If you will, turn back in your
Bibles to the book of Romans chapter 11. Romans 11, we'll
pick up where we left off last week. In Romans chapter 11, the
Apostle Paul is continuing our thoughts along the lines of God's
amazing grace and the salvation of his people. And he is largely,
as you and I know now, in the 11th chapter, targeting his words
towards the Gentiles. He is closing his thoughts of
Romans 11 as he is seeking to secure an understanding in the
minds of the Gentile believers concerning what he has called
a mystery. This is verse 25 of Romans chapter
11. He says to the church at Rome,
which is a mixture of Jews and Gentiles, as is the case in the
Middle East, and especially the first century. He says, and so
Israel, I'm sorry, verse 25, for I would not brethren that
you would be ignorant of this mystery. Do you see that? He
says, I don't want you to be ignorant. Now I've talked to
you for 24 verses on the rationale behind God's choice. to save,
and the rationale behind God's reason for reprobating Israel
as a nation, and letting them go, and them falling in the fashion
that they did. I've explained to you how that
because of their fall, the door has opened for you Gentiles to
come in. What I want you to understand now is that you're dealing with
a mystery. And when we're dealing with a mystery, what is required
for us to be able to handle that mystery is humility. That's what
he's saying here. For I would not, brethren, that
you would remain ignorant of this mystery. Now, he has explained
it in part, but he's going to make a statement now that is
going to be the launching pad from which we take up the rest
of our reflection on this text. He says in verse 25, Lest you
should be wise in your own what? Conceit. Lest you should lean
on your own understanding, exceed the boundaries of biblical revelation,
draw conclusions based upon your sense of privilege or your Assumptive
right for being in the kingdom and therefore miss God's purpose
in terms of his final and eschatological objective with the whole of his
people both Jew and Gentile what he want us Gentiles to understand
is that God has a plan of salvation that requires humility on all
of our parts because none of us deserve to be in there and
None of us deserve to know the grace of God so that if your
theology develops and emerges and grows and shapes in you a
kind of privilege, a kind of right of passage or superiority,
you have failed to realize that you are part of a mystery. You
fail to understand that there are many things about your salvation
that you still do not know. You fail to understand that you
and I have a small window into the revelation of God's glory.
This is what he taught Job, remember? Job says, how small a part of
his ways do we know? And this is what the apostle
is doing as he is encouraging the Gentile church to be very
careful. He is speaking to them about the term mystery, mysterion. And do you know, saints, in the
Bible, there are a lot of mysteries? Do you know our fall into sin
in Adam is a mystery? How could a sinless man, how
could a righteous man or woman in a perfect scenario fall into
sin of such a tragedy that it ruins the human race? Ready? A mystery. A mystery. And to understand that mystery,
you have to humble yourself. And this is why a lot of people
don't get the fall. We are teaching, as you heard
earlier, Human depravity in the totality of its scope. Most people
don't understand that because they have not submitted to the
mystery The Bible talks about the mystery of sin or of iniquity. Do you guys remember that? This
is 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 7 where the Apostle Paul
says there's a snake always slithering around in the church And his
name is Satan And he's so crafty that he can actually sneak up
into the apostolic band and bring captive apostles as he did with
Judas Iscariot and made him a son of what? Perdition. That's a
mystery. How the mystery of iniquity works
even in the camp of the people of God. In order to comprehend
it, you and I have to be what? Humble. Because the disciples
found themselves one day asking the question, Lord, is it I? Do you remember that? See, what
our Lord was preparing them for is the difficult task that requires
humility when walking with the Lord through this world, because
any of us could fall and any of us could betray the Lord.
You got to stay humble, got to stay humble. The Gentiles are
not so secure in their walk with God as Paul will state here as
to not find themselves in the same situation as Israel. Here's
another mystery if you don't know. This is a great mystery
that I could pause and talk about at length. That you're saved.
That's a mystery. You get a right to tell people,
I don't know. I don't even know. I have no idea how such a worm
as I, such a rebel as I could have the Spirit, the impeccable,
holy, righteous, sovereign Spirit of God dwelling on the inside
of me. I don't know. I don't know how holy God, infinite,
omniscient God, ever-present God, the lofty God, the high
and the lofty God that encompasses eternity could dwell in my heart.
I don't know. It's just a mystery to me. And
I got to stay humble in order to even begin to understand what
the scriptures have to say about Christ in you, the hope of glory,
which Paul called in Colossians 1.27, a mystery. You're a mystery,
child of God. That's why people can't figure
you out. It's not that you're crazy. That's true. But that's
easily perceivable. It's that you're a mystery. You
and I are simultaneously what? Righteous and what? Sinful after
what? Same time. That's how you understand
my book. When you read my book, understand
the simultaneity of who I am. But it's a mystery, isn't it?
It's an absolute mystery. There's another mystery in the
Bible according to 1 Timothy 3.16, and that is the mystery
of godliness. God manifests in the flesh. It's an absolute mystery without
controversy. Great is the mystery of what?
God was manifest in the flesh. What are we talking about here?
The doctrine of what? The incarnation. Now we assume it because we are
so comfortable with the fact that Jesus is the God-man. But can you really wrap your
arms around an immutable God, assuming a human nature Coexisting
in one body for all eternity and remaining very god of very
god while at the same time being the best man that there could
ever be You better slow down When you talk to people about
the incarnation because it's a mystery Many churches have
erred into damnable heresy being too proud About this mystery
we call the hypostatic union You guys understand what I'm
saying? There are many, many mysteries. Jesus talked about
the mysteries of the kingdom of God, didn't he? He spoke in
parables and he said to the disciples, it is given to you to know the
mysteries of the kingdom, but those that are without, these
things are done in parables so that seeing they see not and
hearing they do not perceive. And so when we are talking about
Bible doctrine, ladies and gentlemen, and especially that doctrine
that raises us to the highest heights, salvific heights, heights
of salvation, where your eternity is really at measure here. You and I want to be humble about
that. We want to be humble about what we are dealing with in our
context, and that is the mystery of the Jews in relationship to
the Gentile salvation. Look again with me at our text
now. Let's begin to work through our points. I'm going to work
through them fairly quickly, briskly, but I'm going to land
on certain of them to press home the point. He says in verse 25
and 26, and then we'll look at this more fully. He says, I would
not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning this mystery, lest
you should be wise in your own conceit, that blindness in part
is happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come
in." Now I know you think you know that, but I don't think
you know that you don't know that as you ought to. verse 26
and so all Israel shall be saved as it is written there shall
come out of Zion the deliverer and shall turn away ungodliness
from Jacob for this is my covenant unto them when I shall take away
their sins and then he begins to press on some great realities
that we want to work through right now first point in our
consideration is the mystery of what you see because of what
you don't the mystery of what you see because of what you don't
see. Look at verse 28 and 29 of our
text. Here it is. As concerning the gospel, here's
what Paul is about to say, this is an aspect of the mystery that
has to be simply received, because he's reflecting on history, history
relevant to God's sovereign purpose and decree, and history relevant
to the people of Israel. As concerning the gospel, they,
that is Israel, are what? Enemies, now watch this, for
your sake. Stay humble. Remember, we talked
about this last week. God let you out of prison by
somebody else's calamity. And when you get out, are you
going to be proud and arrogant and assumptive over that person's
calamity that was the ground and opportunity for you to get
out? Are you going to recognize that there is a kind of correlation
between you and them that actually predicates your freedom for which
you should be thankful? Did I make some sense right there
or should I speak English? So in other words, when the stock
market falls and a lot of people lose a bunch of things on the
other side of the ledger, a lot of people profit. And that is
a mystery in life, when one person's calamity becomes another person's
blessing. And so that person who is now
walking in their blessing has to actually understand their
relationship, at least in a secondary way, to the persons whose calamity
opened that door for them. Often this is the case with parents
and children. Uh-oh, here we go. Where the
children enter into, naively, a massive resource of blessings
that were purchased at the blood, sweat, and tears of their parents.
and at many, many costly aspects of their lives and choices. And
the children are enjoying them rising up only to be pompous
and arrogant and contentious with their parents, not knowing
that it was their parents' struggle that opened the door for the
blessing. Are you guys hearing what I'm saying? So it is with
this mystery of the fall of Israel the entrance of the Gentiles
into the kingdom the Apostle says concerning the gospel they
are enemies of God for your sake whoa God in his sovereign mercy
did something that is inscrutable for you and me he took a whole
nation that he had brought into covenant and allowed them to
become his enemies and he there's for you and me he says but as
touching the election and we believe in election They are
beloved for the Father's sake. Do you guys see that? Ladies
and gentlemen, that's a mystery that we have to walk slowly and
carefully if we're going to comprehend this statement. If Paul is giving
them insight, but he wants them to slow down, slow down. So let's
deal with our three sub points under this particular heading.
The mystery of what you see because of what you don't. And I need
to tag that one more time by way of application. I think this
is true in everything that goes on in our life. Are you guys
hearing what I'm saying? I think there are always situations
wherein we see certain things and we presume because of what
we see that we see it all, when in fact we don't. And we start
drawing conclusions based on what we see, failing to understand
that we don't see it all. And this is what the Bible tells
us not to judge anything before the time. that you are to be
very careful with your judgment because unless God let you into
the White House of the kingdom where you can sit at his elbow
and he spread out his computer screen and show you everything
that's going on so that you see things like God sees them, you
and I need to reserve judgment until God reveals it to us what's
going on. Am I making sense? three set
points in it. See, this will keep you, this
will keep you right in relationships because our relationships get
all jacked up when you think you know everything and then
you start talking and you started talking too soon and you offended
because you didn't know what you thought you knew because
you didn't know what you didn't know that you thought you knew.
Yeah, work with that. School's back in now, school's
back in, school's back in and now you can work with that one.
Say, what kind of syllogism is that? What kind of rhetorical
device is that? Subpoint one, they are blind
and hostile and in opposition to God because God has ordained
it. Humbling. Israel is blind and
hostile to the kingdom of God at this point because God has
ordained it. Did he ordain it? Acts chapter 28. Verse 23 through
29, which is a really good, uh, reflection for us at the present,
particularly because this is where we're going in our Friday
study in the book of Acts. And here's the apostle who is
actually stating these things, who's also experiencing it. If
you recall in Acts chapter 28, where we're closing the epistle
or the letter of the book of Acts, Paul is in his own rented
home now and, and people are coming to him and he's explaining
the kingdom of God to whoever comes. Jews and Gentiles are
coming. Now watch this. It says in verse
23 of Romans of Acts 28 these words he says Now and when they
had appointed him a day there came many to him in his lodging
To whom he expounded and testified what the kingdom of God? Persuading
them concerning Jesus both out of the law of Moses and out of
the prophets From morning to evening, isn't that amazing?
See here again is your paradoxical nature of the kingdom Paul is
a prisoner of Rome in chains in his own house And he get to
preach from morning to night And watch this. He don't even
have to go out and do evangelism. They come into him It not a good
job And he knows he's gonna die for the gospel, but as he is
doing this look at verse 24 In following it tells us these words
And some believed the things which were spoken, and some what?
Isn't that the way it go? Isn't that the way this thing
go? Some believe, some don't. And when they agreed not among
themselves, they departed, that is the Jews, after that Paul
had spoken one word. Here it is. Well spake the Holy
Ghost by Isaiah the prophet unto our fathers saying go unto this
people and say hearing you shall hear and shall not understand
and seeing you shall see and not perceive for the heart of
this people is wax gross and their ears are dull of hearing
and their eyes have they closed lest they should see with their
eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts
and I should convert them and I should heal them. Do you guys
see that? Be it known therefore unto you,
that is the Jews, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles,
watch this, and they will hear it. Do you guys see it? The apostle
has just stated to them the mystery. You know what he's told them?
What God had told Isaiah 700 years earlier. Go to Israel and
tell them they will not see. Tell them they will not hear.
And guess who else said it? Jeremiah said it. God said to
Jeremiah, go tell them and they will not hear you. Ezekiel, go
talk to this rebellious people who have an impudent forehead
and they will not hear you. Ladies and gentlemen, Israel
was under a stark blindness since the days of Isaiah and it even
manifested itself in the times of the apostles and it's still
that way today. This ought to humble all of us.
Because what we're dealing with is what we call a theological
paradigm of a radically Christocentric nature. And what I mean by that
is this. If you look at Israel's behavior
towards the gospel, and their rebellion and hostility and anger,
what you can say is, there go I, but by the grace of God. Because Israel is a model of
you and me. Before the gospel came in power and revealed its
glory to us. We are no different than national
Israel by nature. Is that true? Right, so we have
no boasting over them as if the reason I'm saved is because God
did something to someone such as myself that was different
than Israel. It's only because of what? Grace. only because
of grace. So we have in our first point,
they are blind and hostile because it was ordained, it was ordained
by God that they should be so. And that the door of the Gentiles
would be open, or the entrance of the Gentiles should be opened
by it. I want you to see this in Malachi. Malachi chapter 1,
verse 1. Malachi's gospel will affirm
this as well. This is the last book of your
Old Testament. You know how many testaments
you have in your Bible? Come on now. Two. Old and new, right? And so the old is how many books? How many books in the old? And
how many in the new? There we go. That's people in
theology class right there. 39 old, 27 new. Now you know,
y'all work a little bit, public school. What do the two add up
to? That's right. So here's what
Malachi says in the word Malachi is the term for the messenger
of the Lord. Malachi Malach is the term messenger and the stem
there I is always a personal possessive pronoun. My messenger,
my servant. And so it says in Malachi chapter
1 verse 1 through 3 with regards to our idea, Malachi verses 1
through 3 underscores what Israel is like in God's eyes. It says
in verse 1, the burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by
Malachi, I have loved you, saith the Lord. Oh Lord, wouldn't we
want to hear that from God Himself? Now watch this, yet you say,
where in have you loved us? Aren't we in trouble when we
talk like that? Here it is. This is God talking back. Was
not Esau Jacob's brother, you know what he said? Now I loved
you and your brother Esau I left alone. Isn't this Paul's argument
in Romans 9? What is he about to assert doctrinally?
Election. Mark what he says now. Was not
Esau Jacob's brother, said the Lord, yet I loved who? In other words, here's what he
was saying. My love for you and my love not for Esau is not based
upon a distinction between you two because y'all brothers. You
know what that means? Y'all both comes from the same
corrupt lump. And here I love you and I'll
let Esau perish under the wrath of God. So now we're stuck with
a mystery, aren't we? You know what that is? The fact
that God would love us. That's another mystery, isn't
it? We have no ability within ourselves to find the answer
or reason for which God would love us. And so it is when God
talks about loving Israel. Mark this. He says in verse 3,
And I hated Esau, and I laid his mountains and his heritage
waste for the dragons of the wilderness. Do you see it? God
is appealing to Israel on the basis of his love for them, his
covenant love. We call this covenant love, hesed
love in the Hebrew, and it speaks to not God's emotional disposition
towards Israel, but his covenant purposes of bringing them out
of Egypt and bringing them into the promised land and making
them the head and not the tail so that they can rule for God
and with God. But all that was done, not directly
for Israel, but because of the Father's sake. Beloved for the
who's sake. Father's sake now mark what it
goes on else to say look with me at verse 11 through 15 Because
what God is doing in Malachi the last prophet that would speak
for the next 450 years God is arguing for why he has a right
to punish his rebel people verse 11. Are you there? I Here is
the distinction that he's about to make between Israel and the
Gentiles. For he has pleaded with Israel
in the first 10 verses, and Israel has haughtily rejected God's
overtures. And so God says, for from the
rising of the sun, even to the going down thereof, my name shall
be great among the Gentiles. Do you see? That's God's sovereign
decree. that his name would be great
among the Gentiles. Is it great? It's absolutely
great. And that's a consequence of God's
determination to save people outside of the Abrahamic stock,
such as you and me. God decreed our salvation. You
got that? He decreed our salvation. Now
listen to what he goes on to say. Their name shall my name
shall be great among the gentiles and in every place incense shall
be offered unto my name And a pure offering for my name shall be
great among the heath. That's another term for gentiles
Saith the lord of hosts. Do you see it? This is god decreeing
his blessings on us verse 12, but you have profaned it that
is israel In that you say the table of the lord is what polluted
and the fruit thereof Even his meat is contemptible. Can you
see that? He's saying about Israel that
Israel has rejected all of God's providences, his blessings, his
resources, all of God's supplies of grace to make them a people,
and then also to make them a holy nation. Because the contention
now is around the table. The same table we partake of
once a month. Can you imagine yourself coming
to the table where we partake of the bread and the cup and
in your heart you go, is this enough to get me saved? Did God
do enough to provide for me? I don't see anything in the blood.
I don't see anything in the bread by which I should find that God
loves me. Wouldn't that be a tragedy if
you were thinking that way? For the bread and the cup, are
the epitome of God's expression of love for us in Christ, is
it not? If we talk about can God furnish
a table in the wilderness, if Christ is not enough, nothing
is. And yet when God blinds a man
or a woman and they pass through religion, not into religion,
through it, their hearts are so hard, the gospel means nothing
to them anymore. And that's where we are in our
text. Israel rejected the gospel. They called it what? Contemptible.
And by the way, as an aside, be very careful when you come
to the table. Don't call it contemptible. Don't
come presumptuously. Don't come arrogantly. The table
is a precious gift from God that symbolizes what Christ did to
save us. Are you guys hearing? Because
what we're dealing with is how God is reprobating Israel and
making a way for the Gentiles. Look at verse 13. And I'll finally
close here and then we'll move to our third sub point. You said
also, behold, what a weariness it is. You have snuffed at it,
said the Lord of hosts, and you brought that which was torn and
lame and sick. Thus, you brought an offering.
Should I accept this at your hand, said the Lord? Do you see
how the Lord is appealing to Israel's funky attitude about
church? Funky attitude about serving
God? Now, we can make the application. When God calls you and I to do
something, if we don't first do it with a willing heart and
rooted in faith based on love, because all biblical faith works
by what? If we're just doing it half-heartedly,
arguing and complaining along the way, it's the same as bringing
God a diseased sacrifice. When God says, I will never accept
a diseased sacrifice. Are you guys hearing what I'm
saying? So the application is very relevant. This is why paul
says to us be careful gentiles be careful Be careful church
of the new testament be careful. Be careful that you don't fall
into the same Condemnation as the jews be careful that the
things of god don't become so common to you That you despise
them and call them contemptible and as a pastor I can tell you
it happens all the time I can tell you that now you have to
fight Fight, fight to love God. You have to fight to worship
God in spirit and in truth. It's easy to complain against
God and his providence and his resources. Am I making some sense?
It's easy to do, easy to do. So we have this text given to
us in the last book of the Bible in the Old Testament, and God's
about to go silent on them. for 500 years. Can you imagine
watching a movie or watching a play? And in that play, you
have two people arguing, the husband and the wife. And the
husband is laying out indictments against her that are so obvious
and so clear. And then the screen closes. That's
the book of Malachi. Malachi has indicted Israel as
a whole nation for disobeying God rebelling against God Violating
his laws rejecting his overtures rejecting his blessings and the
curtain closes on Israel so for 400 years before Christ all Israel
knows is that God has Abandoned them you got that Sometimes the
only thing that really makes sense in an argument is silence
Y'all know what I'm talking about Subpoint three, this is rich.
Subpoint three. So the mystery of what you see
because of what you don't has the blind and hostile opposition
of the Israelite people as an ordained mechanism by which the
door is open for the Gentiles to enter in. Thus, you and I
are only in because at present, God is in a variant relationship
with the nation of Israel as a whole. And this has been the
case now for thousands of years, but The promise according to
verse 29 is that there is an election in Israel for the Father's
sake. Isn't that what it says? I want
you to see how this works in Isaiah chapter 65. Fascinating
book. And Isaiah 65 is the chapter
from which we get the title of our message. What is the title
of our message? There is a blessing in it. I want you to work with me now
on that title because this title is going to have all kinds of
application as we work it through. And I want you to learn this
statement. There's a blessing in it. There's a blessing in
it. If God allows me to see past
what I don't see, I will discover there's a blessing in it. If
God gives me the grace to walk by faith and not by sight, I'll
be able to see That there's a what in it? A blessing in it. Help
me learn, Lord, how to see past what I see to what I don't see
so that I can say, hold up, there's a blessing in it. Help me to
be able to say like God says, it doesn't appear like there's
a blessing in it, but there's a blessing in it. It doesn't
look like a blessing is in it. In fact, externally, outwardly,
with all empirical evidences, it looks like a curse. It looks
like it needs to be trodden under. It looks like it needs to be
thrown away. Show enough, get rid of that. But if I can see
past what appears to be an obvious lump of nothing but waste, then
I might be able to say, hold on, there's a blessing in it. Is that true? By the way, that's
the only way that you are saved. You got that? This is what I
meant by being paradigmatic and crystal centric. The only person
that saw you as being salvage, salvable is God. Because you
and I are like this lump and clump of grapes that's about
to be trodden underfoot. And yet God says, wait a minute,
there's a blessing in it. You got that? Stay with me now.
Let's go to work. And this is what I'm saying.
Let us lay our hearts low and receive the wisdom of God relevant
to this matter of the final conclusion of his redemptive work. Verse
one of Isaiah 65. I am sought of them that did
not ask for me. Wow. Who is he talking about? The Gentiles, you and me. This is Romans chapter 10 verse
30 where Paul is using Isaiah 65 as his reference text where
he says the Gentiles now are seeking God. Why are we seeking
God? Because God sought us. Because
God sought us. That's the theological doctrine
underpinning the doctrine of total depravity and the next
one coming, unconditional election. The only reason I'm calling on
God is because God called on me. The only reason I'm coming
to God is because he came to me in the power of the gospel
The only reason I'm seeking him is because I was his sheep and
he hunted me down And he picked me up when I was lost and he
put me on his shoulders and he brought me back to the kingdom
Can I get a witness? All right I was sought of them
That acts not for me and I was found of them that sought me
not now watch this and I said behold me behold me unto a nation that is not called
by my name." God revealed himself to us who were not called by
his name. You know what he's doing right
here? He's actually showing Israel, who was Jehovah's wife, another
woman is interested in me. I'm going to leave that alone.
Verse two, verse two. And I spread out my hands all
the day unto a rebellious people, which walks in their own way,
in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts. A people
that provoke me to anger continually to my face, that sacrifices in
gardens and burns incense upon altars of bricks, which remain
among the graves, that is, they're spiritually dead. and lodged
in the monuments which eat swine's flesh and the broth of abominable
things is in their what? Vessel. You know what he's saying?
They are dead spiritually and they are unclean spiritually
and they are not showing themselves to be the people of God. God
is indicting them, isn't he? He's demonstrating how pompous
and how affronting Israel is in its hostility towards God.
You know, you get to a point when you're arguing with somebody
especially a loved one, where you just do it without any restraint. Israel is an unrestrained rebel
covenant person. They are in an unrestrained state
of rebellion against God. And yet the text is going to
show us something here that is absolutely fascinating. Saints,
wouldn't you let that person go that's acting that crazy with
you? You can just go. Wouldn't you say that? You can
just go. Mm-mm. Mm-mm. We ain't even having that.
See you later. Hit the road, Jack, and don't
come back no more. Right? But isn't God merciful
even to his rebellious people? But I want you to see how this
text works. Look with me at verse 7. Look at verse 7 and notice
what God says further in verse 7. Are we there? He says, Your
iniquities, that is Israel, and the iniquity of your fathers
together. You know what he's doing? He's
lumping the whole history of Israel since the days that Moses
brought them out of Egypt into the wilderness. Because all the
way through they opposed God, didn't they? This is how you
and I know that we're saved only by what? Grace. Because aren't
we like them in a lot of ways? It's a wonder they even made
it into the promised land. Now God destroyed a whole bunch
of them, remember we learned that, and only brought in the
babies, right? Because they were a model of
true believers, right? Except you humble yourself like
this little child, you will not enter into the kingdom. And yet
what God is doing by His historical reflection is showing us how
patient He is with His covenant people, even in their rebellion
against Him. So he says in verse 7, he says,
that your iniquities and the iniquities of your fathers together,
saith the Lord, which have burned incense upon the mountains and
blasphemed me upon the hills. Now, what is he talking about?
Open public rank idolatry, isn't he? In other words, Israel, like
a harlot woman, wasn't sneaking to go have intimacy with another
man. She produced harlot houses all
throughout the land, on the mountains, in the streets, on the side roads,
so Jehovah could see her entering into spiritual conjugation with
other lovers. Do y'all see the picture? Do
y'all see the picture? This was the, what we call, spiritual
harlotry of Israel at that time. And does God, is God concerned
about it? Does He call her on it? He's
calling her on it right now. He says, you blasphemed me upon
the hills. That is openly. See, you see
how radically hostile the relationship is right now? And the reason
why the prophet has to say what he says is because the prophet
is always God's spokesman. The prophet is always God's mouthpiece. The prophet has to let you know
what God is thinking because you won't think what God is thinking
willingly without the prophet telling you. This is true. The
reason we come to church is to hear the word of God. Is that
true? And we come to hear it because we won't necessarily
listen to it for ourselves. Isn't that true? When's the last
time you read Isaiah chapter 65? See what I'm saying? Or Malachi chapter 1? When was
the last time you read Isaiah, Romans chapter three, as we heard
it this morning? When was the last time you allowed
your soul to be filtered through voluntarily in your own study
by that word of God that would bring a sense of real assessment
about your behavior? You don't do it. You just take
the chance of it happening in church because you know we have
an answer for our sins. You and I should be reading our
Bible so that we can be aware that we only stand by grace.
And it will cause us to have right relationships with people
because we won't become so pompous because in reality we are more
like rebel Israel than we are willing to admit. More like them
than we are willing to admit. He says in the latter part, therefore
will I measure their former work into their bosom. Do you guys
see that last line? This here is God's decree to judge Israel,
but he's going to judge them, watch this, this is going to
lead me to my point, and measure. Isn't God good to only discipline
us so far and not completely destroy us. When God judges and
measure, it's because He has a purpose for our life. So He
might really chastise you. It might really, really hurt.
It might send you places and cause you to experience things
that you didn't think you necessarily needed. But I'm here to tell
you, whatever God brings in your life, you need. Lord, I don't
need that. Yes, you do. Lord, I don't need to be struggling
with three months of wondering whether I'm going to get that
job. Yes, you do. Lord, I don't need to be struggling whether
I'm going to get this place or not. Yes, you do. Lord, you ought
to come through for me. You know I'm your man. You know
I'm your girl. I know, said the Lord. That's
why I'm holding up this blessing, so your heart can get right.
See, because I've told us this before, we will always estimate
ourselves higher at value than we really are. Like if our life
was a house to sell, oh, I'm worth 1.5, easy. Easy. And I'm not even dressed up.
This is just raw. When I'm dressed up, 192, 21,
25. That's how I see it. I'm only really worth about 500. But that's the estimation we
put on it because we are wrong in our estimation of ourselves.
only God will truly give us the proper estimation. And then when
God acts on the estimation, we get surprised. When you see the
sign on the house saying the house is selling for 500,000
and not 1.8 and 1.9. Why are you selling? Because
that's what it's worth. I want you to see something now
as we are laying the foundation on this. Remember, our thoughts
are what appears to be the case is so, but it's also not so because
there are things in this case that you just don't see. On the
outside of this particular contemplation, we are considering God disciplining
his children, right? And I've used the analogy years
ago. I'm going to use it again here to help you as another example
before we launch further and advance our thoughts. If you
walk by your neighbor's house and you see in the window the
father of the household, vigorously beating on his son with a belt. And you might even be bold enough
to stand there and listen to see how well a job he's doing. And when you hear that the son
is wailing and hollering and screaming, y'all know how we
used to do it when we was growing up, Daddy, I won't do it again. I promise I won't. Stop, Daddy. I won't do it again. I won't.
Ah! Ah! You know how we used to do
and daddy's still going, you know daddy's still going cuz
he on a clock He's still going he ain't sweating at all. He
got a cup of water He drinks a cup of water cuz he getting
at you cuz he ain't up. He he knows the measure Does
he know the measure? Our Heavenly Father knows the
measure Does he know the measure? All whom the Lord loves, he what?
Yeah, he gonna do what he gotta do. He gonna do what he got.
Because once he stops, he knows that there is going to be an
effectual healing. An effectual healing that's gonna change your mind.
When you get up off that floor, you're gonna agree with the confession
you made. I ain't doing it again. I'm not doing it again. But it
was only after he disciplined you in that wise measure that
was necessary to drive evil away from you. Am I making sense? And that's where we are in our
text. Which brings me to a phenomenal verse of scripture that's just
absolutely godlike. So as he says, this woman is
committing whoredoms and adultery against me with all these other
gods on the hills of Jerusalem, in my house. Now, you know, we'd
be gone, might even disappear. Lord have mercy. In my house,
you might disappear. Where's she at? I don't know. The Lord is so gracious to us. Verse 8. Thus said Yahweh, Jehovah,
Yeshua, as the new wine is found in the cluster. And one said,
do not destroy it, because the cluster ostensibly now has broken
from the vine. It has fallen on the ground.
Because it's so rich with weight. But it has no purpose or no design. Because it's detached from the
vine. The metaphor is clear. I am the
true vine. You are the what? You are the
what? What are you? But if you are cut off from the
true vine, then you are what? Perishing. There is no life there,
apparently. See the analogy? Y'all with me
so far? You see the analogy? So, this
cluster of grapes is on the ground. And husbandmen and vineyard dressers
know if I leave it alone, it's just gonna wither, turn into
raisins, prunes, whatever, and perish. And many would scrape
away the old grapes and trod them underfoot, as Christ said.
And that would be right to do if you're clearing out the rubbish.
But some voice says, do not destroy it. Do you see it? Do not destroy
it. Because there's a blessing in
it. Now the vine dressers did not see the blessing. The husbandmen
did not see the blessing. Everyone that observed that cluster
of grapes missed the blessing. But because all of those were
just like you and I on the outside. We missed the blessing because
we don't understand the mystery. We don't understand that inside
that external cluster of a detached group of grapes that are rotting
outwardly, there's something on the inside that is of value
to the owner who has decreed that it do not become destroyed. Are y'all with me? So who owns
the cluster? God does. Who owns the vineyard? God does. Who has a right to
determine the destiny of the vineyard? Who has a right to
determine the destiny of the cluster? Who sees the cluster
more accurately than anybody does? So no one has a right to
determine the destiny of the cluster but God. And aren't you
thankful? that God determined in the cluster
of your raggedy toe up life, detached from the vine, dropped
on the ground, left to wither. So when folks look at you outwardly,
they know, they don't assume, they know you are a mess. They
know you are a mess. They know you're headed to destruction.
They know you are useless. We are useless in ourselves.
This is what's going on with Israel because Israel presently
looks what useless they've been cut off haven't they and So now
I stand in the shoes of the Apostle Paul and I say this it's only
God's mercy That you and I are made to be employable in God's
kingdom It's only God's mercy and Paul would say in Romans
chapter 11 the same thing I know that God hasn't cast them all
off because I'm an Israelite and And God has had mercy on
me. And you know Paul was a mess. Was he a mess? Paul was an absolute
mess. He was a cluster of grapes laying
on the ground, putrid and stinking, he was so bad. Because his opposition
to the gospel was greater than most, wasn't it? That means he
appeared to be without any design. In fact, he was probably poisonous. And yet God saw something inside
of that cluster. Wait a minute, there is a blessing
in it. Go back to our text now. I want
to show you something there. And in this verse really require,
you know what? I didn't finish that. Let me
finish this verse because it's very important to see how God
actually preserves this cluster. Thus said the Lord, as the new
wine is found in the cluster, one said, do not destroy it for
a blessing is in it. Now he's going to explain it.
Here it is. So will I do for my what sake? that I may not destroy them.
What? Oh, there it is. There it is. Do you see it? So
now he's getting ready to give a rhetorical response to this
resolve that I want you to see, because this will distinguish
true Israel from false Israel, much like it will distinguish
the true Christian from the false Christian. Watch it now. And
the key word in these next few verses is the word servant. So Watch it. Thus saith the Lord. Back at verse eight. Thus saith
the Lord. As the new wine is found in the
cluster, and one saith, do not destroy it, for a blessing is
in it, so will I do, for whose sake? My servants' sake, that
I will not destroy them all. I will bring forth a what out
of Jacob? A seed. And out of Judah, an
inheritor of my mountains, and my elect shall what? Inherit
it, and my servants shall what? Absolutely phenomenal. Look at verse 12. Therefore,
will I number you to the sword? What? See, we're back to God
judging them, right? But how is he going to judge
them? In measure. That's what he means by number
them. I will number you to the sword and you shall bow down
to the slaughter because when I called, you did not answer. When I spake, you did not hear,
but did evil before my eyes, and did choose that wherein I
did not what? So you see how God is speaking
to both persons at the same time? He's speaking in discipline and
judgment to the rebels, but in promise and blessings to his
servants. Look at the next verse then,
verse 13. Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, my servants
shall what? But you shall be what? Behold,
my servants shall what? but you shall be what? Behold,
my servant shall what? Rejoice, but you shall be what? Behold, my servant shall sing
for joy of heart, but you shall what? Cry of sorrow of heart
and shall howl for vexation of spirit and you shall leave your
name for a curse unto my chosen for the Lord God shall slay thee
and call his servants by another name. Daddy don't play. Daddy don't
play, do he? Are you guys hearing? Do you
see the distinction that he's making between the elect and
non-elect? How he's making a clear discrimination between the rebel,
superficial, hostile religious element in Israel and those who
trusted the Lord even though they were in Israel? Because
remember, without what? It's impossible to please God.
Without what? It's impossible to please God.
And faith is the substance of what? Things hoped for, the evidence
of things what? So everyone in Israel that was
looking to Christ in the old testament is the blessing in
it everyone that was looking to christ in the old testament
is the blessing in it i didn't say blessing of it i said blessing
in it because there was no blessing of it because god does not bless
rebellion but he does bless his elect and his elect are often
found in the cluster of rebels am i making some sense they are
elect are beloved for the father's sake Who am I talking about? Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Rachel,
Rebecca, Hannah, Rahab, Naomi, Ruth, David, Solomon. Yes, Solomon. Samson. Yes, Samson. The whole of the
list of Hebrews 11. Those who walk by faith, lived
in faith, and died in faith, they are the blessing in it. And those who would be their
progenitors are their seed going down the line. Are y'all hearing
what I'm saying? God knows who his own are. And when you and
I don't see it the way God sees it, God still sees it the way
he sees it. And he purposes it that way.
And it's important for you and I to get this lesson of how God
can exercise both what Paul said in Romans 11, the severity of
God and the goodness of God. Are we seeing that right now?
Both the severity of God and the goodness of God. And you'll
be deceived by the severity. Let's go back to our text now
and work through our other points and shut it down. You'll be deceived
by the severity if you're not careful. Romans chapter 9. Notice our 11, verse 26 now,
26 through 29. Notice what he says, as he tells
us, and so all Israel shall be saved. In fact, start back at
the latter part of verse 25. He says that you should not be
wise in your own conceit, that blindness in part is happened
to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles being. You see
that? So I told you when we read that earlier, that you may or
may not understand it. In large part, you won't understand
it unless you are doing critical analysis of the text. So let
me help you understand what it's not saying. It's not saying that
God has only kind of blinded Israel in a partial way, like,
you know, what we call being able to see but blurry. That's
not what he's saying. He's not saying I'm technically
blind, but I can still drive. To me, that's radically oxymoronic,
right? But you know, we have people
who can see but are called technically blind. partial blindness is true
for us as human beings. That's not what the text is saying.
The text is not saying that there are some of Israel that kind
of don't get it and some who kind of do get it, but all are
kind of vague. What he is saying is, listen
to this now, he has blinded the whole of the nation in total
with the exception of the elect. that there is always an election
in Israel who will hear the gospel. He's not saying that he has blinded
them all until some time down the line where all will see. He's not saying that. He's saying
that understand that at the present time the vast majority of the
nation is not blinded but hardened. That's our literal Greek term.
Hardened in heart. Now you know when your heart
is hard, you don't care. And biblically that's called
blindness. Because for God, He wants you and I to understand
that when He tells us something, we are to be sensitive to it.
But if my heart is hard, I might as well be blind, because I don't
care. You know what that means? Israel
knows a lot about the Messiah, but because their hearts are
hardened, they don't what? Isn't it amazing? how that there'll
be a situation in your life where your heart is hardened against
it. But you understand it propositionally as clear as anybody. This is
the case for a lot of people in our nation who have heard
the gospel, but they have educated themselves out of salvation.
They have promoted themselves with degrees out of reason and
rationale for believing in the true and the living God. They
can actually regurgitate Bible doctrine better than you can,
but their hearts are hardened. because they are blinded to what
they don't see. See, remember, the just shall
live by what? Right. So if we are living by
faith, we are believing in things we don't what? That's not the
case with the rationalist, or the atheist, or the agnostic,
or the intellectual, or the narcissist, or the person that's presuming
upon their intelligence. They are assuming that they see
everything. And because of what they see,
they don't like it. And so they reject God. What
they don't know, as I said earlier, is what they don't know. Until
God reveals His glory to us, we fail to know that we don't
know. Is that true? we fail to know
that we don't know. And this is presently what's
happening with national Israel. So mark it, they are blinded
in part, not partially blind. They are blinded in part, not
partially blind. They are blind as a nation in
large part so that the church of Jesus Christ made up of Jews
and Gentiles can occupy the role of witnessing to the glory of
Christ in the times of the Gentiles, the rule of the Gentiles as Christ
gave it to us in Luke 21, 24. Point number two the confidence
of a ladder blessing I'll make this quick and I and I just thank
the Apostle Paul for the attitude that he has as he negotiates
these two realities as He knows his own nation is a group of
hostile Christ hating people. He still has hope for them. Do
you know that? Look at verse 23 verse 24 23 and 24 just notice
the language there in chapter 11 verse 23. Are we there? I And he says, and they, that is
Israel, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be what? Grafted
in, for God is able to graft them in again. He gives an if
or hypothetical, which is rooted in a whole, based upon the ability
of God to do it. He says, if they do not continue
in unbelief, God will graft them in. Do you believe that? I do
too. If God removes unbelief, Faith is there and they come
in, don't they? I just want you to mark how Paul
is holding out hope for his rebel people like you should do for
people you know and love who are rebels too. Are y'all hearing
what I'm saying? like you and I should do for
people you know who are rebels to the gospel as well, when in
all outward circumstances it does not appear like we should
even be holding out hope. Look at verse 24. He says, for
if you were cut out of the olive tree, which is wild by nature,
and were grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree,
how much more shall these which be the natural branches be grafted
into their own what? Now he's pushing the argument,
isn't he? He's pushing it on the basis of ontology, right?
He's saying you and I were unnatural and God got us in. How much more
so shall the natural folks get in? His argument is slightly
advanced. But it is advanced. What do you
mean, pastor? We mean that there is no advantage
in the flesh. There's no advantage in the sense
that he was a blood descendant of Abraham. But here is the advantage
that they were under Torah and they were under covenant and
they were under the discipline of the word of God. And so they
have in their heritage and lineage what Gentiles don't have. And
because they are blood descendants of Abraham, God has promised
Abraham a seed. But what's going to require them
coming into the kingdom like we come in is the same thing
that it took to get us in. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
The same exact thing. This is what we want to exercise
our senses on now as we deal with our sub points under the
confidence of a ladder blessing. Three sub points the nature of
God's elect After what? All right, so just think that
through the nature of God's elect after judgment What is that? You remember what Job said in
Job chapter 14 verse 7 through 9? Let's consider that briefly
the nature of God's elect after judgment, you know when God goes
to work on us in chastising us He'll cut us down so low That
it'll look like there's absolutely no hope Is that right? Watch
this. Joel says, for there is hope
of a what? If it be what? See the paradigm? Are we trees? Are all of God's
elect trees? Did we have to be cut down? Were
we cut down in Adam? Did God necessarily cut us down
in Adam? Did he also cut us down in Christ? He had to cut us down
in Christ. But what is the hope of being
cut down? That it will sprout again. and that the tender branches
thereof will not cease. Do you see it? Cut it way down. Cut it way down. Cause everybody
to go. But understand that there's a
root in them called the electing love of God in Christ that sustains
their eternal destiny. So at the right time, it flourishes. That's the only reason you're
saved. Are you ready? Christ in you, the hope of glory. Am I making some sense? Christ
in you, the hope of glory. Pastor, why is it that I came
to life? Why is it that I began to believe the gospel? Why is
it that I began to flourish spiritually and love God and pursue God?
Because God had chose you in Christ before the world began.
He had placed you in his son before the world began. So that
even though your tree was cut down in Adam, he had placed you
in the last Adam. so that when he died, you died
with him. But thank God when he rose again,
you rose again in him as well. I'm the resurrection and the
life. He that believeth on me will never die. That's what Christ
is saying and that's what Job is saying in our text. And so
what we see with national Israel is this horrible, horrible, horrible
judgment. Proverbs 24, 16 is another promise
that you can take hold on personally and then by way of application
of our text. What am I doing? I'm pressing home the argument
from Paul's standpoint that there is always this possibility of
God's people among the Jewish cluster who will be brought in
too in the final eschaton. For a just man falleth, how many
times? And yet what? Rises up again. Is that the case for God's people?
there is the argument that Paul is making for his Jewish brethren
as we will see here and then look with me at our second sub
point under point number two the character of prophecy concerning
the Israel of God Jeremiah 37 verses 1 through 10 I'll just
touch on it briefly you guys know Jeremiah chapter 37 don't
you historically it's that point in the prophecy of Jeremiah concerning
Israel and I'm sorry, it's Ezekiel 37. Concerning Israel, because
I'm there now, Israel and their rebellion against God and God's...
No, it is, Jeremiah. It's God's judgment on Israel
and their spiritual condition. And when we come to this text,
we are always amazed at what this text is teaching by implication,
right? That's not it. Ezekiel. Sorry, Jeremiah. We got to go
to Ezekiel. Yes, it is. Ezekiel 37. The hand
of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the Spirit
of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley, which
was full of bones. He caused me to pass by them
round about, and behold, there were many in the open valley,
and lo, they were very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man,
can these bones what? And I answered, O Lord God, you
know. And he said unto me, prophesy
unto these bones and say unto them, O dry bones, hear the word
of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto
these bones. Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you and
you shall what? And I will lay sin upon you and
bring up flesh upon you and cover you with skin and put breath
in you and you shall what? and you shall know that I am
the Lord God so I prophesied as I was commanded and as I prophesied
there was a noise and behold a shaking and the bones came
together to bone to his bone and when I beheld low sinew and
flesh came upon them and the skin covered them but there was
no what breath in them then said he unto me prophesy unto the
wind prophesy son of man and say to the wind thus saith the
Lord God come from the four winds oh breath and breathe upon these
slain that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded
me and the breath came into them and they lived and stood upon
their feet an exceeding great army. What has taken place here? A resurrection. Isn't that what
Paul said back in Romans chapter 11? If the casting away of Israel
be the riches of the Gentile, what will be the receiving of
them again but life from the dead? Now stay with me, because
I'm the Apostle Paul now. And I love my Jewish brethren.
And I know that they have no possibility in themselves to
save themselves. But I have read Ezekiel 37 as
a Jewish man. And I understand the Tanakh,
and I understand the promises of God. And I just stated to
you that they are enemies of the gospel for your sake, but
they are beloved for the what sake? Father's sake. So do I
not have an inclination to read into this text a promise of a
latter blessing for God's elect people among the Jews? Do I not? Absolutely. What does that mean? That means in the mystery of
the gospel, as God is bringing to pass the salvation of Gentiles
from every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue, He's also going to
bring to pass a cluster from Israel. And He might do that
as the last act before he brings judgment on this world. Are you
guys hearing what I'm saying? It does not mean that Israel
as a nation is going to return. I don't believe that for five
minutes. But I do believe that God has
the right to, and He may very well do it, to show us the paradigm
of the gospel. That one nation that was His,
who had publicly been destroyed and annihilated and cast to the
winds because of their rebellion, might experience a small resurrection
at the end, where men and women can see the grace of God working
in the lives of people that we just threw away. We threw them
away. We threw them away. we threw them away and yet he
may raise up a cluster that will believe the gospel and trust
Christ and preach the gospel to the nations in such a way
that we will know ah god has revisited a handful of his people
called the elect and we getting ready to get out of here now
we getting ready to get out of here now that is paul's potential
argument in the text now go back to our text so we can work this
through and close So he's the confidence of the latter blessing
for Paul is the nature of God's elect the character of prophecy
and the hope of the gospel Romans chapter 14 verse 4 Romans 14
for in Romans chapter 14 verse 4 Here's what Paul says about
judging your brother and I'm gonna make an application here.
Are you there? Who are you to judge another
man's what? Are the Gentiles God's servant?
Yes are the Jews God's servant Yes, all are God's servants,
aren't they? Who are you to judge another
man's servants? To his own master he stands or what? Yea, he shall
be holding up, for God is able to make him to what? Verse 11,
for as it is written, I want you to get this now, here it
is, for as it is written, as I live, saith the Lord, every
knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall
give an account to him of ourselves. Do you see that? And so in the
same sense that Paul is telling us, and we'll get here and work
at it more practically in the weeks to come, be careful when
you see your brother fall not to write him off. And make sure
you understand the mystery carefully. Now, this is not advocating that
you build some big theological doctrine like we have in many
of our evangelical churches of Israel being a distinct people
group that are already called the children of God. I don't
believe that for a moment. You are only called a child of God
or the children of God when you evidence that you are children
of God. Does that make some sense? When you evidence that. So, there's
no special blessing for national Israel outside of the gospel
that we have to give to them as they gave it to us. Finally
then look at our outline because this will affirm that as we go
now, how shall this be affected but through the gospel? Isn't
that a good conclusion? How shall this be affected but
through the gospel look at verse 30 and 32 of our text? So I know
what i'm going to do. I'm going to close here in our
meditation on this so that you can grasp paul's argument. He
says in verse, uh 29 After having said in verse 28 as concerning
the gospel there are enemies for your sake but as touching
the elect They are what beloved for the Father's sake for the
gifts and calling of God are what? For as you have here is
his argument and we this this term for as a purpose cloth for
as you in time past Have not believed God Yet have obtained
mercy through their unbelief even so have these also now not
believed that through your what mercy they also may obtain mercy
this is what we call in the verb form a subjective form subjunctive
uh verb form where it's in hypothetical That is a future hypothetical
reality that a Jew would come to Christ. But if they're going
to come to Christ, they're coming on the basis of mercy. And they're
coming on the basis of the mercy that you as Gentiles receive.
And what is that? The mercy that is given to us
in the person and work of Jesus Christ. I'll tell you what this
ought to do for you as we close it here. It ought to make you
want to understand the mystery of God in the largest scope possible
so that you and I as Gentile believers don't find ourselves
being bigots and self-righteous in God's determination to save
whom he wills, including those among the Israelite people. Are
you guys hearing what I'm saying? And here's how Paul closes. I'm
just going to close it here. He closes it this way as he argues
for the absolute majesty, majesty of God. I'm just going to read
it. I'm not going to preach it. I'm
just going to read it. You can read the last two outlines,
two points on your own. But what does Paul do after he
tells them even so, Have these also now not believe that through
your mercy they also might obtain salvation for God have concluded
them all who is all of us In unbelief that he might have mercy
upon who all of us individually God's elect throughout every
nation got that and then he rushes into worship Worship of God For saving some
when he didn't have to save any. Paul knows he is an object of
mercy and grace. Speaking to the Gentiles, magnifying
his office, and at this point he's saying, look at God. God had mercy. Oh, the depths
of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge God How unsearchable
are his judgments and his ways past finding out? for who have
known the mind of the Lord or who have been his counselor or
Who had first given to him and it shall be recompensed unto
him again for of him and through him and to him are all things
to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. God is sovereign,
who calls us and saves us and keeps us for his own glory.