Romans chapter 9. Let's read
the first five verses again. We've looked at them, but the context
is so important in this chapter, always is. But let's read the
first five, and then we'll look at verses 6 through 11. Chapter 9. I say the truth in
Christ, I lie not. my conscience also bearing witness
in the Holy Ghost, 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." We saw last week why Paul had great heaviness
and sorrow because he knew that his countrymen Generally speaking,
the Israelites were lost. They were lost. His prayer, his
heart's desire, and prayer to God for them, chapter 10, verse
1, is that they might be saved. It wasn't just that they had
a little different opinion on some doctrinal issues. They were
lost. They didn't know the truth of
God. They had a zeal for somebody they were calling God, but it
wasn't according to knowledge. And so he was heavy. And he calls
them in verse four. He's identifying them here. And
he's doing this for a reason. It wasn't because who he's writing
to here doesn't know who he's talking about. He's identifying
them this way for a reason. These are the ones that are lost.
and are so superstitious and steeped in godless religion. The Israelites, verse 4, to whom
pertaineth the adoption and the glory. God revealed himself in
the midst of them. The very glory of God shone from
the mercy seat to the high priest. And they saw the glory of God
in the face of Moses as he came down out of the mount. God manifested
his glory to these people. And the covenants God issued
his covenants in the midst of the Israelites, and the giving
of the law, which all through pictured Christ, and the service
of God. Again, the service of God in
the tabernacle, everything was Christ. The sacrificial animal
was Christ, the altar, the incense that goes up to God. The blood,
the mercy seat itself, the priest, all were Christ. Pictures teaching
who Christ is to his people. And the promises were given among
the Israelites, whose are the fathers, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
Moses, and of whom as concerning the flesh, Christ came. who is over all, God blessed
forever. Amen. And he expresses his heaviness
because of the false religion, all of these outward advantages
that the Jews had, that God worked among them, the statutes and
the ordinances that pictured Christ and the miracles of his
power that he displayed among them, the parting of the Red
Sea, the following them through the desert with fire by night
and soothing shadow of the cloud
by day, but it caused them to be steeped
in false religion and legal righteousness before God. He mentions also
there in verse 10 that the reason for his heaviness is He explains
it further by saying that not submitting themselves to the
righteousness of God in Christ, by faith in Christ were righteous
before God, but they go on about to establish their own in the
keeping of these ordinances that were never meant to provide them
with a way to establish their own righteousness. They're meant
to point them to Christ, who is the righteousness of God.
And he says his heart's desire and prayer is that God might
save them, but in case there was any confusion regarding that,
he begins in verse six to explain clearly that Israel, the rejection,
generally speaking of Israel, their rejection of the Lord Jesus
Christ as a nation is no reflection on God's promises to his people.
God began with Abraham and with each of his sons through whom
Christ was to be born, God renewed the promise of his covenant,
the promise of his unconditional blessings upon his people. And
now Israel is in darkness and superstition and false religion.
What happened? Are God's promises to Israel
null and void? God promised to bless them, but
they're not blessed as a nation. Are they empty promises then?
Has God gone back on his promises? No. And here's why. God never
made these promises to the earthly nation of Israel. Look at verse
6. Not as though the word of God
hath taken none effect. That they're in this horrible
condition, that they're lost before God. They're lost. They're
seeking righteousness the wrong way. Not in Christ, but in themselves. But not because God's word, God's
promise, God's covenant has not taken effect. That's not why.
For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel. Oh. What do you mean, Paul, there's
two Israels? What do you mean by that? There's an Israel that contains
an Israel. But they are not all this Israel,
which are of this Israel. Hmm, what does that mean? Neither
because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children. But in Isaac shall thy seed be
called. The promise was always through
a certain people, certain individuals. That is, and listen to verse
eight now, nothing could be clearer. That is, they which are the children
of the flesh, the seed of Abraham, according to the flesh, these
are not the children of God. That's not confusing at all,
is it? There's two Israels. There's Israel according to the
flesh, and then there's spiritual Israel, who are the children
of God. Not just children of Abraham,
but children of God. The children of the promise,
the children of the covenant, they are counted for the seed. He said to Abraham, in that seed
shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. But there's
two Israels and there's two seeds. Because they're the seed of Abraham,
that doesn't mean they're all children. That's the natural
earthly seed lineage of Abraham. But those who are the children
of the covenant promise, those are the true seeds. That's who
he's talking about when he says, in thy seed shall all the nations
of the earth be blessed. And as Paul explained clearly
in another epistle, when he said seed, he didn't say seeds, because
he wasn't talking about a whole bunch of people. He's talking
about Christ. God's blessings, his covenant
promises are in Christ. Christ and everyone in Christ
are the objects and the beneficiaries unconditionally of that blessed
promise. God never made promises to an
earthly nation. Nothing could be clearer, and
yet so many are confused about this, but anybody who simply
reads verses six and eight, without a preconceived, six through eight,
without a preconceived notion of any kind about this, couldn't
ask for a more plain revelation of who is blessed of God and
why. And then as Romans chapter 9
continues through the next verses, God's eternal purpose of grace
toward his elect, only his elect, always and never anybody but
his elect, becomes more and more clear. Look at the next verses.
Look at verse 9. For this is the word of promise.
It wasn't everybody that's born of Abraham going to heaven when
they die. That wasn't the promise. Here's how the promise goes.
This is the word of promise. At this time will I come and
Sarah will have a son. And not only this, but when Rebecca
also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac. 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
call. The explanation. God promised his blessings upon
Israel and yet Israel as a nation is not blessed of God. It's not
that God's promises are null and void. It's just that you
need to understand what Israel he promised them to. The spiritual
Israel. God's elect. One of my favorite
words. The elect of God. The chosen
of God. And look, read on just a couple
more verses and we'll stop. This morning, it was said unto
her, because of God's purpose of election, and that it might
stand, that it might be brought to pass, as he purposed it, God
said to her, the elder shall serve the younger, as it is written,
Jacob have I loved. And Esau, just as much a child
of Abraham in an earthly sense as Jacob was, have I hated. It don't get any clearer than
that. It just doesn't get any clearer than that. Remember that
all of God's promises, what are His promises? His covenant to
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all of His people, His spiritual
Israel, what are His promises? They are the revelation of this
purpose of election that's spoken of right there in verse 11. That the purpose of God according
to election might stand. When God revealed himself to
Abraham and made promise to Abraham, what was he doing? He's revealing
his purpose of grace according to election. I have a chosen
people. And he made that covenant with
Abraham because of that. His covenant with Abraham and
the seed, not the earthly seed mentioned in verse seven, clearly
it said there that that's not the children of God. but the
spiritual seed mentioned in verse 8 but his covenant with Abraham
and the seed is the revelation of his purpose of election the
actual choosing out of certain individuals and the rejection
of others as revealed here Jacob not Esau that's the very execution of
God's purpose of election that's his actually choosing those that He loved and revealing
His unconditional blessing upon them in Christ. Not without conditions. There are conditions that Christ
met, but it's truly unconditional to us. We meet no conditions
in this covenant. They're all met by our Savior,
our Redeemer, our Substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ. God chose
Jacob in eternity. He didn't decide before they
were born when he was talking to Rebecca there. He didn't decide then, I think
I'll choose one and not choose the other. He was just revealing
it to her then. This happened before the world
began. I thank God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth. He's just revealing that
now. And never miss this. We've talked about the revelation
of his purpose of election. Everything in this verse revolves
around this purpose of electing grace in verse 11. The revelation
of it was his covenant promise. The execution of it was his actual
choosing of Jacob and rejecting Esau. What's the cause of his
purpose of election? Notice this and never miss it.
He didn't merely say, Jacob have I chosen, although that would
have been true. But he said, Jacob have I loved. That's the
cause of God's purpose of election. The love of Almighty God. It is that God loved Jacob that
is the very manifestation of the very riches of God's glory. That's a thought when God gives
us right thinking that will do to contemplate from now on and
throughout endless ages it will be the endless source of joy
to his people that God loved a sinner like me. This is the burden of the eternal
song of his saints. Worthy is the lamb that was slain
is the theme of our heavenly singing that God so loved a sinner
like me. that He gave His only begotten
Son. That's the source and fountain
of all of God's blessing. The electing love of God in Christ. You cannot separate God's electing
grace and God's eternal love. They are one and the same. It
is in love that He chose us. And how beautifully this language
in chapter 9 joins with that of chapter 8 in attributing all
of our blessedness, all of our hope, all of our joy and all
of our security to the love of God in Christ Jesus, the God
of all grace, whose love is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. This
is the fulfillment of the promise, the very application and the
source at once. of all of the blessings of God's
covenant promises in Christ. Jacob have I loved. It doesn't matter so much who
your mama and daddy were or who theirs were. The love of God
is salvation. When Christ was describing to
Nicodemus who he was, and that's what Nicodemus came to find out,
didn't he? He said, well, we know your sin of God. You couldn't
do the things you're doing if you weren't sin of God. And the
Lord began to reveal to Nicodemus that he didn't know anything
yet. That even the very elemental and basic truths of the gospel
were beyond his grasp, but he revealed who he is this way. God so loved the world. that
he sent his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. That's who Christ is. He is the love of God sent to
this earth to save his people by his redeeming precious blood. When Paul is glorying in all
of God's favor in chapter 8 of Romans displayed and revealed
and documented in the golden chain of salvation, he concludes
this way, who shall separate me from the love of Christ? When John is defining love itself,
he does so this way in 1 John 14, herein is love. Not that we love God. I hope
that you do love God, and I pray and trust that I do. You won't
find much evidence of any love worth bragging about in me. Our
love is counter to the definition of love. You see that in this
verse? Herein is love, not that we love
God. Love is defined not by our love
for God. but that he loved us and sent
his son to be the propitiation of our sins. Love. Everything in this chapter revolves
around that electing love, that purpose of God according to election
that sounds like this, I love Jacob. Thank God for his redeeming,
eternal, immutable love. May he give us grace to think
on it and rejoice in him this morning as we worship. Let's
bow in prayer together. Gracious Father, thank you for
our great Redeemer and the great salvation that's ours in him. Thank you for the boundless love boundless love of God in Christ
Jesus that bought us and taught us and brought us to yourself and which is our very security
and hope and glory. Help us to worship him who alone
is worthy of our worship this morning, the Lord Jesus himself.
Teach us of him, Lord. by your grace, in his precious
name we pray. Amen.