Latest / Providence Baptist Church - Sermons / Romans 9:1-5
Transcript
- 0:00Well, a very good morning to you all.
- 0:02I'll ask that you take out your copy of God's Word and turn to Paul's letter to the Romans.
- 0:09! We're going to continue our study today, beginning in chapter 9.
- 0:14And before I go further, I want to distract you for a moment from this in the hopes that you won't be distracted later.
- 0:25And I don't even know if you can really see it anymore, but I look like I got punched in the face.
- 0:31My nose is a bit bruised and swollen.
- 0:35I did, in fact, get in a fight with a deer stand, and it won.
- 0:40And I've noticed this morning that as the swelling has gone down, I think my nose is a little more crooked than it was before.
- 0:46And I'm told that beautiful people have symmetrical faces.
- 0:49I already wasn't a beautiful person, so I don't really care.
- 0:53I think my nose is a little off to this side after the fact.
- 0:57But that's what happened here.
- 0:59And now we can focus on what's going on in Paul's letter to the Romans, beginning in chapter 9.
- 1:06Before we read that together, the first five verses is what we're going to study today.
- 1:09I just want to remind you of where we've been in the book of Romans.
- 1:14Starting out with the theme, chapter 1, verse 17, Paul says,
- 1:18For in it, being the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith.
- 1:24As it is written, the righteous shall live by faith.
- 1:27And he's been building a case in the first eight chapters that righteousness comes to us.
- 1:32A right standing with God comes to us by faith alone.
- 1:37There is nothing we can do to earn God's favor.
- 1:41It is given to us freely as a gift.
- 1:45And he works through.
- 1:46The believers here in Rome would have been both Gentile and Jewish believers.
- 1:51And so he deals with them, saying that the Gentiles have no excuse for their sin against God.
- 1:58And the Jews have no excuse for their sin against God.
- 2:01And chapter 3, none is righteous, no, not one.
- 2:04Every one alive has transgressed God's law and have sinned against Him.
- 2:12For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
- 2:14Chapter 3, verse 23.
- 2:17Then he goes on to talk about how we've been set free from the demands of the law to live by the Spirit.
- 2:24And we work through some of the logic of that.
- 2:27And he talks then in chapter 8 about what life in the Spirit looks like and how it's a struggle because we still carry around the burden of our flesh.
- 2:36Our old self, the sinful self, still corrupts us.
- 2:41But we have the Spirit of God in us now.
- 2:43And there's a conflict that happens as we endeavor to live the Christian life.
- 2:48And beyond that, we suffer externally as well.
- 2:52So both internally and externally, there's going to be suffering in this world for Christians.
- 2:55Life doesn't get easy when you place your faith in Christ.
- 2:59And he finishes chapter 8 with beautiful and precious words, beginning in verse 28.
- 3:07And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good.
- 3:13For those who are called according to His purpose.
- 3:15For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined.
- 3:18To be conformed to the image of a Son in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers.
- 3:23And those whom He predestined, He also called.
- 3:26And those whom He called, He also justified.
- 3:28And those whom He justified, He also glorified.
- 3:32God is sovereign over all things in our life from the beginning to the very end.
- 3:39He's written it out.
- 3:41And it will come to pass.
- 3:44Verse 31.
- 3:45What then shall we say to these things?
- 3:47If God is for us, who can be against us?
- 3:50He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?
- 3:56Who shall bring any charge against God's elect?
- 3:58It is God who justifies.
- 4:00Who is to condemn?
- 4:02Christ Jesus is the one who died.
- 4:03More than that, who was raised.
- 4:04Who is at the right hand of God.
- 4:05Who indeed is interceding for us.
- 4:08Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
- 4:10Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
- 4:14Lord, as it is written, for your sake we are being killed all the day long.
- 4:18We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.
- 4:21No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
- 4:25For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come,
- 4:30nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation,
- 4:35will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- 4:39Because He is sovereign over our salvation.
- 4:44Because we are His.
- 4:45Because He made us His.
- 4:48And therefore, that cannot change.
- 4:52What a thing to rejoice in.
- 4:54And then we come to the beginning of chapter 9.
- 4:59And as I said last week,
- 5:00I at times wish that He had just skipped to the beginning of 12.
- 5:05And just not talked about the next three chapters.
- 5:09It seems random.
- 5:10It seems like an insertion in His flow of logic.
- 5:13However, it's not.
- 5:16So let's read the first five verses.
- 5:19I am speaking the truth in Christ.
- 5:22I am not lying.
- 5:23My conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit
- 5:26that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.
- 5:29For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ
- 5:34for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen, according to the flesh.
- 5:38They are Israelites.
- 5:39And to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants,
- 5:42the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.
- 5:45To them belong the patriarchs.
- 5:47And from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ,
- 5:50who is God over all, blessed forever.
- 5:54Amen.
- 5:55Join me in a word of prayer.
- 5:56Father God, I thank you this morning that we can come to your word,
- 6:01that you have given us spiritual eyes to see it and hear it and apply it.
- 6:08But I pray, Father, that you will help us with that this morning.
- 6:12That you will find us coming humbly to be spoken to by you.
- 6:17We won't stand over the word judging you,
- 6:20but we will put ourselves underneath it and we will learn.
- 6:23And I pray that our learning will lead to different living this day.
- 6:29And I pray this in Christ's name.
- 6:31Amen.
- 6:33So Paul suddenly turns to speak of the Jews.
- 6:36And he does so because he's anticipating the questions.
- 6:42He's built this case all throughout Romans so far.
- 6:47Justification by faith alone.
- 6:49And he hammers it home at the end of eight.
- 6:53Our salvation is God's doing.
- 6:56And because of that, we are secure in him.
- 6:59We are saved for future glory.
- 7:02That is joy for life.
- 7:04We can endure anything because we're gods.
- 7:08But then people will say,
- 7:12Paul himself, a Jew, would say,
- 7:14But what about Israel?
- 7:16What about the Jews?
- 7:18Aren't they God's special people?
- 7:20And we see that many of them are not receiving Christ.
- 7:25Many of them are hardened and turning away.
- 7:29Many of them still are practicing the old Jewish rites.
- 7:35What about them?
- 7:39And he laments that.
- 7:41Verses 1 through 3.
- 7:43Paul is burdened by it.
- 7:46He has great sorrow and unceasing anguish on behalf of the Israelites.
- 7:54He says that he's speaking the truth in Christ.
- 7:57He's not lying.
- 7:58His conscience bears witness in the Holy Spirit that this is how he feels.
- 8:03And he knows that he can't give away his salvation.
- 8:08But that if he could, he's saying, honestly, I would.
- 8:12If I could trade myself for the sake of the nation of Israel, I would do it.
- 8:17He says, for I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers.
- 8:27He means that.
- 8:28That's a guttural thing he's saying to us.
- 8:32I would consider myself accursed, separated forever from Christ for the sake of the Israelites.
- 8:40To the Jewish readers of this letter, those hearing it, read to them.
- 8:46This would have been striking to them, Paul's opinion.
- 8:50Paul's desire for them to come to Christ.
- 8:56Because Paul reflected the heart of Moses.
- 9:01The Jewish believers would have known their Old Testament.
- 9:03And in Exodus 32, 31, this is after the golden calf has been created and worshipped in the valley.
- 9:12Moses is up meeting with God on Mount Sinai, receiving the Ten Commandments.
- 9:16You'll remember he comes down off the mountain, is so angered that he breaks the tablets.
- 9:23He then gets a group of men that go through the people, slaying people, setting that right.
- 9:31He goes back up on the mountain to meet with God.
- 9:33He goes back to God's presence.
- 9:35And he pleads for the people.
- 9:38In Exodus 32, 31, it says,
- 9:39So Moses returned to the Lord and said,
- 9:41Alas, this people has sinned a great sin.
- 9:45They have made for themselves gods of gold.
- 9:47But now, if you will forgive their sin.
- 9:49But if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written.
- 9:54He says the same thing.
- 9:56You can blot me out of your book for the sake of your people.
- 10:00It's also the heart of Christ.
- 10:04Matthew 23, 37, Jesus says,
- 10:08Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it.
- 10:14How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings?
- 10:19And you were not willing.
- 10:21So Paul properly cares for Israel.
- 10:27They were God's special people.
- 10:30And he goes on to tell us how it is that they were.
- 10:33We see in verses 4 and 5 that Israel was uniquely blessed with eight privileges.
- 10:41Uniquely blessed with eight privileges.
- 10:43These were all privileges ultimately designed to show them Christ.
- 10:50Paul is heartbroken because according to the flesh, by all human understanding,
- 10:56if any people should have understood who Jesus was, it should have been the Israelites.
- 11:02They had a picture constantly being painted before them of their great need of a savior.
- 11:08And he came and so many missed it.
- 11:14So from purely human understanding, they should have all followed Christ.
- 11:20And yet so few did.
- 11:23And he's going to work that out in further degree in the coming chapters
- 11:26as he talks about God's sovereignty over the salvation of all of his people,
- 11:32including those of us who are not Jewish.
- 11:34I don't think anybody in here is probably of Jewish descent.
- 11:36That's okay if you are.
- 11:37I'm actually happy if you are.
- 11:38That's fantastic.
- 11:39I'm not.
- 11:41I'm a Gentile.
- 11:41The other category of people that the gospel has been carried to.
- 11:45And you have here even Paul who has been given a special mission to the Gentiles,
- 11:49but yet has this great love and concern for the Israelites.
- 11:54So let's look at these eight privileges together.
- 11:57As Israelites, they have received, number one, the adoption.
- 12:02As God's people.
- 12:05Isaiah 46, verses 3 and 4.
- 12:09It says,
- 12:09Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel,
- 12:12who have been born by me from before your birth,
- 12:16carried from the womb.
- 12:17Even to your old age I am he,
- 12:19and to gray hairs I will carry you.
- 12:22I have made and I will bear.
- 12:24I will carry and will save.
- 12:26There's lots of language in the Old Testament,
- 12:29speaking of Israel being the children of God.
- 12:32And yet they missed that in him was the adoption that came through Christ.
- 12:38Romans chapter 8.
- 12:39We see in verse 15,
- 12:41For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,
- 12:43but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons,
- 12:46by whom we cry, Abba, Father.
- 12:49Verse 16,
- 12:50The spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.
- 12:56And they missed that.
- 12:58Secondly, the glory.
- 13:00I had so much fun studying this little phrase.
- 13:05To Israel belongs the glory.
- 13:08What Paul is referring to is the visible presence of God.
- 13:13The glory.
- 13:14The visible presence.
- 13:16It's not in the Bible anywhere,
- 13:17but later on Jewish scholars have called this Shekinah.
- 13:21So if you ever hear that phrase,
- 13:22Shekinah glory.
- 13:24Shekinah means the glory.
- 13:26It's that visible thing that the Israelites could see
- 13:29that represented God's magnificence.
- 13:32And the first mention of it is in Exodus 13,
- 13:36when the Israelites are led out of Egypt.
- 13:39They were led by a pillar of cloud during the day
- 13:42and a pillar of fire by night.
- 13:45These are the best explanations we get of what these things looked like.
- 13:50I do not know if it was actually billowy,
- 13:53cumulus kind of cloud.
- 13:55I highly doubt it.
- 13:56But that was the words that they had to say.
- 13:58It looked like a pillar of cloud by day
- 14:00and a pillar of fire by night.
- 14:02But what we tend to forget
- 14:04is that for 40 years,
- 14:05the Israelites wandered in the wilderness
- 14:08and it was with them all that time.
- 14:11The Sinai Desert is a really, really phenomenal place.
- 14:16One of the most difficult places to survive on Earth.
- 14:21The mean temperature throughout the year
- 14:23in the Sinai Desert during the day
- 14:25is 150 degrees Fahrenheit.
- 14:27You know that?
- 14:28I had no idea.
- 14:29150 degrees.
- 14:29The mean temperature at night in the Sinai Desert
- 14:32is 35 degrees Fahrenheit.
- 14:35So on an average day in the Sinai Desert,
- 14:38the temperature change is 115 degrees.
- 14:41Can you believe that?
- 14:43God led his people,
- 14:45which is estimated to be 2.5 to 3 million people,
- 14:49into a place that we would have to be
- 14:52so equipped to survive.
- 14:56There have been a number of expeditions,
- 14:58successful ones and not.
- 15:00The ones that survived were very well equipped
- 15:04to survive exploring the Sinai Desert
- 15:07and yet God protected with a cover during the day
- 15:11that cloud that spread out over the people
- 15:14and shaded them,
- 15:152.5 to 3 million people,
- 15:17during the day
- 15:18and by night was as fire
- 15:20and it kept them warm.
- 15:23Isn't that phenomenal?
- 15:24When Moses erected the tent of meeting,
- 15:26there would be a funnel
- 15:29that would come down from the cloud
- 15:30and would rest over the tent of meeting.
- 15:33And God used that to show them
- 15:34when it was time for them to pick up and move
- 15:37and when he wanted them to encamp.
- 15:39So when that lifted,
- 15:41they would pack everything up
- 15:42and the cloud would move
- 15:43and they would go with it.
- 15:44And when it rested down,
- 15:45that's where they would stop.
- 15:47For 40 years,
- 15:50God's glory dwelt with the people in this way.
- 15:54That's one of the great miracles of the Bible.
- 15:56Ask somebody to list off the miracles of the Bible.
- 15:59Most people would totally miss that.
- 16:01But for 40 years,
- 16:03God cared for his people with his glory.
- 16:09Sometime after they go into the promised land,
- 16:12there's not a mention of it any longer.
- 16:13But we do know
- 16:14that God's glory dwelt in the Holy of Holies
- 16:17when the tabernacle existed
- 16:19and then when the temple was built.
- 16:21Actually dwelt physically.
- 16:22The priest, the high priest,
- 16:23would go in there
- 16:24and actually see this glory.
- 16:27The cloud.
- 16:28Not exactly sure what it looked like,
- 16:30but would actually go
- 16:31and see the physical glory of God.
- 16:35And then we see in Ezekiel chapter 11
- 16:38as a punishment to the people of Israel.
- 16:40It finally leaves.
- 16:43It's carried.
- 16:43Ezekiel sees in a vision
- 16:45the cherubim,
- 16:47carry it to the Mount of Olives,
- 16:49which interestingly is where Jesus also ascended,
- 16:52carry it to the Mount of Olives,
- 16:53and then the glory leaves.
- 16:54It goes back to heaven.
- 16:57Isn't that awesome?
- 16:59When do we see it again?
- 17:01When does it come back?
- 17:04I hope your mind's running right now.
- 17:06When does the glory of God,
- 17:08the physical picture of who he is,
- 17:10come back to his people?
- 17:12The birth of Jesus Christ.
- 17:17At the birth of Jesus Christ.
- 17:19The shepherds sitting in the field,
- 17:20and they were surrounded by glory,
- 17:22not language.
- 17:26That's when it comes back
- 17:27and then manifests in Jesus himself.
- 17:302 Corinthians 4, 6 says,
- 17:31For God who said,
- 17:33Let light shine out of darkness,
- 17:34has shone in our hearts
- 17:35to give the light of the knowledge
- 17:37of the glory of God
- 17:39in the face of Jesus Christ.
- 17:43Isn't that phenomenal?
- 17:44So the Israelites,
- 17:46those who Paul is lamenting over here,
- 17:49had this picture
- 17:50that finally was realized in Christ.
- 17:56He came and he walked amongst them.
- 17:59And then he ascended
- 18:00from the Mount of Olives.
- 18:02And guess what?
- 18:02He's coming back.
- 18:051 Thessalonians 4, 17 says,
- 18:07Then we who are alive,
- 18:08who are left,
- 18:09will be caught up together
- 18:10with them in the clouds
- 18:12to meet the Lord in the air.
- 18:13And so we will always be with the Lord.
- 18:16And this would be read or rendered
- 18:18with them in the cloud.
- 18:20The Greek term used here
- 18:22is the same Greek term used
- 18:23in the Septuagint,
- 18:24which the Septuagint
- 18:25is the Greek translation
- 18:26of the Hebrew Old Testament.
- 18:28It's the same word used
- 18:30of the glory.
- 18:32The cloud,
- 18:33the fire that led
- 18:35the Israelites,
- 18:35that covered them,
- 18:36it's the same word used.
- 18:39So,
- 18:40for Thessalonians,
- 18:40Paul's not saying
- 18:41that we're going to be
- 18:41all sopping wet
- 18:42because we're going to be
- 18:43in the clouds,
- 18:44right?
- 18:44But we're going to be
- 18:45enveloped by God.
- 18:48I don't know what it's going to look like,
- 18:50but by the glory
- 18:51of the Lord.
- 18:53That's phenomenal.
- 18:54And they had this picture.
- 18:55And those who were alive
- 18:57in this day
- 18:57knew this.
- 18:58They had a history
- 19:00told to them
- 19:01of how God had dealt with them.
- 19:03And they missed the fact
- 19:04that it was
- 19:05the Christ.
- 19:08Number three,
- 19:09they had the covenants.
- 19:12God made many promises
- 19:13to the people of Israel
- 19:14throughout the Old Testament.
- 19:16The three major ones
- 19:17are the Abrahamic covenant,
- 19:19the Mosaic,
- 19:20and the Davidic.
- 19:21Right?
- 19:21So to Abraham,
- 19:22he gave the covenant of blessing,
- 19:23which is found in Genesis 12,
- 19:252 and 3.
- 19:26To Moses,
- 19:27the covenant of the law,
- 19:28Exodus chapters 19 through 21.
- 19:31To David,
- 19:31the covenant
- 19:32of an eternal kingdom,
- 19:342 Samuel 7,
- 19:368 through 16.
- 19:38These were the promises
- 19:39given to the people.
- 19:42Acts 3, 25 and 26
- 19:44is when Peter's preaching
- 19:45on the day of Pentecost.
- 19:47And he says,
- 19:48You are the sons of the prophets
- 19:49and of the covenant
- 19:50that God made with your fathers,
- 19:52saying to Abraham,
- 19:53And in your offspring
- 19:53shall all the families
- 19:55of the earth be blessed.
- 19:56God,
- 19:56having raised up his servant,
- 19:58sent him to you first
- 20:00to bless you
- 20:00by turning every one of you
- 20:02from your wickedness.
- 20:04The covenants
- 20:05were given
- 20:06as a picture
- 20:07of what was to be fulfilled
- 20:09in Christ.
- 20:12Chapter 9,
- 20:13verse 6.
- 20:15Drawing beyond
- 20:16where we are today,
- 20:16but Paul says,
- 20:18It is not as though
- 20:19the word of God
- 20:20has failed,
- 20:21for not all who are
- 20:21descended from Israel
- 20:22belong to Israel.
- 20:24The covenant promises
- 20:25of God
- 20:25have extended beyond
- 20:27just the nation of Israel
- 20:28as they understood it
- 20:29to the true Israel,
- 20:32the church.
- 20:33We get to get into
- 20:34all of that
- 20:35in a greater degree later.
- 20:37But the covenants
- 20:38were meant
- 20:39to show us
- 20:40that these promises
- 20:41that God made
- 20:42would not fail,
- 20:43but they just
- 20:44looked different
- 20:45than the Israelites thought.
- 20:47the fulfillment
- 20:48of them
- 20:48was not
- 20:49what they
- 20:50expected.
- 20:53Number four,
- 20:55the giving of the law,
- 20:56which was
- 20:56God's standard
- 20:57of righteousness.
- 20:58This came
- 20:59to the Israelites
- 21:00and told them,
- 21:01this is how you must live
- 21:02to be found right
- 21:03in me,
- 21:05and was meant
- 21:05to teach them
- 21:06that there was no way
- 21:08they could possibly
- 21:09fulfill the law.
- 21:10That's where
- 21:11the sacrificial system
- 21:12came in,
- 21:13all as a shadow
- 21:14of what was to come
- 21:15in Jesus Christ,
- 21:17the spotless land,
- 21:18the perfect sacrifice
- 21:19for sins.
- 21:22Galatians 3,
- 21:2310-14,
- 21:24it says,
- 21:24For all who rely
- 21:24on works of the law
- 21:25are under a curse.
- 21:26For it is written,
- 21:27Cursed be everyone
- 21:28who does not abide
- 21:29by all things
- 21:30written in the book
- 21:30of the law
- 21:31and do them.
- 21:32Now it is evident
- 21:33that no one justified
- 21:34before God
- 21:34by the law,
- 21:35for the righteous
- 21:36shall live
- 21:36by faith.
- 21:38But the law
- 21:38is not of faith,
- 21:39rather the one
- 21:40who does them
- 21:40shall live by faith.
- 21:42Christ redeemed us
- 21:43from the curse of the law
- 21:43by becoming a curse
- 21:44for us.
- 21:45For it is written,
- 21:46Cursed is everyone
- 21:47who hanged on a tree,
- 21:48so that in Christ Jesus
- 21:50the blessing of Abraham
- 21:51might come to the Gentiles
- 21:52so that we might receive
- 21:54the promised spirit
- 21:55through faith.
- 21:57The law was meant
- 21:59to point
- 21:59to the coming
- 22:02of Christ.
- 22:04Now in the West here,
- 22:05we think,
- 22:06in our logic,
- 22:08we think very linearly.
- 22:10So,
- 22:11A plus B
- 22:12equals C.
- 22:15It's a very linear logic.
- 22:16If this is true,
- 22:18then this must be true.
- 22:19That's how we think.
- 22:22Eastern logic
- 22:23does not work
- 22:23in that way.
- 22:25Eastern logic
- 22:26says,
- 22:28not this,
- 22:29or this,
- 22:30or this,
- 22:31or this,
- 22:33but this.
- 22:34Eastern logic
- 22:35tells you
- 22:35all the things
- 22:36that can't be
- 22:37so that it can show you
- 22:38what can be.
- 22:39That's what the Old Testament
- 22:42does for us.
- 22:43Gives us all these pictures
- 22:45of what can't be
- 22:47so that we see
- 22:48when the can be
- 22:50arrives
- 22:51in
- 22:52Jesus Christ.
- 22:54That's what the law
- 22:55was meant to do.
- 22:58Which leads us to the next one.
- 23:00The worship.
- 23:01Some translations
- 23:02might render that
- 23:04or the temple service.
- 23:05What Paul's referring to here
- 23:08is the sacrificial system.
- 23:11That was given
- 23:12to the Israelites
- 23:13to again show them
- 23:15that when they
- 23:16transgressed the law,
- 23:17blood was required
- 23:18and there were
- 23:19so many
- 23:21different sacrifices
- 23:23that had to take place.
- 23:24There's actually
- 23:24five different types
- 23:26of offering.
- 23:27For the sake of time,
- 23:28I won't get into them,
- 23:29but these things
- 23:30happened continually.
- 23:32Those of you
- 23:33who have been here a while
- 23:33probably are tired
- 23:34of hearing me say this,
- 23:36but the temple
- 23:36was an incredibly
- 23:37busy place
- 23:38and you have to understand
- 23:39what was going on there.
- 23:41Constant sacrifice
- 23:42happening
- 23:43day in and day out.
- 23:45There's a whole tribe,
- 23:47the Levites,
- 23:48their job
- 23:49was to carry out
- 23:50this process.
- 23:50They didn't do
- 23:51any other work.
- 23:52They didn't have time.
- 23:53All they did
- 23:53was make sacrifice
- 23:55for Israel
- 23:55day in and day out.
- 23:57The blood flowed
- 23:58constantly.
- 24:01A special day
- 24:02of the year
- 24:03was the day
- 24:04of atonement.
- 24:05The day when
- 24:06the high priest
- 24:07went into the
- 24:07holy of holies
- 24:08and made a special
- 24:09sacrifice.
- 24:11Many of these
- 24:12sacrifices
- 24:13were meant to
- 24:14cover unintentional
- 24:15sins.
- 24:16Sins that
- 24:16the Jewish people
- 24:17didn't even know
- 24:18they had committed.
- 24:19Unknown
- 24:20sins.
- 24:22It was a
- 24:23phenomenal system.
- 24:25You would have to be
- 24:25highly trained
- 24:26to be a priest
- 24:27because the processes
- 24:28that you had to go
- 24:29through to carry out
- 24:30the sacrifices
- 24:31properly were
- 24:33amazing.
- 24:35Ephesians 5.2
- 24:36says,
- 24:37Christ loved us
- 24:38and gave himself
- 24:39up for us
- 24:39a fragrant
- 24:40offering and
- 24:41sacrifice to God.
- 24:43Hebrews 7.27-28
- 24:45Writer of Hebrews
- 24:48says,
- 24:48He has no need
- 24:49like those high
- 24:50priests to offer
- 24:51sacrifices daily,
- 24:53first for his own
- 24:54sins and then for
- 24:54those of the people,
- 24:55since he did this
- 24:56once for all
- 24:58when he offered
- 24:58up himself.
- 25:00For the law
- 25:00appoints men
- 25:01in their weakness
- 25:02as high priests,
- 25:02but the word
- 25:03of the oath,
- 25:04that's speaking
- 25:05of Psalm 110.4,
- 25:06which came later
- 25:07than the law,
- 25:08appoints a son
- 25:09who has been
- 25:10made perfect
- 25:11forever.
- 25:13That whole system
- 25:14was meant
- 25:16to show them
- 25:17that they needed
- 25:18a perfect
- 25:19sacrifice,
- 25:20which
- 25:21was Christ.
- 25:23The spotless
- 25:24lamb.
- 25:25He's seated
- 25:26at the right hand
- 25:26of the Father.
- 25:28He has done
- 25:28his work.
- 25:30The significance
- 25:30of Jesus'
- 25:31works,
- 25:31it is
- 25:32finished.
- 25:34That's what
- 25:35he's talking
- 25:35about.
- 25:36There's no longer
- 25:37that sacrifice
- 25:38needed.
- 25:39The temple
- 25:39curtain was
- 25:40torn in two,
- 25:42allowing access
- 25:43to the presence
- 25:44of God.
- 25:46With me?
- 25:47It's amazing.
- 25:49And the Jews
- 25:50missed it,
- 25:50in large part.
- 25:52They missed
- 25:52what was happening,
- 25:55why the temple
- 25:56service was given
- 25:57to them.
- 26:00Number six.
- 26:02Sixth privilege.
- 26:04The promises.
- 26:05Now,
- 26:05I don't know
- 26:06all the promises
- 26:07that Paul's
- 26:08referring to here,
- 26:09but I do know
- 26:10he's at least
- 26:11referring to
- 26:12the promises
- 26:13of the coming
- 26:14king,
- 26:15the eternally
- 26:15perfect king.
- 26:17Turn with me
- 26:18real quick
- 26:18to Acts
- 26:18chapter 13.
- 26:20There's a little
- 26:21text heavy for you
- 26:22not to look at it
- 26:23with me.
- 26:37This is Paul
- 26:38preaching in
- 26:39Antioch,
- 26:40Acts 13,
- 26:41beginning in
- 26:41verse 32.
- 26:42And we bring
- 26:48you the good
- 26:49news that what
- 26:50God promised
- 26:51to the fathers,
- 26:52this he has
- 26:53fulfilled to us,
- 26:54their children,
- 26:55by raising Jesus.
- 26:56As also it is
- 26:57written in the
- 26:58second psalm,
- 26:59you are my son,
- 27:00today I have
- 27:01begotten you.
- 27:02And as for the
- 27:03fact that he
- 27:03raised him from
- 27:04the dead,
- 27:04no more to
- 27:05return to
- 27:05corruption,
- 27:06he has spoken
- 27:06in this way,
- 27:07I will give you
- 27:08the holy and
- 27:09sure blessings
- 27:09of David.
- 27:10Therefore he
- 27:11says also in
- 27:12another psalm,
- 27:13you will not
- 27:13let your
- 27:14holy one
- 27:14see corruption.
- 27:16For David,
- 27:16after he had
- 27:17served the
- 27:17purpose of
- 27:17God in
- 27:18his own
- 27:18generation,
- 27:19fell asleep
- 27:19and was
- 27:20laid with
- 27:20his fathers
- 27:21and saw
- 27:21corruption.
- 27:22But he
- 27:22whom God
- 27:23raised up
- 27:23did not
- 27:24see corruption,
- 27:25speaking of
- 27:25Christ.
- 27:26Let it be
- 27:26known to
- 27:27you,
- 27:27therefore,
- 27:27brothers,
- 27:28that through
- 27:29this man
- 27:30forgiveness
- 27:30of sins
- 27:30is proclaimed
- 27:31to you,
- 27:31and by
- 27:32him everyone
- 27:32who believes
- 27:33is freed
- 27:33from everything
- 27:34from which
- 27:34you could
- 27:35not be
- 27:35freed by
- 27:36the law
- 27:36of Moses.
- 27:38Beware
- 27:38therefore,
- 27:39lest what
- 27:39is said
- 27:39in the
- 27:39prophets
- 27:40should
- 27:40come
- 27:40about.
- 27:41Look,
- 27:41you scoffers,
- 27:42be astounded
- 27:43and perish,
- 27:44for I am
- 27:44doing a work
- 27:45in your days,
- 27:45a work that
- 27:46you will not
- 27:46believe even
- 27:47if one
- 27:48tells it
- 27:48to you.
- 27:50So,
- 27:51the promises
- 27:51to bring
- 27:53about an
- 27:53eternally
- 27:54perfect king
- 27:55were also
- 27:57given to
- 27:59the Israelites.
- 28:02The
- 28:02privilege of
- 28:03the patriarchs,
- 28:04number seven.
- 28:05In Exodus
- 28:053, 6,
- 28:06when Moses
- 28:07first encounters
- 28:08God,
- 28:09God introduces
- 28:10himself as
- 28:10the God
- 28:11of Abraham,
- 28:12the God
- 28:12of Isaac,
- 28:13and the
- 28:13God of
- 28:13Jacob.
- 28:15That's
- 28:15quoted by
- 28:16Peter in
- 28:17Acts 3
- 28:17and by
- 28:18Stephen in
- 28:18Acts 7.
- 28:19They're
- 28:19phenomenal
- 28:20sermons.
- 28:21It's the
- 28:22only time
- 28:23that God
- 28:23connects
- 28:24himself by
- 28:25name to
- 28:26any man,
- 28:27the God
- 28:27of Abraham,
- 28:28the God
- 28:28of Isaac,
- 28:29and the
- 28:29God of
- 28:29Jacob,
- 28:29to
- 28:29distinguish
- 28:30who he
- 28:31is.
- 28:32He has
- 28:33never said
- 28:33the God
- 28:34of Nathan.
- 28:35Is he my
- 28:35God?
- 28:36Absolutely,
- 28:36he is.
- 28:37But that's
- 28:38not the
- 28:38title that
- 28:38he's given
- 28:39himself.
- 28:40He's the
- 28:40God of
- 28:41Abraham,
- 28:41and Isaac,
- 28:42and Jacob.
- 28:43And he
- 28:43speaks of
- 28:44them in
- 28:44Hebrews 11,
- 28:46verse 16,
- 28:46he says,
- 28:47but as it
- 28:47is,
- 28:48they desire a
- 28:49better country,
- 28:49that is a
- 28:50heavenly one.
- 28:51Therefore,
- 28:51God is not
- 28:52ashamed to be
- 28:52called their
- 28:53God,
- 28:54for he's
- 28:55prepared for
- 28:55them a
- 28:56city.
- 28:58They had
- 28:59the patriarchs.
- 29:00they had
- 29:01those who
- 29:02have
- 29:02believed
- 29:02by faith
- 29:03in God
- 29:05for their
- 29:05salvation
- 29:06as an
- 29:07example to
- 29:08them,
- 29:08and they
- 29:09missed it.
- 29:12And finally,
- 29:13and most
- 29:14importantly,
- 29:16they had
- 29:17the privilege
- 29:18of being
- 29:20the people
- 29:20from whom
- 29:21Jesus
- 29:22came.
- 29:25Jesus
- 29:25Christ,
- 29:26not a
- 29:27white man,
- 29:28not a
- 29:29black man,
- 29:30a Jew.
- 29:33He was
- 29:33Middle
- 29:34Eastern
- 29:34in descent.
- 29:36He was
- 29:37an
- 29:37Israelite.
- 29:40Verse 5,
- 29:42he is
- 29:42called
- 29:43the
- 29:44Christ.
- 29:45We believe
- 29:46that Paul
- 29:47was carried
- 29:47along by
- 29:48the Spirit,
- 29:48that the
- 29:49Word of
- 29:49God is
- 29:49the Word
- 29:50of God.
- 29:50Paul
- 29:51penned it.
- 29:52God
- 29:52gave it
- 29:53to him
- 29:53to speak.
- 29:54It's
- 29:54significant
- 29:55that he
- 29:55uses
- 29:56this term.
- 29:58Christ.
- 29:59It's the
- 29:59Greek for
- 30:00the Hebrew
- 30:00word
- 30:01Messiah.
- 30:02It means
- 30:02Savior or
- 30:03Liberator.
- 30:05We have
- 30:06picked up
- 30:07that language
- 30:07for Jesus,
- 30:09Yeshua.
- 30:10That's what
- 30:10he was
- 30:10known as
- 30:11in his
- 30:11day.
- 30:13But we
- 30:14have called
- 30:14him the
- 30:15Christ because
- 30:16we know
- 30:17who he
- 30:18is.
- 30:20He is our
- 30:20Savior.
- 30:21He is our
- 30:22Liberator.
- 30:24And he is
- 30:25God.
- 30:25God.
- 30:26Chapter
- 30:279,
- 30:27verse 5,
- 30:28who is
- 30:29God over
- 30:30all,
- 30:31blessed
- 30:31forever.
- 30:33Amen.
- 30:33Paul never
- 30:34misses an
- 30:34opportunity to
- 30:36establish Jesus
- 30:37Christ's
- 30:38deity.
- 30:39Read any
- 30:40of his
- 30:40writing.
- 30:40Anytime he
- 30:41gets a
- 30:41chance, he
- 30:42slips in
- 30:42there,
- 30:43help us to
- 30:43understand that
- 30:45the man who
- 30:45came and
- 30:46dwelt amongst
- 30:47people was
- 30:48God himself.
- 30:49and he
- 30:52was one of
- 30:53them.
- 30:56And they
- 30:57missed it.
- 31:01So what
- 31:02does all this
- 31:02mean for us?
- 31:04Paul's lament
- 31:05as he has
- 31:05this anguish
- 31:07continually in
- 31:08him for the
- 31:09Jewish people
- 31:10because in all
- 31:12respects, all
- 31:12human logic,
- 31:13they should have
- 31:14gotten it.
- 31:14Before anybody
- 31:14else, they
- 31:15should have
- 31:15gotten it.
- 31:16What does
- 31:17that mean for
- 31:18us?
- 31:18What's the
- 31:18point?
- 31:19What's the
- 31:19value?
- 31:20What can we
- 31:20wring out of
- 31:21it for us
- 31:21today?
- 31:23Three things.
- 31:26Firstly, we
- 31:27should share
- 31:28in Paul's
- 31:29lament for
- 31:30the Jewish
- 31:30people.
- 31:32God has
- 31:33not turned
- 31:34his back
- 31:35on the
- 31:36Jews.
- 31:37Again, we'll
- 31:38talk about that
- 31:39more in the
- 31:40coming chapters.
- 31:41God has
- 31:42not turned
- 31:42his back
- 31:43on the
- 31:43Jews.
- 31:45There has
- 31:45been much
- 31:46anti-Semitism
- 31:47that has risen
- 31:49out of
- 31:49Christianity.
- 31:51Kind of
- 31:52seems easy
- 31:52to hate
- 31:53the Jews,
- 31:53right?
- 31:54They rejected
- 31:55our Savior.
- 31:57They
- 31:57crucified him.
- 32:00It's their
- 32:00fault, right?
- 32:03It's not.
- 32:04It's by God's
- 32:05foreordained plan
- 32:06that that
- 32:07happened.
- 32:07And he has
- 32:08not quit
- 32:09on them.
- 32:11And neither
- 32:11should we.
- 32:11we should
- 32:14be actively
- 32:15carrying the
- 32:16gospel to
- 32:17the Jews.
- 32:17In fact,
- 32:18later on,
- 32:19I believe in
- 32:20chapter 11,
- 32:21Paul says
- 32:21that many
- 32:22Jews are
- 32:22going to
- 32:22come to
- 32:22salvation
- 32:23because of
- 32:23their jealousy
- 32:24of us.
- 32:26They're going
- 32:26to recognize
- 32:27that we have
- 32:27a true
- 32:28relationship
- 32:29with the
- 32:29God they
- 32:30think they're
- 32:30worshiping
- 32:31by all their
- 32:32old Jewish
- 32:32rite and
- 32:33passage,
- 32:34and see
- 32:35that we
- 32:36have the
- 32:38true
- 32:38relationship
- 32:38through
- 32:39Jesus
- 32:40Christ.
- 32:41We should
- 32:42actively
- 32:42seek the
- 32:44Jew and
- 32:45their
- 32:45salvation.
- 32:47Secondly,
- 32:48we should
- 32:49lament for
- 32:49all peoples.
- 32:52Do you
- 32:52have the
- 32:53same heart
- 32:54of Paul
- 32:54for the
- 32:55people around
- 32:56you?
- 32:57Could you
- 32:58honestly say,
- 32:59were it
- 33:00possible,
- 33:01which of
- 33:01course is
- 33:01not,
- 33:02that we
- 33:02could ask
- 33:03God to
- 33:03cut us
- 33:04off.
- 33:05He would
- 33:05never do
- 33:06that.
- 33:06But if it
- 33:07were possible,
- 33:08would you
- 33:08offer
- 33:10yourself
- 33:11up for
- 33:12the sake
- 33:12of others?
- 33:15I don't
- 33:16watch a lot
- 33:16of reality
- 33:17television,
- 33:17but Sam's
- 33:18kind of got
- 33:18me hooked
- 33:19on Master
- 33:19Chef.
- 33:22And there
- 33:22were some
- 33:24characters,
- 33:24and one
- 33:24of them
- 33:25had won
- 33:25a challenge
- 33:26thing,
- 33:27and they
- 33:28asked him
- 33:29if he had
- 33:29the opportunity
- 33:30to save
- 33:30somebody from
- 33:31going into
- 33:32this elimination
- 33:32challenge deal,
- 33:33who he
- 33:34would save.
- 33:36Who would
- 33:37you save,
- 33:37Frank?
- 33:37Who would
- 33:38it be?
- 33:38And he
- 33:38picked
- 33:39some
- 33:40guy,
- 33:41Josh,
- 33:41I think,
- 33:41got him
- 33:42Josh.
- 33:42I'd pick
- 33:43Josh,
- 33:43great cook,
- 33:44I'd pick
- 33:44him.
- 33:46Awesome.
- 33:46Yay,
- 33:47Frank,
- 33:47man,
- 33:47you're so
- 33:47sacrificial,
- 33:48good for
- 33:48you.
- 33:49And they
- 33:49said,
- 33:49okay,
- 33:49well,
- 33:50guess what,
- 33:50you do
- 33:50actually have
- 33:51the option
- 33:51to save
- 33:52somebody.
- 33:52Who are
- 33:52you going
- 33:52to save?
- 33:53He saved
- 33:54himself.
- 33:56That's not
- 33:57what Paul's
- 33:57doing,
- 33:57right?
- 33:58He's speaking
- 33:59the truth in
- 33:59Christ.
- 34:00He's not
- 34:00lying,
- 34:00his conscience
- 34:01bears witness.
- 34:02He would
- 34:03actually give
- 34:05himself up.
- 34:05Do we have
- 34:06that kind
- 34:07of heart
- 34:08for people?
- 34:09Do we just
- 34:09give lip
- 34:10service?
- 34:10Yeah,
- 34:10I love
- 34:10people.
- 34:11Or do we
- 34:12actually have
- 34:12anguish in
- 34:14our hearts for
- 34:15the people
- 34:15around us
- 34:16that they
- 34:17might come
- 34:17to Christ?
- 34:19The evidences
- 34:20are all around.
- 34:21Now,
- 34:21Gentile people
- 34:22don't have all
- 34:22these privileges.
- 34:24It's not been
- 34:25a history that's
- 34:25been given to
- 34:26them.
- 34:26but the
- 34:28evidences are
- 34:28all around
- 34:30them and we
- 34:30ought to
- 34:31lament for
- 34:33them as
- 34:33well.
- 34:36Thirdly,
- 34:37we as
- 34:40humans should
- 34:42make no
- 34:42excuse for
- 34:45seeing that
- 34:45Jesus is
- 34:46the Christ.
- 34:47He is the
- 34:48one that has
- 34:48been sent for
- 34:49the remission
- 34:49of sin.
- 34:50The one in
- 34:51whom we
- 34:52must believe
- 34:53to be saved.
- 34:55You notice
- 34:55the article in
- 34:56verse 5?
- 34:58That he is
- 34:58the Christ?
- 35:00Not a
- 35:01Christ,
- 35:03not a way,
- 35:04one of the
- 35:04many ways,
- 35:05the path of
- 35:06goodness.
- 35:07He is the
- 35:09Christ.
- 35:11The only
- 35:12way,
- 35:13if you don't
- 35:14know him
- 35:15today,
- 35:16if you don't
- 35:16have saving
- 35:17faith,
- 35:18that he is
- 35:19the Christ.
- 35:21That all of
- 35:22these things
- 35:23we've been
- 35:23talking about,
- 35:24all this
- 35:24religious activity
- 35:25was meant
- 35:27to show us
- 35:27that we
- 35:27needed him,
- 35:29you have
- 35:29no excuse.
- 35:31You're
- 35:31sitting in
- 35:32this room
- 35:32right now,
- 35:33none
- 35:33whatsoever.
- 35:35You will
- 35:35be judged
- 35:36one day.
- 35:37If you're
- 35:37found in
- 35:37Christ,
- 35:39it will
- 35:39be said of
- 35:39you,
- 35:40well done
- 35:40my good
- 35:40and faithful
- 35:40servant,
- 35:41you'll enter
- 35:42into eternal
- 35:42joy and
- 35:43blessing with
- 35:44God.
- 35:46If you
- 35:47don't,
- 35:48eternal
- 35:48damnation,
- 35:50hell and
- 35:50misery,
- 35:51separation from
- 35:52God is
- 35:53what awaits
- 35:53you.
- 35:54So you
- 35:55have no
- 35:56excuse.
- 35:58Join me in
- 35:59prayer.