Sunday Morning Service

Romans 9-Romans 11 (Click scripture reference for audio access)

"A Retrospective"  •  6.24.12  •  Sunday Morning Service, Calvary Christian Fellowship

Intro.

- The doctrine of sovereign election, the fact that God has lovingly chosen to show His mercy freely to a specific group of people, generally tops the controversy chart.

- We have just finished studying Romans 9-11, which is the section of Romans containing Paul's vindication of God's election. I know that it has been a challenge for our minds.

- When Paul considered election, he did not respond as many do today. There is no fear in his heart. There is not a hint of controversy. He states what he states as a matter of revealed fact.

- As he does so, I believe that he presents us with 4 very clear responses that mark a healthy view of sovereign election.

- The doctrine of election should prod us to act in the way exemplified by the Apostle Paul.

Text

- The first characteristic that should mark our response to sovereignty is "Passion For The Lost." Look again at Romans 9:1-3.

• Romans 9:1-3 : "I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh," : This may come as a complete surprise to some, but sovereignty sparks passion for souls!

- Paul's heart was for his countrymen. This was the truth that he was willing to claim in Christ.

- When a person allows Jesus to rule their lives, they become obedient to His dictates and mirror His passion. In Christ, the truth regarding Paul was that he was heartbroken.

- He was burdened for them, likening himself to a person in continual mourning at their present condition. We might translate Paul's heart this way: "I would do anything to see them saved!"

- Paul would go to any lengths, travel to distant shores and risk life and limb if it meant salvation for the people of Israel. The book of Acts is a small testimony to that fact.

- You know that you are off kilter if you study this subject, but you have no heart or concern for the evangelism of those who are perishing!

- If that has happened, understand that you have let this doctrine cloud your thinking and you are living in a way that Paul the Apostle and Jesus Christ, cannot relate to!

- It was Jesus who first came to the Jews and was passionate for them! Consider some of His final words regarding them, captured in Luke 13:33.

• Luke 13:33 : "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!" : Listen to this plaintive cry. "For all you have done, I still long to bring you under my protection!"

- Consider everything else that Jesus did. Every miracle, every teaching, every opportunity was given for this very purpose: Jesus was passionate for His lost people!

- God has always had a heart for His people and even for those who were not His people! Unfortunately, God's people sometimes refuse to share His heart.

- Consider His call of Jonah. God called Jonah to preach to the Ninevites.

- Jonah knew that his national enemies, the brutal Ninevites, the capital dwellers of the country of the Assyrians, were wreckless marauders and a consistent national threat to Israel.

- They were hateful and hostile towards God's people and God wanted them saved! What? When God calls Jonah to go left, he immediately goes extreme right!

- When everything in the book obeys God, including the Ninevites, Jonah is left on a hill, angry and dismayed, not because his mission failed, but because it succeeded!

• Jonah 4:1-3 : "But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. So he prayed to the Lord, and said, 'Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm. Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!'" : At the preaching of Jonah, the entire city of Ninevah repented from their wickedness and a veritable revival broke out! God spares them.

- Later, God asks Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry?" Jonah in fierce anger answers back, "It is right for me to be angry!"

- How sad! God wants to be merciful to sinners, like He has been merciful to you. Will you stand in the way and deny them for the sake of your "righteous" anger toward them?

- Some believe that election makes Christianity an exclusive club that we need to protect from those sinners. "Guard that door! Us and no more!"

- Wow, aren't you glad nobody was guarding that doory when you came in!?

- The fact that God wants to have mercy on people and that there are people that He intends to be merciful toward, should fuel your passion for the lost.

- The second characteristic that should mark our response to sovereignty is "Prayer For The Lost." Take a look at Romans 10:1.

• Romans 10:1 : "Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved." : We have seen His desire. We understand Paul's wish. That is a good thing. You will never move to prayer until you first have a desire for something greater than yourself!

- Paul's heart and prayer were moved to pray to God specifically for Israel's salvation.

- Before anything can happen in a life spiritually, the first thing must happen in a life spiritually!

- Our prayers are often hindered because we are praying about the fruit of someone's life and not the root!

- We are praying for behavior modification or are praying for issues that are of secondary importance. Your prayer for someone needs to be specifically related to their salvation first!

- Are they saved? If they are not saved, they lack the power necessary to change.

- They must first come to a saving knowledge of Christ Jesus, meaning that they must first come to the end of their sin life and become desperate for the Savior of Men.

- Second, I would have you know that this entire phrase is written in what is called the "present indicative." Present refers to now, indicative refers to every time, past present and future.

- At any time, this was Paul's specific petition before the Lord. Our prayers can never be isolated to a one time event. We are called of God to petition Him regularly!

- Please turn in your Bible with me to Luke 11. Jesus shares a story with the disciples about a man whose friend comes late at night asking for bread.

- The man persists long enough to wear down his friend, who gives of his bread not because they are friends, but because he has persisted.

• Luke 11:9,10 : "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." : Jesus speaks each of these verbs in the present active imperative. Imperative is the voice of command. We would write it like this: "You must keep asking, keep seeking and keep knocking."

- When you do, Jesus says the door will be opened to you. You will have what you ask for, you will find what you seek and you will open the door!

- Immediately, many of us will cry "foul" because if it's a matter of repitition, then God is simply counting down until He has the correct number of requests from us.

- At that point, God is just like any other supposed deity that can be swayed by human notions. I admit that there is a line and a balance that must be towed here.

- We do not consistently pray to change the heart of God. But we do consistently pray to discover the heart of God!

- Is God's heart to provide salvation? Is that what He wants to do? We have no other mechanism in this life whereby we can discover that other than prayer!

- Forget about the results. Forget about what happens or doesn't happen. That is God's job.

- Your job as a Christian is to pray earnestly, fervently, consistently and passionately! Do any of those words mark your prayer life regarding the salvation of those we love?

- If nothing else can be said, let it be said that we prayed until something happened! Let us all be challenged. Paul's view of election did not hinder his prayer life!

- The third characteristic that should mark our lives in light of election is "Participation In The Winning Of The Lost!" Take a look at Romans 10:14.

• Romans 10:14,15 : "How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!" : This does not appear like a objection at first glance, but it is. There are remote places in the world. How can they get the gospel?

- There are people that don't know about this Paul! You can't require that belief in the gospel is necessary if nobody can come to this? The objection is ironically the mission!

- Paul admits that they have to call on Him and hear about Him and receive Him. This is vital.

- Sovereignty requires more than passion and prayer. It requires our participation in the process. We are a part of how God spreads the knowledge of His Savior to the world.

- By the way, the gospel message is not the entire Bible. Some have sought to get out of preaching the gospel by simply reading passages from the Bible.

- Nobody who is unsaved can comprehend the Bible's teaching! We require the help of the Holy Spirit! Christians have one message for unbelievers: Believe In Christ! All understand that!

- The gospel is a shortwave transmission covering the major facts relating to redemption.

- A gospel transmission will include the fact that God hates sin. He hates it enough to punish Jesus for it. If you believe in Him, He will take what you owe and give what He's earned!

- Upon genuine belief, you get His righteousness and He takes your filthiness! From there, He gives you a new nature that is compliant with His Holy Spirit and a new life that is like His Son!

- That is the good news! That is what a preacher is sent to proclaim! That is what eternity hinges upon.

- Beyond the clarity that is apparently necessary to some, let us not be fooled into thinking that this is not also a command to each of us!

- Christ's disciples were each called to share in that work, they themselves being commissioned by their Lord and ours, to this end!

• Mark 16:15 : "And He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." : The word "preach" is written in the imperative voice. The Great Commission is not the Great Suggestion. This is a command!

- You might say, "Well, in context, this was actually just written to the disciples themselves." True. But what happened when the disciples found themselves multiplied in Jerusalem?

- At some point, there were multiple thousands of believers daily gathering together, as the church in Jerusalem blew up to mega church status.

- When persecution hit the church, the church was scattered. Far from being defeated or deflated, that persecution just got them started!

• Acts 8:4 : "Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word." : The wind blew the dandelion and the little leaves went flying in all different directions doing exactly what they had been taught: To proclaim the Word of the Gospel!

- Look back at Romans 10. Paul quotes from Isaiah, speaking of the feet of the people who carried the news of a return from captivity.

- They were going to leave the land of their captivity and return to the land of freedom.

- Those who heard that news would fall at the feet of the ones who brought the news and they would kiss them and grab them and weep at them.

- "Thank you for proclaiming this! Thank you for letting me know that this freedom has come!"

- Paul uses this verse to speak of the Gospel, the feet of those who bring the news of liberation, being beautiful indeed!

- By the way, do you see why it's vital to show a sinner the depth of their sin? Part of our problem today is that we sell the gospel as a basis for life improvement.

- A person needs to be shown that he dangles over the fires of hell, held only by the floss that is his short life! When he sees that he or she is a captive, the gospel will really be good news!

- And when they hear the good news of their freedom from their real captivity, they will metaphorically grab your feet and honor what God has shown them through your witness!

- Election is one of the greatest motivators for evangelism! It lets us know that there are some who are waiting to be gathered and we are commanded to participate!

- In Romans 11:25, Paul tells us that Israel will be cut off until the fulness of the Gentiles comes in! That means the fish are biting! Where are the fishermen!? WE are the fishermen!

- Fourth and finally, in light of election, you know that you apprehend election when you "Praise To The God Who Has Saved The Lost!" Look at Romans 11:30.

• Romans 11:30-32 : "For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all." : At one time, God showed His mercy to you. He did this, opening a door to you because the ones that He had invited had decided not to come! Their disobedience allowed you to experience mercy.

- Now, God has shut the people of Israel into the prison of disobedience and will one day show them the mercy that we have received, so that He can be the God of mercy to all!

- All who will ever enter the gates of Heaven and partake of God's salvation, will be there simply because God showed His mercy! None will have earned it.

- Apart from God's mercy, all would have surely been lost. But God's election toward Israel and the church will make one new group stand before Him forever!

- God wants to be the merciful Savior to all. He is the merciful Savior of the true people of Israel, the remnant which has believed in Christ.

- He is the merciful Savior of the wild olive branches that have been grafted in!

- He will be the merciful Savior of all who are numbered of the Gentiles and then of the Jews at the end of the Tribulation!

- The fact that God keeps all of this together, knowing the who, how and when, leads Paul to one of the finest hymns of praise recorded in the scriptures. Listen to it in the NLT.

• Romans 11:33-36 (NLT) : "Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!  For who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to give him advice? And who has given him so much that he needs to pay it back? For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen." : If the doctrine of election does not cause you to lift your hands in praise to God, who has shown the riches of His mercy to all that have believed upon Christ, you miss the point!

- Sadly, there are those who would re-write this section like this: "Oh how great is my intellect because I understand what has been said!"

- "I'm glad that I have figured out His decisions, His ways and thoughts! I'm fairly certain I could give God advice!"

- "All of this was left here for me to put together like a puzzle so that I can be glorified! My knowledge is truly deep and powers of understanding, incredibly wise!"

- I do not say this to say that there is anything wrong with systematizing or codifying the doctrines that we believe.

- However, when those doctrines divide, or raise a heart of pride, a red flag should be flown! If anyone beside Christ is given glory, then our response to election is out of line!

- There are some who should be ashamed! Even though that was all spoken facetiously, and none would ever admit to such feelings, pride is a distinct problem that praise fixes!

- Are you blown away by God? You should be! Is He beyond your finding out? Absolutely! What is your response? It should be a grateful heart that praises a merciful and wonderful God!

Conclusion

- Election causes a passion for the lost. Is there zeal in your soul for souls that are lost? What would you do about that today?

- Election causes prayers to be made for the lost. Is your prayer life filled with zeal for the unsaved, specifically, consistently calling upon God for their salvation?

- Election invites participation in the winning of the lost. Are you God's mouthpiece where you work? Is anyone looking at your feet and thinking how wonderful they look?

- Finally, election prompts praise for the one who has gathered the lost! Is your heart full and ready to explode with thanksgiving to this God of electing grace? May it be so for us all!