Sermon for August 16, 2020 22 Minutes
Notes
Transcript
Sermon for August 16, 2020 22 Minutes
Sermon for August 16, 2020 22 Minutes
Good morning everyone,,, watching by video.
Before I start with my sermon,,, I want to have announcements and praise and prayer request read.
Announcements:
We will have charge conference coming up soon. We will need to begin to prepare for that.
Praise Reports and Prayer request
I sent out text messages and Facebook post again this week,,, asking for praise reports and prayer request.
These are the ones that I've written down.
If I've missed yours,,, please text me or post it in the comments and we will do our best to add it at the end.
Praise reports
I continue with our thanks to our healthcare workers during this terrible pandemic. I believe that we truly know who our heroes today are!
Prayer Request:
Remember Kaye Lee from Prentiss.
Remember Betty Thacker from MS. Tank Co.
Remember Brad Lees as he battles his cancer diagnosis and deals with recovery from kidney stones.
Continue to remember Glenda Faye and the Coulter family
Continue to remember the healthcare workers
Remember all of the problems facing our nation
And,,,
Any unspoken prayer request.
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Before I begin with my sermon,,, I wanted to begin this morning with an opening prayer and lead into the Lord's prayer like we usually begin our worship service. That way if you like,,, you can join me in saying the Lord's prayer.
Invocation and Lord's prayer
Dear Lord, I thank you for your continued presence among us today and every day. I thank you for our healthcare workers who continue to work tirelessly and sometimes without a thank you! I thank you for those that are listening and watching by video. I ask for continued guidance for them and others. So we ask for healing for all of those that are sick this morning,,, we pray for all of those that we mentioned this morning,,, the unspoken request,,, those on our prayer list and even any needs that weren't mentioned,,, we ask for safety and guidance for our healthcare workers and all others that must work during this time. Lord,,, I pray for all of those that are still working on clearing storm damage and helping others. We ask for healing from all these events for our great nation,,, and
We ask these things in Jesus's name who taught us to pray, by saying:
Our Father, which art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever.
Amen.
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This morning I'll be reading Romans chapter 11 verses 1 and 2a,,, then verses 29 through 32.
I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible.
Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32
In the verses that we will look at this morning,,, Paul is explaining that even though the Jews have rejected Christ,,, there is still a gift of mercy available for them and for the Gentiles as well.
Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32
11 I ask, then, has God rejected His people? Absolutely not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew.
29 since God’s gracious gifts and calling are irrevocable. 30 As you once disobeyed God, but now have received mercy through their disobedience, 31 so they too have now disobeyed, resulting in mercy to you, so that they also now may receive mercy. 32 For God has imprisoned all in disobedience, so that He may have mercy on all.
God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning.
Let us pray:
Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with 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.
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As we deal with the effects of this corona-virus pandemic,,, maybe some of you are wondering if God has abandoned us like they were afraid that the Israelites had been abandoned.
This morning we will look at these verses and hopefully they will help us to see that God never changes and He will never abandon us.
We might leave Him,,, but He never leaves us!
We will also see that the way that we see others can have a negative outlook on the church and how Paul warns us of that.
Lets look at these verses this morning and see how they can help us in our walk with God this week.
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Last Sunday we studied Romans 10:5-15 and learned that Jesus' saving grace was available to all.
Jew and Gentile alike.
In between the verses we have this morning and the verses we looked at last Sunday,,, Paul spends some time talking about Israel and the fact that many of them did reject Jesus' message.
Beginning in 10:19 and reading to the end of the chapter which ends at verse 21 it says: 19 But I ask, “Did Israel not understand?” First, Moses said: I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; I will make you angry by a nation that lacks understanding. 20 And Isaiah says boldly: I was found by those who were not looking for Me; I revealed Myself to those who were not asking for Me. 21 But to Israel he says: All day long I have spread out My hands to a disobedient and defiant people.
In these verses Paul is responding to the thought that Israel might not have understood the message of "the good news" of Jesus Christ and he uses Moses and Isaiah words to show that they should have received the message.
They had the words from God,,, just as we have the words from God,,, and like it was for them,,, and,,, of course us today,,, a choice must be made!
Then he continues that discussion in the verses that we have this morning.
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Verse 1 says: 1 I ask, then, has God rejected His people? Absolutely not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
Paul asks the question of whether God has rejected His people,,, and then he answers it by saying "Absolutely not".
Paul was an Israelite,,, a descendant of Abraham,,, from the tribe of Benjamin as he stated above.
And,,, Paul was also a Pharisee,,, he studied and understood the law as well as anyone.
He had lived the strict life style of the Pharisees,,, and believed at that time,,, that he was doing things the way that he should.
Paul had persecuted the Christians before Christ appeared before him on the Damascus road and turned his life around,,, so he understood that Christ was still available to all,,, but they must make a change in their hearts and accept Jesus Christ as Savior before that would happen.
And he knew that if he could be accepted by Jesus after everything terrible that he had done to Christians,,, then God would accept anyone that presented themselves to Him!
In this verse,,, according to my Bible Knowledge Commentary,,, Paul has presented himself as being an example,,, or first proof of an Israelite being saved.
He had responded by faith to Jesus Christ and had received God’s provided righteousness,,, even though he was an Israelite (cf. Phil. 3:5) and of the tribe of Benjamin.
Though small, Benjamin was a significant tribe (Saul,,, who was Israel’s first king, was from Benjamin).
If God could save Paul (Acts 9; 22; 26),,, He certainly could save other Jews,,, and he wanted to make that clear to them.
He continues on in the first part of verse 2.
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Verse 2a says: 2 God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew.
Then he positively declared, God did not reject His people,,, whom He foreknew,,, or,,, “had a meaningful relationship with”; (cf. Amos 3:2; and cf. comments on Rom. 8:29).
Paul said this because of the message in 1 Samuel 12:22 and Psalms 94:14,,, which both say that God will not abandon His people.
God had chosen Israel as His covenant people from eternity past and entered into a relationship with them that will never be destroyed. (cf. Jer. 31:37).
And in the verses that we skipped over in our reading this morning,,, Paul’s second proof that God has not rejected His people was taken from Israel’s history during Elijah’s ministry.
If you remember that story,,, Elijah had fled for his life from Jezebel,,, he was deeply depressed and told God that he was the only one left,,, but God told Elijah that He had reserved a remnant in Israel that numbered 7,000 found in 1 Kings 19:18.
This preservation of the faithful remnant was a work of God.
Then Paul says that even at the present time there is a remnant that is chosen by grace.
Paul was saying that,,, like in Elijah's day,,, a remnant was chosen from every generation of the church,,, and that continues today!
Paul then spends several verses explaining why a remnant was saved from the tribe of Israel,,, along with a warning to the Gentiles to not be arrogant in their selection along with the Jews.
Then he goes on to explain that the stumbling of the Jews doesn't mean that God has abandoned them but that they must turn back to Him and Paul calls it a "mystery",,, and that's found in verses 25-27.
Paul calls it a mystery because this was truth that was previously unrevealed (and therefore unknown) which is now revealed and publicly proclaimed (cf. Ephesians 3:9; Colossians 1:26; at Matthew 13:10–16, see the chart that lists NT mysteries in the Bible Knowledge Commentary).
Paul wanted to make sure his Gentile readers knew about the mystery concerning Israel in God’s sovereign choice.
Paul told them that God’s purpose was so that you may not be conceited (or think better of themselves”).
God’s sovereign plan to put Israel aside temporarily in order to show grace to the Gentiles was not a reason for them to think arrogantly because it was designed to show God's glory.
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Verse 29 says: 29 since God’s gracious gifts and calling are irrevocable.
Paul is continuing his argument for the Jews by saying that God’s gracious gifts and calling are irrevocable.
Because God chose Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,,, He loves the nation and will carry through on His promises. (you can read Romans 9:6-13 for the explanation of God's gracious election of Israel.)
This is another reason Israel’s hardening must be temporary (cf. 11:15, 22–25) and she must finally be saved corporately,,, because,,, God chose her.
And God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable,,, God will never take His gifts and call back.
We make the choice to accept them or reject them,,, they are there just waiting to be chosen by us,,, but we still must make that choice!
He does not revoke what He has given,,, or,,, whom He has chosen!
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Verses 30 through 32 say: 30 As you once disobeyed God, but now have received mercy through their disobedience, 31 so they too have now disobeyed, resulting in mercy to you, so that they also now may receive mercy. 32 For God has imprisoned all in disobedience, so that He may have mercy on all.
In verses 30–32 Paul reminds the Gentiles that they have no room to boast.
In just a short period of time the tables were turned.
Before this,,, the Gentiles were mainly unresponsive.
A strong Gentile church was not heard of.
Even while Jesus was here,,, it appeared like a lot of His time was spent teaching the Jews.
Now the Gentiles have obtained mercy by the Jew’s very misuse of his gifts and calling,,, since they rejected the gospel and made the disciples go to the Gentiles.
Paul is saying that the chain of events from the Gentile salvation will reopen the hope of Jewish repentance and Divine mercy on their race.
And when you compare the two races of people,,, the Jews and the Gentiles,,, there is no difference.
All have been disobedient.
All need mercy.
And God’s gracious purpose is that he might have mercy upon all.
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Now,,, Paul spent a lot of time warning the Gentiles not to become conceited,,, or arrogant,,, because of God's saving grace,,, and that same warning continues today.
We must not look down on others that have been living in sin and now are just realizing that they have fallen short and need help.
We must realize that,,, just like the Gentiles in Paul's day,,, we are no better than anyone else.
If we are looking down our noses at them instead of helping them like we should,,, we will be guilty of what Paul was warning the Gentiles about.
We must do our best to lift those up that need help.
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We can also see from these verses and many,,, many other places in the Bible,,, that God never abandons His chosen people.
We might leave Him,,, but He never leaves us.
That's our choice to make.
That's a choice that we have had to make,,, beginning with Adam,,, who made the wrong choice and we have been paying for it ever since.
Even when Israel moved away from God and depended on their own strength or idols,,, God never abandoned them.
And of course today,,, we have moved so far away from God that it seems like we can never be brought back either.
But just like so many times before that we have read about in the Bible,,, we know that if we will just humble ourselves and seek God's love,,, He will be faithful and answer just like He did,,, over and over again in the past!
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So as we begin a new week,,, remember these verses,,, and the ways that Paul reminds the Gentiles that they should not become arrogant or conceited in their ability to be saved by Jesus because this was brought about,,, in part,,, by the Israelites rejecting the saving grace of Jesus Christ,,, and they weren't any better than the Israelites because they both needed God's mercy and grace.
Hopefully this will help us to remember that we aren't any better off than anyone else that needs God's saving grace either,,, since we are all sinners in God's eyes.
Just because we have been faithful in coming to church,,, we still need God's grace every day just to get through the day.
We couldn't make it each day without the Holy Spirit helping us and we need to remember to pray that others can see that as well!
Remember the way that Paul tries to set the record straight that God will never abandon them if they will accept Jesus as their Savior.
Remember that promise is the same for us,,, even if the sins are bad,,, if we just do as the Israelites did over and over when they had sinned and fallen short,,, and that was to recognize that fact and ask forgiveness and turn back to God!
We just need to remember that God will never forsake us,,, that is something that only we can do,,, so we must keep our focus on the Holy Spirit,,, so that we can stay on the right path.
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I wanted to end this morning with the ending verses to this chapter that we didn't read.
Beginning in verse 33 it says: 33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments and untraceable His ways! 34 For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor? 35 Or who has ever first given to Him, and has to be repaid? 36 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.
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