God Is God

What are my favorite artists in contemporary Christian music is Stephen Curtis Chapman I've followed his music ever since his first album came out in 1987 and Just a wonderful deep artist who really communicates truths of scripture In his 2001 project entitled Declaration he had written a song called God is God and And it's so beautifully captures what Romans 9 is all about that I just want to read to you some of the lyrics of that song and The pain falls like a curtain on the things I once called certain and I have to say the words I fear the most I Just don't know And the questions without answers come and paralyze the dancer So I stand here on the stage afraid to move afraid to fall Oh, but fall I must on this truth that my life has been formed from the dust God is God and I am not I Can only see a part of the picture he's painting God is God and I am man So I'll never understand it all for only God is God And the sky begins to thunder and I'm filled with awe and wonder till the only burning question that remains is Who am I Can I form a single mountain take the stars in hand and count them? Can I even take a breath without God giving it to me? He is first and last before all that has been beyond all that will pass And then in these next words he takes them directly out of Romans 11 Oh how great are the riches of his wisdom and knowledge how unsearchable For to him and through him and from him are all things and Then he ends the song with the only proper response to that truth that God is God So let us worship before the throne of the one who is worthy of worship alone When I hear that song and I listen to it again several times yesterday just to get it in my mind I really think that that summarizes and and captures the essence of Romans chapter 9 Romans 9 is a very difficult passage It is not an easy one to think through to put together wrap our minds around to understand exactly what Paul is getting at But it is all about the sovereignty of God now I want to explain first of all what I mean by that term The sovereignty of God the fact that God is God simply by that term We mean that God is in control God is on his throne. He is in charge of the universe He is in control of everything that happens in this universe moving it even though we may not see how all the pieces fit together all the time He is moving it directly according to the fulfillment of his purpose and he's doing the same with us individually Just like Amber saying earlier God is putting all the pieces of the puzzle together in our lives Even though we don't always see how it's happening or why things happen Ultimately God's purpose is that we'd be beautiful like Christ that we'd be made into his image And so God is sovereign he is in control and what Paul is doing in Romans 9 is he saying that's the first part of the answer To how Israel fits into the plan of salvation or the gospel Paul is describing the gospel in the book of Romans salvation that comes down from God out of heaven to us Well the question is how does Israel fit into that? He's talked about the church and God's plan for his people and the Jew would ask how does Israel fit into that? What's happened to the Israel's God forgotten his promises to Israel and we saw last week that Paul says no God is not forgotten his promises Paul himself was deeply burdened that his own people come to know the Lord and He described how God was calling to himself people from Israel as a part of this great Body of people that he's saving in this day and age the church But in working out this purpose of his God is Sovereign he will do what is right and he will do what he chooses to do That's Paul's thrust in Romans chapter 9 But in the carrying out of God's purpose in the sovereign working of God God never violates human responsibility Because somehow God has built that into his purpose and plan and his sovereign purpose So in this chapter what we will see is that Paul Emphasizes God's sovereignty, but he also highlights man's responsibility We'll see that he highlights that at the end of the chapter both are important and What I hope to do this morning is not explain all the mysteries of God's mind But hope to put together what Paul is saying in Romans 9 and see if we can understand that Let's begin with God's sovereignty, which is the thrust of Paul's argument here versus 14 through 29 Romans chapter 9 verse 14. Are you ready? Hang on tight because here we go verse 14 What then shall we say is God unjust not at all now? You can tell we've jumped right into the middle of his arguments So we have to back up just a little bit to make sure we catch the train as it goes by What Paul is talking about here is the salvation of Israel and the fact that God is saving his people Even though as a nation they have been temporarily set aside during this age of the church And what he has said is I'm going to use a couple of Old Testament illustrations We saw this last week and one of those Old Testament illustrations of God doing a work among his people was Isaac and his two sons Jacob and Esau And what Paul said very strongly and very clearly was that God chose Jacob and did not choose Esau And he says very plainly that was not based on anything that they would do He says in fact that it was before they were born before they had had any opportunity to do anything good or bad God chose Jacob and did not choose Esau And and he says the reason for that in verse 11 was so that God's purpose and election might stand There can really be Not much doubt of what he's saying here God chose Jacob not based on what he saw Jacob would do good or bad in fact Jacob was pretty rotten His name means deceiver and he lived that way for the first 20 30 years of his adult life And so it was not because there was anything he saw in Jacob that was good It was just so that his choice and election might stand it was God's choice God made the choice So wait a second you mean God chose Jacob did not choose Esau in fact It's so strongly stated in verse 13 that Paul quotes Malachi one which says Jacob have I loved Esau have I hated And you have to understand that does not mean God has any ill will or bad feelings toward any human being including Esau That's a Hebrew manner of speech a Hebrew idiom from Old Testament thought Where choices were sometimes made in such clear terms that it is though one loved one and hated the other It's a choice one is chosen the other is not chosen one is chosen the other is rejected and That choice is sometimes described in these terms Jesus used the same terminology in Luke 14 when he said if you want to be my disciple You have to hate your father and mother hate your brothers and sisters hate even your own life Take up your cross and follow me Does he mean we should actually have ill feelings toward our parents? No, it was Jesus who condemned the Pharisees for not providing for their parents in their old age Jesus taught loving your parents caring for your family What he was doing was using that same Hebrew manner of speaking that the choice of Christ as your ultimate priority in life should be so strong your commitment to God is Prior to any other commitment in your life and it is so strong and so solid in your life that it is almost like the choice of saying I love God. I hate everybody else I mean it's just that kind of choice. I choose him as my ultimate priority my ultimate ultimate Love in life is the Lord That's what he's saying So having stated that so strongly He raises the question that we saw in verse 14 What shall we say then how are we going to respond to this purpose and election God choosing not based on what anybody would do But God just choosing how we respond to that is God unjust? The answer is the question not at all But what he is saying basically is he introduces this whole section on the sovereignty of God is Can we accuse God of being unjust unfair when he says I choose one I don't choose the other and The answer is not at all in fact the answer is so strong. We've seen these same words before back in chapter 6 and 7 Very strong statement which is translated several different ways and different translations the King James translates it God forbid Other translations new American standard may it never be or Absolutely not or as Phillips says in his translation What a ghastly thought Can we accuse God of being unfair because he does what he chooses to do? No never not at all what a ghastly thought Do we conclude that God is monstrously unfair and that's the the words Phillips uses in his translation never no What a ghastly thought we can't do that? So how do we deal with this whole issue of God's choice and purpose and election without saying well, that's not fair God's not fair God's not just to do that Paul says you cannot accuse God of being unjust and there are three reasons why and That's what he's gonna develop now through the rest of this chapter down to verse 29 Three reasons why we cannot accuse God of unjust or injustice in his choice First reason is God can do as he pleases God is God God can do as he pleases and That's what he says beginning in verse 15 for he says to Moses I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion That's it Now remember the context this quote comes out of Exodus 33 and it's right after History all had formed a golden calf and worshiped an idol while Moses was up on the mountain getting the law from God And when Moses comes down and sees what's happened he breaks the 10 commandments and and God says I'm just gonna destroy the nation of Israel I'm gonna start over with you Moses and Moses goes back up on the mountain and Praise that God will somehow have mercy on his people and God's answer is this right here I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I'll have compassion on whom I will have compassion Moses. It's my choice And what God did was he did show mercy and compassion on the nation of Israel He could have obliterated them at that point in history and That would have been just that would have been fair that would have been right But God chose to exercise mercy Now here's the point that so many people often forget Don't ever accuse God of injustice in what he does because if all of us got justice we'd all be in hell If if we all got justice if we want to plead God be just we God be fair we'd all be in hell But God in his grace and love says I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So God can do as he pleases in extending mercy and That's up to him But God can also do as he pleases in giving judgment and That's the next example from the Old Testament First of all we need to read verse 16. We didn't read that yet Paul says it does not therefore depend on God's desire or effort But on God's mercy how much clearer can that be God choosing to show mercy and compassion doesn't depend on what I do or what I will it depends on God It's his choice. It's his decision He will have mercy on whom he will have mercy and so that whole thing of God having mercy God showing compassion God saving us God not judging us that whole thing is not based on my desire or effort, but it's based on God's mercy. It's totally up to him So God can do as he pleases in giving mercy God can also do as he pleases in giving judgment Here's the next example for 17 with Pharaoh For the scripture says to Pharaoh I raised you up for this very purpose That I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth Now let's pause there and get what Paul saying Paul is saying remember Pharaoh God raised him up God put a man like Pharaoh with his distinct personality and nature God put a man like that on the throne for the particular time in Egypt that he wanted to deliver his people Because he knew exactly how that man would respond and so in God's own sovereignty He placed that man on the throne knowing how he would respond so that his name would be glorified in the delivering of his people They would be delivered out of Egypt It's not that Pharaoh was a puppet who had no choice in the matter Pharaoh did have choice in the matter But God knew the kind of man that Pharaoh would be and how he would resist everything that God was going to do And he chose that kind of man to put on the throne for this time so that he could show his glory and bringing his people out of the land That's what verse 17 is saying but look at verse 18 and this is this is a verse that has caused many people a lot of difficulty Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy and he hardens whom he wants to harden He did harden Pharaoh he had mercy on Israel and Paul's making the point very clearly God can do as he pleases if he chooses to have mercy That's his choice if he chooses to harden that's his choice Now let me back up a little bit here because some some folks have a lot of difficulty with that You mean God just says well, I want to harden you you're hardened No, not at all If you go back to the book of Exodus and read the story of the 10 plagues and God delivering his people from Egypt you'll find that In those chapters of Exodus from chapter 4 where God first announces his intention to Deliveries people when he first says to Moses I will harden Pharaoh's heart all the way through chapter 13 Where the whole thing is finished you'll find that the hardening of the heart is mentioned 20 times 20 times 10 times it is said that God hardened Pharaoh's heart Four times it is said that Pharaoh hardened his own heart Six times it is just said his heart was hardened or the people's Egyptians heart was hardened doesn't say who did it? It's just it was hardened So here's what a lot of people wrestle over Who hardened Pharaoh's heart first did he harden his heart first and then God said okay? I see what you're gonna do so I'll harden it or did God harden his heart first? Well the very first two times it's mentioned God tells Moses I will harden his heart Then when it begins to play out the next two times it's mentioned Pharaoh hardened his own heart and then it's said again God hardened his heart who hardened his heart first? I don't know and neither does anybody else That's not for you to figure out of for me to figure out that's why the Bible says both ways both are true Pharaoh hardened his heart he was not just a puppet on a string that was resisting the whole time saying oh God I don't want to play this part. I want to be saved. I don't want to do this but God will say no No, you're gonna be hardened. That's not the way it was Pharaoh hardened his own heart But also God hardened his heart you say I can't figure that out join the rest of us in the universe who can't figure out the mind of God Who said we were ever supposed to figure out everything in God's mind? We can't figure all that out What the Bible teaches is that Pharaoh had responsibility and he hardened his own heart and That God judicially hardened his heart the Bible does not make clear Who took the first move and so that's just left up for God to know? Don't try to push anything else on the text just take the text for what it says take the Bible for what it says It's not up to me to figure all that out now. I guarantee you this if you try to figure all that out God's sovereignty and man's Responsibility you try to figure it out in a neat little package you will fall into one of two errors If you put all the emphasis on God's sovereignty and his election and his purpose and election Then you will neglect That side of the scriptures which clearly talk about man's responsibility to choose And we'll see it later in this chapter If you put all the emphasis on man's Responsibility and say what was really because of man that God did this and take the responsibility and sovereignty away from God You will neglect a whole lot of scripture that talks about God's sovereignty you say well the hell I put it all together in my mind You're not supposed to Neither am I nobody is and when people try to figure it all out logically that's when we get in trouble That's when we fall off the cliff in one of two directions in theological error Simply believe what the Bible says It says both I can't figure it all out But neither am I the fourth member of the Trinity it wouldn't be a Trinity if there were four but I'm not God You're not God remember what Stephen Curtis Chapman said God is God Let him figure all that out I'm just gonna believe what the Bible says on both sides of this this issue God is sovereign and that is Paul's emphasis in this passage Later in the chapter he will emphasize human responsibility and We'll get to that in a moment but right now he's emphasizing God's sovereignty God can do as he pleases If he wants to have mercy that's totally his choice if he desires to harden someone's heart That's totally up to him and and here's the second part of this equation Not only can God do as he chooses, but we cannot question him We can't question him and that's what Paul goes on to say in verses 19 through 24 In fact Paul anticipates that some of you in this room this morning have got a question And this is the question. It's already written down in verse 19 your question right here in the Bible Do you know you made the Bible? Right here. Here's your question verse 19 one of you will say to me Then why does God still blame us for who resists his will? I mean if God decides who's gonna have mercy and who's gonna be hardened and that Eliminates our responsibility right Who can resist his will? And Paul's answer to that question that that we all have from time to time is not a neat little packaged explanation of how it all fits together I want you to notice his answer his answer in verse 20 Is this but who are you? Oh man to talk back to God? Shell what is formed say to him who formed it? Why did you make me like this? Paul's answer basically is we cannot question him God is God and not me and Some things I will never fully understand about his purposes and his works and what he's doing and what's in his mind and the grand Design for salvation and the universe all it. There's some things. I'm not gonna understand But I better be careful not to talk back to God and And to question him as though he's the one on trial and I'm trying to figure him out and make sure he understands what I need to know No, I love the way Kent Hughes describes this Kent Hughes was for many years the pastor at college church in Wheaton Illinois and he's in the process of writing a Commentary series with his good friend and one of my former professors Brian Chapel from Covenant seminary and Kent Hughes has said this about this passage. I love the way says it Tiny man whose life is just a breath whose history proves over and over that despite all his learning and technological Triumps he repeatedly makes colossal errors and Falls into unspeakable barbarisms this puny man Stands before the God who knows the end from the beginning who has never learned anything because he knows everything Who is the perfection of wisdom and love and talks back to him? How absurd We can't question him friend even though we may not understand everything he does or all that's in his mind we cannot question him God can do as he pleases he will have mercy on whom he will have mercy of the heart and whom he will harden That's his that's his business not mine But I can't question him I can't even understand him much less put him into in the in the box for questioning But Paul goes on to describe why we can't question God and he uses another Old Testament illustration the Potter and the clay Now here's another passage it confuses a lot of people. Let's just read it and see exactly what it says verse 21 Does not the Potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay key expression right there same lump of clay Some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use What if God choosing to show his wrath and make his power known Bor with great patience the objects of his wrath prepared for destruction What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy whom he prepared in advance for glory even us whom he also called not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles Now I understand we're playing some deep ground here But let's try to understand what Paul is saying in these verses Paul is saying that God is like a Potter The Potter has the right to decide what he'll do with the clay from the same lump he may choose out vessels to make of Objects of his mercy, he says vessels that he will make that were prepared in advance for glory And then from other parts of the lump same lump of clay he may make vessels for common use. That's the that's the Potter Now God is like the Potter But notice the expression changes a little bit in verse 22 God chooses to show his wrath make his power known he bears with great patience the objects of his wrath the objects of his wrath People that are gonna end up in hell basically are prepared for destruction that verse does not say that God prepared them for destruction You see another theological error that some people get into on the basis of this passage is that God chooses people to go to hell the Bible never teaches that I believe the Bible does teach in election that's quite clear That God chooses us to be his children. I don't understand how all that works out We'll see in a moment what we're supposed to focus on is our responsibility to hear the message and believe in Christ But the Bible does teach election you cannot get away from that if you're honest with the Scriptures But the Bible never teaches that God chooses anyone for hell what he is saying in this passage is there is a lump of clay And this lump of clay which represents mankind all of humanity All of whom are destined for wrath all of whom are destined for hell All of us in that lump of humanity come into this world because of Adam's sin with a sinful nature Separated from God and headed to hell so the whole lump of clay is already destined for destruction It's not like God has to choose someone out and say I'm gonna choose you for destruction We're all headed for destruction anyway We're all in the lump of clay of humanity that is already destined for destruction the Bible talks about already being under his wrath Okay, that's very clear God in his great mercy and love Reaches down to save some out of that lump of humanity all of whom are on their way to destruction and Thank God that he does Because if he didn't none of us would be saved He's making the point very clearly that it is God who initiates salvation it is God who begins the process It's not any spark of good in me It's not anything in me that makes me want to move toward God God himself begins the process And he reaches down in his love and his grace and out of that whole lump of mankind that is fitted for destruction prepared for destruction He chooses some out And he rescues Those who will be his children and that should cause us to praise him and bow on our face before him and seek to reach as many people as we possibly can with the gospel We cannot question him he's the potter and although we cannot understand all of his purpose and out fits together We'll praise God That if it were not for his grace all of us would be in that lump of clay that lump of mankind that would be on our way to hell So God can do as he pleases we cannot question him But here's the third answer Paul gives to can we accuse God of being unjust or unfair because he sovereign the third part of the answer is this God had warned of his purpose God had warned Israel of his purpose in the Old Testament and so in verses 25 to 29 Paul quotes for Old Testament passages About how God had warned the people of Israel that if they did not receive him they would be rejected and God would bring in another people called the Gentiles Now notice these warnings they had fair warning of what would happen verse 25 as he says in Hosea I will call them my people who are not my people I will call her my loved one who is not my loved one That's a that's an evidence of the fact that God would bring other people into the salvation fold Gentiles People who were in the Old Testament not called his people and people who were called his people Israel will be rejected He warned them ahead of time that would happen Second passage also from Hosea verse 26 and it will happen that in the very place where it was said to them You are not my people that's Israel They will be called sons of the living God. I think that's a If you go back to Hosea you'll see that it's a reference to the fact that even though God temporarily has set aside his people Israel He will save them again in the future. They will be called his people again And then he quotes from Isaiah verse 27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel though the number of the Israelites be like the sand of the sea Only the remnant will be saved For the Lord will carry out his sentence on earth with speed and finality Now if you study that quote from Isaiah What he's talking about is that although the majority of the nation will be set aside because they rejected Christ He is still calling out a remnant of Jews Individual Jews who are trusting Christ and are being brought into the church That's the remnant he's talking about here. That's the remnant that was prophesied in Isaiah So in other words, he's warned them ahead of time that they could be set aside as a nation if they didn't trust their Messiah Jews would be brought into his place of blessing But they would be restored at some point in the future and until that happens Individual Jews a remnant would be called out to be saved even during this church age that was all foretold in the Old Testament Verse 28 or 29 Fourth quote also from Isaiah It is just as Isaiah said previously unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants We would have become like Sodom we would have been like Gomorrah In other words God still has a purpose for his people Israel He is even now calling out individual Jews to be saved and become a part of the church and Someday he will restore them as a nation We'll get to that in chapter 11 when he describes when that will happen in his millennial kingdom You say okay, wow John this is this is pretty deep stuff here and this is we're plowing some deep ground I understand that so what I want to do at this point and summarizing this whole emphasis on God's sovereignty that God can do as he pleases we cannot question him But he had warned Israel ahead of time what he was going to do In summarizing all this let me make some practical applications for us. What does all this mean to us? There are four practical applications from this Passage that I would like to to make very briefly one is that God is sovereign God is sovereign. He is in control over world affairs and over our lives God is in control He will eventually bring all things together to accomplish his purpose For this world and in your life and mind God is in control. Don't doubt him on that. He is sovereign Second practical application Salvation is of God Verse 16 makes it clear that salvation is not anything I do it doesn't depend on my desire effort, but it depends on God's mercy Salvation is a work of God God is the one who must save us. You cannot do anything to save yourself Paul makes that abundantly clear in in Titus chapter 3 and verse 5 when he says he saved us Not because of righteous things we had done But because of his mercy Okay, it's not because of what you or I do it's not because of who you and I are it's not because we're so good God looked down and said you know there's someone worth saving No We are all in that lump of mankind Destined in rebellion for hell and God saved us by his mercy. How did he do it? He saved us through the washing of rebirth at salvation. That's the new birth and Renewal by the Holy Spirit That's the work of the Holy Spirit regenerating us getting us new life when we trust Christ to save you So Paul's point basically is salvation is a work that God does not you you don't save yourself You can't do enough good stuff to get yourself to heaven God saves you and he's made it clear that he does it through faith in Jesus Christ now here's the third practical application If you resist God's offer of salvation your heart will become hardened If you resist God's offer of salvation your heart will become hardened Pharaoh resist resisted his heart was hardened it does not matter Whether Pharaoh initiated that or God initiated that it's not for us to try to figure that out The point is this if you reject Christ your heart will be hardened and The longer you reject him the harder your heart will get and the less sensitive it will be to the the gospel and to the grace and mercy of God That's a warning That's a warning that when you hear the gospel there will never be a better time to trust Christ in right now Because if you reject him and walk out once again without trusting Christ your heart gets a little harder and a little harder and you become more blind To the things of God So if you reject the gospel salvation your heart will become hardened and The fourth practical application I would make is this God warns us of his purpose in the word God warns you of his purpose in the word he has made it very clear He's given you and me warnings Like the two we're gonna put on the screen John 318 Whoever believes in him is not condemned But whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they've not believed in the name of God's one and only son Okay, what is the issue here? It is not figuring out the mind of God That's not the issue the issues have you believed in Christ as your savior? If you have not believed in him you are already in that lump of mankind that's condemned you don't have to do anything To go to hell You're already headed that direction It's the one who believes in Jesus who is not condemned So he warns us believe in Christ if you don't you're already condemned and And in John 336 you reinforces it with these words whoever believes in the Sun has eternal life But whoever rejects the Sun notice it's not in figuring out God's mind and purpose It's if you reject the Sun that's the issue you will not see life for God's wrath Notice remains on them In other words, you're already a part of that lump of humanity that's condemned under God's wrath If you trust in Christ you are rescued from that if you reject Christ you stay in that lump of mankind that is Headed toward destruction in the lake of fire That's the clear teaching of the Bible and it's all based on whether or not from our perspective It's all based on whether or not you trust Christ or reject him. That's exactly what those verses say God's given you fair warning He's given you warning that if you trust Christ you're okay if you don't You're already condemned and you will stay under God's wrath So he's given us fair warning Now Paul is saying God in his sovereignty It's gonna do what he's gonna do with this room. He warned them about it, but he's gonna do he can do as he pleases We cannot question him But he's warned us ahead what he's gonna do and we have a choice to make and that brings us to the other side of the coin You see there is another side of this truth and that is our responsibility I've already hinted at it But now Paul will develop it in the last three or four verses of this chapter Because there are two strands of this truth friend don't miss this Yes, Paul is emphasizing God's sovereignty his purpose and election his choice and he can do as he chooses But the Bible also emphasizes our responsibility that we have a responsibility to trust Christ and to choose him as our Savior I love what our be kiper who used to teach it Calvin seminary and Grand Rapids What he said about these two strands of truth He gave this illustration of God's sovereignty and human responsibility. He said I likened them to two ropes Now get this picture two ropes going through two holes in the ceiling and Over a pulley above Okay, got the picture If I wish to support myself by them I must cling to them both if I cling only to one and not the other I go down Now this is a strong Calvinist saying this okay someone who believes Very strongly in election and predestination and even limited OK, a strong Calvinist saying this but he's got the right perspective on the balance here He says I read the many teachings of the Bible regarding God's election predestination his chosen and so on I read also the many teachings regarding whosoever will may come and urging people to exercise their responsibility as human beings these seeming contradictions cannot be reconciled by the puny human mind Please remember that if your puny human mind tries to reconcile them You'll fall off the cliff in one of two directions that I've already talked about you will neglect a portion of what the Bible teaches So here's what he said he did I Clinged to both ropes fully confident that in eternity I will see that both strands of truth are after all of one piece I'll get to see how they cross the pulley in heaven Now my friend that's the right balance to have I cannot escape without without denying a portion of scripture I cannot escape what the Bible says about God's sovereignty and his purpose in the election that is clear God will do as he pleases I have to leave that up to him But I also cannot be true to the scriptures and avoid what the Bible says about my responsibility and your responsibility To choose Jesus Christ as my savior and your savior And that's what he focuses on in the last four verses by talking about the stumbling of Israel. Let's look at it quickly Verse 30 what shall we say then that the Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have obtained it a Righteousness that is by faith But Israel who pursued a law of righteousness has not attained it and this is the great irony that in the Old Testament the people of God were Is it was Israel and Here they are out Outside the family of God they've not attained righteousness in the Old Testament The Gentiles were not the chosen people of God and now here they are in the New Testament receiving righteousness and Paul says How ironic that would be that Israel would not be saved but Gentiles are and Obviously those as we saw last week individual Gentiles who trust Christ Why is that so? Notice he says in verse two why not why hasn't Israel obtained this and he gives two reasons number one They stumbled over the principle of faith They stumbled over the principle of faith. He says here's the reason why they're not saved Here's the reason why they're not righteous because they pursued it not by faith, but as it were by works They didn't realize that salvation is through faith and notice he doesn't say anything about God's sovereign purpose here That's not the issue the issue as far as you are concerned and I'm concerned is have I trusted Jesus as my savior Have I realized Jesus died for me and have I placed my faith in him if I'm doing anything on my own to try to get to heaven I'm gonna miss it. I won't get there and that's what Israel stumbled over they stumbled over the principle of faith They needed to trust Jesus as a savior and they didn't do it as a nation And so that's the reason why they've stumbled they stumbled over the principle of faith, but they also stumbled over the person of Christ Verse 32 into the verse they stumbled over the stumbling stone and notice That's in quotation marks because it's a direct reference to the Old Testament That was a familiar concept every Jew stumbling stone and here it is Straight out of Isaiah in verse 33 as it is written see I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall And the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame Here's Paul's point this is the point of Isaiah in in the two passages in Isaiah that that have this passage Have this verse and And that is this God sent his son the Lord Jesus Christ to be our savior and If Israel had accepted him as their king and their Messiah and their savior they would have been saved as a nation they would have been saved But when they because they were so insistent on working their own way to heaven when they saw that I must place my faith In this man He's not even a mighty conqueror of the Roman Empire is coming to lay his life down He's dying on a cross you kidding me and they stumbled over that they were offended by that And so they stumbled over the fact that salvation must be through someone else and I can't do it on my own You see religion makes you very proud Religion makes you feel like you can get there on your own and So you stumble over the simple truth that you cannot save yourself and you must get to heaven through the work of another through Jesus That's what Israel stumbled over the person of Christ But notice how the verse ends the one who rests on this stone In other words the one who places his faith or her faith on this stone as a foundation Doesn't stumble over the stone, but they'll never be ashamed and that's talking about future judgment When you stand before God you're you'll stand before him with your sins forgiven and Unashamed because your faith is in Christ your foundation stone not the stumbling stone Choices up to you my friend No, don't ask me to explain all the mysteries of the mind of God I can't do that neither can anyone else even people who claim to be able to do it What we can do is recognize that as far as you and I are concerned Jesus came to die for all of us and we have a responsibility to recognize that and trust him as our Savior And we also have a responsibility to take the gospel to everyone we possibly can passionately Seeking to reach as many people with the gospel as we can God has never told you in the Bible to try to figure out his mind his purpose in the election He's never told you to try to wrap your mind around that and figure it out You simply accept what the Bible says about it and go on But you know you've got a responsibility to trust Jesus as your Savior and we also have a responsibility to take the gospel to everybody If I could summarize this whole passage this way I would say it this way if you die unsaved and spend eternity in hell It will be because you rejected Christ That's exactly what he's saying versus 30 to 33 why did Israel? Get rejected by God because they stumbled over the principle of faith and they stumbled over the person the Savior It was their responsibility and you have a responsibility to trust Christ God never tells you to try to figure out election He doesn't tell me to do that as a preacher Try to figure out who should be saved and who shouldn't that's never my responsibility I love reading this week about Chuck Swindall He was describing in his excellent commentary insights on Romans How early in his ministry he struggled with this he was an intern at Penitula Bible Church in California with Ray Stedman It was a great great pastor and He was struggling with his whole concept of God's sovereignty and Ray in that they were visiting one day in the car Ray Stedman turned to him and said Chuck Why are you why are you struggling so much with God's sovereignty and Chuck kind of looked out the wind and bid his lift and said I'm afraid it will make me passive that I won't want to witness to people. I won't want to have an evangelistic fervor and Ray Stedman said Chuck you ought to remember what Charles hadn't spurgine said spurgine was a great Baptist preacher of the late 1800s in London Here's what spurgine said Spurgine said if and I've got to find it here if God painted a stripe down the back of the elect I'd Spin my days walking up and down the streets of London lifting up shirt tails But because he said whosoever will may come I preached the gospel to everyone and rely on him to lead those to faith who are his Now that's the balance I don't understand or even know God's purpose and election is Paul describes it clearly in this passage I don't understand that but I'm not supposed to try to figure that out all I'm supposed to try to figure out is people need to hear about Jesus And I'm going to get the gospel to as many of them as we possibly can and God never tells you to figure out you know election God just says you need to understand Jesus died for your sins now Will you trust him as your savior? Because here's what the Bible says to you If you don't know Jesus here's what the Bible says to you John chapter 1 verse 12 Yet to all who did receive him to those who believed in his name he gave the right to become children of God Acts chapter 16 verse 31 when the Philippian jailer said to Paul and said is what must I do to be saved? What was the answer? Well, you got to figure out the mind of God to figure out all these election and all that? No, that's not what Paul said Paul simply said believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved Wasn't Paul's business to figure out God's purposes in regard to that Philippian jailer wasn't the Philippian jailers Purpose to figure out God's purpose and what God have done in eternity past It was simply believe on the Lord Jesus Christ you trust him as your savior You'll be saved and that's what I say to you today Stop trying to figure out the mind of God Just realize Jesus died for you on the cross and trust him as your savior That's all God asked of you and me Will you do that? Will you do that? Remember if you don't if you don't you're getting harder by the day Hardness of heart is setting in Let's pray together Father Help us to always keep the balance of your word To understand that we have a responsibility to trust Jesus as our savior And I pray for anyone who may be here today without the savior that they would recognize their need of Christ and trust him For it's in his name we pray