Gentiles in the Tree

Rights in this text.

So then God has mercy on whom he desires and he hardens whom he desires is you soon as we begin to think the guy does something that God owes us his glory to God will somehow be manipulated into giving us whatever we want and that kind of view diminishes God and elevates office ladies and gentlemen election magnifies the glory and mercy and grace of God choosing those upon whom his mercy and grace will rest and God's grace.

It's always been that way and always will be, in Romans 11. The apostle Paul helps us understand how Gentiles came to share in the promise salvation was first offered to the Jewish nation and nation. The Bible describes as God's chosen people, but there are two diverse branches of people Israel and the church today. Stephen will explore how God is uniquely grafting them both into one tree called redemption. Welcome to wisdom for the hearts. Stephen is taking you back to Romans 11 in the message called Gentiles in the family tree. How I warn you this text were about to read is not for the faint of heart. So you'd better buckle in and be ready.

Let's start back with verse 10 and get a running start.

Romans chapter 9 verse 10 and not only this, but there was Rebecca also when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad in order that God's purpose according to his choice might stand, not because of works but because of him who calls. It was said to her, the older will serve the younger. Just as it is written, Jacob I love, but Esau I hated.

I will pick it up here. Verse 14 for today. What shall we say then there is no injustice with God is there. May it never be for he says the Moses I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion so that it does not depend on the mantle.

Wills, that's volition or the man who runs. That's exertion but on God who has mercy for the Scripture says the Pharaoh for this very purpose.

I raised you up to demonstrate my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.

So then he has mercy on whom he desires and he hardens whom he desires is probably enough for now. Have you ever taken a swim in the ocean when the wave comes into lift you up and you can't touch the bottom. You know that feeling when it happens.

This is a pretty big ocean and pretty small when you read a passage like this and you know it's gonna bring up a lot of questions. We probably will be able answer and say you know that's just too mysterious. That's just too big that's too deep that's too fast. I mean, verse 18 alone. God has mercy on whom he desires and he hardens whom he desires that sort of sweeps you away from land right in order to just preach sermons on how to fix our family and our self-image and all that stuff.

This is way over our heads. Let's just stay away from the water. I mean think about it. What good is it to study the doctrine of election when you can understand what reason is there to study something that raises so many questions that you asked want to give you five reasons why write number one.

The doctrine of election elevates the perspective believers have of God in order to assume, of course, want to get into these five that we believe that God wrote the word of God, and he delivered it to us in Soriano assume he wants us to study because he wrote it to move beyond that in these answers number one and elevates the perspective believers have of God.

When Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, taught them to begin with the words I father a garden where I father you are so great and so magnificent and you reside in the heaven. You see when you begin to pray. You really begin to pray by elevating your perspective of who God is.

So the doctrine of election. Furthermore, not only elevates, of course, the perspective believers have of God but also encourages true worship. The believer offers to God when you believe in the justice and mercy of God.

When you believe in his holiness and his wrath and his grace you are enabled, then the pray and to worship with true and pure worship the word Orthodox, which we typically stuff over there in the side of true doctrine which certainly can mean we relegated to that well the word is actually compound word or thought, meaning true and sought meaning. Praise true praise.

True worship we use the word with our word doxology as we see our hymn of praise to God when correct doctrine is taught.

The result is not lungs full of water by lungs full of praise. True worship flows out of true doctrine. Third, the doctrine of election eliminates the pride of believers before God and of course the whole world. For one thing, it accentuates the fact that her understanding of God is so small that it further accentuates the fact God is so great when author wrote these provocative words. He said if God were to visibly show up in the church today. Many of us think we dropped him high 50 for all the good things he's done some of us think we run up and hugged him others to asking for an answer that nagging theological question. Others might even demand you tell us why that tragedy robbed us of comfort.

The truth is we would do none of these things we would instead all fall traveling at his feet as is also mighty and fearful glory filled the room.

We would be awestruck in the presence of a holy and all-powerful God. I believe that there is no doctrine like this doctrine which fills us with a sense of God's awesome power over creation, as does this doctrine of election. Tragically, it is the most ignored of all I believe it's the most ignored because we we understand that the least and we sort of dumb down our view of God. When we say we believe the sovereign God becomes small and man occupies the center of life. God becomes this, he more easily becomes this divine custodian runs around fixing things in the universe in our lives. Why because were really sovereign and he is our servant. He waits for us to the sides were told by Christian leaders and teachers, and authors that God exists to eliminate our aches and pain that God exists to make her live comfortable the Bible just becomes a book of tricks, whereby we learn how to manipulate God and how to move the hand of God and no wonder people abandon this kind of God would live hurts because God was supposed to pull through and God didn't pull through, and I want that kind of God.

The doctrine of election reverses this kind of thinking reverses the order so that our lives become small, and God becomes the center. He becomes sovereign and we become servant, we believe that Jonathan Edwards preached 250 years ago who was very instrumental as the agent in God's hand to bring about what we call the great awakening time of great spiritual harvest and a great time of revival within the church that was dead infected Jonathan Edwards day one of the things the revival brought about was the belief is Jonathan Edwards a try to coerce the church in England to believe and follow and as well as in America that pastors had to be converted. You had to be a believer to be a pastor of you can imagine and I scoffed at that idea.

He preached often on the sovereignty of God, and he like the Puritan believers who preached along with them their favor doctrine was this doctrine. The doctrine of election.

The doctrine of the sovereignty of God. You can find volume after volume after volume on this topic and he preached. As you know that most famous message centers in the hands of an angry who sinners in the hands of an angry God. That'll fix your marriage.

That'll fix your self-image wanted it well it well.

Think about the fact God is angry with corruption is angry with sin is angry with self-centeredness.

He's angry with immorality is not a doting grandfather that lives to please us. We live to please him fix a lot of things by parents who still serve as missionaries will often leave the home in the evenings to go to meetings. They had to go to when we were old enough to stay home. They would leave us there presumably get our homework done.

I've course, always did.

Being the godly example among my three brothers last 12 years old around. We are first television. My dad bought it used from somebody.

It was black and white you know get a pair of pliers to turn the channel. Anybody else here have to turn Jim like them, you can see all of us experience the joy of the kind of childhood. Now, after we got it set all my parents had to go to a meeting my mom right before she walked out the door, turned and said to her four sons, 14, 12, eight and six do not turn on the television. Do your homework or read in the left we finish our homework and then one who suggested it.

I think it was Eve servant of the law for this turn on the forbidden fruit and we sat there for a couple of hours until the scout and we took turns in on a tour of duty hollered mom and dad of pull-up in the driveway. We turn off the television, but the players back in and ran for cover. Mom and dad walked in and were sitting around reading books doing extra credit math problems as we love it so much halos a little crooked and my mother walked in and looked at us and asked one question. Did you turn on the television.

With that attitude, you don't have to do is ask such a thing about. We didn't know this yet but those TVs have those big glass pipes that heat up with the televisions on. She immediately walked over, put her hand behind it and it was red-hot, where she learned that secret, but we were in deep trouble. We were sinners in the hands of an angry mom. She preached it to me tell you, and we had a great what that night. Well, Jonathan Edwards preached the first time that sermon was preached defines sovereignty in a way that our generation is long forgotten effect on Rita's definition in your writing alike.

Perhaps he defines sovereignty as God's absolute independent right of disposing of all creatures according to his own pleasure. You mean God can choose to save some and condemn others. According to his pleasure that God would show mercy disarming judgment to others that God would call somber heaven and leave others for how God could raise up those who sin glorifies his justice and he can raise up others whose salvation glorifies his grace. This God is virtually unheard of today and maybe that's why we don't hear from him today in respect to this kind of spiritual awakening with the doctrine of election eliminates pride. The doctrine of election elevates our perspective.

It encourages our worship and forth. It energizes our service. Paul is going to apply this when he gets a little later on in the letter. Maybe one more. It exalts the mercy and grace of God. It exalts the mercy and grace. Believers received from God. He writes in this text. So then God has mercy on whom he desires and he hardens whom he desired to see as soon as we begin to think the guy does something that God owes us a vote. This is America, right, God owes us his glory that God will somehow be manipulated into giving us whatever we want and that kind of view diminishes God and elevates us ladies and gentlemen election magnifies the glory and mercy and grace of God choosing those upon whom his mercy and grace will rest Paul's letter to the Romans by the way, is already taught us that everyone is under condemnation. God enough to do anything or anybody got out everybody's going to hell. It is already taught us that everyone represses and suppresses the truth about God that no one seeks after God.

People seek after things that they think God will give them but no one seeks after God will like that picture doing that doesn't fit very well with God loves you because you're so special. He saved you because he saw something in you.

That's why the lyrics of Isaac Watts great him was changed in our generation. It lasted for 300 years, but our generation gets to go down in history as changing the lyrics. He originally wrote, alas, and did my Savior bleed and did my sovereign die when he devoted that sacred head for such a worm is in for 300 years the church sang it until our generation were bad but were not that bad. Arlene so we change the lyrics to read when he'd about that sacred head for sinners such as that's a little better. Won't be long before we change sooner for confused person makes wrong choices and asking to be hard to sing but that is already the lyrics of our growing younger generation right. We have made bad choices.

That's a long way from center and sinners a long way from worm were headed in the wrong direction for God's glory and mercy and grace is diminished, and our view of ourselves is elevated in the church you get a glimpse of the doctrine of election and you cry out as we say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me, have mercy on me are going to need to get in this paragraph here to provide a foundation so that when we arrive. In chapter 12 and were told not get on the altar and you be an ongoing perpetual sacrifice on the God we would say what a sacrifice on the God meaning is asking for everything. Yes when you understand that he is sovereign, majestic, holy, merciful God, you say in great gratitude. You can have me you take me every bit of chapter 9. Now Paul will pull illustration after illustration were God is always acted through sovereign election in the world and he is of course addressing the Israelite who will be reading this the Jew primarily in chapters 9, 10, 11, who wonder about God's electing mercy within the nation Israel. God chose Abram or Abraham from among all the others in order. Verse seven of chapter 9. He chose Isaac over Ishmael.

Versus 8 to 9 and he chose Jacob over Esau. In verses 10 to 12 sovereign electing choice now in this paragraph. In verse 15, he's gonna repeat something that's already been spoken in Exodus chapter 33 verse 19, where God says, I will have mercy upon whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion, we don't have time to go back but I just tell you the context for this particular revelation came on the heels of 3000 Israelites been killed in judgment the armor.

Moses gone up the mountain. The Mount Sinai need receive the law from God and he'd come back down the mountain. All of the people were involved in this sexual orgy. This infidelity against God. They reverted back to Egyptian religion they had fashioned the golden calf and they were dancing before Ed and Moses confronts Aaron and Aaron literally sat.

I threw the gold in the fire and out came this half, and God is gonna wipe everybody out, but instead takes the lives of only 3000 why 3000 and not everyone what Paul is implying is interesting.

He says begin to say that God is unrighteous. If God is unfair than really because he chose any one person over another. Then God was unrighteous at Mount Sinai when he let anybody live. They were all unfaithful. They were all idolatrous. God said I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy and were never told why or who or what other than these 3000 and the others worked the next. Paul will pull from Israel's past. One of the greatest illustrations of God's sovereignty and any Jew is going to go to familiar territory here in verse 17.

As you start talking about Pharaoh, the great sovereign over his Empire and he says in verse 17 look. Therefore, the Scripture says to Pharaoh, we better stop there for just a second. The Scriptures were written, but he says the Scripture says to Pharaoh, they were in completed form, but Paul considers the word of God to be Scripture and Scripture to be the word of God. You want to circle up in verse 15. The words he says, referring to God, he says, draw a line down to verse 17, as I have word reads the Scripture says circle. Those it's clear that Paul considers the two to be equally authoritative. They are synonymous terms and we need to hear that in this generation. When the Scriptures speak, God is speaking.

So what is God SATA to Pharaoh. Here in verse 17 for this very purpose I raised you up to demonstrate my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed throughout the whole or not being an absolute monarch Pharaoh believe that everything he did was right in everything he did was by his own choice and it served his own purposes, but it's clear through Moses who delivered this.

First of all, the Pharaoh that Pharaoh was divinely raised up to serve divine purposes, a purpose, by the way that that Pharaoh didn't even know you realize that he didn't even know it.

But God raised him up for that purpose. You mean God is that sovereign God will raise up an unbeliever to accomplish the purpose of his own will buy that sinners unbelief. Yes, that's what Paul means and that sounds a little bit like God has the sovereign right to dispose of his creatures according to his divine purpose that listen to what Solomon wrote in Proverbs 16 for the Lord has made everything for its own purpose.

Even the wicked for the day of evil believe that Peter wrote for those who disbelieve, they stumble because they are disobedient to the word and to this doom.

They were appointed.

What you say, then, does God make unbelievers disbelieve in him. Now he doesn't have to.

They do that well themselves all by themselves. Jesus said in John three that the world is already condemned the mass of humanity is already been judged.

It's already on its way to hell. God doesn't have to intervene for the unbeliever to disbelieve.

He lets them go the way of their own heart. But God does have to intervene for anyone to believe you say I have you now why doesn't God intervene so that everybody believes why doesn't God like everybody I don't know when I went to second, I don't know anybody believes everybody's going to heaven I don't know anybody believes that Donna everybody and I think of I asked everyone of you probably think of a few people that shouldn't go there but you go there right so in a sense we agree. Some are going to heaven will just call them the elect and some are going to how it will just call them that the unredeemed I'm just explaining why and it boggles the mind that God is the sovereign we believe you sovereign weaseling is the sovereign that he raises up those who will believe in and raises up those will not believe that he is the initial chooser. We love him because he loved us first. He is the primary cause he is the original mover and salvation.

He is the initiator of redemption.

It happened because he made it happen. This doctrine puts him squarely on the throne and we had his feet and Paul will make an illustration of Pharaoh of God's power. I raised you out X in Cairo is the Greek word is used in the Septuagint Old Testament Greek translation. The same word used by the prophet Habakkuk of the bloodthirsty unbelieving Chaldeans. He says that God raised up the Chaldean to do as well. Further, Zechariah prophesied of the Antichrist is yet to come.

Uses the same word he says God raised him up and he will visit word devour humanity.

The prophets, God raised him up sounds like he has in his sovereign disposal. The creatures according to his will go to the Pharaoh raise you up to demonstrate my power in you. By the way, this is a quotation from the book of Exodus. In chapter 9. Again, we will take the time to go back which you can study it on your own this conversation were Moses said this occurred between the sixth and the seventh plague.

Each plague by the way he attacked one of Egypt's primary God's every one of them revealing the sovereignty of God over them. But Pharaoh remained resolute. If I can read where it says that Pharaoh hardened his own heart right. You also read in chapter 4. Before Moses ever talks to Pharaoh. God informs Moses by saying that he was going to harden God was going to harden the heart of Pharaoh so that he would not let the people go. Exodus 4 verse 21 and through the stubbornness of this world leader, the God simply allowed after hardening is hard to go the way of his hardened heart.

God's power will be unmistakably revealed and you can understand a little bit about God's power as it's revealed through this man. When you understand a little bit more about this man. Amenhotep the second was this Pharaoh. He was believed by all the be the son of God, the sun god Ra. He was the offspring of her and his mother divinely conceived. You can see how Satan counterfeits. Even the minds of men before the incarnation of the true son of God's throne name meant great are the manifestations of raw you didn't approach this sovereign's throne without being confronted with the truth that his throne demonstrated the power of his God. How ironic he will be used to demonstrate the power of the one true and living God. God's power over Egypt would never be forgotten. For that Passover, the passing over of the angel of death passed over the homes where the blood of the Lamb was displayed on the door posts would become an event celebrated to this very day by people all around the world and it in some way forms the foundation of what I preach, the symbol of the mercy of God toward those upon his mercy resides in those who reveal that mercy by coming to the blood of the Lamb.

Maybe you ask how do I know if I've received the mercy of God will that's easy you can know that you been one upon whom God's mercy resides in rests because you asked for. That's the mystery you asked for.

It's amazing that God elects those who will receive his mercy. Paul clearly states, and those whom God has chosen to receive his mercy happened to be the same people who ask for so have you asked have you asked for his mercy. Have you said Jesus and affect the son of David, have mercy on mercy on me.

I claim no right of my own with the shedding of your blood. I have nothing to offer you. You are sovereign, master.

You can dispose of your creatures by your own leisure. Please have mercy on me, you say that you are proving you are one of God's chosen. I hope this reminder of the amazing grace of God is encouraged today abortion is one of the greatest tragedies of our day.

It steals the life of unborn children. The important question for Christians to ask is what is God's view of life in the womb. What value does he place on that unborn life Stevens resource designer made explores this issue. It's free today organist send you a digital copy of this resource upon your request visit wisdom online.org/designer then join us back here next time. For more wisdom