8-13-23 Sermon "Who Do We Blame?" 20 Minutes

Romans 9:5-15

This morning I'll be reading Romans chapter 9 verses 5 through 15. And I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible. Romans 9:5-15 Last Sunday we seen that Paul was saddened by the fact that his fellow countrymen had rejected the saving grace of Christ,,, and this morning we will look at his continued discussion on this matter. Romans 9:5–15(HCSB) 5 The ancestors are theirs, and from them, by physical descent, came the Messiah, who is God over all, praised forever. Amen. 6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7 Neither are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants. On the contrary, your offspring will be traced through Isaac. 8 That is, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but the children of the promise are considered to be the offspring. 9 For this is the statement of the promise: At this time I will come, and Sarah will have a son. 10 And not only that, but also Rebekah received a promise when she became pregnant by one man, our ancestor Isaac. 11 For though her sons had not been born yet or done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to election might stand— 12 not from works but from the One who calls—she was told: The older will serve the younger. 13 As it is written: I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau. 14 What should we say then? Is there injustice with God? Absolutely not! 15 For He tells Moses: I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. The word of God for the people of God,,, thanks be to God! God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning. Let us pray: Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen. ___________________________________ Last Sunday we looked at the verses just before these,,, Romans 9:1-5,,, and we seen Paul's love showed for his fellow countrymen.

And I asked,,, "Do We Care"?

Are we concerned about those around us?

During this sermon I told you the story of almost missing a great friendship with a fellow turkey caller because I didn't speak to him,,, didn't acknowledge him,,, and by doing those things,,, I showed him,,, "in his eyes",,, "from his perspective",,, that I did not care!

I was the problem,,, but I thought that he was the problem,,, and I almost missed the chance to show him that I did care,,, that I did see him!

If you missed that story,,, you can go back to last Sunday's sermon on Facebook and listen to it,,, if you need to.

And,,, hopefully we learned that we must do our part to show others that we care,,, and,,, that,,, God cares!

In the verses that we looked at last Sunday,,, Paul lets his fellow peers know,,, that he feels sadness,,, that they haven't experienced the same love of Jesus that he has,,, and he would do anything to help them.

My question to you was,,, do we feel the same way,,, are we concerned for those around us,,, those that maybe are watching us,,, waiting for us to speak,,, waiting for us to acknowledge,,, that they exist,,, that they are worthy of our words,,, our love,,, and,,, most importantly,,, God's acknowledgement and love,,, and it's our responsibility,,, as Christians,,, to show them that love!

We must begin to speak up,,, speak to those in need,,, let them know that we see them,,, we are there to help them,,, and will help them,,, not just seeing,,, and walking away,,, like they never exist!

But always being sure that we go the extra mile,,, put forth that extra effort,,, as we show those around us,,, God's love,,, as Jesus commanded us,,, to do!

This morning we will look at these verses in Romans 9:5-15,,, and see how they will help us in our walk with God this week.

___________________________________ Verses 5-6 said: 5 The ancestors are theirs, and from them, by physical descent, came the Messiah, who is God over all, praised forever. Amen. 6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.

We looked at verse 5 last Sunday,,, so we've already seen that the Jewish people rightfully claim the patriarchs as their own — Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the twelve sons of Jacob.

These were the forefathers of the nation.

And,,, they had the greatest privilege of all,,, — ,,, the Messiah is an Israelite,,, at least as far as His human descent is concerned,,, though He is also the Sovereign of the universe,,, the eternally blessed God.

And in verse 6,,, Paul continues his argument that the word of God has not failed,,, by expanding their knowledge of the actual descendants of Israel,,, and,,, as we will see in the next few verses,,, the way that they,,, the Gentiles,,, and us today,,, came to be descendants.

___________________________________ Verses 7-9 said: 7 Neither are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants. On the contrary, your offspring will be traced through Isaac. 8 That is, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but the children of the promise are considered to be the offspring. 9 For this is the statement of the promise: At this time I will come, and Sarah will have a son.

Not all of Abraham’s offspring are counted as his children in line with the promise of God.

Ishmael,,, for example,,, was of the seed of Abraham.

But,,, we know that the line of promise came through Isaac,,, not through Ishmael.

As we see in Genesis 21:12 that said: 12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not be concerned about the boy and your slave. Whatever Sarah says to you, listen to her, because your offspring will be traced through Isaac.

Jesus made this same interesting distinction when talking with the unbelieving Jews in John 8:33–39.

They said to Him in verse 33,,, “We are Abraham’s descendants.

Jesus admitted this,,, saying,,, in verse 37,,, “I know you are Abraham’s descendants”.

But when they said,,, “Abraham is our father,”Jesus replied, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham” as seen in verse 39.

In other words,,, they were descended from Abraham,,, but they didn’t have Abraham’s faith,,, and therefore,,, they were not his spiritual children.

It is not physical descent that counts.

The true Israel,,, is the Jews who were selected by God,,, and to whom He made some specific promise,,, marking them out as His children.

We see this principle of sovereign election in the cases of Isaac and Jacob.

God appeared to Abraham,,, promising that He would return at the appointed time,,, and that Sarah would have a son.

That son,,, of course,,, was Isaac.

He was truly,,, a child of promise,,, and a child of supernatural birth. ___________________________________ Verses 10-12 said: 10 And not only that, but also Rebekah received a promise when she became pregnant by one man, our ancestor Isaac. 11 For though her sons had not been born yet or done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to election might stand— 12 not from works but from the One who calls—she was told: The older will serve the younger.

Another case of sovereign election is found in the case of Jacob.

Isaac and Rebecca were the parents,,, of course.

But Rebecca was carrying two babies,,, not one.

A pronouncement was made before the children were ever born.

This pronouncement shows that it had nothing to do with works of merit by either child.

It was entirely a matter of God’s choice,,, based on His own will,,, and not on the character or things that they would do in the future.

The purpose of God,,, according to election,,, means His determination to distribute His favors according to His sovereign will and good pleasure.

This verse,,, incidentally,,, disproves the idea that God’s choice of Jacob was based on His foreknowledge of what Jacob would do,,, because it specifically says that it was not made on the basis of works!

God’s decision was that the older would serve the younger.

Esau would have a subservient place to Jacob.

The latter was chosen to earthly glory and privilege.

Esau was the firstborn of the twin brothers and ordinarily would have had the honors and privileges associated with that position.

But God’s selection passed him by and rested on Jacob.

___________________________________ Verses 13-15 said: 13 As it is written: I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau. 14 What should we say then? Is there injustice with God? Absolutely not! 15 For He tells Moses: I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

To further enforce God’s sovereignty in choosing,,, Paul quotes Malachi 1:2, 3: “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”

In these 2 verses,,, God is speaking of the two nations,,, Israel and Edom,,, of which Jacob and Esau were the father's of.

God marked out Israel as the nation to which He promised the Messiah and Christ's kingdom.

Edom,,, of course,,, received no such promise.

Instead,,, its mountains and heritage were laid waste for the jackals of the wilderness (Malachi 1:3; see also Jeremiah 49:17, 18; Ezekiel 35:7–9).

Although it is true that the quotation from Malachi 1:2, 3 describes God’s dealings with nations rather than individuals,,, "it is" used to support His sovereign right to choose individuals as well.

The words,,, Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated,,, must be understood in the light of the sovereign decree of God that stated,,, The older shall serve the younger.

The preference for Jacob is interpreted as an act of love,,, whereas bypassing Esau is seen as hatred by comparison.

And,,, It's not that God hated Esau with a harsh,,, vindictive animosity,,, but only that He loved Esau less than Jacob,,, as seen by His sovereign selection of Jacob.

Also remember that this passage refers to earthly blessings,,, and not to eternal life.

God’s hatred of Edom doesn’t mean that individual Edomites can’t be saved,,, any more than His love of Israel means,,, that individual Jews don’t need to be saved.

Don't forget,,, that Esau did receive some earthly blessings,,, as he himself testified in Genesis 33:9.

And,,, as Paul stated these words,,, he correctly anticipated that his teaching on sovereign election would stir up all kinds of objections.

People still accuse God of unfairness.

They say that if He chooses some,,, then He must condemn the rest.

They argue that if God has settled everything in advance,,, then there’s nothing anyone can do about it,,, and because of that,,, they believe that God is unrighteous for condemning them.

Paul passionately denies any possibility of unrighteousness on God’s part.

But,,, instead of watering down God’s sovereignty in order to make it more pleasing to these objectors,,, he proceeds to restate it more vigorously,,, and without apology.

He first quotes God’s word to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion” (see Exodus 33:19).

Who can say,,, that our God,,, the Lord of heaven and earth,,, does not have the right to show mercy and compassion?

All people are condemned by their own sin and unbelief.

If left to ourselves,,, we would all perish.

In addition to extending a genuine gospel invitation to all people,,, God chooses some of these condemned people to be special objects of His grace.

But this does not mean that He arbitrarily chooses the others to be condemned.

You see,,, they are already condemned,,, because they are lifelong sinners and have rejected the gospel.

Those who are chosen,,, those of us that have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior,,, can thank God for His grace.

Those who are lost,,, and haven't accepted Christ,,, have no one to blame,,, but themselves.

___________________________________ So,,, "Who Do "We" Blame"?

When things aren't going the way that we think that they should,,, do we blame others,,, ourselves,,, or even God?

We always like to think that we are special,,, since we have accepted Christ,,, and,,, at times,,, we are as bad or worse than the religious leaders and other Jews that didn't accept Jesus as their Messiah!

As Christians,,, we want to think that everything will be ok,,, but it doesn't always happen the way we want!

And when those trying times come,,, and they do come,,, we blame so many others when a lot of times,,, we are the problem!

We must trust God with all that's in front of us,,, no matter how hard things appear to be!

Especially if we think life is unfair,,, or,,, mistakenly feel like God doesn't care.

God "is" in control,,, whether we understand what or why things happen in this way.

God allows so much to happen that we don't understand,,, that we forget,,, and then,,, we start the blame game,,, when faith is needed even more at this time!

That's why our relationship with God is so important,,, because He helps us through everything by relying on His strength,,, His power,,, and not our own!

I saw a quote on Facebook last night that said: "Faith is when you praise God in the storm,,, you trust Him in the valley,,, and you follow Him in the dark!

That's the type of faith that we need as God's children!

Behaving as true children of God instead of relying on ourselves,,, our parents,,, our friends,,, our community,, whatever “we” think will help,,, when God should be our first and last thought,,, because as true children of God,,, we shouldn't have to ask,,, "Who Do We Blame",,, anymore! ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Hymn: 337 - Oakdale Hymn: 337 - Seminary Benediction ----------------------------------------------------------- “But God said to Abraham, “Do not be concerned about the boy and your slave. Whatever Sarah says to you, listen to her, because your offspring will be traced through Isaac.” ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Hymn: 337 - Oakdale Hymn: 337 - Seminary Benediction -----------------------------------------------------------