[MUSIC PLAYING] Good morning. Hey, I come bearing
gifts, but not for myself. This is a gift for some
child somewhere in the world. There is a football in it. There's a dinosaur in it. A little car. I'm guessing it's for a boy. Play-Doh, bar of soap. I'm pretty sure it is for a boy. Hairbrush, sundry little gifts. And it's part of a thing called
Operation Christmas Child. This is the 25th year
we have partnered with that organization,
Operation Christmas Child. And I show this to you because
it's a very simple thing to do. You just grab a box, a shoe box. Well, I don't have a shoe box. Get a new pair of shoes. Have your husband buy you a
pair of shoes at Nordstrom Rack. They're on sale. And then get the shoe box. Or you can get a box-- we'll give you the
box for the gifts. Fill it full of gifts and bring
it in the next couple weeks to the church. So what starts with
a simple shoe box ends up as an opportunity
for evangelism. Since it started in
1993, 168 million people have heard the gospel through
Operation Christmas Child. It is the most effective child
evangelism tool that I know of. Every day-- because gifts
are given through OCC around the world at different
times other than Christmas, every day it is
estimated 30,000 children hear the gospel through
Operation Christmas Child alone. Now, once they come and
receive their gift-- there are little presentations
the churches put together, and it gives them an opportunity
to pray to receive Christ. As soon as they
do, they're placed in a 12-week discipleship
program, where these kids afterwards
learn Bible verses, learn how to share their
faith so they go back home, tell their parents,
tell their friends. And the evangelism keeps going. So 18 million kids have enrolled
in that discipleship program. And so it's amazing. I just want to just encourage
you to get a shoe box and fill that up
for that project. Would you now turn
in your Bibles, please, to the book
of Romans, chapter 9. We're continuing our series
called Heart and Soul, as we march through
the book of Romans. And we're in chapter 9. We live in a day and
an age of polarization. Political parties
don't trust each other. The rhetoric is amped
up way too high. And you will hear both sides
of the political aisle accusing one another with words like
liar, fraud, fake, untrue. You hear it on both sides. My take on it is it doesn't just
reflect a political condition. It reflects the human condition. I found a book some time ago. It has a chapter in it. It's a book of
research and polls. The chapter called
American Liars. And according to their
polling, 91% of Americans admit to lying routinely about
matters they consider trivial. Here's an example. That meal was delicious. You're thinking, I wouldn't
feed that to my cat. But you don't say that,
nor should you say that. But you're not being honest. I don't quite know how
to get around that. Or if you say, oh,
no, you look great. You don't need to
lose any weight. You're perfect. You may not be thinking
that, but you say that. Or you say, no, I'm great. I'm good, when you may
not be all that fine. So 91% of Americans admit to
lying routinely about matters they consider trivial. 36% of those say they tell big
lies about important matters that hurt other people. Here's the breakdown. According to this research,
men lie more than women. Was that funny? Men lie more than women. Young men lie more
than older men. The unemployed will lie
more than those with jobs. And the poor will lie
more than the rich. And finally, liberals lie
more than conservatives. Now, don't shoot the messenger. I'm just telling
you what I read. I think most often, the lies
come from broken promises. And the good news is
that we have in our hands a book filled with promises
from a promise-giving and promise-keeping God. Do you know that
in your Bible, you have 31,173 verses in total. That is 23,000 in the Old
Testament, about 8,000 verses in the New Testament. Of all those verses,
it is estimated there are 7,487 promises
that God made to us. The Bible says, in Numbers
23, "God is not a man that he should lie. He is not a human that he
should change his mind. Has he ever promised and
not carried it through?" You and I should
live no other way other than being extremely
confident in what God has given us in terms of his promises. I don't know how you
treat God's promises. There is a story about when
America was first being settled and a man wanted to
cross the Mississippi River early in the wintertime. The water where he was
crossing was frozen over. He didn't know how much the
ice would hold his weight. So he decided he
had to cross it. There was no bridge. He got on all fours to
distribute his weight evenly, and he moved very, very
slowly, very cautiously. But then he hears a noise. And he turns to
look, and he sees a horse drawn carriage weighted
down with all sorts of supplies driving over the ice. The man is sitting aboard with
the horses, and he's singing and he's smiling,
obviously very confident that that ice would
hold him, which it did. So which are you like? Are you like the guy that
is creeping on the promises, or are you standing
firmly on the promises? With that is the background
we come to Romans chapter 9. And the issue at stake
in Romans chapter 9 is that the promises of God
are under scrutiny, especially the promises that God made
to the nation of Israel in the Old Testament. Now let me explain. When Paul writes
the book of Romans, there is a shift occurring
in the demographics of the church at the time. You know that the early
church, when it first started, it was all Jewish. Started in Jerusalem. The people who believed in the
Messiah were Jewish believers. But as time went on,
that began to change. At this point,
there are far more Gentile believers in this
Jesus than Jewish believers, even though it's
a Jewish messiah and the promises
are Jewish promises. Israel as a nation
has rejected Christ, and the Gentiles
have embraced him. So the issue is since they
have pushed Jesus aside, has God rejected them? That brings us to chapter 9. It is the new section
of the book of Romans. And if you remember-- if not,
I'll just tell you again-- but the book of Romans can be
divided into four sections-- section one, from chapter
1 to chapter 3 verse 20, is all about the wrath of God. Paul places all of humanity
under the death sentence. But then that is eclipsed
by the grace of God. So chapter 3 verse 21 all
the way to chapter 8 verse 39 is all about the grace of God. Chapter 9, 10, and 11
brings us to the third of the four sections
of the book of Romans, which is under the
banner, the plan of God, for the Jew and the Gentile. This is the plan of God. So chapter 9, 10, and 11 is like
a trilogy, the Israel trilogy. Chapter 9 is about
Israel's past. Chapter 10, principally
about Israel's present. Chapter 11 about
Israel's future. We're going to
look at chapter 9. We're not going to
read all the verses, but we're going to
read many of them. And I want to show you
a four-tiered strategy of God in relation to
the nation of Israel. I'm calling this message,
"God, the Jew, and You." So let me give
you that strategy. Number one, God's
pick is Israel. God chose that nation for
a very specific reason. Let's go to verse 1 of Romans 9. "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 wish that I
myself were accursed from Christ for my
brethren, my countrymen, according to the flesh,
who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption,
the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law,
the service of God, and the promises, of
whom are the fathers and from whom, according
to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the
eternally blessed God. Amen." Paul begins by
acknowledging that God picked the nation of Israel. Why? To reveal himself,
to reveal his plan, and to eventually
reveal his son. If you look at those few
verses that we just read, he lists several advantages,
several benefits, that they have. I want you to notice,
first of all, the adoption. No other nation on
the planet could say that they were God's special
treasure like Israel could. In fact, God even said,
in Exodus chapter 4, "Israel is my son,
my first born." He regarded that nation
as like an adopted son brought into the family. And in Deuteronomy
chapter 7, the Lord declared, out of all the
nations on the earth, I have chosen you as
my special treasure. So they had the adoption. Second, they have the glory. Have you ever heard the term
Shekhinah or Shekhinah glory? It is not a biblical term. It comes from
rabbinic literature. But it's a word that
means the presence of God. And it's a reference
to primarily that cloud in the wilderness that led
them, a pillar of cloud by day, a pillar
of fire by night. And then it rested over the
tabernacle and eventually the temple. That's the presence of
God, or the glory of God. Third, the covenants. A covenant is an
agreement, a pact, a deal. So God made a covenant
with Abraham for the land. God made a covenant with Moses
for the people of the land. God made a covenant with
David for the Messiah who will come to those
people in that land. Next, he says the
giving of the law. If you think about it,
every book of the Bible is Jewish, except for two,
Old and New Testament. The two exceptions are the
book of Luke, Gospel of Luke, and the book of Acts, both
written by Luke, a Gentile. But the rest of them
are Jewish scriptures, special revelation of God, Old
Testament and New Testament. Then he mentions
the service of God. That is the temple service. They were allowed to
administrate that worship center so that people could
have fellowship with God as he dwelt among them. Next, and this is really germane
to this study, the promises. I mentioned 7,487
promises God made to us. Many of them were promises
God gave to that nation. God promised them a land. God promised them
and eternal kingdom. And God promised them a messiah. If you were to go to
the nation of Israel today, make it to
the West Bank, there is a town in the West
Bank that was called in antiquity, Beth Al, Bethel. It is in the center of the land. We don't take groups there
because of where it's situated. But you can go there. I've been there a
couple of times. There is a sign at one
of the intersections just outside of Bethel
sponsored by a local grocer. He owns the store. And the sign reads this, "Here
in Bethel 3,800 years ago, the Creator of the world
promised the land of Israel to the people of Israel. It is by virtue of this promise
that we dwell today in Haifa, Tel Aviv, Shiloh, and Hebron." In other words, they're
saying, the only reason we're still here is
because God made promises to us for us to be here. And so they are there. As the list continues, verse
5, "of whom are the fathers." Who are they? The patriarchs-- Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, the 12 tribes-- all of them belong to Israel. Israel began by God choosing
one man, one person, by the name of Abraham. He wasn't Jewish. He was a Gentile. He lived in Ur of the Chaldees. He lived in the
Mesopotamian River valley. And God said to
him, through you, I'm going to make a
great nation, which proves that God has an
incredible sense of humor. That God is going to take an
old man with an infertile wife and say, I'm going to make out
to you guys a great nation. But he did. You know the story. She had a baby. The family grew. That family went on to
produce lots of children. They eventually went down
to Egypt as a family, stayed there for 100 years,
became slaves in Egypt, were delivered from Egypt
across the Sinai Desert into the land of Canaan,
where they populated that land, settled that
land, grew in numbers, developed a monarchy there
under King Saul, David, Solomon, a whole bunch of other kings,
eventually taken captive, but brought back into that land. And if you go to the
Middle East today, you can still walk in
the land of Israel. Against all odds,
it still exists. Today, there are
9 million people living in that small
little state of Israel. 6.7 million are Jewish. It has indeed become a great
nation with a $300 billion per year gross domestic product. It is the fourth
leading exporter of citrus to the world. It is the third leading exporter
of flowers to the world. From one man who was old,
with an infertile wife, to a nation of slaves
in Egypt, to a land God gave them so that God
could showcase His glory through that little nation. The greatest blessing
that they showcased is mentioned in
verse 5, "of whom are the fathers, and from
whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all,
the eternally blessed God." Now, if you're looking for
a verse that encapsulates the humanity and the
deity of Jesus Christ, it's hard to beat that one. And Jesus has a Jewish
background, but he's God. He's the eternally blessed God. Amen. Jesus was a Jewish man. He was dedicated in
the Jewish temple. He went through the
Jewish bar mitzvah. He went to the Jewish Passover. And so salvation came to
the Jews through a Jew. Do you remember the
conversation Jesus had at the well of Samaria
with the woman, who said, look, we have our own
little worship system. We do our own thing. You Jews do your own thing. Jesus said, we know
what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. God made promises to
that nation singularly. It's why I love to go there. I think you've guessed
that I love to go there. I've been there 41 times now. I plan to go back in February
with a group of about 250 or so of you. And why do we go there? Why do I keep going back? Well, that's where Abraham came. That's where the
prophets preached. That's where David reigned. That's where Jesus was born,
lived, died, and rose again from the dead, and is
coming back to Jerusalem. This sort of
mystifies some people. Some, even Christians,
wonder why we evangelicals support Israel so much. What's the big
deal about Israel? Why do you guys support Israel? First of all, let
me say we don't support everything Israel does
politically, modern Israel. We really support God's
covenant to Israel. Because of that,
we support Israel. God made all of these promises,
and he is keeping them. And we believe,
especially according to Romans 9, 10,
and 11, that God has future plans for this nation. God has plans for the future
of Israel, as we'll see. I've always loved
that little quip I've shared with you before
by William Norman Ewer. It's a quirky little thing. Listen to how it goes. "How odd of God to
choose the Jews." That's half of it. "How odd of God to
choose the Jews. But not so odd as those
who choose the Jewish God but spurn the Jews." In other words, if you
choose to follow God, know that what you're
getting is a God who developed this nation
of Israel and still has future plans for
the Jewish nation. So God's pick is Israel. That's the first tier in
this four-tier strategy. Second, God's preference
is independent. Look at verse 6. Paul says, "But it is
not that the word of God has taken no effect." The word means fall
short, or fail. God's word-- God's
promise didn't fail. Why not? We'll keep reading. "For they are not all
Israel who are of Israel. Nor are they all
children because they are the seed of Abraham. But"-- now he's quoting
Genesis 21, "in Isaac, your seed shall be called. That is, those who are
the children of the flesh, these are not the
children of God. The children of the promise
are counted as a seed. For this is the word of promise. At this time, I will come,
and Sarah shall have a son. And not only this,
but when Rebecca also had conceived by one
man even by our father Isaac for the children not yet
being born, nor having done any good or evil that the
purpose of God according to election might stand, not
of works, but of him who calls. It was said to her the older
shall serve the younger." That's Genesis 25. As it is written-- verse 13-- "Jacob I have loved,
but Esau I have hated." Now, that's a bothersome verse. I'll get to that in a minute. Paul is saying this. Look, God's promise to
Israel has not failed. Why not? Because some Jews did believe. And for those Jews
who did believe, they are a part of
God's elect remnant. So the rejection of
Christ by the majority does not negate the promise
of God to the minority. He still has a
covenant with them. In fact, God's
choice to save is not based upon physical
descent nor human merit. So God doesn't operate on the
basis of human connection, who you're related to. God's choice does not operate on
the basis of human perfection, working really hard,
earning your way to God. But God operates on the
basis of divine election. So he could say,
before the kids were born, the older will
serve the younger, not after they were born. The two examples he uses
are Abraham and Isaac. Both of them had sons. Abraham had Ishmael
first, then Isaac. But the promise was
not to the firstborn, though that was the
culture, and that was what the cultural
law demanded, that the firstborn would
get the inheritance. But it skipped the firstborn,
went to the second born, Isaac, son of promise. Same with Isaac and Rebecca. They had two kids,
Esau and Jacob. Esau, the firstborn, should
have gotten the inheritance. He didn't. It went to Jacob. Now, go down to verse 13. This is the bothersome verse. "As it is written, Jacob, I have
loved, but Esau, I have hated." So what's up with that? OK, verse 13 is a
quote out of Malachi-- that's the last book in the
Bible, in the Old Testament-- Malachi chapter 1. When Malachi chapter
1 was written, it was 1,000 years after
Jacob and Esau were born. So 1,000 years after
they were born, nations developed
from Jacob and Esau. Jacob developed the
nation of Israel. Esau developed the
nation of Edom, which hated the worship of
God, hated the Jewish people, were enemies, sworn
enemies, to them. So what Malachi is
speaking of is not the person of Jacob and
Esau, but the descendants of Jacob and Esau. It's a statement that has to
do with national election, not individual. These two boys
produced two nations. Now, again, this is
a bothersome verse. There was once a seminary
student who said to his professor-- it happened
to be Griffith Thomas, the great eminent
British/Welch scholar-- and the student
said, Professor, I'm having a problem with
Romans chapter 9 verse 13-- "Jacob I have loved. Esau, I have hated." What's up with that? And the professor looked
down at the verse. And he said, you know, I have
a problem with that verse too. But my problem is
different from yours. I don't understand
why God loved Jacob. No matter how you look at
this doctrine of election, it's hard to get
your mind around it. It's hard to figure out how God
can predetermine and elect you before you are born
but then demand that you make a choice to
follow him after you are born. He chooses us. But then he says to you,
you must choose him. But the Bible says
both are true. God elects us, but then
he tells us to select him. He predestines and he calls. But then you have to
decide to believe. How does that work? I can't unravel it perfectly. But let me give you
an illustration that has helped me. A flight is about to leave
London and fly to New York. It's a Boeing 767 airline. The destination is determined. The route is already
predetermined by the proper authority. The FAA has determined
it as well as the ICAO, the International
Civil Aviation Organization. It's predetermined. But aboard that
plane are passengers who have chosen to fly. They have chosen
which airline to fly. They have chosen
which day to depart. They have chosen
where to sit-- do they want a window,
do they want an aisle. Nobody wants the middle row. But up to a certain point,
they have made a choice. Once they're on board
and the flight takes off, they have the freedom to
move around the cabin. Once that little light goes
off, they can move around. They can talk to
different people. They can use the restroom. They can eat a meal. They can play on their computer. There's a lot of freedom
aboard that plane. But the airplane is
carrying the passengers to a predetermined port. So you have two things at play. You have freedom, and you have
sovereignty, or authority. And they do not
contradict each other. They're happening at the
same time on that flight. And so God makes a choice
based on his sovereign will. It's called election,
predestination. You were chosen in Christ before
the foundation of the world. And yet he says you must choose. Now, somebody can look at
that and say, that's not fair. Well, glad you brought that up. Because that's exactly what he
talks about in the next verse, verse 14. "What shall we say then. Is there unrighteousness
with God, or is God unfair?" Now he's about to show
us the third level of this four-tiered
strategy, and that is that God's plan is impeccable. "What shall we say then? Is their unrighteousness
with God? Certainly not." Or no way Jose. And then he'll explain it. Now, here's the explanation
you're about to read. God's election is always
a matter of grace. He doesn't elect based
on what we deserve. If God acted only on the
basis of our righteousness or the fact that
we deserve it, you know how many people
would be saved? That many. If it was the basis of
who deserves to be saved, this many people would
be saved-- nobody. It's always on the
basis of grace. So look at verse 15. He continues. "For he says to Moses, I
will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will
have compassion on whomever I will have compassion. So then it is not of him who
wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. For the scripture says to
Pharaoh, for this very purpose I have raised you up, that I
might show my power in you, that my name may be
declared in all the earth. Therefore, he has
mercy on whom he wills and whom he wills he hardens." In verse 15, he is
quoting Exodus chapter 33. Let me remind you
what happened then. In Exodus 32, Moses comes down
the mountain, Mount Sinai, with the Ten Commandments. And what are the people
worshipping in front of? What did they build? A golden calf, right? And they're having a party,
and they're debauched, and it's idolatry. And the whole nation's involved. And the whole nation
deserved to be destroyed. But God did not destroy
the whole nation. He killed 3,000 of them, but
the majority of them he left. God was merciful and
compassionate to the many, though all of them
deserved death. So here's Paul's argument. If you're going to say God is
unrighteous because he chooses one over another, then you have
to say that God was unrighteous at Mount Sinai when he let
most of y'all live when you all should have been dead. The fact that God did not
kill the nation but let them live, and then God
said, I will be merciful on whom
I will show mercy, and I will have
compassion on whom I will have compassion--
it's God's mercy, grace, and compassion
that let you live. So you might say, you
know, God isn't fair. And I'll say to
you, you're right. God isn't fair. It wasn't fair that Jesus
should have to die on a cross. That wasn't fair. He didn't deserve that. He was perfect. Yet he did it. Why? Because God was showing
mercy and compassion to me and to you. And God will do that. The next illustration
is Pharaoh. And that comes from
Exodus chapter 9. Now, Moses and Pharaoh had
a little meeting together. Moses said, let my people go. Moses was raised in Egypt. Moses was a Jew. Pharaoh was a Gentile. Both of them were leaders. Both of them were sinners. Both of them were murderers. Both of them saw
the power of God. Pharaoh was lost. Moses was saved. Why was pharaoh lost? Answer, because Pharaoh
hardened his heart. You say, but that's not
what this text says. The text says, whoever God
wants to harden, he hardens. Now, it does say in
the book of Exodus that God hardened
the heart of Pharaoh. Do you remember that? But before that, it says
Pharaoh hardened his own heart. Alfred Edersheim, the
great Jewish scholar, noted that in the Old
Testament with Pharaoh, that story in Exodus,
20 times it talks about Pharaoh's hard heart. 10 of those times he
hardened his own heart. The other 10 God
hardened his heart. And the word, when it says
God hardened his heart, is a very different word. It means to make
firm or to confirm. So this is how it works. Pharaoh said, now, I'm not
going to let the people go. I'm in charge here. I'm going to do what I want. Who is the Lord that
I should serve Him? You remember that? He hardened his heart. In effect, God said, I see
your five, and I raise you 10. I'm going to take your
decision, Pharaoh, and I'm going to firm it up. I'm going to confirm it. So he hardened his heart. Then God hardened his heart. He hardened his heart again. God hardened his heart. If he would have
softened his heart, God would have made firm
that decision as well. The point of all this is simple. If you decide you're going to
harden your heart against God, if you are determined
to go to hell, God will honor your choice. God will confirm the
choice that you make. He did not create hell
for any human being. Let's make that clear. Jesus said that hell is a place
of everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. God never meant
humans to go there. But he lets them go there
if they choose to go there. As GK Chesterton, the
great author, once noted, "Hell is God's great complement
to the reality of human freedom and the dignity
of human choice." So if you want nothing
to do with God, God's not going to force you to
have anything to do with him. If you want nothing to
do with God on this earth and you are pushing
God far away from you, you don't want him
messing in your life, how could a loving God make you
be in heaven with him forever? How cruel would that
be for a person-- I want nothing to do
with God, and God says, well, I'm taking
you to heaven then, so you have to be
with me forever. So don't worry. God won't save you if you
don't want to be saved. You say, well, that's not fair. Well, you know what? A gift isn't fair. Let's say I give you a gift. You might look at it and
go, why are you doing this? I don't know. I just wanted to
give you a gift. Well, did you give
everybody a gift? No, I just gave-- Well, why are you
giving it to me? OK, give it back then. No, it's a gift. It's not fair. It's a gift. The lottery isn't fair. A sweepstakes isn't fair. God makes a sovereign,
independent choice to show mercy, to
be compassionate, on whom he wills. And you could say, well, what
does that have to do with the fore-- maybe God in
his foreknowledge knows-- and that's a whole
nother can of worms I'm not going to go through. But I'm going to take
you to the fourth tier. And that is God's
purpose is inclusive. I'm going to take you
now down to verse 23. It says, "and that he might make
known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which
he had prepared beforehand for glory. Even us." This is the good part. "Even us, whom he called not
of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles." As he says also in
Hosea, "I will call them my people who are not my
people, and her beloved, who is not beloved. And it shall come
to pass in the place where it was said to them,
you are not my people there, they shall be called
sons of the living God." Here's the point. God's plan includes
everyone, Jew and Gentile. It is all inclusive. He is not willing, the Bible
says, that any should perish, but that all should
come to repentance. God's plan includes you. Now, you might fold your
little arms and say, well, maybe God's plan
doesn't include me. Maybe perhaps I'm not
elected to be saved. I'll respond to that
and say, why don't you choose him right now, and you'll
discover God already chose you. You'll discover God has
already been pursuing you. For Jesus said, no
one can come to me unless the Father who
sent me draws him. And he said to his disciples
who made their own choice to follow him-- He said, you didn't choose me. I chose you. And I appointed you to
go and bring forth fruit. You say, well, maybe
God didn't choose me. Actually, I can prove
that God did choose you. Receive him today. Receive him right
now in your heart. And you'll discover
God picked you. But come to Christ today. No, I'm not willing to do that. Don't push me into this. I'm not ready. I'm not ready to
receive Jesus yet. OK, well, maybe he
didn't choose you then. Well, that's not fair. Well, then choose him. Pick him. Surrender to him. No, I'm not going to do that. Well, maybe he didn't
choose you then. Listen, God's predetermination
and God's election never precluded anyone from
entering the Kingdom of God because they just discover they
were already selected by God when they made that choice. Salvation is like throwing
a rope to a drowning man. The rope itself doesn't
save the drowning man. The drowning man has to grab it. He can't stay in the water and
go, well, there's the rope. I hope it saves me. He'll die. He has to grab the rope. But he can't be
saved unless there's somebody at the shore
pulling him to shore. So that's how it works. God, by election,
draws you to safety. You, by your choice,
grab a hold of the rope. So let's close by just giving
you three takeaway lessons from this lengthy chapter. Number one, you can be
numbered among God's people and yet not be one
of God's people. You can be numbered
among God's people and yet not be one of them. It could be that you're
here today in church, but you're not one
of God's people. You don't belong to him. Verse 6 says, "For they are not
all Israel who are of Israel." Going to church doesn't
make you a Christian. How do you know you're saved? Well, I go to church. Didn't answer my question. How do you know you're
going to heaven? I go to church. So? I go into a garage. I don't get turned into a car. You don't get turned
into a Christian by walking into a church. You can be numbered
among God's people, but not be one of God's people. Second lesson. Spiritual life doesn't
come from physical birth, it comes from spiritual birth. Ishmael was the son of Abraham. Esau was the son of Isaac. Neither were sons
of the promise. You can't say, well, my
parents were Christians, and my grandparents were
Christians, therefore, I must be a Christian. It comes from being born
again, as Jesus said. Third takeaway lesson is this. God's plan includes you. But does your plan include God? And that's where the appeal
comes in to make a choice. Make a choice to follow him. You can argue over election and
predestination all you want. I say just enjoy it. I don't argue over it. I walk away going, he picked me. I'm on his team. I'm on the winning team. I don't care how you
wrangle that in your mind. The fact that he
picked you should cause you great humility
and great elation. So it's like this. God wants everybody to be saved. That's what the Bible says. God is not willing
that any should perish. So God wants
everybody to be saved. The devil wants
everybody to be lost. You cast the deciding vote. You got one and one. You're going to either
say yes to Jesus, or you're going to say no. You say, well, I'm
not ready to say yes. Well, then, you're
saying no, because Jesus said you're either for
me or you're against me. Well. I don't understand how it works. I don't either. But I know it does work. I know his promises are true. DL Moody said, it's like this. It's like you're walking
through a hallway, and there are several doors. So you have the choice. You can go in any room you want. And you're walking
down the hallway, and you're looking at the doors. And you see a sign on a
particular door that says, whosoever will, let him come. And so you think, I'm
going to go into that door. I'm curious as to what's
on the other side. I make the choice, I open
the door, I enter in. And I see a table
set, and my name is there at the place setting-- Skip Heitzig. It's as if they anticipated me. And then the door closes
automatically behind me. And on the inside of the
door is a sign that says, chosen in Christ before the
foundations of the world. Wait a minute. I made the choice. But now I discover
I've been chosen. Both are true. Jesus said whoever comes to
me, I will in no wise cast out. If you make a choice
to follow Jesus today, he will not say, no,
you can't come in. I didn't elect you. You'll discover he did. And you'll discover he gives
you the power to live for him. Father, we thank you. Even though this is a
great mystery to us, the fact that you make
a predetermination, a predestination,
an election, that is your sovereign
prerogative, it is based on mercy and
compassion and grace. And yet you say whosoever
will let him come. Come unto me, our Savior said. And so Father, we pray that
many will, heart and soul, give their lives to you. As we close this
service, I want you to think of your own
choices up to this point. And I want you to answer this
question as I ask it sincerely. Have you authentically
surrendered your life to Jesus Christ? Have you surrendered
your life to Jesus? I'm not asking you are
you a religious person, or a well-meaning person,
or a well-adjusted person, or a very sincere person. Or if you're a very, very
sincerely religious person. I'm just asking you, have you
authentically given your life, surrendered your life to Christ? Maybe you haven't done that. You've come to church. But you haven't come to Christ. Others of you remember
making some religious choice some time ago, maybe many
years or decades ago. But today you're
not following him. You're not walking with him. You're afar. You're away. You need to come back to him. You need to come
back home to him. If you are willing this morning
to grab a hold of the rope, He is willing to draw
you in to safety. And if you're willing to say
yes to Jesus for the first time or come back to him, with our
heads bowed, our eyes closed-- I'm going to leave mine open
so I can acknowledge you and pray for you-- I want you to raise
your hand up in the air. Raise it up, and
just keep it up. God bless you, and
you in the back. I see a few of your
hands over here. Over here to my left, and over
here, on the back, on the side. Anyone else. Right here in the
middle, and on my right. In the front, over here. To my right-- yes, yes. Anybody else? Raise that up high,
wherever you're at. Just raise it up. In the balcony. If you're in the family
room, raise your hand up. If you're out-- God bless you. If you're outside, you're
outside in the amphitheater, in the courtyard, there's
a pastor out there, you raise your hand up. I see a hand right over here,
in the back, to the left. And now, Father, I want to
just pray for each hand. Behind each hand is a heart,
a name, a person, you love, you have a plan, you plan
for them to come and hear this today. And we're able to see it. We're a part of that. It's so thrilling. We just pray, Lord, that you
would transform these lives, make all things new. Make everything make sense. In Jesus' name, Amen. I'm going to have
you all stand now. We're going to sing
this last song. If you raised your
hand, I'm going to ask you to do
one other thing. And that is get up from
where you're standing, find the nearest aisle, and
come stand right up here, where I'm going to lead
you in a simple prayer to receive Jesus
as Lord and Savior. Jesus called people publicly. And we want to rejoice with you. You're going to hear the
encouragement as you come. We're going to be applauding
for you, making a lot of noise for you. [APPLAUSE] So you come. If you raised your hand
on the side, in the back, in the front, in the
middle, get up and come and just stand here. It won't take long. It won't hurt. That's right. That's right. Come on up. Come on up. That's right. Whether you raised your
hand or not, you want what God has to offer, you come. (SINGING) From the altar,
the Father's arms are open-- Come on up. If you're in the balcony,
come down the steps. If you're in the family
room, come through the door. If you're outside
in the courtyard, they're going to bring you
inside if you raised your hand. Takes just another moment. Won't take long. (SINGING) the Father's
arms are open-- Come on. You're welcome. The whole family,
you're welcome. (SINGING) The precious
blood of Jesus Christ. [APPLAUSE] Yes. God bless you. So glad you came. Come on up. (SINGING) The precious blood-- Doesn't matter who you are. It doesn't matter
what you've done. (SINGING) To the alter. The Father's arms are open wide. Forgiveness was bought
with the precious blood-- Some of you might
be thinking, Skip, you don't know what
I've done in my past. Hey, you know what? You don't know what
I've done in my past. But I do know this. God forgave me. And it doesn't matter
where you've come from. It doesn't matter
how good you are. I find that good
people are harder to get saved than
people who know they're really bad, because
their pride keeps them from coming. And some of you maybe need
to swallow your pride, or get rid of it, or
just push it aside, and admit that you have a need. You know, the Bible
talks about repentance. And that means change your mind. It means you change your
mind about God, about you, about your need. And you change your mind,
God will change your heart. He'll change your life. He'll transform you. But you have to be willing-- I'm going to change
my mind here. And you need to maybe
push pride aside and come. Anybody else, real quickly. We're about to pray. Anyone else. Well, there's a bunch of you
up here, and I'm glad you came. So can we squeeze in just
a little bit this way? I'm going to lead
you in a prayer. I'm going to pray out loud. I'm going to ask you to
pray out loud after me. Say these words from your heart. And if you can, pretend
nobody is around you, just you talking to God, OK? So say, Lord, I
give you my life. Lord, I give you my life. I admit I'm a sinner. I admit I'm a sinner. Please forgive me. Please forgive me. I believe in Jesus. I believe in Jesus. That he died on a cross. That he died on a cross. That he bled for me. That he bled for me. That he rose from the dead. That he rose from the dead. That he's here right now. That he's here right now. I turn from my sin. I turn from my sin. I repent of it. I repent of it. I turn to Jesus as Savior. I turn to Jesus as Savior. I want to follow him as Lord. I want to follow him as Lord. Help me. Help me. It's in his name, I pray. It's in his name I pray. Amen. Amen. Amen! [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] You guys are awesome. Don't go. Can you see Antonio, that
good-looking guy right there? He's one of our pastors. Would you all follow
him and our team? We want to give you something. Give you a hug, congratulate
you, before you're on your way. Let's go that way. God bless you guys. How would you put the truths
that you learned into action in your life? Let us know. Email us at
mystory@calvarynm.church. And just a reminder, you can
support this ministry with a financial gift at
calvarynm.church/give. Thank you for joining us for
this teaching from Calvary Church.
