What a blessing it is. And we don't realize the extent
of it, really. Never will in this life, but
what a blessing it is to be in a place where this gospel is
preached. The gospel of how God saves a
sinner, not based on what the sinner does, whether he calls
it with the help of God, or ever how he explains it to you. But
what a blessing it is to know that we're saved by grace alone.
We're saved by what Christ did. What he did alone, his perfect
obedience to God's law. God requires perfection. And
this is what Christ did as he walked this earth. Not only that,
but he went to the cross. and he shed his precious blood.
That blood whereby God justifies a sinner were justified by his
blood, justified before God. God imputes righteousness to
all those that come to him by faith. This faith we're gonna
talk about this morning, this faith that Abraham had, the same
faith Abraham had we have. He's our spiritual father. And
the title of our message, as you can see, is Children of the
Promise. It's taken from Romans chapter
nine, six through eight. And what I do and what I've been
doing for quite a while is I go, I'm delivering messages in the
book of Romans, and verse by verse, and we're in chapter nine,
beginning of verse six this morning. But what a blessing it is that
God has bestowed upon us, that we can hear this gospel, and
especially for those who believe it from the heart. I'm gonna
begin by reading, start reading verse six here in Romans nine,
if you'll follow along. Paul, and of course Paul, wrote
this book here, this book of Romans, and this is a letter
that's sent to the church at Rome. And he couldn't make that
trip, so he sent a letter to this church at Rome. And as we've
seen before in earlier chapters and everything, Paul has made
it clear how we're justified before God, and that's based
on Christ's righteousness alone, not based on your works. He made
all that clear, and of course, he was an Israelite. These Jews
were kinsmen according to the flesh with Paul. He was a Jew
by nature. That's what he was born in. These questions come up. The
questions come up about their lineage. They were children of
Abraham. they look to and also their circumcision
and all these things. These privileges that they were
given as a nation is God had made a covenant with them.
This covenant that he made with them that what should have happened
and all these things within this covenant, these pictures and
types and systems that he set up for the children of Israel,
they should have seen Christ in them. They should have seen,
in all these pictures and types, that they should have seen Christ,
and should have seen that salvation is by Him alone, but they went
about, as it were, by works of law, thinking that salvation was conditioned
on them in some way. And also, they always trusted
that they were children of Abraham. Well, this morning as we begin
here, beginning at verse six, it says,
not as though the word of God had taken none effect, because
God had promised to save all Israel. 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, these are not the children of God, but the children
of the promise, or accounted for the seed. Paul had shown
his genuine love for the nation Israel, his kinsmen, according
to the flesh. We saw that back in verse three.
He had expressed his sincere desire for their salvation, but
he refused to compromise the gospel. He refused to compromise
the truth to include them in this salvation. Now, Paul answers
the question concerning the salvation of Israel. this nation. As stated
before, this question rose from the fact that God had promised
to save all Israel, according to Isaiah 45, 17, which reads,
but Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting
salvation. Also in Isaiah 45, 25, in the
Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified and shall glory.
And in Jeremiah 23, five through six, Says, behold, the days come,
saith the Lord, that I'll raise under David a righteous branch,
and a king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and
justice in the earth. In his days, Judah shall be saved,
and Israel shall dwell safely. And this is his name, whereby
he shall be called the Lord, our righteousness. Of course,
this is speaking of Christ. God says through the prophet
Jeremiah, that in the days, of the Messiah, or Christ, the righteous
branch, the reigning king. Not only the people of the Jews,
or God's elect among them, but all of God's elect, all of spiritual
Israel, who truly embrace Christ and confess Him, they all shall
be saved from all their sins. That's a promise. The nation
Israel as a whole, down through all the ages, rejected God's
gospel and rejected Christ. when he was among them. The nation
as a whole today rejects Jesus of Nazareth as a Messiah. They
still look for the Messiah to come in the future. If God promised
to save all Israel, and yet the majority of the nation perished
in unbelief, and we saw that as they wandered in the wilderness
40 years, most of them died in unbelief, and even today reject
the gospel of God's grace in Christ, then what's the problem?
God promised to save all Israel. Was God not able to fulfill his
promise to save all Israel? Was he unfaithful to do so? Was
his promise not effectual because the nation would not cooperate
with him in some way? We'll see some of the answers
to these questions as we go forward this morning. In our first verse
here in six, verse six here, the first part, it says, not
as though the word of God had taken on effect, God's word of
promise and grace is not ineffectual toward any of the objects of
his love. It's effectual. It's accomplished. It accomplishes
something. God's promise of eternal salvation
is never and was never conditioned on sinners, but always conditioned
and based on the Lord Jesus Christ, the surety of that everlasting
covenant of grace that was made before time. and was accomplished
in time as Christ, the one that took on the obligation to pay
all the debts of those that God gave him, called his elect, his
sheep, his children. He came in time and he did that.
He obeyed the law perfectly. He paid that debt by the shedding
of his blood. Look at 2 Corinthians 1.20. for
all the promises of God in him, or yea, and in him, amen, unto
the glory of God by us. As I've said before, and I'll
say again, this phrase in him, or in Christ, is used some 70-something
times in the New Testament. It should be to our advantage
to find out what that means, what it means to be in Christ.
It says, all the promises of God in him, or yea, and in him,
amen, unto the glory of God by us. And in Ephesians 1.3, it
says, blessed be the God and Father by Lord Jesus Christ,
who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ. 2 Timothy 1.9 reads for who have
saved us. speaking of God, have saved us
and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, we're
not saved by our works, but according to his own purpose and grace,
which was given to us once again in Christ Jesus before the world
began. God's power and faithfulness
to save his people All Israel is never in question and never
fails. Look at Lamentations 3, beginning
at verse 22. It is of the Lord's mercies that
we're not consumed because his compassions fail not. They are
new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. God's
faithful. He's faithful to all his promises.
The Apostle Paul then makes a statement that I'm sure it upset the Jews
at that time and even today upset a lot of people who still look
at the physical nation Israel as in some way being God's chosen
nation today. Look at what Paul says here in
the last part of verse six. For they are not all Israel which
are of Israel. Paul shows that the all Israel
whom God promised to save is not necessarily made up of those
who are born as ethnic and national Israelites are the physical seed
of Abraham. And when you see that, the physical
seed of Abraham, that means that they're born into this world
being children of Abraham by natural birth. The all Israel that God promised
to save, it's another Israel. Who are they? Paul goes on to
answer. in verse seven here, Roman nine. Neither because they are the
seed of Abraham are they all children, all God's children. But in Isaac shall thy seed be
called. Here Paul shows that just because
a person is one of the physical seed of Abraham does not make
that person a child of God. a sinner saved by grace. We know
that the seed of Abraham here refers to Abraham's physical
offspring because Paul calls them children of the flesh. In
the next verse, in verse 8, where he calls them that, one of the
Jews greatest boast that they were blessed and children of
God was their claim. We have Abraham to our father,
Abraham to our father. Look at what John the Baptist
said in Matthew three in verse nine. And think not to say within
yourself, we have Abraham to our father and we be Abraham's
seed. Also John eight 33 Christ speaking
here to the Pharisees He says, they answered him, the Pharisees,
and said, we be Abraham's seed. And we were never in bondage
to any man. How sayest thou you shall be
made free? Both John the Baptist and our
Lord told them this was no proof or guarantee of salvation just
because you're children of Abraham by birth. In fact, boasting in
their physical pedigree as proof of salvation, Well, it was just
proof that they were still in unbelief. Let's look at the account
of John the Baptist as he was baptizing in the River Jordan
here in the whole account here in Matthew 3 verse 7, beginning
verse 7. But when he saw many of the Pharisees,
John the Baptist, and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said
unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from
the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits,
meat for repentance. And think not to say within yourselves,
we have Abraham to our father. For I say unto you that God is
able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And
now also the ax is laid into the root of the trees. Therefore
every tree which bringeth forth good fruit is hewn down, not
good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. This is the ax
of God's judgment and vengeance. which, because of the certainty
of it, is said to be now laid. And this act is not laid to just
some of the branches, to take away just some of the privileges
that the Jews in the nation Israel had, but it's laid to the root
of all the privileges that the nation Israel, that they had,
both civil and ecclesiastical. even the covenant which God had
made with the people as a nation. So that going forward, as they
went forward, they would have nothing to expect from there
being the seed of Abraham, an Israelite, or there being circumcised. After Paul said this in the previous
part, neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they
all children, Paul goes on to say, to say at the end of verse
seven, but in Isaac shall thy seed be called. Isaac was Abraham
and Sarah's miracle child of promise. You know the story in
that God promised Abraham and Sarah a child. And of course,
I'll say this a little later, but he promised this, but she
didn't have a child for quite a while. And she was up near
100 years old, around 100 years old when she finally had the
child. But God had promised Abraham
and Sarah a miracle child of promise. He was a gift from God
and not conceived or born in the power of the flesh, as I
said. Sarah was up near 100 years old. She wasn't able to give
birth. Ismael was also a son of Abraham, but not a son of
Sarah. He came from Hagar, the handmaid,
and was born of the flesh. If physical connection with Abraham
guaranteed salvation, then Ishmael would have been saved. The Jews
could argue against that, this claim, and that Ishmael was not
born of Sarah, just born of Abraham, and that they were descendants
from Abraham and Sarah, which connected them to Isaac. Paul
answers this objection later in beginning verse 10 through
13, showing that Jacob and Esau had the same father and mother,
had the same father and mother, yet God loved Jacob and hated
Esau. The issue of Isaac's birth was
connected to the promise, the promise of God to send Christ
into the world to save all Israel, all his covenant people. It was
through Isaac that the promise of eternal salvation would be
accomplished, not the physical pedigree, but by grace through
Christ. It's very important to look at
these two births, Isaac and Ishmael, and their contrast one to another.
Isaac was a miracle birth. As I said, she was around 100
years old when Isaac was born, but Abraham's son, Ishmael, was
of Hagar, which represented the law and works of the flesh. Every child of God can be compared
to Isaac in the way that our birth is a work entirely of God. We must be born again, not a
flesh but a spirit. God must regenerate the elect,
give them faith, that same faith that Abraham had, and cause us
to look only to Christ for all our salvation and final glory. Paul then continues to explain
what he meant in verse seven when he said, neither because
they are the seed of Abraham are they all children, but in
Isaac shall thy seed be called. Verse eight, he explains that
when he says, that is, they which are the children of the flesh,
these are not the children of God, but the children of the
promise are counted for the seed. That is, not all of the physical
seed of Abraham, nor any of them on account of them being just
children of the flesh, natural descendants of Abraham, or that
they were Abraham's natural seed, This is because adoption does
not come this way. See, we're adopted children of
God, adopted in our Lord Jesus Christ, or by way of natural
generation. Men do not become children of
God by their fleshly descent. They are not born of God. They
are not born of blood, but of God, of the Holy Spirit. These
are the sons of God. God made the distinction between
Abraham's natural, physical descendants, the children of the flesh, and
Abraham's spiritual descendants, the children of the promise.
The children of promise are not only all whom God promised to
save in and by Christ, but all who God brings to believe the
promise of salvation. in and by Christ alone. Look
at Romans 2, beginning at verse 28. 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 and not in the letter,
whose praise is not of men but of God. Also in Galatians 3,
beginning at verse 26, For you are all the children of God by
faith in Jesus Christ, in Christ Jesus. Now this is speaking to
all of the believers, all of God's elect. For as many of you
as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is
neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither bond or free.
There is neither male or female. For you are all one in Christ
Jesus. And if you be Christ, If you
belong to Christ, if you're in Christ, then are you Abraham's
seed, and heirs according to the promise. Also in Galatians
6, beginning at verse 14, but God forbid, this is Paul speaking,
he said, God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified and the man
into the world. For in Christ Jesus, neither
circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new
creature. And as many as walk according
to this rule, peace be on them and mercy upon the Israel of
God. That is, walk according to this
rule that God forbid that I should glory in anything save in the
cross. We look to Christ alone for salvation.
We look to what he accomplished on the cross of Calvary. We look
to God alone for all our justification and final glory. Also in Philippians
3.3, it says, for we are the circumcision, which worship God
in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and once again,
have no confidence in the flesh. We have no confidence in anything
that we do in the flesh, anything that we do in this life, as far
as having anything to do with our salvation. All of it. We
look to Christ alone. Him alone. His righteousness
alone for all of our salvation. As God has never promised to
save all Israelites, natural Israelites, God has also never
promised to save all men without exception. God has promised to
save all without exception who hear and believe this gospel. This gospel of salvation by Christ
alone. all who come to Christ for salvation,
righteousness, forgiveness, and eternal life. These are God's
elect children, sinners who have been redeemed by the blood of
Christ and regenerated by the Holy Spirit. Look at Acts 2,
39. For the promise is unto you and
to your children and to all that are far off, even as many as
the Lord our God shall call, which is key to that text. This
is not natural Israel, but spiritual Israel, made up of God's elect
out of every nation, Jew and Gentile, every nation, tribe. Every believer in the Lord Jesus
Christ is a full-fledged citizen of a spiritual nation. Every
believer in Jesus Christ is part of the spiritual seed of Abraham,
count it for the seed. they're counted for the seed.
Every believer in Jesus Christ is a spiritual Israelite. In
closing, let's look at the oneness that we have with our spiritual
father, Abraham. Look at Galatians 3, beginning
at verse 6. Even as Abraham believed God,
and it was accounted, or imputed, charged to him for righteousness,
know you therefore that they which are of faith the same are
the children of Abraham. And the scripture foreseeing
that God would justify the heathen through faith, now speaking of
the Gentiles, preached before the gospel unto Abraham saying,
in thee shall all the nations be blessed. So then, they which
be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. Now when that
says, they which be of faith, that's a specific faith. That's
a faith that looks to Christ alone for salvation, the object
of that faith. That's what, when it talks about
that faith. Now, as I said, all believers are
one in Christ. As we think about that, as we
think about all believers being one in Christ, some points I
want to make. First of all, all of God's people
were chosen in Christ, according to Ephesians 1.4. It says, according
as He, our God, had chosen us in Him, in Christ, before the
foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame before Him in love. And then again, all enjoyed being
clothed in the righteousness of Christ. See, this righteousness
that Christ worked out is freely imputed and accounted in charge
to all those that come to God by faith. All are redeemed by
Christ, Matthew 121. reads, and she shall bring forth
a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save
his people from their sin. Now, that doesn't say that he'll
make an attempt to save his people from their sin, or that he's
gonna save some of them. It says he shall save his people
from their sin. All those that he lived and died
for shall be saved. They were in him from the beginning,
from eternity, They were in Him at the cross as He lived and
died for them, and all of them shall be saved. He paid their
debt, their debt in full. See, God's children don't owe
a debt to God's law and justice. The debt's been paid. Christ
paid the debt, all the debt we owe, the debt that we couldn't
pay. See, God, as I said, He requires perfection in every
way. And the only way you're going to get it is looking to
Christ alone for salvation as God charges. See, God don't charge. There's some people that God
will not charge them with their sin. Some people. And the reason He don't charge
them with their sin is because He charged them to His Son, Jesus
Christ. He charged them to him, and he
paid the debt. He came in time and paid the
debt. And his righteousness is being charged to those that come
to him by faith. All of his sheep have one shepherd
and belong to one foal. John 10, 14 through 16 says,
Christ says, I'm the good shepherd, and I know my sheep, and I've
known them mine. And 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
is not of this fold, speaking of the Jewish fold, them also
I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall
be one foal and one shepherd. The names of all the elect are
recorded in the Book of Life, in Revelation 13, eight, says,
and all that dwell upon earth shall worship him, speaking of
worshiping the beast, whose names are not written in the book of
life of the lamb slain from the foundation of the earth, of the
world. All the elect are predestined
to the same glory. Romans 8, beginning at verse
29. For whom he did foreknow, for whom God did foreknow, he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son. that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
he did predestinate, them he also called, whom he called,
them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified. Again, all partake of the glories
of the heavenly Jerusalem. Matthew 8, 11 says, and I say
unto you that many shall come from the east and west, and shall
sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven."
All of God's elect, all of them. What a blessing it is to know
that God saves only one way. He doesn't save the Old Testament
saints one way and then turn around and save the New Testament
saints another way, which is something that I used to think.
No, fellow believers, the way of salvation is by Christ and
Him alone, whether it be Old Testament saints or New Testament
saints. Salvation is based entirely on the righteousness of Christ
alone, not on any works done by the sinner. God is a just
God when He's saved. He's holy. Therefore, He only
accepts perfect righteousness, and the only place that it can
be found is in his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, this morning,
can you say that you are a spiritual Israelite? Is Abraham your spiritual
father? Do you possess the same faith
that Abraham had? Christ said in John 8, 56, your father Abraham rejoiced
to see my day and he saw it. and was glad. True believers
do have the faith of Abraham, the same faith. As Abraham rejoiced
to see Christ's day, so we, the true Israel of God, rejoice in
the same Lord and the same Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. In closing,
let's look at Galatians 3 verse 28. Which reads, there is neither
Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither
male nor female, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you
be Christ, then are you Abraham's seed and heirs according to the
promise. Children of promise.