Scriptures cited are from Romans 9

1 -I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit— 2 –I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 – For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, 4 – the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. 5 – Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised!   Amen.

 

Bias

The BIAS of every Christian is for the salvation of one’s community. That is the kind of heart that God wants us to have toward our neighbors. It is the sort of love that we see in Jesus Christ who actually did what Paul could not do – alienate Himself from God in order to bring many to God. Isn’t it amazing that only God could do that? Paul loves His brothers, the people of Israel.

It is impossible for me to understand how any Christian could ever be anti-Semitic.  That is such a contradiction. In the movie, “The Hiding Place,” Corrie Ten Boom’s father makes this remark about the Nazi’s who would eventually imprison and murder him for hiding Jews in Holland during the Nazi occupation, “I pity them, for they have touched the apple of God’s eye.”

Israel has never stopped being the apple of God’s eye.

However, the principle here is the bias that we as Christians and as a church are to have in all of our programming and prioritizing for the salvations of our communities at home and around the world. Nothing in a balanced doctrine of election relieves us of the burden and responsibility for sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with the world – and using words when necessary as St. Francis said.

 6 – It is not as though God's word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7 – Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children. On the contrary, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." 8 – In other words, it is not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring. 9 – For this was how the promise was stated: "At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son."

Beginning

The BEGINNING of election is the promise of God. As sacred history proceeded, God narrowed the scope of His promise and covenant. He did not nullify that which He made with those who were excluded from the next level because He has a purpose for every person – even the wicked for the day of destruction according to Proverbs. Rather, in narrowing His focus, He began to fashion a peculiar and elect people who would carry out that mission. I do not believe that this scripture or the rest of the Bible teaches a replacement theology where the church usurps Israel. However, Paul is saying that the church is included in the promises of Israel to the point where she becomes the focus of His mission to bring the good news of salvation to the rest of the world.

10 – Not only that, but Rebekah's children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. 11 – Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God's purpose in election might stand: 12 – not by works but by him who calls—she was told, "The older will serve the younger."13 – Just as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."

 Bottom-Line

The BOTTOM-LINE of election is the purpose of God. Election is not primarily about who goes to Heaven and who goes to hell. It is about who God is using and in what way to accomplish His purposes. Careful Bible reading reveals that God’s purpose in electing Israel was a missionary purpose. That is the purpose of Christ being God’s elect and the church being elect in Him – to bring salvation to the world, not to hoard it to themselves.

The theology that seeks to understand election and predestination merely in terms of personal salvation – who is and who isn’t saved, is quite man-centered. The doctrine of election is 100% God-centered and focused on His purposes. In our system of government, not everyone can be elected to high office. Yet, every citizen has a purpose and a rkole.

 14 – What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! 15 – For he says to Moses,
   "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
      and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."

Banter

The BANTER of the world is that God is somehow unjust in His exclusivity. Man’s reaction goes to fairness and lack thereof. It is a child’s reaction. No offense to our precious children, but one chant we hope that they all grow out of is the whine, “It’s not fair.”

They want some sort of justice that they deem just. Micah 6 says that we are to DO justice, but love mercy and walk humbly with our God.

The bottom line of fairness is that God is God and He can do as He pleases. When He determines to show mercy, that is a gigantic bonus. There is every inclination in scripture and in our experience that God is always inclined toward mercy to all and has historically relented in judgment and reversed judgment once it has served His redemptive purpose.

We must come to terms with the prerogatives of God do be God, but balance our understanding with the revelation and demonstration of God's character in the course of history and the person of Jesus.

16 – It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. 17 – For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." 18 – Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.

Basis

So, the BASIS of salvation is the mercy of God. What if God’s mercy hardens someone’s heart? It can happen. Can’t it? You have seen it. Have you ever tried to make a wait-person nicer with a big tip? Sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn’t. It depends on many factors. The overtures we make toward loving someone may harden them if they are so inclined.

This is not about God being manipulative. This is another application of the same principle we found in 8:28 – God causing everything to work together for the good of His people and His glory. God’s purposes will be fulfilled whether or not we receive His mercy.

19 – One of you will say to me: "Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?" 20 – But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?' " 21 – Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use.

Beauty

The BEAUTY  of election is in its rarity – not all receive it. It is precious. One illustration of this would be when I write devotionals for our people to take home and read. I write them with contradictory assumptions. In the forefront of my mind is the idea that everyone will read them and use them because God has given me a word for His people and everyone will be eager to receive it. The other assumption is that not everyone will take them and of those who take them, most will not read them. That is a reality I know – yet I always write with the idea that everyone needs this and the knowledge that it may only be received by a few.

It is for mass distribution in terms of availability, but, in ultimate reality, it is written only for those who will choose to read it. The blessings contained in the scriptures to which I point will only be received by the “elect” who elect to receive and apply them. That is election.

God has chosen to save mankind though His Son. He offers that gift to all, but not all will receive it. He knows that, but proceeds as if all will.

It is like a mother cooking a meal for her large family. Somewhere inside of her, she knows that not everyone will show up for dinner, but she prepares plenty of food and sets the table with every member in mind. I think that is how it is with God.  Some will want to make their own plans and will show up an hour late or the next day, but the meal is served when it is served and God has the right to determine the conditions.

22 – What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? 23 – What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory— 24 – even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? 25 – As he says in Hosea:
"I will call them 'my people' who are not my people;
      and I will call her 'my loved one' who is not my loved one," 26 – and,
   "It will happen that in the very place where it was said to them,
      'You are not my people,'
   they will be called 'sons of the living God.' "

Bounty 

The BOUNTY of election is that some unlikely souls do receive it. The God who is ready to judge the unrighteous is reluctant to do so – yes for their sake, but also for ours who will ultimately come to Him. He bears with people because unlikely people, the kind Brennan Manning calls ragamuffins, will, come.

God is a bountiful God in His mercy and generosity. He is unwilling for any to perish. He calls people into inclusion who have been excluded. He uses folks that the world discards. He is an amazing God, who, through the mystery of election, calls the unlovely, unlikely, and unimpressive to be more than they ever imagined they could be.

Unfortunately, some who have felt entitled on false premises miss the boat. God has chosen Jesus Christ as His elect and the church as the Body of Christ. In future weeks, we will show how Israel continues to be part of God’s plan for the earth, but for now, we focus on this narrowing of the call upon the church to broadcast, as unlikely messengers, the Word of salvation to the world.

27 – Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:
   "Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea,
      only the remnant will be saved.
 28 – For the Lord will carry out
      his sentence on earth with speed and finality."

 29 – It is just as Isaiah said previously:
   "Unless the Lord Almighty
      had left us descendants,
   we would have become like Sodom,

      we would have been like Gomorrah."

Bad News

The BAD-NEWS is that many miss out. Just like the remnant who read my stuff, there is only a remnant who are saved.

We ask, “WHY?” And the answer is shrouded in MYSTERY. Let’s spell it and see if we can understand it:

 

M – MERCY is God’s mysterious way of plucking brands from the burning.

Y – YESTERDAY is all we have to help us understand the mysteries of tomorrow. So, we are given examples from the past to illustrate election. These are helpful, but inadequate by themselves.

S – SALVATION is really not the main issue here. The main thing is our place in God’s plan. We always gravitate toward a man-centered understanding. That is inadequate. Nevertheless, our willingness to receive the gospel determines our salvation.

T – THANK God for the mystery of your inclusion. We have a debt to Israel according to verse 5.

E – EYES have not seen what God has in store for those who love Him. (I Corinthians 2:9)

R – REALITY and REVELATION teach us that greatness is a RARE commodity, but everything and everyone has a purpose.(V. 21 and Proverbs).

Y – YEARNING for the salvation of others is a God thing and, therefore, a good thing. (I Timothy 2:1-6)

1. This is the beginning of a long train of thought where Paul struggles with the seeming displacement of Israel’s place in God’s plan through the inclusion of the Gentiles.
2. It culminates with 10:13 (as well as 10:9-10) and continues from there.
3. It begins with yearning for the salvation of all Israel.
4. It ends with the hope of salvation for all.
5. It places a choice in our laps. Will we follow the many to destruction or will we choose the narrow road which is Christ? 

30 – What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 – but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. 32 – Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the "stumbling stone." 33 – As it is written:    "See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."

 What is your choice?   Next  we will consider, “The Stumbling Stone” and examine why Jesus is such a stumbling block for so many.

For now, it will suffice to say that we can choose between faith and works. When we choose faith, we come into the glorious election of God not only for service, but for salvation. We choose between Jesus Christ being our cornerstone or the stone we trip over.

Stop now and behold the stone that God has laid in Zion. You must deal with Him now or later. How about now.

Bow your heads with me.

…………………………………………………..

Next Sermon …

Romans 9:30-33

The Stumbling Stone

 30 – What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 – but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. 32 – Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the "stumbling stone." 33 – As it is written:    "See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."

 What shall we say to what?

The answers regard what we are to say to this whole question of God’s election through unmerited grace and sovereign mercy, narrowing the focus of His choice of who will bring His message to the world and receive His salvation to those who will come through Jesus Christ.

Uncle Hinky’s fabled and not-so-bright cousin, Lem got himself a quarter section south of Skunkville back in 1946. Someone had already started to build a house there and old Lem wanted to finish it up and live in it himself. One day Hinky dropped by the see how things were going. The house was sort of lopsided and leaning with a frame stuck in the dirt and a big pad of cement next to it.

“What’s going on, Lem?”

“Ah Hinky, it’s going OK considering that big piece of cement in the way there. We’ze always trippin’ on it. As soon as we get the house built the way we want it, we’re going to break it up and slide the house over there.”

Those numbskulls were tripping over the foundation that the previous owners had left.

And we trip over Jesus to our ultimate detriment.

Paul says that unlikely people have been called and have received righteousness from God and have been enveloped into His purpose and calling. He says that some who thought they had it together on false premises have been left out in the cold. It is not God’s plan to make people stumble, but it is inevitable that those who do not come by faith will do so.

In other words, the Christmas message is intended to be good news for the whole world, but for some, it is very bad news. It is confounding and confrontational. What it is to you is your choice.

These verses tell us how we stumble over Jesus:

We stumble over Jesus when we pursue what is in our power alone according to verses 30-31. That is called “works” and our works are untrustworthy and inadequate to save us. What does a “works” salvation mean? It can be spelled out: W-O-R-K-S.

W – It is WEAK. (8:3 reminds us that God in Jesus Christ did what the law could not do because it was weak in the flesh.) Works are powerless to save us. We need to give that message to the world that so easily misunderstands ‘self-righteousness” and confuses it with Christianity.  When we rely on works to save us, we stumble over Christ because we don’t have any strength left. We wear ourselves out trying to please God with our own efforts.

O – It is OBSTINATE. That means prideful and pride just does not please God. Remember the story Jesus told of the two men who went up to the Temple to pray. One was a religious man and was proud of his religious accomplishments. He thanked God that he was not like other men – like the scoundrel next to him for example. The scoundrel prayed a simple prayer, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Some translate that, “THE sinner.” Jesus said that man went away justified. Pride causes us to stumble over Christ.

R – It is RETRO-RIGHTEOUS as an out-of date concept of righteousness which REJECTS God’s way of salvation. Have you ever tried to play an 8-track video in a DVD player? It doesn’t work. You are mixing an out-of-date technology with a current technology. There is no relationship. God has sent a memo that says, “The old system is obsolete. From now on, it is the grace-faith connection, pure and simple – no other c odes to learn.” We reject that and we reject Him and stumble over Christ.

K – It KILLS – (II Corinthians 3:6 says – The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.). The letter of the law is designed to convict us of sin. It does that very well. We, on the other hand, according to II Corinthians 3:6, have been made ministers of a new covenant of grace. Christ is at the center of it. He is God’s elect and faith in Him is God’s way of bringing us life through the Spirit. To turn away from Him is to stumble over Him.

S – And so, we can write a great big S across the manual of works salvation. It is an S for STUMBLE.  It STUMBLES over everything Jesus is, did, and said. We decide not to stand on the Rock, but to butt against it – HIM!

According to verse 32, we stumble over Christ when we fail to pursue faith. Hebrews 11 tells us that without faith, it is impossible to please God. Romans 9:32 implies that faith is the pursuit of righteousness. For some time, I have been teaching a dual definition of righteousness from the scriptures:

1. First, it is a right relationship with God. It is through Jesus’ sacrifice and victory that righteousness is “imputed” to us by faith. That means that God puts it on our account by grace, freely given and undeserved. We pursue righteousness as a right relationship with God when we come to Him through Jesus Christ. You can come today? It is not complicated? It doesn’t take a lot of time. It does not require you to prepare a resume or go through a big ritual. You can simply, where you are, as you are, decide to trust Christ as your Savior and Lord and commit your life to him. You can start openly declaring Him as the King of your life. In less than a noon-second, you will cross over from the old to the new. That is the pursuit. It begins with one simple step of faith.
2. Second, it is a lifestyle of repentance whereby we are moving in the right direction. Repentance is a simple word that means turning around – a 180 degree turn from the pursuit of self-interests to the pursuit of God’s interests. It does not mean we are yet perfect, but that we have changed our course and are heading the right way – also by grace, also through faith. We pursue ongoing and ever deepening righteousness in our lives as we continue to walk by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit. We sometime stray; we sometimes falter; but we get up and continue to course of the pursuit of right belief and right living by faith. Our compasses are set God-ward and we continue on course. When we start veering away, the Word of God and the Holy Spirit are adequate to correct us and set us in the right direction as long as we are committed to walk by faith.
3. Finally, we stumble over Christ when we do not trust Him to be the cornerstone according to verse 33. Paul has quoted from two passages in Isaiah, 8:14 and 28:16-17. In these passages, we are given four different insights into who the coming Messiah will be as compared to a great stone.

He is a Sanctuary Stone in 8:14. A sanctuary is a place of refuge and safety and so Jesus is our Rock of safety and refuge. In the old westerns, the cowboys would take shelter behind big boulders in the high desert when they were in a shootout. Bullets would bounce off the rocks and they would be safe. It was a wonder anyone ever got shot. The other wonder I have about those old movies is why more of the horses didn’t trip over those monstrosities and their riders rode them recklessly through the hills. The answer was that they were paying attention and they knew the terrain. If you ignore the Sanctuary Stone, but Isaiah and Paul are here to inform you that you will stumble over Him and the fall could be very, very hard. Nevertheless, He is your sanctuary from the storms and bullets of life.

He is a Tested Stone according to 28:16. He is tested as a precious stone of great value – like gold for instance. Trusting in Him will, according to both Paul and Isaiah, preclude shame. No one who trusts in Him will ever be put to shame. That means that He will not let you down. There is a saying among credible people in the sales industry that goes like this: Under-sell and over-deliver. That way, you never have to apologize for your product. People are delighted when they discover that what you have put in their hands has more uses, is over better quality, and is more valuable than you ever told them. Jesus is such a tested and precious stone. He is of infinite value. It is amazing that people would trip over such a treasure.

He is the Cornerstone. Lem refused to see that the obstacle in the way of his “works” was actually the foundation that would have kept the house from being lopsided and tilted.  We must recognize that Jesus Christ is the foundation upon which we can build a strong and productive life. It works because He works. In this month of mission emphasis and Advent, we can be confident that the Christ we preach to the nations is a strong, sturdy, and precious foundation for every people, nation, and culture. Let us never be ashamed to proclaim Jesus. We have no responsibility for quality control over the life He brings to people. It doesn’t matter how badly a person’s house of life is toppling over, he can and will rebuild it. We can be confident as we trust Him, the Cornerstone.

And so, He is a trustworthy stone. And what do you do with that which is trustworthy? You place your trust dead center in Him. You do not waver. You do not hold back.

Do you trust Him today?

• With your salvation?
• With your reputation?
• With your family and finances?
• With your business?
• With your mission in life?

Pray with me.