Gomorrah. He again quotes from the prophet
Isaiah in Isaiah 1, verse 9, to prove that the nation Israel
would have been totally annihilated, except the Lord of Sabbath, or
Shabbat, or the Lord of Hosts, is what that means, a great army,
which describes the invincibility of God, had left us a seed, a
small remnant, a small remnant of believing Jews, We had been
as Sodom and had been like unto Gomorrah. God had never promised
to save all Jews without exception, but he also did not determine
to destroy all Jews without exception. There was always, and now is,
a remnant according to grace. They, like the elect Gentiles,
are the seed, the spiritual offspring of Jesus Christ. redeemed by
his blood and regenerated by the Holy Spirit. Look at Psalm
22 and begin at verse 30, which reads, a seed shall serve him,
speaking of serving Christ, and it shall be accounted to the
Lord for a generation. They shall come and shall declare
his righteousness unto a people that shall be born that he have
done this. This remnant shall come to faith
in Christ and repentance from dead works and former idolatry. From this revealed truth, God
commands, all without exception, to believe his promise of salvation
conditioned on Christ alone. He commands them to seek justification
in eternal life in him alone. Paul had a sincere love for his
kinsmen according to the flesh. He desired their salvation. but
he would not compromise God's glory by speaking peace to them
while they were walking contrary to God's gospel, while they were
in unbelief. They were ignorant of Christ's
righteousness and therefore by default they were seeking to
work out a righteousness of their own. Look at Romans 10 verses
one through four. Paul says, brethren, my heart's
desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be
saved. For I bear them record that they
have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. And we can all
relate to this in our former religions. Most of us here were
sitting in some religious organization, worshiping a God of our own imagination,
a God that we had we thought was a true God. And we had a
lot of zeal. Most of us taught Sunday school
classes and delivered messages. But it says here, they had a
zeal, but not according to knowledge. And we didn't have that knowledge
of who God was. We didn't have that knowledge
of God's righteousness as the only way that he'll save a sinner.
And it says that in verse three, it says, for they being ignorant
of God's righteousness, the only righteousness, whereby God has
saved a sinner. And it tells you what God's righteousness
is as it goes on, it says, and going about to establish their
own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness
of God. Then in verse four, for Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness, to everyone that believeth. Christ worked
out that righteousness, called God's righteousness. That righteousness
that we all must have to stand before him without blame, that's
that perfect standard that we must have, that perfect righteousness
that Christ worked out. And it must be imputed. It must
be accounted to us legally by God. Well, even though the vast
majority of Paul kinsmen, according to the flesh, they did perish,
God did determine to save a remnant, a small number, which included
the apostle Paul. Let's look at what Paul writes
a little later on in chapter 11 concerning God, not casting
away all the Israelites, but determining to save a remnant
of his own pleasure. Let's look at Romans 11, beginning
at verse one. Paul says, I say then, hath God
cast away his people? God forbid, for I also am an
Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe Benjamin. God hath
not cast away his people, which he foreknew. Paul makes it clear
that he was a Jew. He was an Israelite. He was a
part of that national Israel. And he says that he has not cast
away his people he foreknew. And he points to himself, that
God had saved him by his grace. Looking over in Revelation 5,
9, in order to see where God's people will come from, it says,
and they sung a new song saying, thou art worthy to take the book
and to open the seals thereof, for thou was slain, this is speaking
of Christ, and has redeemed us to God, by thy blood, out of
every kindred and tongue and people in the nation. God saves
sinners out of every kindred, tongue, and people and nation. He has his elect throughout the
world. And I tell you what, I see it
more and more as I look at, as we have our website out there
and we have people communicate with us all over the world, all
over the United States. And they're a group here, a group
here, a group in California, might be a couple here, a couple
in Wyoming, a couple in Montana, a couple in Texas, a couple in
Pennsylvania. They're just spread out. A little
here, a few here, and over in Europe, same thing. Had a lady
contact me from Europe and changing her email address, and she follows
and she loves this gospel. Same gospel we love. but they're
few but they're spread out and and there's in one sense there's
a few that we can't physically see all of them but but there's
a great number out there that God's chosen and we pray as we
in our ministry here in Albany Georgia as we attempt to get
the gospel out and all the means that we have, that God has many
more elect here in Albany, Georgia, in this area, in South Georgia,
that he'll call by this gospel that we believe here. Now, God's
faithful, as I said, to his promise to save all Israel, which is
not all of the entire physical nation Israel, but all of spiritual
Israel. which include both Jew and Gentile.
God never intended to save the entire nation of Israel, as I
said earlier, but he does say that a remnant shall be saved,
a people of his own choosing. He calls them his elect, his
sheep, his adopted children. And I pray that the Lord will
use this message as he sees fit, that sinners might be saved,
that they may come to know the true and living God, who is a
just God and a Savior. Amen.