I had been studying and preparing
this message for better than the last couple of weeks. But it is a message that God
has been preparing me for, for the past 66 years. My text is without question among
religious people. the most ignored, the most despised,
and the most controversial chapter in the entire Bible. I don't
doubt that some, even in this congregation, have never heard
a sermon from this chapter. When it is quoted, religious
people immediately start to boil inside and they erupt in a rage. I recall many, many years ago,
Brother Mahan and I were driving somewhere to preach in a conference,
and he said to me that he once read this chapter. He was called
on to just read scripture. So he read this chapter, and
when he got done reading the chapter, somebody stood up in
the congregation and said, that's not what it means. All it did
was just read it. All it did was just read it.
And yet, this is one of the most blessed chapters to be found
in all the book of God. There is not a portion of scripture
that's more glorifying to the triune Jehovah, our great and
glorious God. There is not a chapter in the
Bible that gives greater hope to sinners or a greater reason
for you who yet are without Christ to trust the son of God. No chapter
can be found in the entire word of God more instructive for,
more comforting to, or more fully encouraging hope than that which
is my text this morning. And there's no portion of inspiration
that inspires more thoroughly and compels more completely the
devotion of safe centers to the Lord God Almighty. I can't think
of any chapter in the Bible, not a one, that gives me more
excitement and more encouragement in preaching the gospel than
my text. Now, I hope I've got your attention.
Let's turn to Romans chapter nine. Romans chapter nine. And I want you to hold your Bibles
open on your lap. We're going to look at these
33 verses together this morning. The title of my message is The
Truth in Christ. The Truth in Christ, Romans chapter
nine. The chapter begins with Paul
expressing a matter of great heaviness and continual sorrow
in his heart. The Jews, the nation of Israel,
Paul's blood kin, his family, his relatives. I know nothing
at all about his parents, but if he had living relatives, blood
kin, his mother, his father, his brothers, his sisters, they
were so greatly privileged to have the word of God, the prophets
of God, The ordinances of God, the law of God, the temple of
God, the priest of God, the testimony of God, they had all the revelation
God gave of himself in the Old Testament. The Lord of glory
came down among them when the tabernacle was finished and the
Shekinah glory filled the tabernacle so that Moses couldn't stand
to go into the place. These people, having had these
things for 2000 years, despised the Lord of glory, crucified
him on a cursed tree. He came to his own and his own
received him not. And so for that reason, the Lord
God Almighty had cast them off in judgment, in reprobation,
In response to their ungodliness, God said, I'll send you darkness.
In response to their ungodliness, God said, I'll send you a delusion.
In response to their ungodliness, God took away their light altogether
and then he cast them off. That's what the whole of Romans
9, 10, and 11 is about. And it caused Paul enormous sorrow. great heaviness. Of course, you
see that included his brother and his sister, his mother and
his father. Under the judgment of God, their
self-imposed eternal ruin broke the apostle's heart. They were
going to hell because of their own transgressions. And Paul
was brokenhearted as he contemplates the fact. Let's read our text
here, beginning in verse one. I say the truth in Christ. I
lie not. My conscience also bearing me
witness in the Holy Ghost. Now that's just about the strongest
affirmation of an oath you will find anywhere in the word of
God. Paul spends that whole first
verse saying, I swear to you, what I'm telling you is so, that I have great heaviness and
continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself
were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen, according
to the flesh. Let me read to you Young's literal
translation of verse three. It may help you a little. I was
wishing I myself to be anathema from Christ for my brethren,
my kinsmen, according to the flesh. The Jews hated the apostle
Paul. They hated him intensely. If
there was any man they hated equal to Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
it was this man, Paul. They considered him to be the
vilest apostate in the world because he who once was a terrorist
against Christianity became a follower of Jesus the Nazarene, whom they
crucified. But Paul's heart broke for them.
It broke for them. Now I must acknowledge to you
that these three verses, particularly verse three, have been a matter
of real difficulty for me to understand for all the years
of my life as a believer. But we must not judge Paul's
words merely by the strict rules of grammar. We must not do so. We must not do so. Well, words
mean something, yeah? They mean something if you understand
them being spoken by the man who speaks them and the circumstances
in which he speaks them. We must understand these words
as an expression of a man whose heart is broken. The expressions
of a man whose soul is heavy, His heart's broken. His soul
is heavy because the people dearest to him were going to hell. His heart was broken. His soul
was heavy because the people dearest to him were going to
hell. Before Paul knew the Lord, Before
God saved him, before Christ was revealed in him, that man
Saul of Tarsus wished to have nothing to do with Christ, fighting
with all his being to sustain and promote Judaism. The apostle
Paul was a terrorist. Saul of Tarsus was a terrorist
against Christ, Christianity, against his church, against his
gospel. But I'm convinced that Paul is
not talking here about something that he used to experience. He's
talking about another great grief. No question in my mind, he's
grieved because of what he'd done before God saved him. He's
talking about something presently. He says, I am now having. great
heaviness and continual sorrow because I was wishing myself
a cursed anathema from the Christ of God. You see, he had been
up to this point throughout his life as a believer, utterly devoted
to the salvation of his own people. Utterly devoted to the salvation
of the Jewish people. He proved it again and again. His devotion was demonstrated.
You remember in Acts chapter 20, when he's about to bid farewell
to the folks at Ephesus, and they begged him, don't go to
Jerusalem. You're asking for trouble if
you go to Jerusalem. And Paul said, neither can I my life dear
unto myself. that I may finish my course with
joy to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. And Agatha stood up in
chapter 21 and took Paul's girdle and bound him around him. He
said, the man whose girdle this is, if he goes to Jerusalem,
shall be bound by the Jews and delivered to the Gentiles. And
they begged him, Paul, don't go, don't go. He said, why weep
ye to break my heart? I'm willing not only to be bound
at Jerusalem, but to die also at Jerusalem. Now understand,
Paul was not in any way compelled to do so. He went to Jerusalem
compelled only by the love of Christ, by the grace of God,
by his care for his kinsmen, the Jews. He was willing to die
for them. He loved his family dearly. Willing
to die that they might know Christ and be saved by grace. I know
something about that, and some of you do too. As you know, my sister Juanita
is dying. So far as I know, dying under
the wrath of God With the same religious delusion that the Jews
had. The very same religious delusion,
the delusion that she's good enough for God. Stumbling over the stumbling
stone, trusting in a religious profession and religious experience. And I have great heaviness and
continual sorrow. Now, look at verses four and
five. Here, Paul shows us what wasted,
misused, misspent privileges the Jews had. In verses four
and five, Paul is not asking a question, but rather he's stating
a fact. These two verses really are a
continuation of the sentence we just read in verse three.
So pick back up at verse three. I could wish that I myself were
cursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the
flesh, who are Israelites. to whom pertaineth the adoption,
and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and
the service of God, and the promises, whose are the fathers, and of
whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all
God blessed forever." This is the thing that's so much trouble,
Paul, concerning the Jews. They had such extraordinary privileges. Extraordinary privileges. Try
to remember, in all the world, in all the world, for 2,000 years,
the only people to whom God sent his word were the Jews. In that little spot of land over
yonder in the Far East, the only people. The only people who had
the Ark of the Covenant and the testimony of God in the mercy
seat, the only people who had a priesthood and a sacrifice
that God had ordained, the only people who knew and worshiped
God were those people. They had all the law and the
prophets testifying to them of the coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ. From them, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is God over all,
blessed forever, was born as the man Christ Jesus. He was
bone of their bone and flesh of their flesh. But they despised
him. They wouldn't have him. They
wouldn't be saved by him. Well, preacher, what's that got
to do with us? Oh, the terrible hardness of the heart of man. Oh, the terrible hardness of
the heart of man. Jacob, I got your eye. I just
saw you looking at me. You've been raised right here,
listening to the gospel of God's free grace, taught the word of
God from your infancy. If you go to hell, the hottest
place in hell is reserved for you. Understand that? You understand that? For God has of all people given
you his word, given you his gospel, given you his testimony, and
trampled it underfoot. The Lord Jesus said, if Sodom
and Gomorrah had what you have, they'd have repented long ago.
The hottest place in hell is reserved for you. The greatest
fury of God's judgment reserved for those who trample underfoot
the blood of the son of God. Be warned, be warned, be warned. You've heard the gospel, and
heard the gospel, and heard the gospel, and believe not. Oh,
shudder to close your eyes. Shudder to shut your eyes before
you go to bed tonight. Call on the Son of God. Believe
on the Son of God. Be warned, be warned. God will
not trifle with folks who trifle with Him. Then after expressing
such great heaviness and sorrow, Paul seems to brace himself up. He says, I'm having great heaviness
and continual sorrow in my heart for my brethren, my kinsmen according
to the flesh. But wait, wait, wait. In verses six, seven and eight,
he seems to console his own heart and ours. He seems to assure
himself and us that God's purpose is sure, and God's elect shall
be saved. Not as though the word of God
hath 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. Does that look contradictory
to you? Does that look like a contradiction to you? Paul says, I'm weeping. I'm brokenhearted because of
my brethren who are about to perish. Wait a minute. Wait a
minute. God's purpose is sure. God's
elect shall be saved. All Israel shall indeed be saved. I'll rest in his purpose. I'll
give you a greater contradiction, a greater apparent contradiction
than that. Our Lord stood over the city of Jerusalem. with broken
heart and wept. Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem. How
often I gathered thy chicks as a hen gathered her chickens under
her wings. I gathered thy children as a hen gathered their chickens
under her wings and ye would not. And the next word out of
his mouth, behold, your house is left into you desolate. This man, Paul was not a stoic.
He was not a piece of stone. He wasn't a rock. He was a man,
a man with real passions as a man. His heart broke for those dear
to him, just as yours and mine break for those dear to us. And
yet he finds solace for his soul in the purpose of God and the
will of God and the glory of God. Read on. Not as though the word of God
hath taken none of that, for they're 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 flesh, these are not the children
of God, but the children of promise are counted for the seed. Paul
is saying here exactly the same thing that David said to himself
By which he consoled his heart on his deathbed. Although my
house be not so with God. Although my house be not so with
God. I've got those two grandchildren. My heart breaks for them. You
know exactly what I'm talking about. I want them to know God. They're smart, they're hardworking,
they're well-provided for, just well-behaved kids. They're well-behaved kids. All those things, I'd gladly
see taken from them if they cause them to know God. You understand
that? You understand that? That's a
matter of importance. David had a household. a whole house of rebels. His wives, his sons, his daughters,
his grandchildren, all despised his God, except for just Abigail,
Bathsheba, and Solomon. Everybody else in his house despised
God. And David says, although my house
be not so with God, Yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordering all things, ensure this is all my salvation and all my
desire, although he make it not to grow. The blessings of God's
grace, I remind you, come to no one
because of carnal descent. Being related to a godly man
or a godly woman doesn't make you godly. Being related to a
believer doesn't make you a believer. Being related to a Christian
doesn't make you a Christian. No, no. Grace comes by the sovereign
prerogative of God according to God's purpose for God's glory. The blessings of God's grace
were promised to the seed of Abraham. Indeed they were. But
Paul uses this word seed in a very special way. Abraham's seed,
we're told in Galatians chapter three, is Christ. And we're told
in Galatians three as well, that Abraham's seed is those who are
in Christ. all who are one with Christ.
In Him, in covenant mercy and union with Him as the God-man,
our Savior from everlasting. In Him, by the experience of
God's grace, giving us life and faith in Him. Those who are believers
like Abraham was a believer. Those who are called like Abraham
was called. Those who are redeemed like Abraham
was redeemed. These are the seed of Christ. And those we are assured God
shall save because God chose his seed. Christ died to redeem
his seed and the spirit shall call his seed. All those who
were chosen were redeemed and all those who were redeemed were
called and all those who are called shall be saved by God's
grace. If my dear, dear kinsmen perish, if I, Find those I love, those
for whom I would at this moment lay down my life if that could
be used of God to give them life and faith in Christ. If they perish under the wrath
of God, if you perish under the wrath of God, and I'm here to
tell you There's not a man, woman, boy or girl in this building
for whom I would not right now lay down my life if that be of
any help to bring you faith in Christ. In fact, I have daily
done so for 35 years. Give my life to be used of God, that God give
you life and faith in Christ. But if you perish under the wrath
of God, it will be because you've chosen not to believe. You hear the words, Alfred, not
gonna hear it. I will not, I'm not going to
bow. I will not bow. Say what you
want to. It won't affect me. And it's
all your fault, but you're not going to alter God's purpose.
You're not going to rob God of his glory. You're not going to
diminish the number of gods elect. You're not going to hinder the
progress of God's kingdom. God's elect will be saved. His
decree will be fulfilled. His word will be accomplished.
Paul gives us a clear example. Abraham had two sons, Ishmael
and Isaac. God passed by Ishmael. Now that's
something. That's something. Ishmael was
Isaac's firstborn. His firstborn. In the mind of
the ancient man of the Orient, the firstborn, oh, the whole
family's wrapped up in him. All of you who've come from households
with multiple children, you all have your opinion about who the
favorite is. That's just part of being human.
You just have your opinion about who the favorite is. And I'll
tell you a little secret. More than likely, in one way
or another, there is one who's a favorite. I never was. There was a reason for that.
I didn't deserve to be. But more than likely, there is.
But in the ancient Oriental mind, that wasn't a shameful thing
to acknowledge. The firstborn son, he was daddy's favorite
in every detail. He had everything. He was given
control of everything. And God said to Abraham, I've
rejected your firstborn. These two boys were twins born
to the same parents, but God passed by Ishmael and chose Isaac. And you know how Abraham responded? He bowed to God's will and cast
Ishmael out. He worshiped God. He devoted
his whole life to God because of his great goodness heaped
upon him from the moment that he was called out of Ur of the
counties, God called me, God saved me, God heaped his mercy
upon me, God promised his son to me, God promised his son to
my son Isaac, how can I but worship God? How can I but bow to him? Next in verses nine through 13.
The inspired apostle shows us God's word of promise, God's
decree that must be fulfilled, his decree of both election and
reprobation. For this is the word of promise
at this time, will I come and Sarah shall have a son. And not
only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by
our father Isaac. Now, if you haven't underlined
it 20 times, please do right now. 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 God, the Holy Ghost, explains
to us the reason this was said to Rebekah, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand, not of works, but
of him that calleth. It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger, As it is written, Jacob have I loved,
but Esau have I hated. Esau was not chosen, Jacob was. Why? Why? God explains it for
us. Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. Oh, I don't understand that.
Yes, you do. Yes, you do. That's not a problem.
That's not a problem. You understand those words very
well. Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Well, that
can't possibly mean what I think it does. I'll guarantee you it
means exactly what you think it does. Jacob have I loved,
but Esau have I hated. It matters not how closely you
may be connected with the people of God. Unless God saves you
by his grace, you will not be saved. You cannot and will not
be saved, except God the Father chose you, Christ the Son redeemed
you, and God the Spirit calls you by his omnipotent grace.
And if you go to hell, You will not in any way alter God's purpose,
mar or hinder his goodness, corrupt his righteousness, but rather
your damnation will be your own fault alone, according to your
own deeds. Now, look at verses 14, 15, and
16. As soon as we mention anything
about election, predestination, divine sovereignty, limited atonement,
irresistible grace, or heaven forbid, reprobation, religious
infidels scream, that's not fair. That's not right. How can God
judge me if he's already predestined everything? Read verses 14 and
15 and 16, and you'll see how to answer the infidels. Now,
this is the commonly accepted way to answer them. Somebody's
upset with a term like election. You say, well, we don't want
to offend you with election, so we'll say that if you believe,
God chose you. That makes it a lot easier, doesn't
it? Oh, well, I might. As long as you put God in my
hands like that, it'll be all right. It'll be all right. Folks
don't like limited atonement. Well, well, we wouldn't want
to offend anybody. So we'll give it up. And we will
say, Christ died for everybody who believes. Well, he hasn't
just said, I don't believe in limited atonement, has he? Oh,
yes, he has. Oh, yes, he has. He puts it in
your hands still. What do you do? Well, you know,
I've been talking to Bobby Estes. He's my neighbor, you know, and
I believe he's coming around. I believe he's coming. No, he
ain't. You're compromising. That's all there is to it. Well,
Brother Dunn, how do you deal with infidels then? You confront
them with their infidelity with the truth of God. You confront
them. Don't argue with them. Don't
debate with them. Don't do it. Let me ask you, you sitting here,
most of you have been believers for a long time, and most of
you have spent some time arguing and fussing with folks that way,
especially family. Arguing, fuss, and fuss, and
arguing, arguing, fuss, and you win the argument. How many of
you ever saw one of them converted by him? Anybody? Anybody? I've never seen it happen. What do you do with infidels?
You confront them broadside with the truth of God and don't give
up anything. Don't give up anything. Let's
see if that's not what Paul does. Look here in our text, Romans
chapter 14, chapter nine, verse 14. What shall we say then? What shall we then say then?
Is there unrighteousness with God? That's not right. That's not fair. God can't do
that. Is there unrighteousness of God?
God forbid, just in case you didn't understand what I said
about Jacob and Esau, for he saith to Moses, I will have mercy
on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. You remember when God said that to Moses?
Moses said, I beseech thee, Lord, show me your glory. And the Lord
passed by and said, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy,
and I'll have compassion on whom I'll have compassion. You deny
that, and you deny God's glory. You deny his very being. So then,
so then, it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth,
but of God that showeth mercy. Paul, if you put it like that,
if you put it like that, I've got nothing to do with my salvation.
You heard me, didn't you? You heard what he said, didn't
you? Well, if that's the case, then my mama must have been lost.
That preacher said mama was lost. No, he didn't. No, he didn't.
Paul said mama was lost. No, he didn't. You did, because
you understood what God said. You understood what he said.
Now let's look at verses 17 through 26. Here the Holy Ghost speaks
as plainly as possible about vessels of wrath and vessels
of mercy. He asserts in the clearest, most
forcible terms that could be found, both the absolute sovereignty
of God and the righteousness of God in the judgment of sinners. Romans 9, 17. For the scripture
saith to Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee
up, that I might show my power in thee and that my name might
be declared throughout all the earth. Every time I think about
Moses going into Pharaoh and saying, the Lord said, let my
people go. And Pharaoh said, who is the
Lord that I should obey him? I can just almost picture Moses
in his soul thinking, buddy, you're fixing to find out. You're
fixing to find out. God said to Pharaoh. Now, I don't
know anywhere where God said that to Pharaoh. I can't find
anywhere in the book where God said that to Pharaoh. God said
this in his word concerning this man, Pharaoh, for your benefit
and mine. The only reason I raised him
up was to dump his carcass in the Red Sea. Only reason I did
it. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and
whom he will he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, why
doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? And this is what I say to folks
who raise such infidelity when I speak to them the word of God.
How dare you question God? How dare you question God? How dare I question God? How dare we do so? Nay, but,
O man, who art thou that replyest against God? Shall the thing
formed say to him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus?
Hath not the potter power over the clay of the same lump to
make one vessel into honor and another to dishonor? What if
God, what if God, and the word what's in italics, it was added
by our translators to make the sentence read more smoothly.
If God, Paul's argument is this, if God, willing to show his wrath
and to make his power known, endured with much long suffering,
God is long-suffering to usward, not willing that any of his elect
should perish, but that every one of them come to repentance
and knowledge of the truth. And the long-suffering of the
Lord is salvation. God endures the reprobate with
long-suffering toward his elect. With much long-suffering, he
endured the vessels of wrath, now watch what it says, fitted
to destruction. Fitted to destruction. What does
that mean? That means if you go to hell,
it's because you're fit for hell. Fitted to destruction by your
fall and our father Adam. Fitted to destruction because
you came forth from the womb speaking lies. Well, I don't
like that. You haven't done any better on
your own. Since you came forth from the womb, you continue to
do nothing but speak lies. And there's nothing in your heart
but corruption, depravity, sin, nothing. That's all that's in
there. All of those things that you're... I'm not a fan of Donald Trump. Don't misunderstand. I'm going
to vote for him, but I ain't a fan of him. I'm going to vote
for him because I like that devil less and better than I do the
other devil, that's all. But I'm not a fan of Donald Trump.
But haven't you found it interesting how quickly you would jump on
the bandwagon with all the pious, smug, self-righteous comments
from godless, reprobate men? Oh, how could a man talk like
that? And you said, how could a man
talk like that? I never used names like that.
You use it all the time. It just doesn't come out your
mouth. That's exactly right. All the time. It just doesn't
come out your mouth. Oh, Brother John, you don't know
me. Yes, I do. And you do, too. Oh, yes, I do. Yes, I do. Nothing
in you but corruption. That's what we are. Fitted for
destruction by unbelief. Fitted for destruction by sin.
Fitted for destruction because you want God off his throne.
You want to control things. You want to control life. And
you'd control everybody in the world if you could. Step aside
God, I'll take over. Fitted for destruction. And that
he might make known, watch this, the riches of his glory. I'll
have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I'll have compassion on
whom I'll have compassion. That he might make known the
riches of glory on the vessels of mercy. Now watch the difference.
Which he had aforeprepared. Which he had aforeprepared. Rex, he prepared us for glory. when He declared us in Christ,
when He made us in Christ, righteous, justified, accepted, sanctified,
and glorified in the beloved before the world was. He prepared
us for glory when Christ redeemed us at Calvary. He prepared us
for glory when He stepped into our hearts and made us partakers
of the divine nature in the new birth. He prepared us for glory
in the sanctifying work of His Spirit. There are four prepared
under glory. That is, before they get there,
they're made fit for glory by God. Even us, whom he hath called,
not of the Jews only, but of the Gentiles, Jew and Gentile,
all around the world, so that all who are in Christ, these
are the promised seed. These are the seed of Abraham.
As he sayeth also in Osea, that is in Hosea, I will call them
my people, which were not my people, and her beloved, which
was not beloved. And it shall come to pass that
in that place where it was said unto them, ye are not my people,
there shall they be called the children of the living God. Now,
look at verses 27, 28, and 29. Here we are again reminded and
assured of the fact that there is a chosen remnant in this world,
both Jew and Gentile, who must and shall be saved by the grace
of God. 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. Not I hope a remnant will be
saved, not a remnant may be saved, not a remnant will be saved if
they'll let me. A remnant shall be saved, for he will finish
the work. He will finish the work. He'll
finish what he purposed. He'll accomplish what he intended.
He'll perform what he designed. He will finish the work, now
watch it, and cut it short in righteousness. He will finish
the work and He'll do it speedily. At the appointed time, it shall
be performed in righteousness for He is a just God and a Savior. He takes us to glory because
He has fitted us for glory by the obedience and death of His
Son. Because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth,
a speedy work. We look at God's providence and
we, oh man, Here's the Lord Jesus turning the pages of the book. Everything going so slow. Going
so slow. No, no, no, no, no. He's turning
pages. Speedy work. Speedy work. What do you mean? Accomplished
exactly according to God's time in this earth. He's performing
exactly His will, and He'll perform it exactly on time. He'll do
a speedy work in the earth. And as Isaiah said before, except
the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, except God chose a people and
saved a people, except God had been gracious. We had been, all
of us, the whole human race, as Sodoma and made like to Gomorrah. All of us would have been forever
cast off in ungodliness, becoming ourselves filthy Sodomites, and
therefore justly condemned. Now, look at the next passage,
and answer this question. Is Christ made of God to you
a foundation stone on which you build? Or is Jesus Christ crucified
a stumbling stone over which you trip up and go to hell? Look
at verses 30 through 33, and you'll see. What shall we say then, that
the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have
attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is by
faith? God's elect among the Gentiles. Here we are. God's made us righteous. Mark, we have attained to righteousness.
We have attained to righteousness, which sought not righteousness, Didn't even try to be righteous.
Didn't even try to be. Oh, we used to. We used to. That was our problem. That's
your problem right now if you don't believe. You keep trying
to make yourself good. But when you quit trying to make
yourself righteous, then you're built on the foundation, Christ
Jesus. But Israel. which followed after the law
of righteousness. God said, keep the Sabbath, so
we'll keep the Sabbath. God said, behold us, so we'll
put a little paper cup on our heads. God said, don't have any
idols, so we won't have any statues. They followed after righteousness.
Hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Why? Wherefore? Here's the reason. They sought
it not by faith. They kept trying to make themselves
righteous. but as it were by the works of the law, by their
obedience, for they stumbled at that stumbling stone. As it
is written, behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and a
rock of offense. Whosoever believeth on him shall
not be ashamed. And all this is according to
God's purpose. Righteous men and women, Folks
who think they are righteous, go to hell stumbling over the
stumbling stone because you refuse to trust Christ. They are vessels
of wrath fitted to destruction. Turn to 1 Peter 2, let me show
you. I'll wrap this up. Verse six. Wherefore also it
is contained in the scripture, behold, I lay in Zion a chief
cornerstone. elect precious. He that believeth
on him shall not be confounded, shall not make haste, shall not
be confused. Unto you therefore which believe,
he is precious. But unto them which be disobedient,
the stone which the builders disallowed, the same as made
the head of the corner, you haven't hindered him any, and the stone
of stumbling, and the rock of offense, watch this, even to
them which will stumble at the word, being disobedient, whereunto
also they were appointed. But ye, ye are chosen generation. a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a peculiar people that you should show forth the praises of him
with called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, which
in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God,
which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Would you have God's salvation?
Hear this word from God. Whosoever believeth on him shall
not be ashamed. Believe on him and have no more
shame before God. Believe on him and have no shame
at the day of judgment. Believe on Christ and have no
shame forever. If you refuse, If you stumble
over that stumbling stone, hell will be your portion forever.
And all the saints of God who now weep for you will shout hallelujah
and say, he's just, he's right. The judge of all the earth never
did wrong. He always does right. If you
go to hell, it's your fault. Oh, God intervene for you. God intervene for you and give
you life and faith in his dear son. Amen.