Burdened for Souls

7th circuit court of appeals - parsonage tax stands against atheist group lawsuit

6th circuit court of appeals - upheld a ruling allowing states to defund planned parenthood

Fasting reports from my Sunday school class

Romans 9 ESV

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. 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. 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.” 10 And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— 12 she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” 14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! 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.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. 19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” 20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? 22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— 24 even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? 25 As indeed he says in Hosea, “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’ ” 26 “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’ ” 27 And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, 28 for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” 29 And as Isaiah predicted, “If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, we would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah.” 30 What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. 32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33 as it is written, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

God’s rejection of the Jews or the Jews’ rejection of the Messiah?

Paul’s burden for his fellow Jews is used to highlight God’s grace in choosing us.

His burden is real - if Paul is leading up to this point, he as been laboring in prayer for them. He has been living through the Spirit of God groaning on his behalf. We can see the connection of the previous chapter and this one.

His burden is real - and should be a reminder of the burden we have for those who dont know Jesus. Some of whom we have direct, personal access to, some of which we dont.

AAEO

Armed Forces Awakening NAMB

God choosing us was not a result of natural descent; of what family we were born into

Ishmael Isaac

Esau Jacob

Ephraim Manasseh and all the times a Gentile was interjected into the lineage of Christ.

Jews Gentiles - we were not ‘born into it’.

God choosing us was not a result of human merit.

God chose Jacob before he and Esau were born. Let’s take care to know what scripture says and how God used it to reveal truth about Himself.

v. 13) In Malachi when He says ‘Jacob I loved but Esau I hated’ He was referring to the nation that came from each, not necessarily the man. Jacob was Israel, from which Israel came. From Esau came Edom and the Edomites. In Obadiah He pronounces judgement on the Edomites ‘for your violence against Jacob’. Which was nation v nation.

Esau rejected his election as firstborn when he sold his birthright for a bowl of chili.

God chose the nation of Israel despite their repeated disobedience.

God chose you, not based on how good you are, but how loving He is.

Disobedience never nullifies the elective purpose of God. He is faithful even when we are unfaithful.

There is divine sovereignty. Paul develops that argument in . There is human responsibility. That idea is brought up at the end of this chapter, and we find it well expressed in where He sends Jeremiah to the potter’s house.

When Spurgeon was asked how he reconciled divine sovereignty and human responsibility his answer was “I never try to reconcile friends”. Good advice.

Pharoah - God’s patience on display

Grammatical structure of v22 says he fitted himself for destruction. Or that he was headed to eternal damnation because he had listened to the influence of Satan.

Shall not the Judge of the earth do what is right? Gen 18:25

Genesis 18:

Genesis 18:25 ESV

25 Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”

Did pharoah deserve mercy? No and neither do you or I. Did pharoah have a chance to repent? Yes! And so do you and I. The same sun that melts the ice hardens the clay.

Pharoah - a lesson for us today.

Like the Edomites, Pharoah opposed and oppressed Israel. God was patient, sending Moses to offer a chance to repent. But tells us God had heard the cry of His people. So those who had opposed and oppressed were coming to the end of their opportunity.

God is patient with humanity as well. But judgement of the earth and its inhabitants is inevitable. He has sent Jesus, the Word and His very Spirit into this world to point us to truth. Will you receive it today?

I have direct, personal access to you with the Word of God, the Spirit of God and the time God has given us to respond. Here is your invitation: