Might we be those who react to God's gracious choosing by obeying His law? I invite you to turn in your Bibles to Romans 9. We resume our study in the book of Romans. I look forward to the second half of the book, and though I'm not yet preaching morning and evening for this week and next, we will take the whole of the chapter this evening, and then Lord willing, next week in the evening, we'll focus in on one portion of the chapter, and the following Lord's Day will be in Romans 10, morning and evening. Just a review, just in case some of you have forgotten what Romans is about. I trust that you haven't. But in chapter 1, we have Paul's introduction, his greeting, his reason expressed for the letter, a righteousness from God that is expressed in the gospel. And then from verse 18 of chapter one through verse 20 of chapter three, Paul drives home the point that all have sinned, that all stand before God guilty, guilty, guilty. And then in chapter 3 verse 21 through chapter 4 verse 25, the glorious good news that there is a righteousness of God by which we can receive justification and be declared illegally not guilty. Not guilty. Chapter 5, we reviewed and considered our precious privileges and our federal heads, Adam first and then Christ. In chapter 6 we consider our new position that we're dead to sin and that we're alive to God and because of that don't sin. But then chapter 7 deals with the harsh reality that we do sin. that at times we struggle to do what we should and to not do what we shouldn't. And then in chapter eight that we looked at the last time we were working through Romans is that there is victory in that battle with sin, victory in the Spirit of God. And now we come to chapter nine, in which we're told about God's sovereign work of election. Before I read, just a comment. In case you didn't know, we're in an election season. And American election campaigns are fascinating and at times sickening. Promises will be made and promises will be broken. Accusations will be made. In many cases, they will be denied. In many cases, they will be confirmed. Character and characters will be debated. And in the end, we'll likely say that we're sick of the whole thing, and yet we'll still watch the polls on TV, we'll stay up late to hear the election results. We are a people fascinated with elections. And not just in the US, who actually won the presidential election in Venezuela this week? The world wonders. But Romans chapter nine speaks of an election that took place a long time ago. And in that election, if you are in Christ, God voted you in. God voted you in. So listen now to Romans chapter nine as we come to the word of God. I am speaking the truth in Christ. I am not lying. My conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all who are children of Abraham, because they are his offspring, but through Isaac shall your offspring be named. This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. For this is what the promise said, about this time next year I will return and Sarah will have a son. And not only so, but also when Rebecca had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad, in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works, but because of him who calls, she was told the older will serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. What should we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means. For He says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy. For the scripture says to Pharaoh, for this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that by my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. You will say to me then, why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will? But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Well, what is molded, say to its molder, why have you made me like this? Has the potter no right over the clay to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show His wrath and to make known His power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction in order to make known the riches of His glory for vessels of mercy which He has prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He has called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles? As indeed He says in Hosea, Those who are not My people I will call My people, and her who is not beloved I will call beloved. And in the very place where it was said to them, You are not My people, there they will be called sons of the living God. And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved. For the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay. And as Isaiah predicted, if the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, we would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah. What should we say then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it. That is a righteousness that is by faith. but that Israel, who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness, did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written, behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame. Having heard from God and His word, please join me as we seek Him in prayer. Our Father in heaven, would you open our eyes that we might behold wondrous things from your word. We pray that we might not hear from the preacher, but from Christ himself. Would you give us attentiveness to what you would teach us, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Two primary topics that I would like us to consider from the text here. The first has to do with how do we respond to those who are not saved? And then how do we respond and understand the electing work of God? And so first of all, from the first few verses, I urge you to imitate Paul's concern for his Israelite brothers as you would imitate that for your unbelieving friends and family. And as we considered a couple of months ago when a Christian witness to Israel was here and spoke in our second hour class, Stephen Atkinson, you can imitate Paul's concern even for Israel, that there might yet come that remnant that God is and will save. And how is it that Paul speaks about this concern? The call is to have great sorrow and unceasing pain for those whom you long to see come to faith in Christ. Have great sorrow and unceasing pain for them. The words used here describe the pain and the sorrow that Christ's disciples had as He was taken from them. It describes the anguish of a woman in childbirth. In fact, Paul himself speaks to the Galatians and he says to them, I am again, my children, suffering labor pains for you until Christ is formed in you. It's this unceasing sorrow and anguish. It's constant. Obviously, I've never given birth, so I can't speak authoritatively, but I have observed closely and hopefully assisted slightly in six births. And toward the end, there is nothing else on the mind of a woman in labor than giving birth. It's that unceasing, devotion, that unceasing pain and sorrow. And could it be that we as Christians at times get so caught up in the goodness of God's salvation, a great thing to be caught up with, but do we at times get so caught up with the goodness of God's salvation that we forget those who are outside? Or do we imitate this concern, this sorrow, this pain from Paul? Oh, maybe every once in a while, maybe the preacher prompts us to think about it. And so we think about it and then our concern just fades. I had a friend many years ago, he, he put a dot of paint on his watch. And the reason he did that was to remind him every time that he looked at his watch, I need to pray for my unbelieving friends. You don't have to put a dot on your watch, but might you have great sorrow and unceasing pain for your unbelieving friends? And this sorrow, this anguish is real and true. Paul affirms it three times in verse one. I am speaking the truth, he says. I am not lying. My conscience bears me witness. It's sometimes amusing to me when people are talking and they say, well, to be honest, Or let me tell you the truth. And you sort of think, well, were you not being honest before? And yet, if Paul says it, I think it's OK for us to say it as well. There's an emphasis there. It's like in many of the Gospels. Truly, Jesus said, truly, you need to do this or believe that Paul's anguish, his concern, his care for his unbelieving Israelites was real and true. Paul's letters sometimes put our Christian practice to shame, and yet we are called to imitate Paul as he imitates Christ. Paul further increases our understanding of the intensity with which he desired the salvation of his countrymen. in which he was willing to give up his salvation if possible. If you are gonna imitate Paul's concern, would you be willing to give up your salvation if possible there as he speaks about in verse three? Now, you can't. You can't trade your salvation for that of another. You can't save someone. You can't give eternal life. But Paul says, if it were possible, I would. Would you? Would I? And yet this is the mind of Christ. He gave up His position in heaven. He veiled His glory. He traded His righteousness for the sin of sinners like you and like me. He did grant eternal life for all who believe. And of course, Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. Christ could do that. You can't. I can't. But you should be willing, if it were possible, for the sake of your unbelieving friends and family, even to give up your salvation, that they might be saved. So imitate Paul's concern for your unbelieving friends and family. And then the second and really the major portion of chapter nine is a call to understand God's election, understand God's election. Way back in my seminary days, one of my professors spoke of Romans chapter nine as objections to Calvinism answered. Objections, the Calvinism answered. And Paul works systematically through some of the objections to this sovereign electing work of God. And so what is God's election? How is it that we are called to understand it? Well, first of all, we see in verses six through nine that it is according to his promise. God's election is according to his promise. I thought about asking for a show of hands, but I didn't want to embarrass all of you. How many of you have made a promise and failed to keep it? Maybe it's parents to your children, or maybe it's members to a friend. I'll be at such and such a place at such and such a time. We'll have lunch together. Maybe you got busy and couldn't get away. Maybe you just forgot. Maybe you just decided you didn't want to have a meal at such and such a time in such and such a place with such and such a friend. All of us make promises that we don't always keep. God has never made a promise that he hasn't kept. And so the question that Paul implies is being asked, has God's promise failed? Must be answered, no way. Absolutely not. God's promise in the Old Testament, Israel is my son. My glory will dwell with them. I will make and keep my covenant with them. I will give them my law, and I will teach them how to serve me, and I will send through them my Son." And many Israelites took this promise to be so absolute that in their minds external adherence was enough to be right with God. And that is a problem that some today who would name themselves as Christians face. External adherence is not enough to be right with God. The reality that some ethnic Jews were not saved caused some to doubt God's promise, but God's promise from the beginning was a changed heart. God's promise from the beginning was made clear that physical heritage was not enough. And so Isaac was the child of promise, and Esau was lost. And Isaac and Rebekah's twin sons, God said, Jacob, I have loved, Esau, I have hated. God's election is according to his promise. But then we go on and read in verse 11, God's election is absolute. It's absolute. God's purpose in election will stand. And what is his purpose? It's to do what he says that he will do in saving a people for himself. We see it here in the text and we see it throughout the whole of the scripture. Back in chapter eight, we saw that his purpose was to work everything for good to those who were called, those who loved God and those who were called according to that purpose of his. A little bit past where we read in our call to worship in Ephesians chapter one, we see that God's purpose was to predestine us so that we might put our hope in Christ and bring praise to his glory. A little bit later in chapter three of Ephesians, we see that the purpose of God was to use Paul to show the riches and the glory of Christ and his salvation to the Gentiles and even to the heavenly authorities. In Paul's letter to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1, we see that God's purpose is to save us to holiness, to save us to holiness by faith. Like with promises, we purpose at times to get things done, and it doesn't always get done. We have a workday two weeks forward from yesterday. And I suspect that our deacons have a purpose list for that day. And I think that our deacons have a purpose list for other things that have yet to be done in the use of the building here. Will those purposes all be fulfilled? Well, I think we could look at a purpose list from our deacons with a fair bit of confidence. They have demonstrated a faithfulness and a track record, but time will tell whether all of those purposes that they have get accomplished. But God's purpose in election will stand. And because God's purpose in election will stand, trust Him. Trust Him. You can and you must trust Him. But what else do we learn here in our text about God's purpose in election? We see in verses 11 to 13 that it's unconditional. It's unconditional. It's a very common view among those who are in visible churches to say that God looks down in history, and because He knows everything, He looks down in history and He sees those who will follow after Him and He chooses them. But that makes a mockery of choice. If they're doing the choosing, then then how would we attribute it to God doing the choosing? And so Paul gives us here a reminder, this example from the Old Testament before Jacob and Esau were born, before they had done anything good or bad. And remember, Jacob did a lot of bad. Before they had done good or bad so that God's purpose in election would stand, he chose Jacob. There'd be no point in Paul emphasizing before they had been born, or before they had done good or bad, if God was merely looking down through history, seeing that Jacob was gonna do more good than he saw, and so choosing Jacob. This unconditional aspect of God's election is at the heart of why this doctrine humbles. God chose me. when there was nothing in me worthy of being chosen. God chose you, if you're in Christ, when there was nothing in you worthy of being chosen. Charles Dickens, in his tale of two cities, gives us a glimmer of the soul of mankind. Sydney Cartone, having managed Charles Darnay's acquittal of treason, And the most significant aspect of that acquittal was that Cartone pointed out how much he and Darnie looked alike, therefore calling into question the eyewitness account. As Darnie and Cartone were together, Darnie asks, do you like me? And in the book, there's a bit of back and forth. And then Darnie leaves and Cartone looks in the mirror And he speaks to the man in the mirror and he says, do you particularly like the man? He muttered at his own image. Why should you particularly like a man who resembles you? There is nothing in you to like. There is nothing in you to like. When we consider the electing work of God, His unconditional election, we must admit there is nothing in me to like. There is absolutely no way that God would have chosen me on the basis of anything good in me. And the same is true of you. There is nothing in you to like. God's election is unconditional. Verse 15 goes on to tell us that God's election is merciful. It's withholding deserved punishment. The protest in verse 14 is that's not fair. God would be unrighteous to elect some and not elect others. And again, the answer is, may it not be? Certainly not. God's election is based on his mercy and his non-election is based on his judgment. All have sinned. The wages of sin is death and all of us deserve to die due to our sin against God. If God in his mercy chooses to save some, he is not in any way unjust. He may choose to have mercy or he may choose to harden. Paul reminds us of the hardening work of God in the heart of Pharaoh, but if we go back and we read the account, we see both that God hardened Pharaoh's heart and that Pharaoh hardened his own heart. There's a sense in which God removes his restraining mercy so that left to ourselves, we sin more aggressively against him. And the result of God's mercy is that some who deserve to die are saved by grace. Saved by grace through justification by faith alone. The result of God's mercy is that some who deserve to die are saved. And because God's election is unconditional and merciful, if you have been saved, plead with him for the salvation of others. And if you are here this evening and if you're not saved, plead with him for your own salvation. Isaiah the prophet says, Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call to him while he is near. Let the wicked one abandon his way and the sinful one his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord so he may have compassion on him and to her God, for he will freely forgive him. Because God's election is sovereign and unconditional, plead with God. What else do we learn about God's election? Verse 19 tells us that he is sovereign in his election. He is sovereign in his election. The next objection that's presented here, well, it's not my fault. It's God's fault. If God's the one who elects and he doesn't elect me, then how can you blame me? And it's always fascinated me, as I've read Romans 9 from many years ago when I was just a young man, even before seeking pastoral ministry, that Paul does not give us a logical answer to that objection. Instead, what he says, in essence, is God is God. And who are you to talk back to God? Does not the potter have the right to do what he chooses with the lump of clay? A potter can make a beautiful vase or a spittoon. He can make a lovely pitcher or a chamber pot. And no one would say to the potter, you can't do that. Many of you know that Bethany works with clay. I don't know if she's a potter or not, but she has pottery. And I've seen some of it. Nancy and I had the opportunity a few months ago to see a display of her pottery. And some of it was stunning in its beauty. And some of it was actually a little bit creepy. But do I have the right to say to Bethany, you can make this beautiful pottery, but not this pottery that I view creepy? Absolutely not. I can't tell her what she can do with the clay, and I can't tell God what he can do with me and what he can do with you. Some want to say that God can't do that, and yet he does. And the amazing thing is that God chose to create some on whom to show mercy. That God chose to create some in whom to display his glory. And to emphasize that, Paul takes us back to the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah is told by God to go marry a prostitute. And it wasn't one of these stories where the prostitute is redeemed by the love of a man. And so she turns away. No, instead, she continued to turn back and back and back to her prostitution. It's really so disgusting that some commentators, I believe Calvin included, said it must be an allegory. It couldn't be that God would actually do this. And yet there's nothing in the text to indicate that it's not literally true. And we're told that Gomer, this prostitute whom Hosea was to take as a wife, had three children, and two of them are referenced here in Romans 9. Their second child, Lo-Ruhamah, this little girl was named, no compassion, no love. And the third child, a boy, was named Lo-Ami. This little boy was given the name by God. You're not my people, you're not my people. Not loved, not my people. When you read the account in Hosea, you might be tempted to think, well, will Gomer's kids deserve that? They did Hosea's. And we read in Hosea, and we're reminded here in Romans nine, that God says, those who are not my people, I will call my people. and her who is not beloved, I will call beloved. And at the very place where it was said to them, you are not my people, they will be called sons of the living God. That is the picture of the sovereign electing work of God. If you are in Christ of you and of me. In Christ, God changed your name and my name. From not beloved to beloved. From not my people to my people. Because God's election is sovereign, submit to him. If God is God and he has done such wonderful things, then submit to him. And then it goes on to tell us in verse 24 and following. That God's election is international. God saved Jews and Gentiles. And some see this in the New Testament. They think of it as Plan B. Or Plan C or Plan D, at least not Plan A. It wasn't God's initial plan to save the Gentiles. Yes, it was. So we read back in chapter four, as God says to Abraham, I have made you the father of many nations. And we read in Isaiah 49, that this was God's plan all along as God, the father speaks to God, the son, the servant. And God says to the servant, it's not enough for you to be my servant, raising up the tribes of Jacob and restoring the protected ones of Israel. I will also make you a light for the nations to be my salvation to the ends of the earth. And so God's intention in his electing work was that there would be those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. And we would together praise God for his kindness in choosing us. God's election, according to his word of promise, is absolute, is unconditional, is merciful, is sovereign, is international. And so trust him and plead with him and submit to him. But I'd like to call to your attention two more so what's. As I've said before, it's always a valid question to ask as we read the word of God. So what? What difference does this make? What is it to change in me? And I want to say this in the context of two questions. Can anyone say with certainty, I'm elect? Can anyone say with certainty, I am elect? And the answer that the scripture gives is yes. Yes, by faith. And this ought to cause humility and gratefulness and diligence. There is no room. For proud Calvinists. But there are proud Calvinists. There is no room for joyless Calvinists, but there are joyless Calvinists. If we understand the nature of the electing work of God, it ought to drive us to humility and to joy. Make your calling and your election sure, God tells us. And the scripture tells us that we make it sure in such a way that others can see. They can see of our salvation. And so Paul writes to the Thessalonians. He says, we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you. It's not only that Paul knew of his own election, he knew of the election of others because of the way they lived their life, because our gospel, he says, did not come to you in word only, but in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full assurance. God's electing work is visible and it must be visible in you if you can say, by faith, I am elect. But that question has a converse. Can anyone say with certainty, I'm not elect? And the scripture says, no, with perhaps one exception. I don't know if Abraham told Esau, God's answer, Ishmael, God's answer to his plea for Ishmael, where God essentially said, no, he will not be elect, he will not be saved. Isaac will be the child of promise. But other than that one possibility, no one can say with certainty, I'm not elect. God's long suffering toward you may simply be to show you how worthy his wrath was. So that you can pile up wrath for the day of wrath, and yet God may still save. And if any of you are here tonight and you think, I'm not elect. You can't be sure of that. You can't be sure why God is not yet. Open your eyes to the gospel. His long-suffering may be his purpose in bringing you to repentance. I met a car salesman a week ago or so, and car salesmen are on the disliked list pretty close to politicians. And yet, I wasn't wearing this shirt, I was wearing one of my RPTS shirts, and he said, oh, are you a pastor? The slogan of the seminary study under pastors. And he said, I'm a Christian. He said, I used to not believe the Bible. I thought it was nonsense. I hated it. I couldn't understand it. And then I didn't get all of the details, but essentially he said one day God opened my heart. And he opened my eyes. And I saw the truth of the Bible and I believed in Christ. That's what God does. And so no one can say I'm not elect. Because God may yet have in his mercy a plan to save you. It's reported that Charles Spurgeon said, but no one who studies Charles Spurgeon can find him ever saying that. Nevertheless, the statement makes sense. That if God's elect had a yellow stripe up their back, he would go around and lift up the back of their shirt and see if they had a yellow stripe. But God doesn't do that. And so we preach the gospel to everyone, knowing that some, that some will receive the electing mercy of God. You see, Paul ends with this warning, don't stumble over the stumbling stone. With all of the promises and the benefits that the Jews had, and we didn't look at those in detail, but they're listed there in verse four. With all of those promises and benefits, they stumbled over Christ. And you who are growing up in the church, you have a similar set of promises and benefits. You young people don't be like these Jews. These Jews said, we don't need Jesus. We can get to God on our own. We are righteous by works. Oh, but they did need Jesus. And any today who would say, I don't need Jesus. I don't need God. Oh, but you do need Jesus. You do need God. And so the message that we, the elect of God, must proclaim fervently is how Paul ends this, what's divided into chapters in our English translation. Whoever believes in him will never be put to shame. God voted you in. There are some who try to say God casts a vote for your soul and Satan casts a vote for your soul and you have to cast the deciding vote. But you're not of age because God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. And Satan is not a citizen of the kingdom and so has no vote. God voted alone, and his election to save is absolute, unconditional, merciful, sovereign, intentional. So trust him, submit to him, be humbly thankful, and plead with him plead with him for the salvation of others, so longingly desiring their salvation that like Paul, if it were possible, you would give up your salvation for them and pray that God in his mercy would vote them in as well. Please pray with me. Our Father in heaven, what wonder it is that you would choose me Each one of us can say, what wonder it is that you would choose me. For when we look in the mirror of your word and our soul, we have to say, there is nothing in me to like. And yet you have made us that which you desire us to be in Christ Jesus. And you have done that for the praise of your glorious grace. And so might we praise you and might we proclaim you and might we see others bow the knee to Christ. Might we see others for whom we long as Paul longed. come to know of their election in Christ and to live in such a way as to make their calling and election sure. Continue the work, Lord, that you have begun. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.