April 23, 2023 - The People of God
Notes
Transcript
if you were with us last week - you remember looking at David’s call - by GOD - to be [King] over Israel - AND [shepherd] over God’s people.
King AS Shepherd - was the title of our sermon last week.
And we saw the different aspects OF BEING a shepherd over God’s people.
What were they?
KING AS SHEPHERD:
Feeding the Flock
Caring for the Flock
Guarding the Flock from False Teachers
Being an Example
Being Accountable
Risking Death
These are the duties of a Shepherd...
And so DAVID was called to these things...
The elders HERE at AFBC are called to these things as well...
NOW - question:
Am I - as an elder - an overseer - a shepherd - CALLED to shepherd those OUTSIDE these walls?
We looked at it last week - but WHO did Jesus call Peter to FEED?
Let’s look at it
15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”
Feed who?
Jesus said - Feed MY lambs
He didn’t say - feed ALL lambs. Feed SOME lambs.
He said - Feed MY lambs…
And He continues to drive home the point that..
The call of Shepherd is not the call of Savior...
BUT IS - a call SPECIFIC to the Household of God.
NOW - what I want to do today - is - with THIS in mind - go back and focus in on ONE VERSE from last week.
And that verse is this...
2 In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was you who led out and brought in Israel. And the Lord said to you, ‘You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over Israel.’ ”
Hopefully you guys remember some of what we walked through in our Bible Interpretation bible study last summer.
Do you guys remember what the study was called?
Herman Who?
It dealt with Hermeneutics…which is the study of Bible Interpretation.
And one of the things you look for in a verse or a section of Scripture - when trying to interpret it - is - - Repetition.
Looking at this verse…we see this very thing.
“And the Lord said to you, “you shall be shepherd of My people Israel, and you shall be prince over Israel.”
Now - my contention today - is that this right here - is NOT double-talk.
And BECAUSE I don’t believe that - based on the whole teaching of Scripture - I want to REVISIT this verse…to walk through this biblical concept.
The repetition that we see here is the word - Israel.
BUT - there is a distinction - I believe - in this verse - between the audience being RULED over - and the audience being SHEPHERDED.
Today - we’ll be looking at the biblical difference - between...
(HIGHLIGHT - “my people Israel” / “Israel”)
2 In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was you who led out and brought in Israel. And the Lord said to you, ‘You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over Israel.’ ”
And so - in a GENERAL sense - to start - You need to know that there is a distinction made between “God’s People-Israel” and “Israel”.
AND - that this REALITY - is NOT just a NT revelation.
We’ll go to the New Testament of course to see this - but I hope this truth today - will help to DEEPEN our theology.
Let’s start - by going to - the most popular chapter in the Bible for Pastor’s to ignore.
1 I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit—
2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.
3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.
Paul here is BUILDING a case for this REAL - HEARTACHE that he has - for who?
For the sake of “his brothers, his kinsmen according to the flesh”.
NOW - WHY would Paul say this?
Well - if we didn’t know - (THIS is chapter 9)...
And the for the prior 8 chapters in this book of Romans - It SEEMED as though Paul was ATTACKING the Jew...
See - in those prior 8 chapters - Paul was ELEVATING the Gospel - and DOING SO - SEEMINGLY - taking the side of the Gentiles - over and against the Jew!
And so it would have looked like THIS to the Jews!
SLIDE: IMAGE - Paul against the Jews
Let’s look at some examples...
Earlier in Romans - Paul claims that circumcision and knowledge of the law do NOT exempt a person from God's judgment...(speaking against the Jews)
And he concludes with this…verse 23
23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law.
In chapter 2 verse 28, he makes it clear that the internal, not the external, is what matters.
28 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical.
Again…SEEMINGLY against the Jews, or so-called Jews.
NOW - does this graphic make sense now? This is what it would have SEEMED like...
SLIDE: IMAGE - Paul against the Jews
And so even though it seems Paul is ganging up on the Jewish people...he's not really taking sides.
He's been correcting misconceptions about the gospel.......and much of his effort so far has been focused on dealing with Jewish misconceptions of the gospel.
Why?
Because Jews are just as much under the wrath of God as the heathens…And BECAUSE THEY ARE - Paul first goes after those who thought they were righteous.
Paul's been saying - Listen, Law Keeping and circumcision DO NOT replace faith as the basis of salvation.
Do you remember how Paul made this point?
Do you remember in chapter 4, when Paul used the Jews BEST EVIDENCE against them...
Paul pointed to Abraham, and said this in Romans 4:3
3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
Paul goes all the way back to Abraham...and shows the Jewish Nation...It's always been about FAITH.
See Paul's been building a case so the Jews know it's not about the Law of Works...but a different kind of Law...He wants Jew and Gentiles to know about this other Law...
27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith.
And so it seems as though Paul is against the Jews specifically...but what it really shows is that......he's not playing favorites.
WELL - tell THAT to the Jews who would have read this.
So what does Paul do?
AFTER 8 chapters of ELEVATING the GRACE of the gospel...
IN CHAPTER 9 - - he builds the case that his heart REALLY DOES ache for his kinsmen...
let’s go back to verse 3
3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.
4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.
He says - Yes, I COULD wish that I was cut off for their sake......and then he explains WHO THEY ARE....their privileges... and he lists them out...
AND he does this for a reason!
He's saying - Yes...my heart aches for my kinsmen who are lost.......And WHO ARE MY KINSMEN??
THEY are the Israelites - and yes...to the Israelites belong:
the adoption
the glory
the covenants
the giving of the law
the worship
the promises
Let's look at these....BLESSINGS of God - that belong to Israel.
SLIDE: Belongs to Israel: The Adoption
Belongs to Israel
Belongs to Israel
15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
SLIDE: Belongs to Israel: The Glory
Belongs to Israel
Belongs to Israel
34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
SLIDE: Belongs to Israel: The Covenants
Belongs to Israel
Belongs to Israel
2 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.”
SLIDE: Belongs to Israel: The Giving of the Law
Belongs to Israel
Belongs to Israel
14 And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and rules, that you might do them in the land that you are going over to possess.
SLIDE: Belongs to Isreal: The Worship
Belongs to Israel
Belongs to Israel
1 Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness.
SLIDE: Belongs to Israel: The Promises
Belongs to Israel
Belongs to Israel
12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
Paul is saying - Yes, to the Israelites belong all of these blessings from God...YET this alone doesn't tell the whole story! - WHEN IT COMES to = ISRAEL
And notice how Paul uses language here, to show us that yes:
...there IS a misunderstanding here that MUST be corrected...AND...that the reason it needs to be corrected is because the implications of this misunderstanding are HUGE...
What are those IMPLICATIONS? ...the implication for this misunderstanding calls into question - God's faithfulness (trust worthiness)
WHY??
Here's the thing... there was a cloud of confusion over ‘God’s faithfulness’.
The Gentile believers would have questioned why so many of the Jewish Nation were not accepting Jesus,
...AND why the Nation itself (the ethnic Jews) was not cooperating with God’s plan.
THEY WOULD HAVE THOUGHT - - Didn't these people receive the promises of God??
GOD SAID...didn't He?
And so this situation was calling into question God’s faithfulness…could we really trust God?
**Have you guys ever had someone in your life where you realized - the more they spoke - the more you couldn’t TRUST anything they said???
Here’s the thing: That distrust builds up over time.
...and over time, you begin questioning their character, their trust-worthiness.
**Better scenario – Have you ever been the one that someone claimed they couldn’t trust?
Have you ever been in a situation where you may have said something, and what you said was misinterpreted...
…it was taken the wrong way, and then you find out that people are saying they can’t trust you.
And SO THEN you go back and have to CLARIFY what you said, and maybe you have to CLARIFY the actual terms that you used?
Have you guys ever heard of this riddle before?
- - There are 30 cows in the field, and twenty ate chickens…how many didn’t?
Maybe this will help some of you:
There are 30 cows in the field, and twenty ate (SPELL IT) chickens…how many didn’t? THE ANSWER is = 10
So we can see that when we don’t fully understand what terms mean, we’ll have a distorted view of reality. This is what Paul is revealing to us here.
There was a distorted view of God’s faithfulness…people were looking at the plight of the Jewish Nation (not accepting Jesus), and yet they knew that God had promised 'Israel' to be His chosen people…the situation made God out to be untrustworthy…
UNTIL…Paul clarifies some terms.
And this is what he does. Let's pick up in verse 3...
3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.
4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.
5 To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.
Did you notice what Paul said in verse 3…?
For I could wish myself to be accursed from Christ for the sake of my brothers, ....what should come next?...
Paul’s saying – For I COULD do this…
What word would you say should come next??
6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel,
Do you see what Paul’s doing?
He’s clarifying terms for those who are confused.
He says…Listen, I COULD wish myself accursed from Christ for the sake of my brothers…my lost Israelite brothers…BUT, it’s not as if the Word of God has failed.
It hasn’t failed! PAUL SAYS - - And let me explain why.
The reason you believe that the word of God has failed…...is because you HEAR that these promises of God are MADE to “Israel”...
…and you ASSUME that because you HEARD the word ISREAL - that those promises then ARE based on ethnicity.
YOU BELIEVE that “Israel” - REFERS to - the NATION Israel - Ethnic Israel.
You think God made those promises to the entire Nation of Israel. And for that reason, because you believe that, and because you see most of the nation of Israel turning AWAY from the Lord, ...you conclude that God must not be that trust-worthy.
WELL, LET ME CLARIFY FOR YOU… (read the end of the verse)
- NOT ALL THOSE WHO ARE DESCENDED from ISRAEL are TRULY ISRAEL.
And really what Paul is doing here is just reiterating what he has already said earlier in Romans...
28 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical.
29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.
These verses alone turn human thought on its head.
Paul had said in chapter 2 - If you are an ethnic unbelieving Jew, then you're not a Jew.
He's saying - that's not what a Jew is. And then he picks this same thought back up in Romans 9....and he's going to say the same thing in 3 different ways, just to help us understand.
6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel,
7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”
8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.
9 For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.”
Paul here says the same thing, 3 different ways. He takes ONE truth, and he looks at it from multiple angles.
- Romans 9:6b: Israel does not equal all Israel
- Romans 9:7: the children of God do not equal all descendents of Abraham
- Romans 9:8: the children of God do not equal the children of the flesh; rather, children of God = children of promise
These verses reveal two truths we can break down and dissect...
SLIDE: IMAGE
Children of God / / Not the children of God
Believing Israel / / Unbelieving Jews and Greeks
Real Descendants by faith / / Unbelieving Descendants
Children of promise / / children of the flesh
And seeing this, we can see the misunderstanding that Paul is dealing with...
According to the people who were doubting God's faithfulness...Doubting God's trustworthiness...
- the basis of being a child of God was ethnicity. THIS was the thought
- therefore the promise of God was automatically guaranteed to all those who were PHYSICAL descendants of Abraham based on lineage.
And so THAT is the basis of their misunderstanding, because if you believe that...then you ARE going to question God's faithfulness to his word...to His promises.
But Paul clarifies this misunderstanding, and let's them know...
"No, God hasn't dropped the ball here...this is actually playing out how God intended it all along."
Let's walk thru each of these truths to help us better understand.
YOu might say...ok i get that...we're heirs by faith...but what about physical descendants who do not respond to the gospel by faith?
We know they're part of ISRAEL (the nation), but are they part of the people of God??
And what Paul has begun here...is to make sure we understand the distinction between the [Nation of Israel] and [the People of God].
It’s actually PAUL'S MAIN THEME THROUGH Romans - CHAPTERS 9-11...
...the distinction between the Nation of Israel and the People of God.
What Paul is doing is defining who the People of God are...
The first ANGLE to look at is this...
SLIDE: Romans 9:6b
ISRAEL DOES NOT EQUAL ALL ISRAEL
Romans 9:6 (ESV)
6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel,
*SLIDE - Israel vs Isreal
Paul is defining the people of God by something other than national lines...
Since not all of Israel has believed with the faith of Abraham, in Paul's view, then the Nation itself CANNOT be equated with the people of God.
And we've already seen this point from Paul in Romans 4:14
14 For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.
Here we go - physical lineage is not the key to obtaining righteousness.
What is?
We know this...
...FAITH
What does it say is meaningless?...FAITH and the Promise...why both?
Because the promise was based on FAITH.
Back to our GRAPHIC...
SLIDE: Israel vs. Israel
Those who respond with FAITH, even though they are not physical descendants, are still counted as Abraham's heirs according to faith...Good news for us right?
- We're the gentiles..
OK - th 2nd ANGLE we’ll look at this from.... is this...
SLIDE: Romans 9:7
THE CHILDREN OF GOD DO NOT EQUAL ALL DESCENDANTS OF ABRAHAM
Romans 9:7 (ESV)
7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”
We see here that there's an exclusive path of the promise...that it was through Isaac and NOT Ishmael, Abraham's other son...
If we go back to the Abrahamic covenant…we see this...
1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
God says - I will make of you a great NATION...
What NATION? Israel....but WHAT Isreal?
First off - when Abraham was called by God - he was a gentile…he was - OF the nations...
Second - listen to how Abraham is described by Paul in Romans 4...
11 He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well,
12 and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
Abraham was the FATHER of - NOT the NATION ISRAEL....
But of the PEOPLE OF GOD - Israel!
Which TAKES us back to this 2nd point -
The children of God do not equal all physical descendants of Abraham!
And Jesus actually TAUGHT this very thing to the Jewish Leaders who thought that their LINEAGE earned them a place with God...
Remember this?
39 They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did,
44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
You SEE?
There are TWO Israel’s in scripture...
The Nation
AND
The People of God
Yes - this Jewish Leader here - he WAS Jewish. He was a PHYSICAL descendant of Abraham…but Abraham was NOT his father.
Because Abraham is the father of those who - HAVE FAITH!
And this TIES directly into our 3rd - and last angle we’ll look at.
SLIDE:
THE CHILDREN OF GOD DO NOT EQUAL THE CHILDREN OF THE FLESH; RATHER, THE CHILDREN OF GOD EQUAL THE CHILDREN OF PROMISE
This points completely to the "Promise"
Who's promise?
God's promise...
SLIDE: IMAGE - Israel Based on Promise
The Promise ran through Isaac and NOT Ishmael
Well- WHO decided this?
Man? Did this PROMISE just HAPPEN to make its way through ISAAC because of Man’s choices?
NO - that’s blasphemous...
This is God’s plan!
He orchestrated all of this! - - For HIS purposes!
And so WHAT does this RESULT in?
This...
SLIDE: IMAGE - Israel vs Israel (Updated)
We see that the people of God - are those who - BY FAITH in God - TRUSTED God.
And so the PEOPLE of God - LIVED in - the PROMISE of God...
Now - we’re going to leave this slide up on the screen.
And I’m just going to read our verse for today…from 2 Samuel.
2 In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was you who led out and brought in Israel. And the Lord said to you, ‘You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over Israel.’ ”
The Lord Jesus Christ -
REIGNS and RULES over this world...
AND
He (the Good Shepherd) - SHEPHERDS His people…the people of God
The truth of Scripture has depths that NO MAN has reached.
The God we serve is...
BIGGER than we think He is
WISER than we think He is
IN MORE CONTROL than we think He is
And so MAY WE PURSUE Him - more than anything else in this world.
May we pursue HIS truth - above all things.
David - a TYPE of Christ.
David - KING over Israel - and - Shepherd over God’s people - Israel.
And so if you are a child of God - based on FAITH in Jesus - then you ARE a true Jew…a member of Israel…God’s chosen people.
And to YOU - to US - belong...
the adoption
the glory
the covenants
the giving of the law
the worship
the promises
Let’s pray