I've been looking a little bit
into the rest of the book of Romans, the next few chapters. It's going to take us a long
time to get through the book of Romans. It has already taken
a long time. I've been looking at verse 27
this morning of Romans 9. Just this one verse this morning
for a little while. Isaiah also crieth concerning
Israel. He just referred to Hosea in
our previous study. You know, Paul and the apostles,
they're just like we are. They had nothing to say except
what God said. They refer to God's word, and
so do we. Isaiah crieth concerning Israel,
concerning earthly Israel, which he's been talking about in this
context, hasn't he? And says this, though the number
of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea. There
were millions of them back in Moses' day. You can imagine how
many there were when Paul wrote this. But though they be as the
sand of the sea in number, a remnant shall be saved. A remnant. Though there are multitudes who
consider themselves the people of God. And we see the clear
parallel here, don't we? The Jews in Paul's day, they
thought just because they were Hebrew, they were God's child.
We got a monopoly on God. He chose us. Well, Paul is clear
in his teaching, isn't he? But we see the same thing in
our day. How many people in our day say, well, we're God's people.
We're Baptists. Methodists, we're this, we're
that. I was born in a Christian home. Multitudes call themselves
Christians. But a remnant, a remnant know the true God.
A remnant are saved. People love to be religious,
don't they? Everybody's religious. magnitude of these religious
organizations in our day. Religion has always been that
way. In this day, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, they were
the big shots, but they had no idea who Christ was. And our
Lord Jesus Christ sits straight as the gate and narrow as the
way that leads to life. And here, same thing Paul said
in our text, few there be that find it. Few, few. Though the people of Israel,
the religious, those that call themselves the people of God
are as the sand of the sea in number, but a remnant, a leftover will be saved. Salvation is not about being
religious. It's not about considering yourself a Christian and so-called
walking the Christian path and the things that this world talks
about. Those ones in Matthew 7 were shocked to hear the Lord
say, you're not coming in. We've done many wonderful works. We're the people of God, not
the true God. The Lord called their works,
works of iniquity. Reading and knowing scripture
doesn't give us eternal life. That's
what the Jews thought. The Lord said, you think you
have life because you know the scriptures. But the scriptures
reveal me and you won't come to me. You've completely missed
the scriptures if you don't come to Christ. If you don't bow to
Christ, if you don't worship Christ, if you don't see Christ,
you've missed the Word of God completely. They didn't see Christ in the
Scriptures and would not come to Him that they might have life.
Why is the way narrow? Have you ever thought about that? Narrow is the way. Few there
be that find it. Has God made it narrow in the
sense that there are many that want to come in but can't come
in because the way is too narrow? We know better than that. Nobody
wants to come. There is none that seeketh after
God. The way is narrow, but it's wide enough, isn't it? It's wide
enough. The road to accommodate those
who love Christ, who believe on Christ, who worship Christ,
who have bowed to Christ. It doesn't need to be wide, does
it? It don't need to be wide. How big did the ark need to be? Noah was a preacher of righteousness
and warned all that would hear that the flood was coming. The
wrath of God is coming. The judgment of God is coming.
Fleet of the ark. But how many bunks were there
in the ark for men? Eight. You see what Paul is saying? There are the many and then there's
the few. The way was narrow but it was
perfectly sufficient for the demand. There wouldn't be any need for
a way at all if it was left up to me. Not even a narrow way would be
necessary if it's left up to your will and mine. The way to
life is not broad because no one is naturally willing of themselves
to come to Christ, but there is a way because God's willing
to save. And don't miss the word shall
in our text. A remnant shall be saved. Why shall they be saved? Because God sent his son to save
them, and he don't fail. He didn't come to make salvation
possible or merely available. He will save them. The few, the
remnant, they shall be saved because they're redeemed by his
precious blood. Paul said, who is he that condemneth?
It's Christ that died. I take that to mean that if Christ
died for you, you're justified. Wouldn't you say so? Not if Christ died for you, justifications
available to you. That's not what Paul said. He
said, if Christ shed his precious blood for me, you can't charge
me with sin. Nobody in heaven, earth, or hell
can charge me with sin if his blood was shed for me. Is that
your Christ? They shall be saved because he
redeemed them with that precious blood. They shall be saved because
the Father gave them to His Son in eternity. What did He say? All that the Father giveth me. You remember the next word? Shall. The remnant shall be saved because
God gave them to His Son in the eternal covenant of grace. And
He said, they're coming to me. It's not up in the air. It's
not up to them. They're coming to me. And this verse, as we think of
it, as I said, our own generation with regard to this, there are
many. And we equate those who were
of the earthly people of Israel with those who say we're God's
people in our generation, Jew or Gentile, we're the people
of God. We go to church every Sunday. We read our Bible through
in a year. We've walked to now. But there's a remnant that God's
going to save, a remnant. There's a lot of talk, but very
little commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. Very little. There's
a lot of religious activity, but very little worship. There
are a lot of folks who want to go to heaven when they die. Have
you ever met anybody that didn't? But only a remnant, just a few
leftovers, who love the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you love me? Not, do you want to go to heaven
when you die? Do you love me? Paul said, if
any man doesn't, let him be accursed. Even in the places around this
world where Christ truly is preached, we still have to say with Paul,
he said, I have no man like minded who will naturally care for your
estate for all, seek their own. and not the things which are
Jesus Christ's. How true that is. All seeking
their own, not the things which are his. And God's people often remember what Isaiah cried and echoed in our own hearts.
Who hath believed our report? But though the way is narrow
because of man's depravity, yet because of God's infinite grace,
there is a way. And it's still open. And no one will be unable to
come to Christ because of the narrowness of the way. That's
not the problem, is it? It's not the problem. The problem
is you and me. Christ said, you do not come
because you will not come. And that's just the truth of
it. It's true that no man can come. We know that's right. We
know we don't have the spiritual capacity to hear spiritual truth,
to understand spiritual truth and respond to it. No man can
come unless the father drawing. There's no question about that.
But why is it that you cannot come? Is that God's fault? It's our natural reaction to
blame God for the enmity of our own hearts against Him. We know from God's Word that
He's plenteous in mercy. He calls upon all who labor and
are heavy laden to come. And He said, I'll give you rest.
Are you thirsty? come and drink. There's no insufficiency
in him. The road to the city of refuge
is straight and clearly marked. The roads were well paved and
clearly marked. And God calls upon all sinners
to come without money. Come without money and without
price and buy. Come and buy. I don't have anything
to buy with. That's who I'm talking to. You're ones without anything
to buy with. Come and buy without price. Without
your imagined righteousness. Without your decisions. Without
your resolutions. Your righteousness is filthy.
Your decisions are your problem, not the solution. And God doesn't
need anything from you. He doesn't need you to do anything.
He doesn't need you to give anything. Come as you are. to the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's the gospel call. We know that only a remnant shall
be saved, and we know why, don't we? And we know who they are. And we know how they're saved.
Only a remnant gonna be saved, and we know how they're saved.
By the precious blood of Christ, by the grace of God through faith.
And that not of yourself, that's God's gift. Lest any man should
boast. And we know this, we know that
only a remnant gonna be saved, and we know that whosoever calls
upon the name of the Lord will be saved. All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh. My Savior won't
throw you out. I say that without reservation.
He will not cast you out. The truth taught in our text
is pictured in Hebrews 3. Turn there with me. Hebrews 3, verse 7. He's talking about now the people
of Israel were a great numerous people, but only a remnant are
saved. And we see that here in Hebrews
3, verse 7. He said, As the Holy Ghost saith today,
if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts as in the provocation
in the day of the temptation in the wilderness. When your
fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years,
wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, and
we've seen this in our study in Exodus, haven't we, they do,
how often do they err? Always. They failed every last
test. They do always air in their heart
and they have not known my way. So I swear in my wrath, they
not coming in. They're not coming in. What did
he say to the Pharisees? You'll seek me and you'll die
in your sins. You're not coming in where I
go. You can't come. To his disciples, he said, where
I go, you can't come now. Well, you'll follow me hereafter.
He just said to the Pharisees, you can't come where I'm going.
You're not entering in. Take heed, brethren, lest there
be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from
the living God, but exhort one another daily while it is called
today lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of
sin. Do you see what he's saying?
It's your sin that's the problem. For we are made partakers of
Christ. We, the remnant, the few, the
chosen, we are made partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning
of our confidence steadfast into the end. If God saves you, He'll
plumb save you all the way to the end. Those that endure unto
the end shall be saved. While it is said today, right
now as you're sitting there, harden not your heart against
God. If you will hear his voice, harden
not your hearts as in the provocation for some, when they had heard,
did provoke. How be it not all? Why not? Because God chose a remnant Everybody
hardened their heart, but not all. Not all that came out of Egypt
by Moses, but with whom was he grieved for 40 years? Was it
not with them that had sinned? God's electing grace and passing
you by is not your problem. Your sin is your problem. Will you hear God on this? whose
carcasses fell in the wilderness, and to whom swear he that they
should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not. So, Paul said, so, since we see
that that's true, here's our conclusion. We see this, that
they could not enter in because they weren't elect. That's not right. They're not
right. Those who did enter in, Why did
they enter in? Because they were elect. Those that didn't, why didn't
they? Because of their unbelief. You're not going to blame God for your condemnation. But my salvation, I blame God
for that. How about you? That's just the truth. Now, because
of unbelief. Those who did make it, why did
they make it? Because of mercy. Because of
God's electing grace. There's no other answer but that,
is there? Because of his grace, free, electing, distinguishing
grace. If we enter in, that's why. If
we don't, why not? Because of your unbelief, that's
why. If you fall in the wilderness, you can't blame God for it. It's
your fault. If you do not fall in the wilderness,
it's God's fault. It will be because you were kept
by the power of God unto salvation in Christ. Salvations of the
Lord. Condemnation is on you and on
me. Thank God that a remnant shall
be saved. Aren't you glad? Listen to what
Isaiah said, and Paul quotes it in the same context of our
verses here in Romans 9. We'll see that maybe next week.
But listen to Isaiah 1-9, and you'll see there at the end of
Romans 9 that Paul quotes this very verse. Isaiah said this,
except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant. We should have been as Sodom,
and we should have been like Gomorrah. If God hadn't done
something about it, we're all goners. We're all goners. There is a narrow way, and it's wide enough, isn't it?
Christ is the way. Was it Philip that said, we don't
know. We don't know the way. The Lord said, you know where
I'm going and you know how to get there. And he said, we don't
know. How can we know? And he said, have I been with
you so long and you don't know me? I'm the way. I'm the truth. I'm the life.
Those that come to the Father, how do they get there? By me. By me. Thank God. for his way, the Lord Jesus Christ,
and for that remnant that find him by his grace. Let's bow and
pray together.