Romans 9:1-29 | Against the Tide of Self-Reliance | Shaun McGregor

God's word hasn't failed - he has mercy on everyone he chooses to have mercy on. Will you swim against the tide of self-reliance?

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SPEAKER_00 0:00

The reading for today comes from Romans chapter nine verses one to twenty nine page one one three five of the pew Bibles. Romans chapter nine one to twenty nine I speak the truth in Christ. I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit. I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart, for I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship, theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship, and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised, amen. It is not as though God's word had failed, for not all who are descended from Israel are Israel, nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children. On the contrary, it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring. For this was how the promise was stated. Not only that, but Rebecca's children were conceived at the same time by our father Isaac. Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad, in order that God's purpose in election might stand, not by works but by him who calls, she was told, The older will serve the younger. Just as it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all. For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God's mercy. For Scripture says to Pharaoh, I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden? One of you will say to me, Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will? But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, Why did you make me like this? Does not the potter have the right to make out of the lump same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use? What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath, prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory, even us whom he also called, not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles. As he says in Hosea, I will call them my people who are not my people, and I will call her my loved one, who is not my loved one. And in the very place where it was said to them, You are not my people, there they will be called children of the living God. Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved, for the Lord will carry out his sentence on earth with speed and finality. It is just as Isaiah said previously. Unless the Lord Almighty has had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom. We would have become like Gomorrah. Here ends the reading.

SPEAKER_01 4:13

Thanks, Ben, and please have that pipe passage in front of you, page 1135. Well, I wonder whether you ever feel like you are trying to live against the tide. Like you were trying to live in a way that is different to everyone else, that you were trying to go against the flow where everyone else is headed the way everyone else is living. I was talking to some people after the earlier service this morning, and most of them are a little older than me. They were saying that when they were younger, some 50 years ago now, they felt like Christians were really going along with everyone else, that there was not so much battle that Christians were not looked down upon, that Christians were even esteemed and looked up to. But they felt that the tide had changed, and now they were swimming against it. As we begin our series this morning in Romans chapters 9 to 16, we're going to see that God's mercy, God's knowing God's mercy, changes us, rewires us to go against the tide, to live counterculturally. That this is not a new thing. That God's people, right from the time of Jesus, have lived against the tide, against where everyone else is going, the direction that everyone else is living. You'd expect that, wouldn't you? For the world is against God, and we are seeking to live God's way. How does God's mercy rewire us to live counterculturally? And this morning in Romans 9, we're going to see that God's mercy teaches us, leads us against the tide of apathy, against the tide of doubt, and against the tide of self-reliance. Firstly, we need to see Paul's anguish. Do you see there at the bottom of page 1135? I speak the truth in Christ, he says, I'm not lying. My conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit. What? I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. If we've been reading through Romans, this is quite a change. In chapter 8, immediately before, he's spoken with joy and confidence that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, that we are now God's children, that he works all things for our good, that we are more than conquerors, and nothing can separate us from God's love. And now he says, I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish. Paul here speaks of a profound personal pain. What is it that causes him such anguish? Verse three. Things are so painful for Paul here that he does not directly explain what it is. But it seems, as he's been talking about the great blessings of being in Christ, he can't help but think of those who are missing out. And those who are missing out include, he says, my people, my race, the people of Israel. Now we need to be careful here because as soon as we hear the word Israel, we think of a state, a country on the other side of the world in the Middle East, which is highly controversial and often makes us angry. That is not what Paul is talking about. In Paul's day, there was no state, there was no country, there was no nation with a foreign policy called Israel. He is talking about his people, his ethnicity, his race, his family, his extended family. And what causes his pain, his great sorrow, is that they are missing out. Indeed, more than missing out, that they are dead, deserving of God's wrath, they are cursed, you see in verse 3, and cut off from Christ. Paul is so convinced of the blessings that there are to be had in Christ, so convinced of the curses that come when you are not in Christ, so convinced that there is a heaven and a hell, and so filled with love for his own people, that he has great sorrow and unseasing anguish in his heart. Where did Paul learn such conviction and love? Who else was like this that believed there was such a thing as heaven and hell, and was so filled with love that they didn't just wish that they would be cut off, they were cut off, cursed, for the sake of their people. The Lord Jesus was like that. And Paul here follows the example of Christ that we might follow the example of Christ. Can you understand Paul's pain here? How much he cares about those he loves not belonging to Jesus? Do you feel this profound personal pain? I do, but a little. Some of us uh have a wife or a husband who does not know Jesus, parents, or children. That's my experience too. And it is a great personal pain. I don't want them to miss out. I would hate them to end up in hell. But if I'm honest, often my motivation, the reason that I care, is that it brings about tensions in our family life. Our family gatherings are tricky sometimes. It's not so much out of love for them. And great sorrow and unceasing anguish, I feel that, but usually it's about sickness or grief, not about someone's salvation. We see here Paul's anguish, and it helps us to fight against a tide of apathy. For our society tells us, doesn't it, that what you believe doesn't matter. People can believe whatever they want, and we must not judge. And in the end, all will be well, says society. But Paul shows us here that there is a profound personal pain that comes from believing in Jesus when you know and love people who do not. What is it that we need that might give us this profound personal pain, a great sorrow and unceasing anguish? We need to be convinced, don't we, that there is such a thing as heaven and hell. That it's only by trusting in Christ that people are saved. And we need a love for other people that really cares. Paul's anguish here leads us against a tide of apathy, and I think our only hope is God to break our hearts for those we love, to replace our apathy with a profound personal pain. Do you want that pain? Or are you content holding it at bay? Do you want to change? Then my suggestion is that this week each day choose someone, someone whom you love dearly, someone who is close to you, who does not yet know Jesus, and ask ask God to help you see the reality, the lostness of those without Christ, and to ask God to give you a love for them. And as God does that, then ask him. Ask him to give them mercy. We see here a profound personal pain. But even as Paul sees and feels that profound personal pain, it's combined with a pressing pastoral problem. For who are these people that he's concerned about? They are the people of Israel. Who are they? Verse 4. Theirs is the adoption to sonship, the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship, and the promises. They are no ordinary people, they have God's privileges. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah. And yet they were the very ones who killed the Messiah. And in the main are now refusing to believe in the Messiah. Do you see the pressing pastoral problem? Is God's word true? Is Jesus really the Messiah? Has God's word failed? I say this a little on the weekend in my street. There's a synagogue in my street where Jews come to meet. And on the weekend it's hard to park because there are so many. And they are gathering to continue as Jews who do not believe in Jesus. Could it really be true then? That God's plan is for Jews to come to believe in Jesus, who is God's Messiah? Of course, we only don't only feel this about Jews, do we, but about all people. Most Australians, the vast majority of people in the world, if it was just down to a vote in Australia or the world, Christianity would not win. Jesus would not be proved true. And when you have a child who has whom you have loved and you have taught about Jesus, prayed for them for years, and they even have seemed to believe in Jesus, but then reject him. The profound personal pain and the pressing pastoral problem come together, don't they? Has God's word failed? And you can feel the tide of doubt coming on you. Well, Paul says that God is faithful to his word. Verse 6. It is not as though God's word had failed. Really? You ask? Why not? For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel, says Paul. Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children. God's purpose was to gather people from all the nations, and he chose Abraham and his descendants to be his special people through whom the Messiah would come. And he gave promises to Abraham and his descendants. But not all Abraham's descendants would inherit the promise. God promised to save some. And Paul gives two examples from the past. Firstly, he chose Isaac, not Ishmael, as the son of Abraham. Verse 6. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel, nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children. On the contrary, God says, it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. In other words, it's not the children of physical descent, biology, who are God's children. It is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring. Do you see there was the same father, Abraham, and two sons, Isaac and Ishmael, but God only made a promise to one. Did God's word fail then? No. God promised to save one, and he did. Second example, Jacob, not Esau, and it gets more pointed now. Same father, Isaac, same mother, Rebekah, and same conception and pregnancy. They were twins. By biology there were two sons, but God only promised to one. Verse 10, not only that, but Rebecca's children were conceived at the same time by our father Isaac. Yet before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad, in order that God's purpose in election might stand, not by works, but by him who calls, she was told the older will serve the younger. God promised to save one, and he did. Do you see two examples? God from the very beginning never promised to save all of Israel. It was not by biology, not by works, but by God's choice. And then as he looked forward to God's Messiah coming, including the Gentiles as well, what did God promise about the Jews? Verse 27, we saw this in Isaiah last term. Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant would be saved. Did God's word fail? No, he promised to save some. And he did. It was a pressing pastoral problem for Paul and the Romans. Why were so few Jews believing in Jesus? Was it because the word was not true? Because God's word had failed? No, says Paul. God is doing exactly what he promised to do. We face a tide of doubt, don't we? Are the things that the Bible says really true? Is Jesus really the one way that people can be connected with God? Will Jesus really return? Will he really work all things for my good? So many promises, and we have so much doubt. And when you add to that the fact that so many people do not believe. But God never promised. God never promised that everyone would believe. On the contrary, He promised that some would believe. And that is exactly what is happening. Has God's word failed? God's word failed? No way. And when you can have this confidence in God's faithfulness to his word, you can live against a tide of doubt. You can take risks. You can sacrifice your time and your money. You can cope with change in your life and in the life of the church because you can depend on God. Paul, you see, has addressed a pressing pastoral problem. God's word has not failed. God's faithfulness leads us against a tide of doubt. But in the process, Paul has unleashed a bigger problem, hasn't he? We have an English idiom, a way of saying. He has opened a can of worms. He has leapt out of the frying pan that God's word might have failed, and into the fire. What is the fire? God's sovereign choice. It's not as though God's word had failed. He never promised to save everyone. He always promised to save some. But in these verses I've just read, it's not just about the number of people he's going to save, it's the cause of them being saved. What does he say? Well, it's okay with Isaac, verse 8. It's not biology, he says, not natural descent, but God's promise. We're okay with that. We don't believe that privilege should be inherited from your parents. Do we? And we're okay with what he says about Jacob to an extent, verse 12. It's not by works, we saw in Ephesians 2, not by works, but by faith. Though deep down we think that it should be, don't we? That's still a challenge. At least we think it's by faith. And that faith comes from us. But Paul doesn't say not by works, but by faith, does he? Have a look again at verse 11. Before the twins were born, or had done anything good or bad, in order that God's purpose in election, in choosing, might stand, not by works, but by him God who calls. Paul is saying here more than just God only promised to save some. He's saying God only chose to save some. Surely it must be up to us whether we believe in Jesus. It must be, otherwise, why would you tell people about Jesus? Why would you pray for them? Surely it must be up to us whether we choose to believe in Jesus or not. After all, why would God only choose some? How could that be fair? And many Christians resolve this by saying we do choose, but God just sees beforehand what we will choose. As if we are in charge, and God, when we've chosen, takes out a rubber stamp and says, okay. It says clearly here that God chooses whom he will save. And Paul realizes the passionate philosophical pushback that we have. He has it himself. He knows the Romans will have it as well. And so he addresses the issue. Though not quite the way we would like, I suspect. Have a look at verse 14. What then shall we say? If God chooses some to be saved, is God unjust? Not at all, he says. What a claim. How is it that God could not be unjust here? Paul does not back down, he does not clarify, he does not reduce what he's saying. No, he just explains it and strengthens it. He goes back to when God's people had made a golden calf and worshipped it, deserved to die. And what did God say? Verse 15. And I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. It does not therefore depend on human desire or effort, but on God's mercy. For Scripture says to Pharaoh, I raised you up for this very purpose that I might display my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. Therefore, God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. Is God unjust? Not at all, says Paul. What would justice be for the people of Israel? It would be like for Pharaoh, who hardened his heart, rebelled against God, and God kept him hardened and judged him. But on the people of Israel, in his kindness, he chose to have mercy. Is mercy just? Say it was an hour a day. And if you break that rule, I will take your device away for a week. Wow. Imagine if my child broke the rule. I went in at night, thought they had kept the rule, but there they were, I thought they were asleep, but they're under the Duna, still going on their device, and the device says they've been on now today for three hours. What would justice be now? I would take the device, and they would have no reason to say that I should give it back to them. What would mercy be? Mercy would be if I said I'm going to relent, I will give you another chance. That would be mercy. And my child will be quite right to say back to me, Dad, that's not fair. You're being unjust in giving me mercy. None of my children ever did that, you might be interested to know. Though an older sibling, speaking as an older sibling knows, could well say, Dad, that's unjust. Is mercy justice? Of course not. And God gives justice to those he hardens so they get what they deserve. Justice. And God gives mercy on those he wants to have mercy so that they do not get what they deserve. It's not equity, is it? Which is what we think justice is. But I suspect that Paul means justice is righteousness. Same word in the Greek. And God is righteous when he is true to his character, and his character is both justice and mercy, and he chooses to do both, but for different people. Is God unrighteous? asked Paul. Not at all. But if verse 18, God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens those whom he wants to harden, then verse 19, why does God still blame us? If God chooses who to have mercy on, why does he hold us accountable? Paul has a warning and a suggestion. Verse 20. Who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed? Say to the one who formed it, Why did you make me like this? Notice here that when my child complains about what I am like to a friend, they are not talking back to me, are they? They're just talking to a friend. But you notice here the two verses, when you complain about God to someone else, God hears it. And Paul thinks you are talking back to God. Be careful then how you talk about God. Is it okay to ask, how can God still blame us? I think it is. How is it that God can choose and yet hold us responsible for our choices? That's hard to understand. People put it like this: how can God be sovereign and we have free will? How can God be in charge and we be in charge? It's a paradox, they say. You just have to accept it, but it's not a paradox. God in charge and you in charge, that's not a paradox, that's a contradiction. They can't both possibly be true, can they? It doesn't logically work. But the Bible never says that you and I have a free will, as if I have the power to choose whatever I want. Of course I don't. I'm dead in my sins. I'm limited in the choices that I can make. I do not have free will. But God is sovereign, and I am responsible for the choices I make. And yes, that is a mystery, not a contradiction. They are both true and both can be true, but we struggle to understand how it is. It's okay to ask, how does God still blame us? But when we ask, why does God still blame us? Paul says that is talking back to God. God has the right to choose who he has mercy on. Why would he choose to have mercy on some and not on others? Well, Paul gives a suggestion, verse 22. What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath, prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory? We saw last week that God wants to make known the riches of his grace. It says the same thing here. He wants to make known the riches of his glory to the objects of his mercy. How does he do that? He chooses to show justice to some, to show the glory of his justice. Imagine if he did not. And he chooses to show mercy to others, to show the glory of his mercy. Is it random who he chooses? Well, it's got nothing to do with us. That's clear. Nothing in me that makes me worthy of his choice. But is this just random and arbitrary? No, God has a purpose, and it is to show his glory. Paul here realizes that he's opened a can of worms, and I think he does his best to answer the questions. Does he answer all my questions about God's sovereignty? No way. But I need to remember that without Jesus I am dead and deserving of wrath. Does anyone deserve to be saved? No. Could anyone choose to believe? No. How else could God show his glory, his justice, and his mercy except by having justice on some and mercy on others? And if I can't understand this, or more than that, if I don't like this, do I have a good reason to trust him? Yeah, I do. He gave his own son to show his justice and his mercy for us. But this truth that God is sovereign is not just a conundrum to try and solve or to live with. Do you see? God's sovereign choice leads us against a tide of self-reliance. If it was really true that I chose God, it really then depends on me, doesn't it? And what if I don't manage to keep choosing to believe in him tomorrow? What pressure that would bring. But if it is God who chooses, I can rely on him. And when I stand before him on the last day, I will not for a moment think, gee, I'm glad I believed in Jesus. Or good on you, Sean, you chose the right path. No, the glory will only go to him. Do you see his sovereignty leads us against a tide of self-reliance? We rely on ourselves for our education, our career, our marriage, our parenting, our retirement. Imagine if you relied on yourself for what matters most, the profound personal pain of your child not believing in Jesus. When I know that I failed my child again and again, what guilt and pain that would bring. And as I share, try to share Jesus with other people, and I know that I'm weak and not very good at it, and I keep failing at it, and it seems like no one will respond if I rely on myself. Do you see? Do you see what a burden that is? But if I remember that God is sovereign, that ultimately He is the cause of anyone believing in Him, then yes, I can confess my failures and know that I am forgiven. I can freely live and speak and pray and trust Him, knowing that it doesn't depend on me in the end, but on Him. And that is such a good place to be. Let's pray. Now, Heavenly Father, we do live against the tide. The tide of the whole way our society, our world lives and thinks. So, Father, please, we pray that you would break our hearts for those who are outside of Christ and go against the tide of apathy. Father, please, as we see your faithfulness to do exactly what you said you would do, help us to go against the tide of doubt and to trust your word and your plan. And Father, as we struggle, we really struggle with this truth that you are sovereign over all things, even our own choice to believe in you. Help us to listen, submit to what you say, think it through, be honest, and in the end rely on your mercy. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.