"Children of the Promise - Romans" - Study Hour - Lesson 10 Pastor Doug Batchelor

let's bow our heads for a word of Prayer dear father in heaven what a privilege to be able to gather in your house in the Sabbath morning and open up your word and study this very important book the book of Romans the message of righteousness by faith father we ask for the Holy Spirit to come and draw close to us God our minds our hearts as we study the Scriptures for we asked us in Jesus name Amen I listen this morning's gonna be brought to us by pastor Doc happy Sabbath want to welcome those that are here we know we have some of our folks that are gone because of the on coming Thanksgiving holiday and we have some who are here that may be visiting family and we're just glad for each of you glad for our extended class and watches around the country all over the world every week and we know some of you are also part of the Granite Bay Church family via the online members and we want to welcome you as well we are continuing our study in the book of Romans one of the great masterpiece explanations of the gospel that you find in Scripture and today we're going to be dealing with one of the most difficult passages in the Bible before I get to the lesson let me just share with you why this this chapter can be so challenging within Christianity there is a great divide I'm not talking about between seventh-day Adventists and other Protestants or Catholics among Protestants you have two great groups you've got Calvinists you've got the freewill group you've got Calvinism arminianism and what they you've heard of the doctrine once saved always saved and predestination a lot of that Springs out of this chapter some things we're going to be discussing and so there's other good material in here but I just want you to know that even one of the sections and the lessons is titled mysteries because there are some difficult passages in here our memory verse comes to us from Romans 918 and it is it's at the heart and core of what one of these challenges is Romans 8:19 if you have your Bibles I invite you to say it along with me are you ready therefore has he mercy on whom he will have mercy and on whom he will he hardens now right there out of the gate the Lord is saying well I guess all harden some hearts and I'll have mercy on others and it almost sounds like God is up there in the sky is an arbitrary Greek god or something that's looking down saying hmm what shall I do eeny meeny miney mo I'll save this one but I think I'm gonna harden her heart hardened his heart and you know I've got it someone's got to be the fall guy that will betrayed Jesus I'll just call him Judas and as much as he might want to be saved I need someone that's going to be the bad guy in this script so I'm gonna harden his heart or I'm gonna harden Pharaoh's heart let me see how shall I do this I'll save you but you're gonna be lost sorry I'll save you but I need to lost I got to teach a lesson so I need some lost people to help illustrate this lesson this is what some people see when they read Romans nine and so with that troubling introduction let's get into it matter of fact why don't we start by going to chapter 9 of Romans and I'm just gonna read the first few verses maybe I'll read verses 1 through 3 and then we'll we'll discuss them and this give you a little background about what's happening as we delve in here Romans 9 verse 1 I tell the truth in Christ I'm 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 a curse from Christ that my brethren my countrymen according to the flesh who are Israelites to whom pertains the adoption the glory of the Covenant giving of the law and the services of God and the promises so Paul is saying you know I know it looks like the promises of God have failed I'd be willing to sacrifice my own eternal life that they might be saved and he's making this great sacrifice you see God had said in the Old Testament you can read this in Exodus 19:6 when he called Israel he said I've called you I want you to be a kingdom of kings and priests I want you to be a nation of royalty you know typically in the in the ancient kingdoms they often had the Kings in the priests were the leaders some were priests Kings some were King priests anyone ever played chess that would be willing to confess it what's right next to the king and the Queen the bishops they had the church but even in the if you go to the Egyptians they're by Pharaoh were the priests and they were the ones who were tax free and this is in many religions even among the the Greeks and among the Romans you had the it seemed like the the religious leaders the the the political leaders knew they needed the support of the religious leaders that's why America was such an unusual experiment here you had a country without a king and in religion without priests and popes that were running things and so God wanted them to be a nation of kings and priests and now he's writing and they've been conquered by the Romans they are they they're divided among themselves you've got the the Helenus the ones who were falling the Greek teaching and you got the Sadducees and you get the Pharisees and then you had the Essenes and all these different divisions and the Christianity came along and it just began to explode and it looked like the whole plan that God had for the Jewish nation had failed so this is something that Paul is addressing because policy naught hasn't failed when you consider that the Gentiles become spiritual Jews the plan is working better than ever so with that as a backdrop but then he says well even though all who believe in Christ become spiritual Israel God still has a plan for the literal Jews in fact Paul says I'd be willing to sacrifice my eternal life that Israel could be saved now is it normal to want to be saved and not to be lost but it's almost abnormal to say I am willing to be lost that others might be saved why would you accept Christ you know you've heard the expression before I've talked about it the Whitham effect WI I FM what's in it for me and so many people make the decisions based on with them what's in it for me well you won't go to hell and you will go to heaven and that's why a lot of people come to the Lord but when you really become a converted Christian you stop thinking with them you start thinking what's in it for God will this bring glory to God are there others in the Bible who said we're willing to have our names stricken from the book of life but what about your name God someone read for me in just a moment Exodus 32 32 you'll have that huff tease okay I'm gonna read Romans I'm gonna read rather a second Samuel 24 17 a plague is going through the Land of Israel and David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking the people and he said surely I have sinned and I've done wickedly but these sheep what have they done led your hand I pray be against me and against my father's house it's a sign of a good shepherd was David willing to lay down his life to save sheep doesn't it seem strange that a human would be willing to risk his life for a sheep and David he was saying take it out on me and against my father's house don't make the people suffer self-sacrificing read for me Exodus 32 32 please and now if you will forgive their sin and if not please blot me from your scroll that you have written who's speaking in this verse that's Moses right and God the golden calf experienced God said let me alone he's a kind of God it's like God is saying to you ever seen people kind of get in a bar fight don't answer that you know and it's like and one guy is holding back the other guy that's really angering say no no no control yourself and he said oh let me at him let me at him and it's like God is almost saying to Moses stop stop holding me back let me go and I'm gonna wipe him out and I'll make a great nation of you this is what God said I will destroy them and I'll make a great nation of your offspring like you'll be the next Abraham well that might appeal to some of us and Moses said no Lord just look what will happen to your reputation the Egyptians will say their God wasn't big enough to bring them all the way into the Promised Land and what will happen to your reputation what will happen to your glory your honor and Moses said take my name out of the book but what will happen to your name that's real self-sacrificing love who else was willing to be stricken from the book of life for the sake of God's people his name begins with a letter J Jesus when Jesus went to the cross you know he was facing the second death and he said not my will thy will be done Lord if there's any other way and if at times the guilt of sin was so terrible it looked like eternal separation but that's what real divine love is you're willing to say I will lose everything that others might be saved that's a mature Christian it's not what's in it for me it's you're motivated by love like God because you're really it's almost selfishness when you say sure I'll accept eternal life in the new body who wouldn't want that but when you're really mature as a Christian I think I remember reading in the spirit of prophecy and I don't remember the reference with a computer you can look it up pretty easy a fear of hell and a desire of heaven might be a suitable starting point for a lot of people when you're doing evangelism evangelists might talk about well there's a heaven to win and the hell to shun that is an appropriate starting point when you're teaching children you may use elementary basic things like that listen to me no spanking this spanking you know or you listen to me you get this treat this privilege and but as you mature do you want your kids to always be obeying for those reasons you get a cookie if you do your homework I mean you you you want them to eventually think you'll be smarter if you do your homework you know and and you'll be able to serve God and your fellow man if you're well educated and so you want them to grow and Paul he had that total self sacrificing attitude someone else I thought of in the Bible there's a lady who said this how many of you remember Abigail David was on his way to wipe out the house of Nabal an avigal came to intercede and she says this is First Samuel 25 she fell at his feet she said on me my lord on me let this iniquity be she's stopping David's wrath against the household and saying take it out on me and so you see this intercession in a number of God's people in the Bible that were genuinely converted so next as you read on you know they're there wondering if God's promises have failed you read in verse model read verse five and six Romans chapter nine five and six a boom the fathers and from whom according to the flesh Christ came who is over all the eternal blessed God amen now have you ever wondered is Jesus God have you ever run into people that wondered if Jesus is God is Jesus the eternal God what does Paul call him here he's not talking about the Father and Jesus as two separate ones notice Christ came who is over all the eternal blessed God amen is that clear that Jesus is also the eternal blessed God and then notice the next verse verse 6 but it is not that the Word of God has not taken effect so some are saying see God's Word failed he had all these big plans for Israel but it flopped the prophecies that God made for Israel have flow have you read some of the Old Testament prophecies and had people say well this was a prophecy that God made that what he wanted to do with Israel if they had been successful but those prophecies right now you just you can strike him out because Israel failed they're irrelevant now is there any prophecy like that in the Bible I don't think so I think some of the prophecies had maybe a dual meaning that if Israel had been faithful this is what would have happened but you read deeper in that very prophecy and it's going to be fulfilled through spiritual Israel but do any of God's words ever fail I want to read something to you from Joshua Joshua chapter 23 14 behold this is Josh or 23 it's later in the book he's an older man now they've conquered they've entered the promised land they've got their possession and Joshua says behold this day I'm going the way of all the earth he means I'm getting old I'm going that way I'm dying and you know in all of your hearts and in the hearts and your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord God spoke concerning you all has come to pass for you not one word of them has failed now how much of the Word of God and the prophecies of God come true jesus said heaven and earth will pass away everything God says in his prophecies will come true but some of it that they may have thought was going to happen with literal Israel in fact is happening with spiritual Israel and so this is a point that is made as we read on here still going on in Romans he says here for they are not and I'm still reading Romans 9 verse 6 halfway through the verse for they are not all Israel who are of Israel nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham but in Isaac your seed shall be called now here's the point that notices deep I hope you all still with me this is the point that Paul is making here Abraham initially had two sons what were the names he smells really the technical firstborn but he's the son of the flesh Isaac is the son of the promise through his wife so he's technically the legitimate son so when God said to Abraham I'm gonna multiply your seed and through all through your seed all the world will be blessed which seed was he talking about through which the blessing would come Ishmael and the children of the east better known as Islam today or Isaac so God said Abraham had a lot of children but the blessing wasn't to come through all the children it was to come specifically through Isaac patriarchs were Abraham Isaac Jacob the Messiah messianic line came through there and then he goes on to say so not every child of Abraham is a child of promise that's the point he's making meaning even some who are literal physical Jews they are not the spiritual seed of Abraham and there are some who may not be physical Jews but they are the spiritual seed of Abraham so all the promises that God made to Israel are going to be fulfilled because he says and here's several verses I'm gonna give you now now this what I'm getting ready to say it really aggravates some people it angers Jews and certain evangelicals because there are a number again I'm prophesying what I'm saying I told you it was a tough chapter there's a number of evangelicals who believe that everyone in the nation of Israel is going to get converted and they're going to rebuild the temple and that you know that's what Shepherds Rob believed you got quiet Shepard's rod were a branch that kind of split off from among seventh-day Adventist back in 1930-something and when we were back in Washington last week we were preaching at the General Conference office and on our last Sabbath as we drove through the gate there's all these people protesting our meetings with posters it said all kinds of things I don't remember all that they said they were there when we did our prophecy code in Florida and they were Shepherds rah they're not allowed to come on the ground so they stand at the gate when people are coming in and they hold up their signs and they protest but they were a group who believed that they were all literally going to get transported somehow to Israel and the literal Kingdom was going to get rebuilt and Jesus was gonna literally reign on earth there are evangelicals who believe that they think that Jesus reigns on earth during the Millennium now what I'm going to share with you aggravates evangelicals and some Jews because they believe that it's it's a substitution in other words that the promises of God are not going to be fulfilled because the Gentiles have been substituted for the Jews I don't believe that I believe that God still if they call it replacement theology you ever heard that before I believe God still has a special work for the Jews there's going to be a revival among the Jewish nation there will be many Jews that will be involved but not all of them and it will not be a nationalistic revival they may be using any part of the world but I think God still has a special plan for them I'll give you a little amazing trivia years ago I may have told you this once before I don't remember years ago I was in Toronto during a general conference meeting and I was walking up the street looking for something to eat and I ran into Clifford Goldstein now on all the Sabbath School Quarterly's you'll see a couple of names among the editors one of them is Clifford Goldstein another one you'll see is Sharon Thomas Cruz amazing facts was founded by Joe Cruz last week I had the privilege of spending some time with his widow LuAnn Cruz who's 93 years old now and doing fine and so I'm I ran into Clifford goldstein and we he said I'm looking for a place to eat so we went we sat down we ate together why we're talking he said you know so where'd you grow up and I said well you know I lived in Miami Beach he said I grew up in Miami Beach I said I lived in New York City I came to Miami Beach he and I went to school there for a while where'd you go to school I went to Nautilus cliff said I went to Nautilus and it turns out he was a Jewish atheist that went to a school in Miami Beach I was a Jewish atheist I went to school in Miami Beach and now he edits the Sabbath School lesson and I teach it so God still hasn't work for the Jews doesn't he and Sharon Cruz edits it you know someone from connected with amazing facts so I thought that was kind of cool but so I do think God has a special work for the Jews but it's not that the Gentiles have replaced the Jews this is a very important point the Gentiles are grafted in to the Jewish stock so all the promises that God made to the Gentiles belong to you as well let me give you a few verses on that Galatians 3 verse 7 therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham not some of those who are among faith but only those so if you're a literal Jew and you don't have faith then you're not a son of Abraham didn't Jesus say to some of the Jewish religious leaders they said Abraham is our Father and Jesus said Abraham is not your father so if you want to argue with Jesus you take it up with him he said just because your physical Jew does not mean Abraham to your father jesus said you're of your father the devil because you're trying to kill me Abraham didn't do that Abraham longed for my day they said what do you mean Abraham long for your day you're not even 50 years old what do you mean you're crazy and so it's not about being a physical Jew does God save people because he examines their DNA he says well that wouldn't that be kind of racism if you did it that way or does the Bible say God is made of all nations he's won one blood and doesn't the Bible say whosoever will might come to him even in the Old Testament in the days of the Jewish dispensation could you be safe could you be grafted in Uriah was called Uriah the Hittite meaning he was a Hittite that converted what about Ruth when she said to Naomi your people will be my people your God or my god did she then become a mother in Israel and Rahab when she married Salman did she become a mother in Israel are they ancestors of Jesus so is it a new thing that a Gentile could be grafted into the stock of Israel and be a real child of God it's not a new thing and there were a number of literal Jews that turned from God to idols and the Bible said God said I'm turning from you so God has never saved people based upon looking at their blood he prophesied that through their blood the Messiah would come but every individual is saved based upon faith you still with me all right here's some other words Romans 9 6 4 not all of Israel are Israel Romans 2:28 this is a good one for he is not a Jew who is one outwardly when Paul talks about outwardly he meant you know they had been circumcised you're not a Jew who is one outwardly nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh but he is a Jew who is one inwardly and circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit not the letter whose praise is not from men but from God this is not just a New Testament teaching this is an Old Testament teaching way back in the days of Moses Moses said to be circumcised in your heart that means the Covenant is a hard covenant Galatians 3:29 and if you are Christ then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise and didn't Jesus and John the Baptist say many will come from the east and the west and sit down in the kingdom with Abraham Isaac and Jacob and the literal children of the kingdom will be in outer darkness what's the parable about the rich man and Lazarus really has nothing to do with the state of the Dead you know that parable in Luke 16 got a rich man feasting on the best food poor beggars at his gate learning the crumbs that fall from this table rich man represented the Jewish nation and those who know the truth and this is the bread of life they're feasting all the Gentiles that were lost they want the crumbs but in the resurrection there's a great irony that happens Lazarus the Gentile he's in Abraham's bosom the destination of where the Jews want to go they want to be with father Abraham but the rich man who represents the Jewish nation he's in Hades that's the place of pagan torment you see the paradox of what Jesus is saying here the rich man who's represents the Jews he ends up in the pagan place of suffering Hades and the poor man who represents the Gentiles he's in Abraham's bosom and it's all a parable but what the Lord is saying is if they do not believe Moses and the prophets then it doesn't matter if they're your brethren they've got to believe and so it has to do with faith many will come from the east and the west and sit down in the kingdom with Abraham Isaac and Jacob and the children of the kingdom people who would have been naturally the children there in outer darkness pastor Doug you talking about the Jews and their evangelicals now I'm talking about you and me can we say I go to church I'm a third-generation seventh-day Adventist Christian and so god I get like I'm first in line you know God needs to save me and I honestly I've met people before when they find out I'm Christian so oh well you know my cousins our pastor it's like you think that's gonna help you at the judgment you know it's haven't you met people you have you heard these things before oh you have my grandfather he was a pastor not gonna help you someone once said God has no grandchildren you are adopted as a child and so Paul is making this very important point here all right and then it gets really difficult let me read on and he says here I'm going to read verse 8 that is those who are children of the flesh these are not the children of God that's as clear as it can be but the children of the promise they are counted the seed for this time the word of promise at that time I will come and Sarah will have a son in other words it was Isaac who was a son of promise and not only this but when Rebekah had also conceived by one man even our Father Isaac for the children not being born having done anything good or evil that the purpose of God according to election might stand not of works but of him who calls it was said of her the older shall serve the younger II saw the older would serve the younger Jacob now this is where this is where it starts getting really difficult the older will serve the younger verse 13 as it is written Jacob I've loved and Esau I have hated what in the world does that mean someone's gonna look up for me first Timothy to three to five I think you're gonna be three to four actually Jacob I loved Esau hated let me tell you how some people read that God being a God of predestination they say I don't believe this he says well you know I want to teach a lesson and so I know that Rebekah is going to have twins I'm just gonna show that I'm gonna save who I want to save and instead of it being the oldest will be the firstborn and he gets all the blessings I'm gonna give the blessings to the youngest just to mess with them I'm gonna give the older one a hard heart and I'm gonna save the younger one because I just decide you know who I want to save and who I want to be lost because after now you just read a dear in Romans he said Jacob I loved Esau I hate it and it makes it sound like he decided to love Jacob before he was born and to Haiti so before you was born does God hate any baby before it's born before it does anything listen now Paul is quoting the Old Testament you got to know your Old Testament listen to what Paul is quoting go to Malachi chapter one he says I have loved you says the Lord you say in which way have you loved us was not Esau Jacob's brother says the Lord yet Jacob I've loved but Esau I've hated and laid waste his mountains and his heritage for the Jackals of the wilderness Jacob and Esau are referring to the nations of those people and God loved and hated them because of what they did and so when he quotes here Jacob I loved in Esau hated he's talking about the and the Israelites they summarized their names by calling one Jacob and when he saw he's not saying that I love the individual Jacob and I hated the individual Esau he later hated what Esau did and you can read about that in Hebrews when Esau did not appreciate his birthright and he wanted the he was so carnal minded he said what good is a spiritual birthright give me beans now I want beans now what good I'm gonna starve to death I don't have my beans and so he was carnally minded where Jacob said I want the spiritual blessing and just to prove that when Jacob came back from wandering and Mesopotamia he said to Esau here I'm gonna give you lots of money he gave him all these sheep and goats and camels and servants he says it's a gift I'm not after that blessing I want the spiritual blessing of our Father so it was what Jacob did that God loves it when Jacob said I won't let go unless you bless me he loved that when Esau said you know I just want the the carnal things for right now Jacob he went a long way to get a spiritual bride didn't he he he traveled all the way to Haran east I didn't want to make that trip he married the local pagan girls and so you just see that this is difference and so their offspring he hated the because they were carnal he loved the Israelites initially because they were spiritual let me give you another example of that why did God pick the Levites to be the priests and he did not pick from the other eleven or twelve tribes depends on how you number them remember he divided Jacobs tribe why do you pick the Levites did God say well I've just chosen them spiritually and I'm going to give them the blessing or was there something that happened that may it happened you remember at the Mount Sinai the Golden Calf experience and Moses said who is on my side come to me and the Levites gathered around the other than Aaron they had not supported the apostasy and they were chosen and the Levites strapped on their swords and they went through the camp and they killed the ringleaders of this idolatry that happened you remember there's a terrible story and then after that God says because of their dedication to the things of God I'm gonna have the Levites be the ones who are the guardians of the truth there was something they did now it also gets difficult well let me keep reading here all right and then it says oh wait I never had you read your verse so does God save people he would love someone he hates others and does God want everyone to be saved alright go ahead please and read for us first Timothy two three and four for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior who desires all men to be saved right pause right there God who desires what how many men to be saved who wrote Romans who wrote first Timothy Paul he wants everybody to be saved now these are some of the scriptures that the Armenians and the predestination people and the once saved always saved they lob back and forth some say I've elected Jacob I hated Esau but then Paul says he wants all men to be saved God finished reading that verse who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth yeah and he goes on says for there's one mediator of knowledge of the truth I want me to get between God and man Jesus Christ who gave himself a ransom for all a ransom for how many for all I guess I should have had you read that last verse I forgot why I put it in there let me give you another one Titus 2:11 for the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to a few people hopefully your spotty when the pastor changes the verses there now I'm gonna tell you when I change it others will not tell you so you need to know your Bible for the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men why because he wants all men to be saved John 1:19 that was the true light that gives light to every man that comes into the world and then you the Bible closes that says whosoever will let him take the water of life freely whosoever what's John 3:16 whosoever believes in Him might not perish but see he wants everyone to be saved God is love can you imagine a father a loving father saying well I need someone to help illustrate a point in the gospel so sorry but you're gonna die and then they put you in hell and I'm making I'm pre determining before you're even born that I'm wiring you so you cannot be saved and then I'm gonna put you in hell do you realize that's what some believe doesn't that sort of make God an accomplice to their crime if God is able to predetermine that he's gonna make somebody love him doesn't that counsel out the whole plan of salvation and you would then say he must have said well I need to teach the universal lesson so I'm gonna make Lucifer turn on me God knew it would happen but he doesn't make it happen that's different he really makes his creatures free it's a very important point to understand because you see where this goes God says I am gonna make Judas a liar and a thief he doesn't have any choice I am gonna just wire him that way from the factory and so that's how he's gonna live his life because I need to use him so if you know what they called it in our criminal system you're an accessory you're an accomplice and if nothing else if the government sets somebody else to commit a crime if they set them up they call it entrapment isn't that right and it's considered illegal you get Terrill terrible philosophical problems if you believe that but God who wants all men to be saved he creates everybody with an opportunity to love to choose and every man man is rewarded according to what his works Jesus says that isn't that right so if God is going to reward people according to his works but if he's pre deciding what your works are gonna be before you're even born and he's making you do certain works and then he's punishing you for doing bad works wouldn't that be kind of like you know pushing your kid in the cookie jar and then spanking them it for eating cookies it just wouldn't make sense so this is why I told you this is a challenging chapter I need to move on here some of the mysteries Isaiah 55 verse 8 and 9 first of all there are some difficult things I don't want to pretend there or not God says for my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my ways says the Lord for as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts so now we're gonna jump into Romans 14 Romans 9 verse 14 what shall we save in is there unrighteousness with God see Paul is saying I know what you're thinking did God make Esau to be lost is there unrighteousness with God he says certainly not how many of you have a King James I think it says God forbid there God forbid don't even think that is there any unrighteousness what you've got a an accessory for he said to Moses I will have mercy on whom ever I will have mercy and I will have compassion on whoever I will have compassion so that it is not him who wills nor of him who runs but God who shows mercy and then he gives you an illustration for the scripture says to the Pharaoh for this very purpose I have raised you up that I might show my power in you and that my name might be declared in all the earth so God raised up Pharaoh and you know there's several places where it says God hardened Pharaoh's heart and he raised up Pharaoh and he said look I got some I have to have a bad guy in this script so that I can show my mighty power and so I've raised you up and I'm harden your heart and you don't have any choice but you're gonna be the most stubborn King ever who ever lived and you're also gonna be really stupid because plague after plague and you keep doing the same thing so is that what it's saying therefore he has mercy on whom he will and who he will he hardens and you'll say to me then why does he find fault why would God punish if he's making a person that way for who has resisted his will but indeed o man who are you who reply against the will of God you apply replying against God will the thing formed that's you the creature say to him who formed it why did you how dare he make me like this does not the Potter have power over the clay to make from the same lump one vessel for honor and another vessel for dishonour all right so it says God hardened Pharaoh's heart three or four times you might look it up but at least three or four times it says Pharaoh hardened his own heart someone's gonna read for me Exodus 934 and before you do I'll read some of the others Exodus 8:15 but when Pharaoh saw there was relief he hardened his heart and did not heed them now the relief was the mercy of God to forgive the play Exodus 8:32 but Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also neither would he let the people go go ahead read Exodus 9 34 and when Pharaoh saw that the rain the hail and the Thunder had ceased he sinned yet more and he hardened his heart he and his servants so what do you do when you got what appears to be conflicting verses one place is God says I'm gonna harden Pharaoh's heart and the other places says hey Pharaoh hardened his heart when the Sun shines on wax it gets soft when the Sun shines on clay it gets hard you could say the Sun hardened the clay but that same sun shining right next to the clay softens the wax the circumstances that God allowed to come Pharaoh took those things and he hardened his heart let me read something to you from the book it's actually from a a quote from the review and Herald February 17 1891 we're told that the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart the repeated refusals of the King to hear the word of the Lord called forth more direct more urgent and forcible messages at each rejection of light the Lord manifested a more marked display of his power but the Kings obstinacy increased with every new evidence of the power and majesty of the Divine heaven until the last arrow of Mercy was exhausted from the divine quiver and then of course the plague of the Passover came the firstborn died including Pharaohs he said mercy was sent sowhat's hardening Pharaoh's heart the mercy of God and when God said I'm gonna reveal my power in Pharaoh what did God reveal his patience his mercy and he hardened his heart against the mercy and then here's a quote I want you to get the man was utterly hardened by his own persistent resistance that's pretty clear Pharaoh sowed obstinacy and he reaped the harvest of the same in his character the Lord could do nothing more to convince him for he was barricaded in obstinacy and prejudice where the holy spirit could not find access to his heart God kept sending the spirit to even Pharaoh to reach him showing his power showing his patience and he just folded his arms he said who is the Lord who is law I'm not going to listen to God I'm gonna go to my gods and so God said I'm going to allow this circumstance to be a lesson for Israel see God takes things that are bad that the devil does and he works them for good and so the the hardness of Pharaoh Pharaoh hardened in his own heart ended up being a demonstration of God's power and his goodness yes God raised up Pharaoh God raised him up with a free will God knew what he would do and he said it will be an opportunity to teach a lesson but he didn't pre program and make fair I'll be stubborn and lost see what I'm saying so that's very important I think let me give you one more verse first samuel 6 6 now this is weight up in Samuel it's not an exodus anymore first samuel 6 6 samuel said why then do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians in Pharaoh hardened their hearts when he did mighty things among them they did not let the people go that they might depart so that I think is pretty clear and moving on here in Romans he talks about we talked about Pharaoh and that his name might be revealed in him the Potter has power over the clay and we see here and then he says and that he might make known the riches of his glory so why does he allow this to happen that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of Mercy which he prepared beforehand for glory even to those who he called not of the Jews only but also the Gentiles so this is the point he just keeps trying to bring break it's not just Jews but the Gentiles also as he says in Hosea I will call them my people who are not my people and her beloved who is not beloved and it will come to pass and the place where I said to them you are not my people there they'll be called the sons of the Living God places that were formerly pagan are now being called sons of the Living God Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea the remnant will be saved for he will finish the work and cut it short and righteousness who what qualifies you to be a remnant the ones who believed is by faith when you get to Revelation and you find out about the remnant revelation 14 here are those that keep the commandments of God and have the not the testimony the faith of Jesus there it says here are those that keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus the remnant is composed of people who are saved by faith they keep the commandments because they have the faith of Jesus they don't keep the commandments to be saved is that right so Paul is saying through history God has saved a remnant who had faith Abraham had faith Isaac had faith Jacob had faith but not every Israelite is gonna be saved is that clear there were some who had faith and that highlights many of them through history read Hebrews 11 it talks about the heroes of faith but you know among the heroes of faith that not all Jews doesn't he also talked about Noah built an ark by faith he wasn't a Jew Rahab had faith she was not an Israelite and so Paul is making the point that those who believe they're the ones were saved by faith and reading on here verse 29 Romans 9 and as Isaiah said before unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed Saba out there doesn't mean Sabbath it means the lord of hosts or armies had left us a seed we would have become like sodom we would have been like gomorrah it's the remnant that got ultimately saved and God saved a remnant out of Sodom and Moro that was a lot and his daughters what shall we say then that the Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained to righteousness even the righteousness of faith but Israel pursuing the law of righteousness has not attained to righteousness the law of righteousness why because they did not seek it by faith but as it were by the works of the law for they stumbled at the stumbling stone as it is written behold I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and a rock of offense and whoever believes on him will not be put to shame and here it's talking about that rock of stumbling someone's gonna read for me psalm 118 verse 22 the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief Cornerstone this was the Lord's doing it is marvelous in our eyes and here he's referring back to a story when they were building Solomon's Temple and all the stones were prepared at a separate quarry they brought him to place they sent up the cornerstone early on but it was an odd looking stone because part of it rested on the bedrock rock and it had been cut and sloped and it was a corner and and it was right in the middle of the worksite and they kept bumping into it and tripping on it and scuffing their toes on it and hitting their heads on it and they got upset and they rolled it down into the Kidron Valley then when it came time to build the temple that they started actually assembling the masonry they said where where's the cornerstone they sent back a text to the quarry and they said where does that cornerstone they said we sent that a long time ago oh that's that stumbling-stone that was right in the middle that we were cursing and it's the foundation for the whole temple we had no idea you find that referred to many times through the new in the Old Testament and then finally in the New Testament they say that was Christ when the Messiah finally came they didn't know and they rejected him and they cast him out of the city and he ended up being the foundation for everything that's why you read in Ephesians 2 now therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners Gentiles you're not far off but you are fellow citizens with the Saints and members of the household of God having been built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets Jesus Christ Himself being the chief Cornerstone and which the whole building fitly frames together anyway I can see we've run out of time I want to remind our friends I know we talked about some difficult things dealing with predestination and the sovereignty of God we have a free offer it's number 112 it's called can a saved man choose to be lost we'll send it to you for simply asking we do ask you read it you'll be blessed and then share it with a friend here's the number eight six six seven eight eight three nine six six that adds up to eight six six study more and we'll send it to you free please do so and thank you friends for joining us God willing we'll study his word together again next week [Music]

Channel: Aaron

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Length: 48min 3sec (2883 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 30 2017