I Am Not Ashamed: Anguish Over the Lost

As we arrive at Romans chapter nine, we come to the next big section of Paul’s letter to the Christians at Rome. Chapter’s nine through eleven are the deep end of the pool. In these chapters the Apostle is going to give us some of his most intense, concentrated, and challenging argument about the nature of salvation, and in particular the salvation of the Jews. He’s going to help us understand the “big picture” of God’s redemptive work in the world. He’s going to begin by pouring out his heart over Israel’s lostness.

I. PAUL’S ACUTE PROBLEM WITH ISRAEL

“I speak the truth in Christ— I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit— .” (Romans 9:1, NIV84)

1. the Apostle begins this section of his letter with a serious and sobering affirmation

a. when Paul wants to assert the gravity of what he is about to say, he affirms it by an oath

b. Jesus taught that no oath is ever to be taken lightly, and that men will be held accountable for the veracity and the consistency with which they handle vows and oaths

1) Eccl. 5:5 says that it is better not to vow, than to make one and not fulfill it

c. so what Paul is about to say is of extreme importance

1) the Apostle is confessing to his readers, “I swear to you that I am a burdened man, that I walk around with great sorrow and with a constant sense of grief in my heart. I’m not lying about this.”

2) this is the apostle who is always placing great stress on the importance of rejoicing in the Christian life

3) yet he is a man with constant pain and continual grief

2. and what he is about to say causes him great sorrow and unceasing anguish in his heart

A. ISRAEL HAS REJECTED HER MESSIAH

1. the apostle is dealing with one of the most significant theological challenges that faced the early church

a. it remains a great challenge even for us

b. why have the Jews,— God’s chosen people— rejected their Messiah?

1) how is it that the vast majority of Jews over the course of the last two millennia have rejected the One whom their Prophets pointed to?

2) how does any Jew read Isaiah 53 and not wonder “Who is this speaking of?”

a) and then, if they would read the Gospels, they would know exactly who it is speaking of!

3) how is it that Jesus would “come into his own and his own would receive him not?”

2. this is the Apostle’s acute problem as he writes this letter to the Christians at Rome

a. Israel has, by and large, rejected her Messiah

1) Paul has understood it, Peter, and Andrew and James and John have understood it, 3,000 on the day of Pentecost have understood it, thousands of other Jews have understood it ... why can’t the whole nation understand it?

b. they rejected an imputed righteousness for a works righteousness

“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.” 1 Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved.” (Romans 9:30–10:1, NIV84)

1) Israel, the Apostle writes, was pursuing righteousness

a) everything in their Scriptures pointed to the holiness of God, and God’s desire for them to be a holy people

b) they are pursuing righteousness— they are focused on it like a laser beam, they are going after it with intense effort

c) Paul informs us, however, that they have not attained it ... and why not

2) because they pursued righteousness by works and not by faith

a) the spiritual leaders taught the people that they really could work their way into God’s good graces

B. ISRAEL HAS STUMBLED OVER THE DIVINITY OF THEIR MESSIAH

1. in explaining Israel’s rejection of her Messiah, the Apostle quotes from Isaiah 8:14

"See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall ... “

a. as Paul explicitly establishes earlier in this letter, Abraham, “the father of all who believe,” was saved by his faith, which God “reckoned as righteousness”—

1) God did this long before He required the rite of circumcision, and long before He gave His law through Moses (Rom. 4:1–11)

b. despite their being called as God’s chosen people and their having received His divine revelation through Moses, the psalmists, the prophets, and other inspired men of God, the Jews were no more naturally inclined to seek or to obey God than were most pagan Gentiles

II. PAUL’S ANGUISH OVER ISRAEL

“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,” (Romans 9:2–3, NIV84)

1. with striking intensity Paul reveals his burdened heart in vs. 2

a. even though Paul considered himself the apostle to the Gentiles, his own people were never far from his heart

1) wherever he traveled on his missionary journeys he always began by going to the local Jewish synagogues and telling them about Jesus

2) he often gained a handful of converts, but usually caused an uproar, and was cast out, and frequently attacked

“Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, ... ,” (2 Corinthians 11:24–25, NIV84)

b. five hundred years earlier Jeremiah— known as the weeping prophet— also lamented over Israel’s unbelief

“Hear and pay attention, do not be arrogant, for the LORD has spoken. 16 Give glory to the LORD your God before he brings the darkness, before your feet stumble on the darkening hills. You hope for light, but he will turn it to thick darkness and change it to deep gloom. 17 But if you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly, overflowing with tears, because the LORD’s flock will be taken captive.” (Jeremiah 13:15–17, NIV84)

c. like Jeremiah, the Apostle Paul laments over Israel’s lostness— it’s breaking his heart

2. if the apostle has already come on strong, he goes over the edge in vs. 3

a. he is willing to experience the ultimate anathema— the final act of excommunication from God himself, for his brethren

b. Paul is saying, “If I could suffer damnation instead of my kinsmen according to the flesh, I would do it.”

3. but of course, Paul could not be cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of his people for the simply fact that he’s just told us in Romans 8:39 that nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord

III. PAUL’S ANALYSIS OF ISRAEL

1. in vs. 4- 5 Paul lists several nine advantages of the Jews as God's chosen nation that makes their rejection of the Messiah all the more tragic

A. THEY WERE ISRAELITES

1. here Paul identifies them with Jacob— as those who had been born into a promise

a. Jacob, if you remember, was the younger of twin boys born to Isaac

1) his name means Trickster, and is an apt description of his character

2) he spends much of his adult life, deceiving those around him in order to get what he wants

3) after tricking his brother Esau out of his birthright and deceiving his father to get his blessing he flees

b. upon his return to the land of Canaan many years later, he gets into a wrestling match with the Angle of the Lord, and loses, but God changes his name to Israel

2. his descendants become the nation of Israel and their name— Israelites— means the God ruled ones

3. their rejection of the Messiah all the more tragic because they are the God ruled ones

B. THEIRS IS THE ADOPTION AS SONS

1. God had sovereignly selected Israel to be his Chosen People

a. God commanded Moses to “say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Israel is My son, My firstborn” ’ ” (Ex. 4:22)

b. through Hosea, the Lord declared that “when Israel was a youth I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son” (Hos. 11:1)

2. the Old Testament does not refer to God as the Father of individual Jews— in the way the New Testament does of God as Father of individual Christians— but as the Father of the nation

a. this is why the Jewish leaders were so incensed when Jesus referred to God as his Father in a personal way

3. their rejection of the Messiah all the more tragic because they have been sovereignly selected by God as sons

C. THEIRS IS THE DIVINE GLORY

1. literally theirs is the splendor of God’s divine presence

a. God had revealed Himself to Israel in the visible manifestation of what is called the Shekinah Glory

1) it was the pillar of smoke and fire that guided, and protected Israel and led them during their Exodus from Egypt

2) it was the glory that filled the Tabernacle and later the Temple in Jerusalem

b. the word shekinah does not appear in the Bible, but the concept clearly does

1) the Jewish rabbis coined this extra-biblical expression, and it literally means “he caused to dwell”

2) it represented the divine visitation of the presence or dwelling of the Lord God on this earth

c. Israel was to reflect the glory of God as the nation among nations— like a city on a hill

2. their rejection of the Messiah all the more tragic because they had the divine glory

D. THEIRS WERE THE COVENANTS

1. the Covenants are the various solemn agreements God made with Israel

a. there was the Abrahamic Covenant (Gen. 15:18), promising to make Abraham a great nation and giving him possession of the land from the Nile to the Euphrates

b. there was the Mosaic Covenant (Exo. 19-24), promising blessing if the nation would keep the moral, religious, and civic laws given by God

c. there was the Davidic Covenant, promising to Israel an eternal King coming from David (2 Sam. 7:11-16)

2. again and again God took the initiative and approached the people of Israel and upon the acceptance of certain conditions entered into a special relationship with them

a. the Nation was to be used as a channel to bring salvation to the human race

b. they hindered instead of fulfilling this commission

3. their rejection of the Messiah all the more tragic because they had the covenants

E. THEIRS IS THE RECEIVING OF THE LAW

1. the Law was to be their teacher, and everything about it was meant to point them to God’s claim upon their lives, and the proper way to approach Him in worship

2. their rejection of the Messiah all the more tragic because more than any other people on Earth, they had a knowledge of God’s character, and God’s will, and God’s ways

F. THEIRS WAS THE TEMPLE WORSHIP

1. the prescriptions for divine worship outlined in the Book of Leviticus foreshadowed the atoning sacrifice of Christ

a. having worshiped God by the means of substitutionary blood sacrifice of an innocent spotless lamb should have prepared them to accept the actual substitutionary vicarious atonement of Jesus Christ

2. their rejection of the Messiah all the more tragic because they knew the nature of atonement, but missed it in Christ

G. THEIRS WERE THE PROMISES

1. in the Jewish mind the promises would have reminded them of a catalog of good things promised by God

a. the promises of God included territorial promises, theological promises, familial promises, prosperity, health, fertility and abundance promises

b. in Romans 4:13-25 Paul reminds us of God’s promise to Abraham and his seed

2. ultimately the promise is of Messiah, and His kingdom, and His deliverance

3. their rejection of the Messiah all the more tragic because they thought the promises of God were for the Jews alone

H. THEIRS ARE THE PATRIARCHS

1. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David ... these are the great men of faith of Hebrew history

a. their legacy is one of faith

2. their rejection of the Messiah all the more tragic because they had the example of faithful Patriarchs, but instead chose a works righteousness instead of a faith righteousness

I. THEIRS IS THE MESSIAH

“Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.” (Romans 9:5, NIV84)

1. here comes the culmination— the blessing of blessing— "From whom is the Christ" or The Messiah, the Anointed One of God, and who’s ancestry is traced from Israel

a. this advantage is the highest honor of all the privileges

2. in his human ancestry the Christ is the son of David, the son of Abraham (Matt. 1:1)

a. Jesus Christ was born to a Jewish mother, grew up in a Jewish home, went to a Jewish school, sat in a Jewish synagogue, ministered to the Jewish people, and said, "I have come to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Mt 15:24)

3. but this thoroughly Jewish Messiah also is God over all, forever praised! Amen

a. and in that simple phrase we discover the answer to Israel’s acute problem

1) they can accept a Messiah who is merely a man who will lead them to nationalistic greatness once again

2) they cannot accept a Messiah who is claims to be God in the flesh and who wants to deliver them from their sins

4. all the blessings listed in vs. 4-5 had been given by God to Israel in preparation of Jesus the Messiah’s coming

a. yet, when He came they rejected him

"The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.” (John 1:9–11, NIV84)

b. BUT ... “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” (John 1:12–13, NIV84)

IV. APPLICATION OF ROMANS 9:1-5

1. Jews Still Need the Gospel

a. the Apostle begins his letter by telling us of the gospel, that is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile (Rom. 1:16)

1) that truth has never changed

2) it is a hugely politically in correct truth, but it is true nonetheless

ILLUS. At the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in 1996 held in New Orleans, LA messengers adopted a resolution calling on Southern Baptists to engage Jewish friends, neighbors and coworkers with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The secular press went ballistic. You would have thought that we had just declared a second Holocaust against the Jewish people. American Jewish leaders called the resolution offensive and divisive. Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie, one of American Judaism’s leading Rabbis for 30 years, wrote, "We respect your right to propagate your faith to all nonbelievers. But singling out the Jews for special missionary efforts runs contrary to the spirit of the times and the movement toward dialogue and cooperation."

b. God does not save Jews one way and Gentiles another way— God does not maintain the Covenant of the Law with the Jews, and a Covenant of Grace with everyone else

1) our evangelism of Jews needs to be done gracefully, and patiently

2) we need to tell our Jewish acquaintances that Christianity was birthed from the womb of Judaism

a) the Savior of the world, the Christ we worship is the Jewish Messiah

b) the core events of Synagogue worship— prayer, singing, scripture reading, and teaching of Scripture— are the core events of Christian worship

2. Soul Winners Will Always Have a Great Burden for the Lost

a. the apostle confesses "That I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart"

b. notice the tremendous burden for the lost the great soul winner carried in His heart

1) he was weighted down with sorrow and felt intense pain over their lost condition

c. Paul was not an indifferent spectator concerning the lostness of men— particular his countrymen

1) their hard-hearted unbelief filled his heart with anguish

2) Paul could identify with this rebellious people

a) he knew where they were because he too at one time had been stiff-necked and obstinate to Christ and His Church— to the point of zealously persecuting it

d. Paul’s burden for the lost begs the question: How concerned are you for those who don't know Christ?

1) are you praying for the lost?

2) are you will to sacrifice your time? money? energy? comfort? and safety to see them come to faith in Jesus?

3) when was the last time you shared a witness, a Scripture, a tract, or an invitation to church with a lost person?

3. We Need to Understand the Dynamics of a Lost Person’s Lostness

a. 1st, understand that religion inoculates lost people to the Gospel of Jesus Christ

ILLUS. Most of you are familiar with inoculations for disease. In most cases it involves receiving a vaccine that is a weakened form of the disease one is being inoculated against. Once in the bloodstream, the vaccine immunizes you against the real disease by building up antibodies to ward off the disease.

1) religion can serve as a spiritual inoculation against having true faith

a) we live in a culture were most people have received just enough religion or just enough church, or just enough Scriptures that they just assume that heaven is their eternal destiny, but in reality they’ve become immune to the real Gospel of Christ

ILLUS. Because Israel had received adoption as sons; and the divine glory, and the covenants, and the law, and the temple worship, and the promise, and the heritage of the patriarchs they had been spiritually inoculated against the Christ when he came into the world.

b) many of your friends and family who would self-identify as nominal Christians or backslidden Christians or cultural Christians are not Christians at all, and we fool ourselves by pretending they are

c) the person who thinks he is already righteous and pleases God will see no need for salvation in Christ

b. 2nd, understand that works righteousness is still the preferred mode of salvation for the lost person whether Jew or Gentile

ILLUS. Just this week Ligonier Ministries and Lifeway Research released its “2016 State of American Theology Study.” One of the things it discovered is that 77% of Americans agree that “an individual must contribute his or her own effort for personal salvation.” This is just the opposite of what the Apostle Paul has spent eight chapters seeking to convince us is false. God initiates our redemption and then we respond to Him in repentance and faith.

1) the Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 2:14-16 that the lost person is spiritually discerned, that is the lost person is unable to assign the right moral value to the truth of Christ— he or she hears the gospel and assesses it as foolishness

2) why? — because they are convinced that their sin is not that bad, and just living a good life is all God really demands

3) most people simply don’t want to admit that they are sinners in desperate need of a Savior

a) do you realize that you’re a sinner? — if not, you’ll keep stumbling over Jesus

c. 3rd, understand that passion and prayer are the keys to a lost man’s salvation

“Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved.” (Romans 10:1, NIV84)

1) our prayer is that the Holy Spirit opens their hearts to the Gospel because it is the power of God unto salvation

2) our passion is that after we’ve prayed, we go and tell the Good News that Jesus saves!

Jesus is either a Rock of Refuge or a Stumbling Stone. Are you standing on the rock or are you stumbling over it?

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