 So let's begin here in chapter 9 of the book of Romans. I'll begin reading at verse 1. We'll read to verse 5. And as I mentioned, I have prepared the entire chapter, but as the Spirit leads and time permits, I'll do my best to get to as far as I can, hopefully the whole chapter. So beginning at verse 1, reading to verse 5, Romans 9, Paul says, I tell the truth in Christ. I'm not lying. My conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart, for I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises of whom are the fathers and from whom according to the flesh, Christ came who is overall an eternally blessed God, the eternally blessed God, amen. And so Paul, as we've concluded in chapter 8 in verses 38 and 39, you remember Paul had just closed that particular portion of his letter with encouragement. He had said, I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And so he's closing with these tremendous words of encouragement concerning the love of God and our relationship with him. And now in this section, and it's a different, it's leading into something a bit different, he's going to be sharing with us concerning God and what are called his sovereign choices. So at the time of this writing, God had begun working with Gentiles. And because of this, people were beginning to ask, has God abandoned his work with the Jews? So the answer is going to be found in what is called the sovereignty of God. The word sovereign speaks of the one who is the supreme ruler. And so God is that supreme ruler and he always works according to his own plans. That's why he's sovereign. He makes decisions on his own. Man does not tell him what to do. Now we know that God, the Bible reveals to us that God has created everything that exists outside of himself. So as a creator, he can do whatever he pleases because everything belongs to him like it says in Psalm 24 verse one, the earth is the Lord's and everything in it, the world and all who live in it. Everything belongs to God. Daniel 435, all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing he does according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. And none can stay his hand or say to him, what are you doing? Even though a lot of us do in our prayers or in our concerns will say, what are you doing? Well the answer to that is none of us really have the right or ability to ask such a question. And so we're going to be looking at his sovereign choices in chapter nine. Now he begins in verses one and two by saying, I tell you the truth in Christ and I'm not lying because my conscience is bearing witness with me. So he's saying I'm telling you the truth in Christ. Notice how he emphasizes the fact that he's not lying, that's important. He's making it clear that he's not preaching insincerely. He's not giving messages with insincere motives. He knows the effective witness originates in the motive of the heart so he begins with a sincere desire to glorify God. You see there are those who would question his motives as he's taken this message of the gospel out to the world. There are those who are beginning to say during the time of the writing that he's actually attempting to undermine the law and to replace Moses with himself. And so this could, there's nothing that could be further from the truth in this because he's saying it. He's saying I tell you the truth in Christ, I'm not lying. My conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit. He's saying my motives are pure. I'm not moving in an insincere direction. In 2 Corinthians he had told the Corinthians in chapter 4 verse 2 this. He said we have renounced the hidden things of shame. Not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. We've renounced the hidden things of shame. We don't walk in craftiness and we don't handle the word of God with deceit. We're manifesting ourselves in sincere, with sincerity. And so my desire is to see Israel come to faith in their Messiah. Now he says in verse 2 that I have, he says I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. So when he says I have great sorrow, sorrow is speaking of something not just a light, you know, I'm bummed out, I'm feeling bad. It's a consuming grief in pain. It's an all consuming grief and an all consuming pain. He's saying I have such a great desire to see my brethren saved and we'll see this clearly in a moment that is breaking my heart because so many have rejected Jesus Christ. I chose to entitle this particular installment of our study, The Heart of Evangelism. Because if you have a desire to see your friends and family, especially beginning with your family saved, then I would have to say to you that that's the kind of love that motivates you to pray for and share with those whom you love. That's what motivated me and I won't go into any testimony with you other than to say it was that kind of motivation. The knowledge that my mom and my dad, my sisters and my ugly brother were gonna go to hell. That's the fact. And so, he got saved, but he never got any better looking. But that's a different story. Never, never give up on praying for your family that's lost. Never give up, never give up. Because there are so many stories and testimonies of people who on their death bed came to faith in Christ. So never give up, just hold fast and seek the Lord. And when given opportunity, share with him. You see, this is what motivated Paul, his desire to see his brethren according to the flesh saved. To see the nation of Israel come to faith in Messiah. It's this kind of love for those people that consumed his life. And it was that kind of love that drove him on. Their salvation and everything to him. And he wasn't gonna give up on them. And it's that kind of love that moves our hearts. And it's that kind of love that some people can even say has resulted in tears. There are times that you, perhaps I have, in the past especially, I've been so grieved over my family who didn't know the Lord at that time or a friend who doesn't know the Lord that he drives you to tears. The Psalmist in Psalm 126 verses 5 and 6 says it like this, Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing shall doubtless come again with rejoicing and bringing his sheaves with him. Salvation very often, the seeds of salvation are very often watered with tears. And so as your heart is broken and you desire to see people come to faith in Christ and you're willing to even weep over them, God has a way of honoring such tears. You see, he loves his brethren according to the flesh. But it's his experience that the message that he's bringing to them is being rejected. And sometimes the rejection was humiliating. Sometimes in the case of the Apostle Paul, it was not just emotionally grieving. It was actual physical pain. He said in 2 Corinthians 11 verse 24 from the Jews, from the Jews, five times I received 40 stripes minus one. We read of the scourging of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the pain it was a living death to be beaten to a pulp in a literal sense. To be taken and beaten and he's also beaten with rods. He'd gone through intense physical pain. Jesus went through it one time and that's terrible in and of itself. But he says five times I received 40 stripes minus one. He had been beaten severely many times. So his experience is not just rejection and humiliation and not simply the grieving. It's also physical pain. And so effective ministry begins with a concern for the lost and a desire to honor God. So Paul begins by testifying to his constant sorrow at Israel's rejection of their Messiah. The majority of the Jews rejected Messiah and to this day still do through spiritual blindness. And so that causes him sorrow. It causes him sorrow because he loves his Jewish kinsmen. You see, after he was saved, Paul would first preach to Jews. He would enter a town, a village. Immediately he'd go to the Jews. When he was saved, he first went to the brethren, his Jewish brethren. You see it in the book of Acts in chapter nine, for example, right after he was saved. It says in Acts nine, verse 20, immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. Acts 13.5, when Barnabas and Paul arrived in Salamis, they preached the Word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. He would go to the Jew first and also the Gentile. So his greatest desire was that his kinsmen, according to the flesh, would receive Messiah. And the common response was rejection. And that caused sorrow in his heart. Incidentally, I don't even know what the proper word is anymore. There's so many words that you used to describe it, whatever cultural, ethnic, whatever you want to call it, whatever your background may be. And I don't think it's wrong at all for you to have a deep sorrow and pain in your heart for people that are of your own cultural background. Sometimes people think that's racism. I don't believe that it is. I believe that's a love that you have for the people that you're part of. There's nothing wrong with that. It's not a greater love, I would hope, than your love for Jesus. Our love for Jesus is the number one thing, and that's why it doesn't matter whether somebody is a Jew or a Gentile. Gentile, it doesn't matter. That doesn't matter at all. But at the same time, you may have a sense of kinship with somebody from a particular culture that you're very familiar with because it's your own. Praise the Lord. The Lord put that in your heart. Paul had a love for the Jews, and he wanted them to get saved. Now that didn't mean that he didn't love Gentiles. It simply means that he wanted to see his kinsmen according to the flesh saved. And I have a similar kind of thing. I love people in general. I hope this church knows and believes that it's true. But I also have a burden in my heart when I'm speaking in Mexico to the Mexican pastors. I have a kinship with them, a love for them. And I think that's a good thing. I think God honors that, and I think we should have that. If you're a person who loves your Irish, you love Irish people, bless the Lord. Go to Ireland, take me with you. Never been, love to do it. You know, we'll kiss the Blarney stone or whatever. You will have a great time. But you know, it's OK, because I think that we have to understand that I don't think we ever ought to put our ethnicity above what it means to be a believer. But there's nothing wrong at the same time with loving the people that God has given you and blessed you to be to be part of. That's OK, too. And I see that in the life of Paul. I don't believe racism has any part in the body of Christ. But I do know that you can love people that are much like yourself, and that's OK. So he says, I have sorrow and continual grief in my heart. I love them deeply. Sometimes we can take rejection personally. And as a result of that, we become bitter towards people. Paul reacted to rejection by loving them even more. Notice what he says in verse three. He says, I could wish that I myself were a curse from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen, according to the flesh. I love my fellow Jews. I have a tremendous burden, he's saying, for them. And I would exchange my life in Christ for them to have life in Christ. Now, I could never say that. I could never say that. You know, I would give up my salvation so you could be safe. Nah, no, I'll pray that you're saved. If you're not, what can I say? I prayed. So that's always humbled me. That really has. That's always humbled me. I would give up my salvation so you could know Jesus Christ. What a tremendous love, what a sentiment he had. It was this passionate love that made him the great evangelist. There was a Scottish reformer, they called him, in the 1500s. His name was John Knox. And John Knox said something that I've never forgotten. He said, give me Scotland or I die. That's the passion that he had. I want to be used by the Lord. Well, Paul had that passion for his people. And so he goes on. And he says in verse four, there's kinsmen according to the flesh who are Israelites to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, the promises. And so he begins to list the spiritual heritage and benefits of the Israelites. Now, he uses the term Israelites. If you take notes, you might want to note this. At least remember this. Israelites is a technical word for those who are what are called descendants of Jacob, they're Israelites. And so he's speaking of these particular blessings, this heritage, this benefit that they have. He speaks of adoption. Adoption, as he's speaking of, is as a nation that the nation of Israel was adopted by God to become his children. Exodus 4.22, he says, you shall say to Pharaoh, thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn. So he speaks of the Israelites who pertain the adoption, who have been taken by God to become his children. It speaks of the glory. The glory he's referring to is what has been called the shekinah glory. We've all heard that term, the shekinah glory, or the shekinah glory. It depends on how, what version of scripture you use, you know. I'm sorry. The shekinah glory. You see that in Exodus 16, verse 10, Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel that they looked towards the wilderness. Behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. So they're speaking of the glory of God. So the adoption as a nation, God's presence revealed in the shekinah. He speaks of the covenants. Over their history, God had made various covenants with the nation. You can see this if you read through your scripture, you'll see what is called the Abrahamic covenant. Abraham, the father of Israel, the spiritual father of believers. You see the Mosaic coming through Moses when God gave the law to Moses. You see what is called the Davidic covenant. When God promised the Israel would never lack a ruler, that was a prophecy fulfilled by Jesus who came from David's line. He speaks of the giving of the law, which you find in the book of Exodus chapter 20. You see the temple service, which speaks of Levitical ceremonial services, the sacrifice offerings and things of that nature. And then he goes on to speak of the promises. These promises relate to our time on earth as well as eternity. The promises he's speaking of includes the Messiah, his kingdom, eternal life in him. So he's speaking of all of these things that we have through faith in Jesus Christ, but it's something that is part of the heritage and could have been what Israel itself had possessed because of that. And so he's speaking of these things and he's sharing with us how many blessings they have received. Look in verse five of whom are the fathers from whom according to the flesh Christ came who is over all the eternally blessed God. Amen. And so he says of whom are the fathers and from whom according to the flesh Christ came. The fathers are speaking of the earlier fathers. They call them the patriarchs. It speaks of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. It speaks of those, the early ones, the forerunners, the foundational ones. So he's saying that Jesus is Jewish and I want you to notice this. Jesus is Jewish, his heritage is from the promises that God gave to David and from Abraham on. But he's also pointing out that he's not just a Jewish man, but I want you to notice what he says and it's a very powerful thing that we could pass over if we don't look at it closely again in verse five when he says again of whom are the fathers and from whom according to the flesh Christ came goes on to say who is over all the eternally blessed God. Amen. That's a very strong statement. He's telling us Messiah is God in the flesh. Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. The writer of Hebrews in chapter one, verse eight says it like this. To the son, he says your throne, oh God is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom. So he's speaking concerning Messiah. The Jewish nation to this day did not know that Messiah was gonna be God in the flesh. If you speak to a religious Jew in Israel perhaps even here in the States, but I've heard this in Israel, they will say to you that Messiah is not God in the flesh. They will tell you that. They will say Messiah is not God in the flesh. I've had him say that to me like this. This is where we Jews differ with you Christians in personal conversation. We do not believe Messiah is God in the flesh. We believe Messiah is a prophet like unto Moses, a human being with authority and power from God. They are prepared, and I say this with sorrow of heart, they are prepared to receive the antichrist because the antichrist is gonna be looked at as a man. And ultimately the great betrayal is gonna be when he sits in the temple of God showing himself that he is God. And he's gonna betray them because they thought that they were following a prophet when in fact he's gonna try and say to them, I'm God and you have to worship me. And we know that from our study in Daniel in Revelation. That's what takes place. They're being prepared for the antichrist right now. And so Jesus is Jewish, but Jesus is God in the flesh. Now he says in verse six, but it is not that the word of God has taken no effect for they are not all Israel who are of Israel. At this point, God's sovereign choices are being illustrated. You see the failure of Jews to respond to the gospel doesn't mean that the gospel has no power. What it's speaking of is there is no automatic salvation based on racial descent. You see the Jewish people during the time of the writing had a belief that because they were physical children who were heirs of Abraham or from Abraham themselves, they thought themselves to automatically have a relationship with God. Matthew three, verse nine counteracts that. When it is said, John the Baptist said, think not to say within yourselves we have Abraham to our father. For I say unto you that God is able to give these stone stories of children into Abraham. Don't think that your physical descent is gonna save you. Just because you have physical lineage that you can say that you've had a Jewish heritage and ethnicity does not mean that you are God's children does not mean you're part of the promises. And so he's beginning to develop this with us right now because salvation isn't automatic. It's something that you receive by faith in Jesus Christ. And so he's gonna begin to illustrate this. He's gonna speak of Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau as well as Pharaoh himself. So in verse seven he says, well, I'll begin in the second part of verse six. They are not all Israel who are of Israel nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham. But he says in Isaac your seed shall be called that is those who are the children of the flesh. These are not the children of God but the children of the promises or the promise are counted as the seed for this is the word of promise. At that time I will come and Sarah shall have a son. And so Ishmael is what he's speaking about. You see, Isaac was the child of promise. He's the one who is of the spiritual line of Abraham but they had another son. They had a man by the name of Ishmael. You know the story. I don't have to go into deep detail about that but Ishmael was born due to a fleshly action on a part of Sarah and Abraham. Remember how that Sarah could not conceive. She couldn't get pregnant. And so she went and spoke to her husband, Abraham. And she said, Abraham, you know, you can see that I can't get pregnant. So I think what you need to do is I think you need to produce a child with my servant, my handmaiden, a woman by the name of Hagar. It says in Genesis 16, listen to this. Verses one through fours. Her name at that time is Sarai. Sarai, Abraham's wife, he was later changed to Abraham, Abraham's wife had born him no children. And she had an Egyptian maid servant whose name was Hagar. So Sarai said to Abraham, see now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing children. Please go into my maid. Perhaps I shall obtain children by her. And Abraham said, yeah, she's foxy. No, he said, I'm sorry. Abraham, you don't see him arguing. Abraham, Abraham, Abraham heated the voice of Sarai. Then Sarai, Abraham's wife took Hagar, her maid, the Egyptian and gave her to her husband, Abraham to be his wife. It was, she was a concubine. After Abraham had dwelt 10 years in the land of Canaan, he went into Hagar, she conceived. That was an act of flesh. Peter, I rather, Paul later described it in that way. In Galatians 4, 23, it says he who was of the bond woman was born according to the flesh, he of the free woman, which was Sarah, through promise. Would you have as a contrast? Isaac is the child of promise. Ishmael, the child of the flesh. And so later in Galatians 4, 31, he said, so then brethren, we are not children of the bond woman because the bond woman represents the law. We are of the free. And so that's being a child of promise. So now he's beginning to speak of these promises. In verses 10 through 13, he speaks of Jacob and Esau. He says, not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by her father, Isaac, for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him who calls, it was said to her, the older shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob I have loved, Esau I have hated. So God made his choice of Jacob before the two children had been born. In Genesis 25, 23, it reads, the Lord said to her, two nations are in your womb, two people shall be separated from your body, one people shall be stronger than the other and the older shall serve the younger. That was totally contrary to how it is normally to be done. The older receives a greater blessings and the younger is looked as subordinate, but they reverse that and the choice is made even before the children had been born. And that's why verse 11 says that the purpose of God according to election might stand. You see, God elects those who inherit his promises. They don't earn his favor. So he's pointing out that he had chosen without regard for what either would do because that fulfills his purpose. Now what's interesting how he says in verse 13, Esau have I hated. That's a strong word. So let me share a little bit about that. The word hate can be used in comparison to degrees. It can speak of what is called a relatively higher choice. The point he's making is this, I have preferred Jacob and have a stronger positive attachment to him. Jesus said something to us that kind, I think illustrates that in Luke 14, 26, when he said this, he said, if anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, interesting, all of us would say, you know, I hate my mom. No, what was he speaking about? Does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. Is he saying that to be a follower, I'm supposed to be a hater? Because I heard that when I first got saved, maybe you heard the same kind of thing. When I first got saved, that was one of those, what are you talking about? Aren't we to be known by his love? So how can I hate and still, how's that work? It's speaking of a manner of degree. The devotion and love you have for God is so intense that everything else is less. So it's a matter of degree. It's a matter of preference, one over the other. And so God isn't saying that there was some hatred in his heart in the way we would define hatred. What he was saying is based on his election that the one was chosen over the other because he preferred the one for his purposes that would be fulfilled in him. That's what he's saying. So what then, verse 14, what shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not. For he says to Moses, I'll have mercy on whomever I will have mercy. I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion. So then it's not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. And so some might be arguing, well, that's pretty petty of God, isn't it? So he points it out in verse 16, and it's not of him who wills, nor of him who runs. It's all God. Election, he's saying, begins with God. Why? He is the one who chooses. So God is not obligated to show mercy to anyone at any time. God chooses to, and he also chooses not to, as it suits his purpose. So with that as a background, he brings in Pharaoh. Notice verse 17, the scripture says to the Pharaoh, for this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show my power in you, and that my name may be declared in all the earth. Therefore, he has mercy on whom he wills, and whom he wills, he hardens. Now that's an interesting thing to look at. Pharaoh, he speaks of how the Lord raised him up. When it says that God raised him up, verse 17, for this very purpose I have raised you up, it's a picture of bringing him into the scene of history. I brought him on the scene. Why did he do that to show his power? How did he show that power? Well, the Exodus. You see what happened, and we know this from looking at Joshua, but other nations heard of what God did to Pharaoh, and they were awed by it. In Joshua chapter two, verses nine through 11, it reads, I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are faint-hearted because of you, for we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sion and Ag, whom you utterly destroyed, and as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted. Neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. So the Lord allowed him to come on the scene of history to illustrate his power as he took his children and brought them out of bondage. And so verse 19, you will say to me then, well, why does he still find fault? For who has resisted his will? So here's the argument, if he's in control, then how can he still find fault with those who sin? If their destiny is divinely determined, how can God judge them? And so they're saying, God is unjust if he holds them accountable for their actions. Somebody put it this way, if God's glory is so greatly manifested by our hardness, and he allows us to proceed in our hardness, why does he find fault with us for that, which is according to his good pleasure? That was the philosophic argument at that time. Why am I being condemned for something that brings glory to him? That's what they're arguing. And now he gives an answer. Verse 20, indeed, oh man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it? Why have you made me like this? Does a potter have power over the clay from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? Who are you? What right do you have to question God, you puny ignorant little worm? That's what he's basically saying. How dare you answer back? You have rejected God's grace, you have broken his law, and yet you're calling him unjust. He created you, he cared for the Jewish nation, and yet you're trying to correct the one who made you? How can you claim God has done wrong? And that's a strong point, isn't it? Again, I told you at the beginning of our study, he's gonna be emphasized in God's sovereignty, that he rules as he wills. One of my professors is the one who inspired me to use that phrase, you puny ignorant worm, because when I was a freshman at Biola many, many years ago, he said that. That was a phrase Dr. Mitchell used. He was my Old Testament professor, and he said, you see this man with this puny little hand shaking his fist in the face of God, and it stayed with me, because that's exactly what Paul's dealing with. Who are you? Who do you think you are? To answer back to God. To say to God you're wrong, who are you? And yet I'm sorry to say many people do that every day. When something happens that they don't like, and you know God doesn't take that lightly, I was, I got out of the army. I took a little time off, I started growing my hair. Again, it was in the early 70s when I got out, and I liked my hair long at one time, I used to wear my hair long. And so I started growing my hair, but I applied to go to Biola, and they had dress codes at that time, and I had to get my hair cut. I didn't want to cut my hair, but I did because if you don't cut your hair, you don't go to the school at that time, so I went to a place that I'd gotten my hair cut before, and I asked the guy to cut it in a way that he had cut it before, and when he finished, you know that moment when you're at a barbershop or whatever, they turn you around to look at yourself in the mirror? You know that moment? When you go, oh yeah, or you say, oh my God, I had my, oh no God, moment. He had cut my hair short. Now, I had been growing my hair, it's now real short, and he made it into like a bowl, and he sprayed it really hard with, I was riding my, I had a motorcycle, Harley, and I didn't need to wear a helmet because he sprayed it, it was like, I was so mad. I didn't know what to do, I got on my bike, I went home, I went into the house, I washed my hair, tried to comb it, and you know when your hair's short and it sticks up like that, and it may look cool now, but it didn't then, and I was so mad, and I started, I was 23 years old, and I started just talking to God in a disrespectful tone. You know, that's how I spoke, and you know how, I can't even get a stinking haircut, just a stinking haircut? You couldn't guide his hand, and I was mad, and I got on my bike, and I went off, and I came up to an intersection at a stop, and I power shifted from second to first to come around and spun the bike, I spun the bike, it hit the ground, I hit the ground, and I didn't hear his voice, but I heard him. I am not kidding, when I picked up the bike and dragged it off the side of the road, and I'll never forget the impression I had in my heart, I will not say God said this, but I did hear in my heart, don't talk to me that way. I haven't since, I haven't since. Who are you to shake your puny fist in my face about a haircut? Ah, it will grow back, punk. But you know what, things as little as that that we can get mad at God for, and I really think this is a valid question. Indeed, oh man, who are you to reply against God? Who are you to make a case against God who is the sovereign of the universe? What if God, verse 22, what if God wanting to show his wrath and to make his power known endured with much long suffering, the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom he called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? And so what if God wants to show his wrath and make his power known? In verse 22, the word wanting, it speaks of an intention. It speaks of a resolution or a purpose. Wanting speaks of a purpose of mind. God is allowing sin. Why? It has given to him the opportunity to reveal wrath. Now in what way does wrath bring glory to God? It shows the excellence of his nature. It also shows righteous justice. You see, with sin's entrance into the world came the opportunity to reveal his power. Again, that is most clearly demonstrated in the Old Testament, in the Exodus, when God delivers his children from bondage. It's also shown very, very severely in the book of Revelation. So God's power displayed in creation is also terrible in destruction. The point he's making is he has the right to judge. He has endured patiently. Notice he speaks of him with the vessels of wrath. Vessels of wrath are unrepentant people who willfully reject him. He says they're prepared for destruction. That word prepared means that they are suited for destruction. They are fit for the deserving of judgment and they enter into hell. And now that place called hell is not intended for people. It is for the devil and his demons. He goes on in verse 23 and he says that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy which he has prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom he called not of the Jews only but also the Gentiles. So he wants to point out that there are vessels that are prepared or fit for destruction but also vessels of mercy. And notice he says these have been prepared for glory by God. Now, it looks like I'll be able to finish the chapter, here we go. Verse 25, I do believe in miracles. As he says also in Hosea, I will call them my people who are not my people. And her beloved who is not beloved and shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, you are not my people. There they shall be called sons of the living God. Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel. Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, the remnant will be saved. For he will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness because the Lord will make a short work upon the earth. Isaiah said before, unless the Lord of Sabah had left us a seed, we would have become like Sodom. We would have been made like Gomorrah. Or shall we say then that Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith. But Israel pursuing the law of righteousness is not attained to the law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith. But as it were by the works of the law, for they stumbled at the stumbling stone as it is written, behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone, a rock of offense, whoever believes on him will not be put to shame. And so he makes it very clear there remains a remnant today. Something came about in my lifetime that you did not see in the history of the church. And all of you, any of you are young and you may not be aware of this. Others of us who are older and have been Christians a longer time, you'll know this. There was never an organization like Jews for Jesus. That came about not that long ago. Now there are Messianic groups now. There always have been Messianic believers. I'm not saying that's not true. What I'm saying is an organization. Jews for Jesus is really a relatively new kind of thing. And they're a good example of what he's speaking about a remnant. The nation of Israel is a miracle nation. Obviously we love Israel tremendously and we go as often as the Lord allows and have a burden for the people and are grateful for all that we've received from the nation of Israel and all the declarations and blessings that God has poured out on the nation. We're very grateful for that. But they unfortunately, they en masse have rejected even to this day, the Messiah. And because of that, God has worked with the Gentiles and all. And so God, though he didn't give up on his, we're gonna look at this as we go through the next couple of chapters. And I don't wanna give too much away right now, but the continued existence of the nation of Israel reveals the providential work of God. And I've said it before many times and I'll say it briefly. You read your Bible and you see all these people, the Midianites and the Hittites and the Jebusites and Canaanites and all thoseites, quite a number ofites there in scripture. There's so many peoples, you know that you don't see anymore, the Philistines and you name it, you don't see them anymore. Not in the way that you see them in biblical history, the miracle of the Jew, the fact that the nation was scattered throughout the world and yet regathered and once again became a nation, that is what has been called rightly the miracle of the Jew. You can find Jewish people on the four corners of the earth. There are Jewish people and again, I get caught up with this, I have to be careful not to go too far with it, but you will run into Jewish people and there's these stereotypes. Oh, and those stereotypes are so wrong because you don't know the person you're speaking to very well could be a Jewish person, but because there was this evil stereotyping of the people of Israel for so long and then you see this person and you say, I didn't know you were Jewish. Well, what did you think I look like? What does a Jew look like? You know what I mean? I mean, there are black Jews, Japanese Jews, there are Chinese Jews, there are South American Jews, Mexican Jews, there's Jews in Russia, they're all over the world and yet when in history was there ever a nation that was dispersed like Israel when Titus and Rome came in in 70 AD and did that, that regathered. When? Name another nation. It's a miracle of the Jews. God has not stopped working with Israel. God has not stopped working with Israel. God is still gonna do work amongst the people and there is a remnant to this day. Well, I'll close very briefly. What shall we say? It says in verse 30, then that the Gentiles who didn't pursue righteousness. Well, he speaks of the Gentiles who've heard the gospel and responded they have become righteous, but that's because they exercise faith in the promise. But what has been the problem? Well, the point he's making, we'll look at this more, is as a nation, Jews had rejected Messiah. They sought righteousness through their works and not by faith. And in doing so, the point he's making is they have rejected Messiah. In Matthew 21, 42 through 44, Jesus said to them, have you never read in the scriptures the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone? This was the Lord's doing. It's marvelous in our eyes. Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. Whoever falls on this stone will be broken, but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder. To come to faith in Christ is a brokenness. You are broken through Christ. So either you come to him and are broken by him or ultimately you're judged by him. That's the point that's being made there. So Paul is beginning in chapters 9, 10 and 11 to speak about God's work with the nation of Israel. This is his introduction. We'll pick up next time at verse one in chapter 10 and move on further.