In your outline, we were dealing
with the analogy of the olive tree over in verse 16. And we
went through every one of those specific aspects of the olive
tree in order to understand how the apostle was speaking to the
Jew and the Gentile about God's blessing. Through Abraham and
how that you and I are part of that olive tree, we said that
that olive tree is the promise given to Abraham, the promise
of the gospel given to Abraham, it's the covenant that was given
to Abraham, that's what that olive tree is, it's a covenant
of mercy and grace, the olive tree. The olive tree had in it,
as we see in our text, it has a root, it has a branch. The olive tree also has in it
the lump And we were dealing with all
of those aspects of the olive tree. And the summation is that
we are one in him who for us constitutes the fatness
of the olive tree. I asked the question as we looked
at verse 17 together for the gospel. Do you see that in your
outline? Look at your outline. It says in verse 17 in your outline
together for the gospel. Do you see that? Together for
the gospel with them. In fact, the title of our outline
is one with them in him You guys see that we've been talking about
that for several weeks One with them in him. This is the whole
concept that Paul is laying down concerning the Connection between
the Jew and the Gentile in the body of Christ represented by
the olive tree one with them in him And as he explains the
distinctives of this metaphor of the olive tree in verse 17,
he's arguing for a unity based upon a connection, as he says
in verse 17, I'm sorry, verse 16, for if the first fruits be
holy, the lump is also holy. And if the root be holy, so are
the branches. What he's saying is if one part
of the tree is holy, then the other part of the tree is holy.
And so he's arguing for a unity of the analogy. And it's really
designed to help the Gentiles understand that even though there
was this severity on the part of the national, the physical
seed of Abraham who didn't believe the gospel and therefore they
were cut off. It does not leave room for the
Gentiles to have a flawed understanding as to why they were engrafted
in. Does that make some sense? I
want to say that again, because I know we got to get the cobwebs
out of our head as we work it through the study. Some of y'all
smiling, but you still is still a registry. The Apostle Paul,
who was a Jew himself, is very well learned in the law, and
he is very clear on the analogy of Scripture. He understood that
the Scripture talked about the fatness of the olive tree from
Genesis to Revelation, and he is arguing to the Gentiles not
to go down a course of thinking that would result in a conceit
that the greater part of national Israel was cut off in order for
them to be engrafted in. That would be a faulty hypothesis
that we're going to see when we begin to deal with verse 18.
Look at your outline in verse 18. Do you see that in your outline?
And hypothetical anticipated both. Then verse 19, a flawed
conclusion. We're going to work on that.
But what I want to back up and have you to do is to become a
little bit more familiar with this concept of theology. One
of the things that I try to do when teaching the Bible is not
only expound the scriptures, which is to the benefit of the
auditor of the hearer because faith comes by hearing, right?
And hearing by what? And really when it says by the
word of God is meaning by the preaching of the gospel That's
how faith come faith doesn't merely come because you get quoted
hit the historicity of scripture You don't merely acquire faith
because somebody reads the ten commandments You don't get uh,
you don't acquire faith because somebody articulates the particulars
of the levitical code you acquire faith when christ is preached
and expounded and And God reveals him to you as your only hope
for glory. That's how faith comes. And therefore,
some of our translations have in Romans chapter 10, verse 17,
faith coming by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ. Faith comes through the preaching
of the gospel. Faith comes when the gospel is
planted in our hearts and God assures us that we have a substitute
who was more than sufficient to take care of the needs that
we had before God, needs that we couldn't meet for ourselves.
So faith doesn't come simply because the Bible tells us what
the standard of righteousness is. Is that right? We've learned
many, many times that by the works of the law, no flesh shall
be justified in God's sight. And so I'm saying that only because
it's important to hear the gospel And sometimes when we are dealing
with the larger scope of the ministry of the gospel worldwide,
and the question is raised, how does a person really become saved? I do stress that they become
saved through hearing the gospel. That is hearing versus reading
the scriptures. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
While I do not exclude the significance and benefit of the word of God
in our presence because God has given it to us, he's given us
his word. We have had his word now for
some 700 years in written form since the days of Wycliffe and
Huss. There have been printing presses
and Bibles have been translated and published throughout the
world. But there are many countries
right now where there are multitudes of people who are desperate to
hear the word of salvation, but they won't hear it by virtue
of them reading the scriptures. They will hear it as the economy
was described in Romans chapter 10 around verses 12 through 17. How shall they hear our call
on him of whom they have not heard? How shall they hear without
a preacher and how shall he preach except he be sent? And so the
economy by which sinners are saved is preaching, not just
reading, preaching. It pleased God through the foolishness
of preaching to save those that are, that are believing. And
so men and women have been called to go into all the world and
publish the good news of the gospel in lands where people
are literally illiterate. They cannot read. How can they
be saved then if they can't read if reading our salvation came
exclusively through reading the book? Am I making some sense?
But if God used the economy of the oracles of the mouth by which
he having filled the heart with the truth of his word as the
Bible says out of the abundance of the heart that the what mouth
speak now for man or woman shares the gospel with sinners. Sinners
can be saved. The spirit of God will work through
the preaching Now preaching is the authoritative proclamation
of God's word. That's what preaching is. Preaching
is not negotiating. Preaching is not dialoguing. Preaching is the authoritative
proclamation of the person and work of Jesus Christ. And the
third person has been commissioned to take Christ and reveal him
to the hearts of sinners. through preaching. That's how
important preaching is. Now that we have our Bibles,
you know what we can do? We can do what the Bereans did
in Acts chapter 17 when the preacher comes along saying, thus said
the Lord, we can check him out now and we can make sure which
Jesus he's preaching. Right? Which gospel he's preaching
and which spirit is he preaching Jesus in the gospel by? We can
check him out. We can affirm him in the book. But I do stress that there are
multitudes of nations who are hearing the gospel and being
saved by the faithful ministry of preaching. And then the task
is to translate the gospel into their own dialect and language
so that they can start studying and grow by the word of God. And so as the Apostle Paul is
setting forth the language in the scriptures. What I try to
do is not only explain the scriptures, but get you to be confident in
the Bible yourself. I think I was talking to our
ladies about this on Thursday in our theology class. It's very
important for you to become familiar with your own Bible. It's important
for you to be under sound teaching, but it's important for you to
be able to take that spoon and dip it into the bowl and eat
yourself. Am I making some sense? It's important for you to be
able to read your Bible and become acquainted with what the Bible
says so that you can say Pastor Jesse said what the scripture
said and not just Pastor Jesse said. Am I making some sense?
And so go with me now to Jeremiah. I just want to show you one passage
in Jeremiah. As I was dealing with the olive
tree metaphor, One of the things, and it's not unfamiliar to me,
I was not surprised by this. This happens in the scripture
all the time. When you're dealing with the truth in the Bible,
the Bible will have more than ample evidence to affirm that
truth. When you're dealing with the
truth in the Bible, the Bible will have more than ample evidence
to affirm that truth. In other words, one of the rules
of hermeneutics that we have is this. When you assert a truth
or you declare a truth, you want to affirm that true by other
passages of scripture, which also affirms that true. The idea
of the olive tree is a wonderful metaphor, as we have learned
of the fatness of God's spirit that's given to the church as
a resource to bless the church in its call and task to serve
the true and the living God. Is that so? I'll say it again
so you can get it. The oil, which comes from the
olive, which comes from the olive tree, represents the Holy Ghost. The oil, which comes from the
olive, which comes from the olive tree, represents the Spirit of
God. Without the Spirit of God, nothing
gets accomplished. Without the third person, The
second person cannot be seen in a vital saving way. You guys got that? The goal of the spirit is to
glorify Christ and make him known in the hearts of sinners. The
oil, which is the Holy Ghost, illuminates the menorah, which
is the candlestick. Christ is the light of the world.
The church is the light of the world, reflecting the glory of
God in Christ as we do that ministry. But without the oil, there is
no illumination. You guys got that? That's the
significance of the fatness. As we looked in Judges chapter
nine, the olive oil, the olive tree said, why should I leave
my fatness, which blesses God and blesses man? And so that's
the importance of the metaphor. But with both the the whole olive
tree, the lump, the root and the branches, all aspects of
these, the root, the branches, the lump, the whole olive tree,
all of them. point to Jesus Christ, who is
the means by which these blessings are given. But it's quite interesting
because we have already talked about Israel being a branch in
that olive tree, isn't that right? And we also see now the inclusion
of the Gentiles, isn't that true? The branch in the scriptures
represents an offshoot of the tree or the promise or the purpose
of God in view. And do you know the Bible calls
Jesus the righteous branch? Do you know that? Jeremiah chapter
23, Jeremiah chapter 33, Jesus is called the righteous branch. He is called the son of David
and he is called the branch of the Lord, the righteous branch.
And what that means is he takes on the metaphor of himself also
being connected to the promise from the standpoint of his assuming
a human nature, of his fulfilling the role as the son of David
and therefore the what we call the Davidic covenant. Christ
is the king of the church. He is the righteous branch. Now,
the reason I call that to your attention is because of this.
When the Bible uses different metaphors and different terms
for the believer, you and me. Those metaphors and those terms
have their validity and their virtue because they are connected
to him whom God ultimately is referring to. In other words,
if I'm a branch, and that's what John 15 said we are, right? You
are the branches, Jesus said, I'm the vine. In other words,
if I'm a branch, what makes me significant is because Christ
is a branch too. You guys got that? If I'm the
lump, what makes me significant is that Christ was the lump first. This is how we go all the way
back and find virtue in the fact that when God said, let us make
man in our image and in our likeness, What gives virtue to that initial
creation of the first man is the fact that it was pointing
to the last Adam. Do you guys see that? So as you're
going through your Bible and you look at all of these different
subtle metaphors with reference to the believer, look for their
having their ultimate fulfillment and finality in the person of
Christ. Well, the olive tree is spoken
about in Jeremiah chapter 11. Did I tell you to go there? Jeremiah what? 7 did I say Jeremiah
7 or Jeremiah 11 Okay, Jeremiah 11 Yeah, you just can't go anywhere
in Jeremiah if you land in the wrong place in Jeremiah you get
tow up I'm here to tell you Jeremiah tell you up we call him in theology
the demolition prophet God gave Jeremiah the role of being the
demolition prophet. If you open up the first chapter
of Jeremiah, when Jeremiah receives commission from the Lord, the
Lord tells Jeremiah, I have made you a strong tower in a fenced
city against the cities of Israel. I have set you up to demolish
and tear down and break Apart the whole house of Israel the
pictures that of a wrecking ball going through and demolishing
all of the false Refuges all of the rotten building all of
the decayed systems that Israel had bought into under false religion. What a role The demolition prophet
what a role the prophet that goes in and levels everything
That was Jeremiah's job That's why Jeremiah got into a whole
lot of trouble, because every time he opened his mouth, he
was tearing stuff up. If you don't believe it, read
it for yourself. But I just want you to see two
verses in Jeremiah chapter 11 around the olive tree, and then
we'll go back again. My only point to you is this.
As you are learning the gospel. As you are hearing the gospel,
be sure that you do not neglect to personally commune with God
through the word. You become familiar with the
Bible yourself. If you want to be grounded, if
you want to be clear, if you want to be certain, if you want
to be used of God in reaching sinners for Christ, you yourself
must be confident of what you believe. And you will be when
you are used to reading your Bible and affirming the things
you say you believe. Am I making some sense? What
good would it be for you to tell somebody you believe in justification,
but you can't support the doctrine of justification from the scriptures?
See what I'm getting at? What good would it be for you
to tell somebody once saved, always saved? You can't find
one verse to affirm that truth. You see what I'm getting at?
The Bible is the sword of the spirit. He uses the word to cut,
to heal, to wound, to bring clarity, and you won't be effectual as
a witness If you don't know the Bible, am I making some sense? All right, so now listen to what
it says in Jeremiah chapter 11, verse 16 and 17. This was God
speaking to Israel. Of course, Israel is in a bad
way. They're in a sinful way and God's about to bring judgment
on them. But notice how they were privileged to be called
the olive tree. Verse 16, the Lord called your
name. This is God speaking through
Jeremiah. The Lord called your name. Now look at it. A green
olive tree. Isn't that amazing? God had prophesied
of Israel being a green olive tree. He had called them this.
He did this with Israel a lot. He gave them superlative names
in the Old Testament, which actually would sort of predict the blessing
that they would have if they walked in obedience to him. He
gave them names like the vine. Now, Jesus is the true vine.
Is that right? But in Psalm 80, Israel was called the vine. Israel
is called Israel, a prince with God. But the true prince with
God is Jesus. So there are a lot of these superlative
names that Israel was given by God. And God says, I called you
a vine. I called you Israel. I called
you the church of God. And yet Israel failed to live
up. to that calling, listen to what
it says. Fair and goodly, fair and of goodly fruit. With the
noise of a great tomo, he hath kindled fire upon it. Do you
see the metaphor there? God called Israel a green olive
tree. He had called her to fruitfulness,
but now he's lighting a fire to it. Do you see that? He's
lighting a fire to it. Now who's lighting the fire?
God is. God's lighting a fire. Look at it. That's why folk don't
read the Old Testament. That's why you don't hear a whole
lot of preaching in the Old Testament. I'm here to tell you, listen
to what it says. And the branches are what? What does it say? Broken off,
right? Who did that? God did. Is it confirming what
Paul is saying in Romans 11? God cut the branches off because
of his disobedience. Now, all I'm doing is showing
you one place in the Bible to help you understand that when
the New Testament writers, particularly Paul, when he sets forth the
doctrine and he uses terminology, he is not without biblical support. Now, if I were dealing specifically
with that narrow window of the breaking off of the branches,
I would go in my concordance and look up everywhere where
branches are used and see what God has to say about the branches
in order to establish that doctrine. Israel was broken off. Here we
are 700 years before Paul and God says I have broken off the
branches for the Lord of hosts That what planet thee? hath pronounced
evil against thee for the evil of the house of Israel and the
evil of the and of the house of Judah which they have done
against themselves to provoke me to anger in Offering incense
unto who? Pretty clear, isn't it? First
of all, now watch this. This is how we go before we move
on. God planted Israel. Isn't that right? But he's the
one that's lighting the fire under too. You can read it for
yourself in your own time. Luke chapter 12. Jesus says,
don't think that I came to bring peace. I came to bring a sword. He says, don't, don't think that
I came to bring peace. I also came to bring fire. And
what will I if it already be kindled? This is Luke chapter
12. You know what Jesus was saying? God had already begun the fire
of his judgment upon national Israel because they had rejected
the gospel. Jesus is fully aware that there's
a judgment hanging over the head, looming upon the house of national
Israel. And of course, these passages
are is asserting that. Is that not so? Go with me now
to Jeremiah chapter 23. I just want you to see a couple
of verses. We'll go back and we'll start making some advancement.
Jeremiah 23. I want you to see it now. I just
want you to see it for yourself. In Jeremiah chapter 23, God is
still speaking and he's still addressing the issue of Israel's
disobedience, but now he's dealing with the false teachers and false
prophets in Israel's day. He starts in verse 1 of Jeremiah
23. Jeremiah 23 is one of those Whoa chapters like Matthew's
23, you know when Jesus go whoa against the rulers. This is one
of those whoa chapter When it when last time you heard one
of those wall sermons That's politically incorrect, isn't
it? You just don't go to church to hear whoa today. Do you you
go to church to hear we? Hallelujah Jeremiah 23 when woe be unto
the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pastor,
says the Lord. Therefore, thus saith the Lord
God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people. You have
scattered my flock and driven them away and have not visited
them. Behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doing, saith
the Lord. And I will gather the remnant
of my flock out of all countries, whether I have driven them and
will bring them again to their foes. Isn't that what Jesus said
in John chapter 10? My sheep hear my voice, they
follow me. I lay down my life, no man takes it, but I lay down
my life and I take it up again. Therefore, doth my father love
me? Other sheep have I that are not of this fold, them also must
I bring in, and there will be one foal and one shepherd. You
know what Jesus is saying? He's the one fulfilling this
prerogative on God to gather his sheep from every nation,
kindred, tribe, and tongue. Who's gathering the sheep? Christ
is. How's he doing it? Through the
preaching of the gospel. Do you see that? Through the
preaching of the gospel. But mark it now, Christ himself
is seeking and saving that which is lost. He's using the means
of preaching, but he himself is doing the calling. Isn't that
true? If you are a sheep, the only reason you're in the fold
is because you heard his voice. Listen to it. Listen to verse
four. And I will set up shepherds.
over them which shall feed them. Isn't that good? God says, now
I'm gonna put my own shepherds in and they're gonna tell you
the truth. Now watch this. They shall feed them and they
shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking.
It's the metaphor of the sheep having been abused, having been
mistreated, having been neglected. It's the imagery of shepherds
who only care about themselves and not for the flock. The consequence
is is that the shepherds do not preach sound doctrine. They do
not set forth the certainties of redemption. They don't exalt
Christ. They don't set forth his finished
work. And so the people don't have
a covering. That's what it means to be lacking. They don't have
food to feed on. That's what it means to be lacking.
And they don't know the security of eternal redemption. That's
what it means to be afraid. When preaching is not done for
the purpose of God's glory in the salvation of sinners through
the finished work of Christ, you and I are left to fear. You
and I are left to fear when we aren't told that Christ himself
hath accomplished eternal redemption. That's the only thing you have
left. The only thing you have left is to try to get in by your
own good works. Isn't that right? And then you
are struggling because you know your works aren't adequate. until
you hear that only Christ's work will work, you will fear. And
that's what's so important about the preaching of the gospel.
Listen to it now. I'll set up shepherds over them
which shall feed them and they shall fear no more nor be dismayed.
Neither shall they be lacking, said the Lord. Behold, the days
come, said the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous
branch. Who is that righteous branch?
and a king shall reign and prosper and shall execute judgment and
justice in the earth. In his days, Judah shall be saved
and Israel shall dwell safely. And this is his name whereby
he shall be called the Lord our what? Now, you know, you're safe. Go with me to first Corinthians
chapter one. You know, you're safe when you
can say from the heart, Christ is your righteousness. You know you're safe when you
can say from the heart, Christ is your righteousness. Are we there? Listen to first
Corinthians chapter one. I'm just making my way back to
Romans chapter 11. I want you to see what Jeremiah was prophesying
is now fulfilled in the fact that Christ has come in person.
He has finished the work of redemption. He has saved his people. And
now he is made unto his people by God, all these things. I'm
going to start at verse 20, verse 30 and read verses 30 and 31.
But of him that is of God, are you, that is those of you who
are saved in Christ. Do you see that? But of him that
is of God, are you in Christ? Are you in Christ? Do you know
how you got put there? God did it. Got it? You didn't
do it. God did it. Now notice what it
says. But of him are you in Christ, Christ Jesus, who of God is made
unto us. Now watch this phrase. What this
phrase means is every person who is truly saved sees in Jesus
all these things. God makes Jesus to the same person
all these things. Are you ready? Listen to what
he says, who has made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. When you take those four articles,
what you're talking about is the whole of your salvation.
What that does when you properly understand it is remove all fear. What that means is when a person
asks me, How is it that you know you're righteous before God?
My answer is Christ is my righteousness. Do you hear me? How is it that
you know you are holy before God? Here's my answer. Christ
is my holiness. Do you hear me? And Christ is
my holiness because Christ is my wisdom. Not only is he my
wisdom, he's God's wisdom. That's first Corinthians chapter
one, verse 18. Christ is the power and wisdom
of God. for the salvation of everyone
that believes. And so what Paul tells us in
1 Corinthians 1 is what we call the sufficiency of the person
of Christ that removes the fear from the hearts of those who
are trusting him as their Savior. Do you guys see that? Now notice
what it says as a purpose clause in verse 31, that according as
it is written, now watch this now, this is what we call an
optimum maxim. He that glorieth, let him glory
where? in the Lord. Got it? Gospel preaching
and the believer glories only in the Lord. Now go with me back
to Romans chapter 11 and let's break open the rest of this portion
for tonight. Romans chapter 11. After Paul
has already dealt with this issue of the olive tree, and we talked
about that last week, the olive tree is not arguing for what
many have called in theology, replacement theology. We talked
about that last week, remember? Replacement theology. Some of
you may not have heard that argument. what they are suggesting in those
who are arguing using what we call the derogatory term replacement
theology is that the church who attributes to themselves all
of the different nomenclatures and titles of Israel as written
in the scriptures are suggesting or asserting that Israel was
cut off and the church took its place and now the church replaces
Israel. That's called replacement theology.
The idea is that Israel has no purpose with God now the Gentile
Church becomes the new Israel of God But what I say and I want
to make sure that you don't buy into that subtle error is this
That the church does not replace Israel the church fulfills Israel
Did you guys get that? The church does not replace Israel. The church fulfills it. I share
with you this old raggedy image of the tree last week. Remember
that? And we said that the root is who? Christ is the root. And we are the what? Branches.
And I said on one side you have some branches that are still
there. Those are believing who? Jews. They're still there. On the other
side you have believing Gentiles. Isn't that right? Where's the
replacement? There's no replacement. There's
only a fulfillment. Do you see what I'm getting at?
God's purpose all along was to bring the Gentiles into the covenant
in order to fulfill his grand scheme of theology or the promise
of redemption in Jesus Christ. So here's the term that I want
you to use if you need a term to use. The gospel is not replacement
theology. It's fulfillment theology. It's
fulfillment theology. And this is how the apostle Paul
is gonna justify this argument as we go through Romans chapter
11 now dealing with the rest of the metaphor and the language. Looking at verse 18 now, notice
what it says. After verse 17, let me just utter
the scenario that he's painting in verse 17. And if some of the
branches be broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were
grafted in among them, and with them partaker of the root, who
is the root? And the fatness, who is the fatness?
The Holy Ghost. Man, you guys are learning, I
love that. Of the olive tree, the question or the warning comes
in verse 18 this way. Do not boast against the what? You got it. Don't boast against
the branches. Don't boast against which branches?
The Jewish branches. Paul is warning the Gentiles
not to boast. Now, in our outline, verse 18a,
in hypothetical and anticipated boast, I wanna deal with this
for a moment, is that okay? We don't necessarily have evidence
in the text or in the Acts account or in secular history that the
Gentiles actually took up a position of boasting against the natural
branches. We don't have evidence of that.
We don't have any hard evidence that the Gentiles took a prideful,
sort of arrogant position that because Israel was cut out, God
put us in and therefore we can boast over against them. We don't
have any evidence of that. I'm just here to let you know.
But what we do often in theology is we set up hypotheticals. Obviously,
Paul is dealing with that because he's actually addressing the
demise of the national of national Israel. And he wants the Gentiles
to understand that there is a danger because of the fall of national
Israel and your insertion into the olive tree. There's a danger
of a prideful boasting. Are you guys hearing me? Now
notice what he says, because I want to set this up. This will
be part of our consideration tonight. He says, boast not against
the branches, but if you boast, you're not bearing the root,
but the root is bearing you. Do you see that? Now actually
the question, who is the root? That's right. And so in your
outline, it says verse 18, part B, upheld by what? The root. Isn't that right? The root upholds
the tree. The root upholds the branches.
If the roots are not planted in the soil and the soil is not
receiving water, there is no nourishment that goes to the
branches and there's no fruit born on the branches. Isn't that
true? And so we say that Christ is the root. I have in your outline
several verses that calls Christ the root. Do you guys know that?
If you read your Bible, you know he's the root and offspring of
David. Isn't that right? He's the bright
and morning star. Christ is the first and the last.
This is how he describes himself to John in Revelation chapter
one. He is himself the beginning of the creation of God. This
is how he's described in Colossians chapter one. And so whenever
we think about our part in the kingdom, what we must know is
this. We're not the beginning of anything
in the kingdom of God. I shared this with you a couple
of years ago. You guys may have forgotten this. When a person
asks you, how'd you get saved? When you start to describe your
salvation, if you start with I, you are describing the wrong
gospel. Well, I got saved when I did
this. That's not the gospel. Are you
hearing me? The gospel doesn't begin with
you. It begins with Christ. Am I making some sense? I want
to establish this before we go on to develop the larger hypothetical.
See, if you get your gospel right, if you understand the gospel,
if you understand what salvation is, when people say, how'd you
get saved? You'd say, God saved me. Just like the Bible says. Are you ready for that? You ready
to say it like God says it? Turn with me in your Bible to
Titus chapter three. I'm going to show you three or four verses
because I just want to make sure we drive this home. And then
we'll come back to Romans chapter 11 and deal with the rest of
this hypothetical concerning the Gentiles. This one is in
Titus, and there are going to be several verses that will underscore
that for the believer, they are not upheld. By anything that
they say. Or anything that they do. Did
you guys hear what I just said for the believer, the whole of
your salvation. is not a consequence of anything
that you say or do. If you assume that you are saved
by what you do, then you are justifying yourself by your action. If you assume that you are kept
by what you do, then you are sanctifying yourself by your
action. Are you hearing me? There are
three errors in our churches with regards to this issue of
who started what. In the area of justification,
legalists will say that you are justified by something you do. This is prominent in your Arminian
Free Will Works religion churches, which most people are a part
of. Most of you guys have been part of churches that said that
you are saved because you made a decision for Jesus. This is
Arminian Free Will Works religion, where you are the first cause
of your salvation. That's utterly wrong. That's
utterly, am I making some sense? That's utterly wrong. And that's
why you start off by saying I. But the problem with that is
your I is not big enough to save you. I'm getting ready to show
you that in a moment. So with regards to the doctrine
of justification, the Armenian churches have said you are justified
when you put your faith in Christ. The Bible doesn't teach that.
The Bible doesn't teach that you are justified when you put
your faith in Christ. The Bible teaches that you are
justified when Christ as your substitute died on Calvary's
tree and put away your sins and said to the father, it is finished.
That's when you were justified. Are you hearing me? and that
justification was affirmed to you when faith was planted in
your heart and the Holy Ghost helped you to understand that
Jesus is your righteousness. All you did was say yes to something
that was done 2,000 years ago. Am I making some sense? So justification
didn't start with you. There are some who say that you
are sanctified by what you do. This goes on in your holiness
churches. All your holiness churches say, well, now you started off
by faith, but you got to finish by words. I know you started
off by a simple faith in Jesus. That was your faith, accepting
Jesus. That's a spurious faith, but that was your faith, accepting
Jesus. But now you got to be holy by what you do. Now you
got to stop this and you got to stop that. You got to stop
the other thing. And if you don't hold on and you don't hold out,
you lose everything you have. You gotta edit that part. That
sounded like something out of the Wizard of Oz right there.
You guys be careful. That's okay. Mark this down, this is very
important. This is how subtle the devil is. The devil will
always try to get in on some aspect of the redemption scheme
and make you look to yourself as the means by which you're
kept. The legalist churches, The Armenian churches say you
start off by something you do. You make a decision and by it,
you're justified. In your holiness churches, you're
sanctified by tearing, by praying, by speaking in tongues, your
prayer language, and all of this other stuff that they tell you
you must do to be holy before God. And if you don't hold on
and hold out, you can lose your salvation. Do you know that in
most of your holiness churches, you are told you can lose your
salvation? Do you know that? You can lose what God himself
had to die for. You know what I tell people when
they tell me that? I tell them then God was a fool. If God Almighty
had to exercise a wisdom that required God. And that's what
we call divine wisdom and a power that required God. That's what
we call divine power in exercising divine wisdom and divine power
to save me. I'm the one going to lose my
salvation. God's not only foolish, but he's also impotent. Am I
making some sense? See, because if he's powerful
enough to save me, he's powerful enough to keep me. If he's wise
enough to save me through a substitute who is an excellent representative
in surety, he's powerful enough to keep me through that representative.
Am I making some sense? Therefore, we do not assent to
or even continence sanctification by works. Sanctification is by the blood
and righteousness of Christ. Sanctification is by the person
of Christ. I am sanctified in Christ. In fact, not only that,
Christ is my sanctification. Isn't that what the Bible says?
Isn't that what the Bible says? Jesse said, why do you think
you're going to get into heaven's door? Christ is my sanctification.
Isn't that right? That's how I'm getting in. When
I get up to the door and Peter say, Jesse, now why do you think
you need to get it in? I'm with him. I'm with him. You got that? I'm with him. That's
how I'm getting in. Christ is my sanctification.
And then there's another one, also glorification. Now, this
is absolutely ridiculous, but there are those who hold to the
idea that the only way you will be able to benefit from that
great day of glorification is to on the last day having demonstrated
that you were both justified and sanctified. This is what
goes on in your Catholic churches. The Catholic Church holds to
a doctrine which is called analytical justification. Analytical justification
is nothing but salvation by works all the way through you are justified
by an act and you are sanctified by constantly partaking of the
host Going to your confessional booth making sure you're baptized
in holy water and dying under all of the sacraments. Are you
hearing what I'm saying? See if this is nothing but works
religion and it completely denies the efficacy of what Christ accomplished
on Calvary Street. You know what the Bible tells
us in Hebrews chapter 9 and 10? By one sacrifice has he forever
perfected those that were set apart. By one sacrifice am I
perfected. Listen to me, by one sacrifice
am I perfected. And you know what it says? Forever.
Now when God says forever, you know what that means? Yeah, you
got it. I'm in Titus chapter 3. Now notice what it said. The
battle that we've been fighting over the last 2,000 years in
religion is the battle between a man-centered gospel and a God-centered
gospel. A gospel where man is stuck to
do it all or a gospel where God has done it all. Those are the
two gospels you are battling today. Did God accomplish it
or are you still working out your salvation? See what I'm
getting at? I know this hurts. It's just the God honest truth.
And once you let go of Christ as all your satisfaction, all
your salvation, believe me, there will be nothing that you can
do that will bring peace to your conscience. You're not holy enough. You're not righteous enough.
You're not faithful enough. You're not stable enough. The
only thing you do good is sin. Do you know that? Titus chapter 3. Listen to that. I'm in Titus 3. Are we there?
not by works of righteousness, which we have done. Do you guys
see that? That's the start. I'm going to
tie this chapter three, verse five. Y'all don't know your Bibles. I'm messing with you. I'm messing
with you. Titus three, five, not by works of righteousness,
which who have done we, but according to his mercy. Now listen to this. He saved us. by the washing of regeneration
and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly
through Jesus Christ, our Lord, that being justified by his grace,
not by the works of the law, not by decision for Jesus, not
by holding on and holding out. We were justified by grace. You
know what grace is, right? Unmerited favor. Demerited favor
is God bestowing upon you something that he wants to in spite of
who you are or what you did. Isn't that right? Listen to it
that that being justified by his grace. We should be made
the heirs Made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Isn't that good news? Remember now verse 5 it says
but according to his mercy he what he saved us go with me now
in your Bible to Jew chapter 1 this is a remarkable statement
in Jew chapter 1 Here's another good one in Jude chapter 1. This
here demonstrates how the root is upholding the branches and
not the branches the root. Jude opens up with a remarkable
statement concerning the purpose of God in eternity past and the
perfections of our redemption in the person of Christ in verse
1. Are we there, Jude? Jude 1 verse 1. Jude, the servant
of Jesus Christ. Do you guys see that? And brother
of James. You know what that means? Jude
was the brother of Jesus. But in his humility he didn't
even acknowledge his brotherhood. Do you know why? Because last
week we said it very plainly in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse
15. Paul says we know no man after
the flesh. We don't even know Jesus after
the flesh. So neither James nor Jude boasted
in the fleshly lineage of Jesus as being a blood descendant of
Abraham or a Jew. They merely acknowledged him
as their savior. Got it? And they were brothers
with him. Isn't that amazing? Very humbling. Listen to it though.
The servant of Jesus, the brother of James, to them that are sanctified
by who? Stop right there. Now, who sanctified
you? Now, if God sanctified you, that
means you didn't sanctify yourself. Isn't that right? Now watch this. Sanctified by God the Father
and preserved. You know what the word preserved
is? That's that old country term
for the apricots and the peaches. When they cooked them a long
time and put them in that jar, it's hot, right? With that water,
they put that lid on there and they twist that top, and they
knew it was sealed when they heard that top go, boop! Sealed
until the day of redemption. You know what that means? That
means there's no possibility of corruption, contamination,
or being spoiled. I was sealed in Christ by God
the Father. Now, if God sealed me, I'm secure.
Isn't that right? I like the way Jew preaches.
He opens up just getting at it, doesn't he? Sealed by God the
Father in Jesus. Now watch this. And called. And called. This is the gospel
call. The gospel is a call. When a
man or woman is saved, it's because they hear the call of the gospel.
Do you believe that? That's john chapter 5 verse 25.
Jesus said the hour is coming and now is when the dead shall
hear the voice of the son of god and they that hear shall
what live The gospel's a call But do you notice that there
were a bunch of things that transpired even before the call? By the
time god calls you he had already saved you preserved you and sanctified
you. Do you see that? In order to
keep you from boasting in anything that you do. The gospel is not
about what you do, but about what He did. Am I making some
sense? By the time the chosen sinner,
who's out there in the regions of the world, lost and hell bound,
hears the voice of Jesus say, come unto me in rest, Christ
has already accomplished their eternal redemption. They're now
being called into the blessed state of their eternal salvation. They don't. They're not called
to do something to get saved. They're being called to enter
into that salvation, which God has accomplished. Am I making
some sense? Very important. Called. The father sanctified
us and then he preserved us in Christ and then he called us.
I want you to see another passage that underscores this. Go with
me back to Second Timothy, chapter one. Second Timothy, chapter
one, Brother Randy. Trying to remember his real last
name. No, brother Randy, he's he's the morning commentator
for K-facts. Randy Brady. That's not his real
name. You know, they all have aliases.
And I know Randy. Randy's dying of mesothelioma
and he's dying. You can hear it in his voice.
He's withering away right now. But the Lord has so blessed him
and so filled him with his spirit that even as he's withering away,
he's happy in Christ. And over the years, Randy has
come to understand grace. We used to argue all the time,
you know, because just folk don't get it right, you know. And I'm
preaching this Christ is all and all is Christ and you didn't
do a thing. You know, that's not a common
message today. And so, Randy, he had the assignment by God
to put my program on every morning at 530, you know. And I used
to wonder, OK, is God going to get him? Here's one of the passages
that he has loved to remember rise and quote this here was
this week's passage in second Timothy chapter two if you guys
have been listening to the program this is the passage that he quotes
and he's got it now why because the Bible is very plain about
the way God saves are we there Second Timothy chapter one. I'm
going to read verse eight and then verse nine. Now watch this.
Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord,
nor of me, his prisoner. This is Paul speaking, but be
thou a partaker of the prosperity of the gospel. Is that what it
said? You better read your Bible, right? We celebrate your afflictions
in Christ. I'm in 2nd Timothy chapter 1 verse 9 2nd Timothy chapter 2nd 2nd Timothy
chapter 1 verse now are we there? Listen to it again. I always
put that little twist on it because all this prosperity preaching
that goes on today all this foolishness number foolishness nothing but
foolishness Listen to it be not out there for ashamed of the
testimony of our Lord and of me his prisoner But be thou a
partaker of the what afflictions of the gospel Afflictions of
the gospel the way, you know, your Christ is because you suffer
for Christ Be thou a partaker of the afflictions
of the gospel According to the power of God. Do you know without
the power of God you can't suffer for Christ? You won't suffer
for Christ You ready for it who had saved us who saved us I the
antecedent to who is God. You know what the text says?
Be thou a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God who hath saved us. And then he called us. Told you,
he saved you before he called you. Isn't that right? Who called
us with a holy calling And then he explains it for the work mongers
because you know folks still thinking about why I helped him
Now watch this now who called us a court not according to our
words Got it Who have saved us and called
us with the holy calling not according to our works watch
this now but according to his own purpose grace now watch this
now which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began
do you know what God did before the world began he purposed to
save me and he provided everything he needed to save me and put
it in Christ and Christ became my surety for salvation what
that means is I had nothing to do with my salvation isn't that
what the text saying I love the way Paul preaches. He just preaches
straight gospel. Man gives no glory in this thing.
Before the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing
of our savior, Jesus Christ, who have abolished death. Isn't
that what he did at Calvary and brought life and immortality
To light, how? Through the gospel. This is what
I was saying at the beginning of our study. Without the preaching
of the gospel, there is no light. What sinners need to hear is
who Christ is, and what Christ did, who he did it for, and where
he is now. Once those things are preached
and expounded, then sinners see the light of life and immortality. Now the same makes sense when
Jesus said in John chapter 14, verse 6, I am the way. the truth and the life. No one
comes unto the Father but by me. Am I making some sense? Yes. See, the eyes of the sinner must
be fixed on Christ. Where unto I am appointed a preacher
and an apostle and a teacher of the Gentiles. Now, go with
me back to your text. In fact, go to Hebrews chapter
6, verse 13 through 20. I want to look at that briefly.
We've got about 15 more minutes. Now, for those of you who have
come in late, we are dealing with the concept of the root
upholding the branches and not the branches the root that's
what Paul is saying in Romans chapter 11 that the branches
whom we are never ever have a place of boasting in our salvation
because we don't uphold the tree the tree upholds us and we are
merely partakers of of a plan of redemption that God purposed
before the world began, perfected in Christ, and is performing
through the Holy Ghost in the life of men and women today.
We're just partakers. Enjoy the ride, because God's
saving the people for himself, and God can't lie, and God can't
change, and God can't what? Fail. This is what Jesus meant
in John chapter 12 when he says, in John chapter 10, I'm sorry,
My sheep hear my voice and I give them eternal life and they shall
never perish Neither shall anyone pluck them out of my hands My
father is greater than I and no one can pluck them out of
his hands. That's security, isn't it? I'm
in Hebrews chapter 9. I want a Hebrew 6. I'm sorry
Hebrew 6. I want to start at verse 13 in Hebrew 6 this is
God's promise to Abraham that Concerning everything that's
happening right now. This is a March what? 13 2009 what's happening right
now is a consequence of God's faithfulness to Abraham right
now men and women you and I Sinners from every nation kindred tribe
and tongue are made to be partakers of the promise of Abraham because
of the faithfulness of God Am I making some sense? Now watch
what it says in verse 13 of chapter 6. Are we there? For when God
made promise to who? Because he could swear by no
greater, he swear by himself. That's good, isn't it? Now watch
this now. See, God is awesome. He's absolutely
awesome because he knows you and I are fickle. I told you
the only thing we do good is sin. I hope you've learned yourself
by now. Even your faith is so weak and so feeble. If God doesn't
continually affirm your faith, it would wither to nothing. So
what God has had to do for his people, even all the way back
to Abraham, is not only give him the promise, but swear by
himself because he could swear by no greater. Now isn't God
condescending when he swears? See, because when God swears,
that's it, it's done. Now listen to the language. Listen
to it. Because he could swear by no
greater, he swear by himself saying, surely blessing I will
bless you and multiplying I will multiply you. Has he done that?
He's done that in that he sent his son Jesus Christ and because
of Christ Abraham is blessed with a multitude of children,
isn't he? I'm Abraham's son. You're Abraham's son. We're Abraham's
son if we believe the gospel, isn't that right? Abraham's blessed.
He's in glory rejoicing right now saying, Father, you were
right. You're right. Every time I turn around, here
come one of my children up to glory hanging out with me. Is
this it? And then father said, no, boy,
we got a whole lot more to go. Whole lot more to go. Whole lot
more to go. My sons and my daughters, my
great-grandchildren and my great-great-great-grandchildren, if we believe the gospel. Do
you believe that? Listen, and so after he had patiently
endured, he obtained the promise, for men verily swear by the greater,
an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all what? You
know what that means? On a carnal earthly level, in
the legal system, when men swear, that ends all arguments. That
just ends it. They sign on the dotted line.
They raise their hand, put their hand on the Bible. I swear. And
you're good to go. That's how covenants were established
long ago. And what the Hebrew writer said is once they've done
that, that's it. That's as high as you can go. You don't even
argue about it anymore. What God is saying to his people,
don't doubt my purpose of redemption. Isn't that what he's saying?
Why would you and I toil and strive as to whether or not God
is both able and willing to save his people since he swore to
do it? Do you see? Listen to the language. Verse
17, wherein God willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs
of promise the immutability of his counsel. I want those big
words. If we went to government schools,
we probably don't know it. The word immutability simply
means unchangeable, unchangeable. It's like the law of the meats
in the purge. Once that law was written in
stone, that was it. And when God says a thing, that's
it. God's not a man that he should
lie, nor the son of man that he should repent. Isn't that
right? If he's spoken, he'll make it good. If he's declared
it, he'll do it. Isn't that what the Bible says? God plainly says,
as I have thought, so shall it be. Whatsoever the Lord desires,
that is what God does. He brings to pass, the Bible
says, all his counsel. Now that's the God of the Bible.
And our assurance, children of God, is not based upon our maturity
or our wisdom or our strength, but God's faithfulness. Isn't
that right? God's faithfulness that by two
immutable things in which it was impossible for God to what?
we might have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay
upon the hope set before us which hope we have as an anchor of
the soul both sure and steadfast and which enters into that which
is within the veil what is that hope you know what that hope
is the promises of god the text tells us that the hope is the
promise that god gave us that he shall save us and that hope
has fled into that which is within the veil where our forerunner
is. You guys see that? Look at verse
20. Whether the forerunner is entered
for us. Do you see that? Even Jesus made
a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. We talked
about this years ago. Go with me back to Romans chapter
11 so I can break this open. Do you know what a forerunner
is? A forerunner is somebody that
goes ahead of you as your representative to establish a place for you
so that when you get there, you have a right to get in. And when
the Bible says that Jesus Christ is the forerunner, what that
means is my representative is already in glory. See, when I
get there, they got to let me in. You know why? Because he
represents me. and see the security of my salvation
is this. Christ is already there. That
means I can't fail. Am I making some sense? Yeah,
you better rejoice in that. What's that? I can't hear you. Christ is the first fruit. There's
no doubt about that. Christ is the first fruit. Going
back to our text. A couple more things. Let's just deal with
some things. We're in our outline here. We're gonna be done here in a
moment. For those of you are late. I'm sorry if you don't
have an outline. We're all out We're at verse 18 and we're dealing
with verse 19 verse 18 Paul warned both not against the branches
But if you boast you do not bear the root, but the root bears
you We've been arguing that in terms of the nature of the gospel
Christ is the one that upholds us in that right now Listen to
verse 19. You will say then this is Paul speaking to the Gentiles
the branches Were broken off. Who are these branches the Jews? that i might be what do you see
that park it right there we're gonna end that with end it with
this tonight verse 19 in your outline opens up by saying a
flawed conclusion right you know what it said a flawed conclusion
i want to help you with this this is going to be very practical
and very good paul anticipated that the gentiles might very
well conclude that because god had cut off most of the Jewish
nation, not all of them, right? But most of them. And then open
the doors wide to the Gentiles. This is the book of Acts, isn't
it? Paul said to the Jews, lo, I turn to the Gentiles. They
will certainly hear me. And they did, didn't they? Paul
said, however, here, it is quite possible that you could draw
a faulty conclusion in suggesting that because the natural branches
were cut off It is for that reason God engrafted you. Now to draw
that conclusion would indeed be to establish what was called
in a derogatory fashion, replacement theology. Isn't that right? But
we have already said we do not hold to replacement theology
because, and I want you to get this, God didn't cut Israel off
in order to bring the Gentiles in. There are three things that
men do that are very faulty. Three things they do. We are
guilty of three things, and they all begin with the word pride.
It's in your outline, over back at verse 18a. I'm gonna use this
in close. I want you to get this. You see
where it says R, R, F, and G? I wonder if any of you guys figured
that out, what those are. Anybody figure that out? Now
watch this. All three of them have to do
with pride. We're gonna deal with this right here. It certainly
would be proud and arrogant and assumptive for the Gentiles to
have assumed that because the Jews were cut off, that's the
reason why God grafted them in, right? Then God would be a respecter
of persons, wouldn't he? There are three sorts of pride
that dominate the whole human race. And pride has nothing to
do with the gospel at all. You can't have a doctrine that
is rooted in any pride and call it grace. You guys got that? Let me help you right here, because
we're going to close. There are three forms of pride that the
human race engages in all the time. The first one is the pride
of race. Just listen, the pride of race. Israel made that mistake. We
be Abraham seed. We be Abraham seed. We're not
like the Gentile dogs. Pride of race. Y'all familiar
with that one? Pride of race? Black folk got
that problem too, don't they? And white folk too, don't they?
Every culture does. Am I telling you the truth? You
know what trips me out? You have, um, South Koreans hate
no North Koreans. You have certain color Hispanics
hate. No other color Hispanics. Isn't
that crazy? You got the who tools killing
the tootsies and they both African. Isn't that crazy? This goes on
all around the world. This is a madness. in the genetic
makeup of human beings because we've never found our true identity. And so out of an insecurity,
we think that we are better than the other. Am I making some sense? This is called pride of race. And this is why I reject the
doctrine that Israel is some special group. I reject it. They are no different than the
rest of the human race. We are all sinners under the
wrath of God in need of salvation, which comes through one person,
and that's Christ. That's why I destroy the whole
notion of race. Race is a myth. There are distinct
ethnic groups. There's only one race, and that's
the human race, and it's the fallen race, and they need the
new race, which is in Christ. Am I making some sense? If any
man be in Christ Jesus, he's what? And when you start to allow
your ethnicity to emerge and transcend and become special,
you will always lose the gospel. It always happens. That's why
we had these black Jesuses hanging up on the... I remember the first
time I saw a black Jesus up in the black church. I said, what
are you doing? Well, all they were doing was
reacting to the white Jesus in the white churches. And I said
to myself, now, if I go to the Mongolians, will I see a Mongolian
Jesus? You know, shouldn't I see a Mongolian
Jesus? The flaw with that all is that
Jesus is neither black nor white nor Mongolian or Jew. He's God. And you've got the wrong Jesus
when you confine him to this ethnic paradigm. It's complete
idol worship. That's right. That's right. That's
right. 100%. Now that's absolutely right.
So the first one is the pride of race. The second one is the
pride of faith. Keith, I don't need your help. Cause you already know. And when
you know, don't say it. But a lot of times you guys be
quoting before people because you know it. You guys should
just give them the benefit of the doubt of learning. So I'm
ready to check you out right now. Keep your mouth shut. Pride
of faith. You know what the proverb says
in Proverbs chapter 30, verse 20. Listen to this. This is concerning
the godly woman. And you guys, you guys know that
there's a radical difference between a godly woman and a religious
woman, right? Keep telling you that there's
a radical difference. Proverbs chapter 30 verse 20. It talks
about the virtuous woman, right? That virtuous woman in Proverbs
chapter 30, chapter 31, I'm sorry. Proverbs 31 verse 20. The Proverbs
31 woman. Ain't no woman on planet Earth
can do what that woman did. So I'm gonna let y'all off the
hook right now. You free. You free. Now you can take a
shot at it. You can take a shot. Go for it,
okay? Go for it. But you new couples,
if your husband gonna beat you upside the head with Proverbs
31, tell him you do Proverbs 31 first and then I'll do it. Proverbs 31 is sweet. And there
are a lot of things that are noble in Proverbs 31. And every
godly woman should seek to aspire to some of those things. But
the picture scenario of Proverbs 31 is really about the church
of Jesus Christ. Are you hearing me? It's about
the church of Jesus Christ. But now this is how Proverbs
31 verse 20 goes. It says, favor is deceitful. And the Hebrew word there for
favor means the skill and cunning of being charming. You know how
a woman can be charming, manipulative, cunning, subtle and slick, coercive
with her beauty? Y'all don't know nothing about
that, do you? It's deceitful. That's what it
says. It's deceitful. And then you
know what else Solomon said? Beauty is vain. He says at the end of the day,
neither one of those does the Lord look upon. God doesn't care
about your beauty. And he doesn't care about your
ability to manipulate people with your beauty. Do you hear
me? He just doesn't. That's why I
say it's a radical difference between a godly woman and a religious
woman. Radical difference. Radical difference. God looks for the hidden man
of the heart. as 1st Peter chapter 3 and that's 2nd Timothy 1st
Timothy chapter 2 God's interested in that heart that is humble
before him and submissive to him he deals with the beauty
of the heart and do you know it doesn't matter how many men
praise you if God doesn't praise you you're nothing are you hearing
me so very important to know Favor
is deceitful and beauty is vain. But the woman that fears the
Lord, she shall be praised. Isn't that what the Bible says?
There you go. So now you have a target, ladies,
and that is God's honor. And I'm here to tell you, the
woman that honors God, godly men will love you just because
of that. That's just how that goes. We love the fragrance of
godly sisters. Pride of race. Pride of face
and pride of grace is the last one. Pride of grace. Ain't nothing
more oxymoronic than pride of grace. The two are so mutually
exclusive. You can't mix the two together.
How can you be proud of grace? And yet some people are. Am I
making some sense? You can actually be proud of
the doctrine of grace. You can be proud that God saved
you. What the Bible says is you ought
to be humbly thankful that God saved you. Isn't that right?
If you're in Romans chapter 11, look at what it says in verse
20. Are we there? Well, because of unbelief. They were broken off. Do you
see that? Because the unbelief Israel was
broken off. Do you guys see that? Now watch
this. And you only stand by what? Be not high-minded, but fear. Isn't that good? So in your outline,
we say we are saved by what? Grace. We perish because of what? Sin. Why were they cut off? Unbelief. That's in your outline. You got it? See, this here is
so very important, I'm gonna close right here. You only go to heaven because
of the grace of God. but you go to hell because of
your sin. You got that? You go to heaven
because of God's grace. You don't go to heaven because
God cut somebody else off and put you in. And men and women
go to hell, not because God didn't save them by his grace, but because
of their sin. Are you hearing what I just said?
This is very important for you to know. So you don't get the
doctrine of election and predestination all discombobulated. Men go to
hell because of their sin. The wages of sin is what? But
they go to heaven because of God's grace. See, that's good
wisdom. That's good wisdom. That way
you don't confound what God's doing. Am I making some sense?
If I end up in hell, it's because of my sin. And if you end up
in hell, it's because of your sin. If you and I end up in hell,
it's because we don't believe God. And if we end up in heaven,
it's all God's doing. If I go to hell, it's all my
doing. If I go to heaven, it's all God's doing. Did you guys
get that? I'm going to say that one more
time. If I go to hell, it's because of me. If I go to heaven, it's
because of him. Got that? In because of him,
out because of me. You got to reduce it down to
a simplest form in the 21st century for government school educated
folks. In because of him, out because of me. And you know what
the Bible says? There is no boasting. No boasting. Let's close in prayer. Father,
we thank you for this time. We thank you for your word. We
thank you for your truth as it is in Christ. We thank you that
it levels everyone low. You plainly said it. Every mountain
shall be made low. Every valley lifted up. We thank
you. We thank you. for your grace,
your mercy in Christ. Spirit of God, do something for
us tonight. As we go our way, give us traveling
mercies. Take us home to our beds. Give
us rest, Lord, and strengthen us and prepare our hearts to
worship you on Sunday. You are worthy to be worshiped
and worthy to be praised and worthy to be exalted for all
that you've done to save us. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. God bless you.