Dale Partridge - August 29, 2024


Romans 10_16-21： The Power of Spiritual Blindness with Dale Partridge


Episode Stats


Length

50 minutes

Words per minute

117.79598

Word count

5,909

Sentence count

441

Harmful content

Toxicity

18

sentences flagged

Hate speech

48

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Join us in Ephesians 10:13-21 as we finish up the book of Romans and begin our series on post-millennialism and eschatology. This series will focus on the difference between the original and post-Millennialist understanding of the gospel, and how we can apply it to our lives.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 If you'd open up your Bibles to Romans chapter 10, we'll be reading verses 13 through 21.
00:00:08.200 Hear the word of the Lord.
00:00:30.000 they are sent as it is written how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news
00:00:38.160 but they have not all obeyed the gospel for isaiah says lord who has believed what he has heard from
00:00:45.280 us so faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of christ but i ask have they not heard
00:00:54.320 indeed they have for their voice has gone out to all the earth and their words to the ends of the
00:01:02.000 world but I ask did Israel not understand for Moses says I will make you jealous of those who
00:01:11.120 are not a nation with a foolish nation I will make you angry then Isaiah is so bold as to say I have
00:01:20.240 been found by those who did not seek me. I have showed myself to those who did not ask 0.93
00:01:25.220 for me. But of Israel, he says, all day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient
00:01:32.180 and contrary people. This is the word of the Lord.
00:01:38.040 Well, today we finished chapter 10. Honestly, it went by pretty quick, okay? We're going
00:01:46.300 to get through 11, and then we're going to be doing a series on eschatology and post-millennialism,
00:01:52.280 which I think is going to be very fun. But we're going to wrap up chapter 10 today.
00:01:59.200 As you know, Paul began this chapter expressing sorrow for his fellow Jews.
00:02:07.260 they have a zeal for God. They have a zeal, but it's not according to scripture.
00:02:18.560 They want to pursue righteousness, but it's not the righteousness of Christ.
00:02:25.340 It's a righteousness of their own. In other words, they've tried to make themselves righteous
00:02:32.160 through moralism. That is essentially legalism. Has a facade, a religious facade. The Mormons do
00:02:45.340 it. The Jehovah's Witnesses do it. The Roman Catholics do it. Anybody who does not fully 0.99
00:02:51.280 rest upon the righteousness of Christ is trying to, at some degree, work to earn or maintain
00:03:01.460 their redemption. What we don't understand is that when we break the law,
00:03:08.020 even once, we become eternally unrighteous. James 2.10, you know, if you
00:03:17.840 break the law, if you keep the whole law, it says, but you fail in one point,
00:03:24.020 you're guilty of all of it. And what that means is that sin is like falling
00:03:31.400 into a 500,000-foot hole, and no amount of effort can get you out of it. You cannot become righteous.
00:03:42.620 When we're sinning, when we have sinned, we become eternally disqualified.
00:03:51.660 This perfect record is impossible. What we need is an alien righteousness.
00:03:58.380 We need a righteousness that's not of our own, but a righteousness from someone who
00:04:04.940 did keep the law perfectly.
00:04:08.280 And that righteousness is the righteousness of Christ that is given to us by faith.
00:04:14.340 We rest in his righteousness, not the righteousness of our own.
00:04:21.040 in verses 5 through 15 we noted the simplicity of the gospel we also talked
00:04:31.780 about the universality of the gospel God's way of righteousness it's not
00:04:38.540 hidden it's it's not hard to find it's not remote it's right before you it's
00:04:47.920 It's not confined to the lofty discussions of academia.
00:04:54.460 It's not in the depths of philosophy.
00:04:58.020 There's not some great work to be paid or some penalty to endure.
00:05:05.040 The gospel is accessible.
00:05:08.180 It's simple.
00:05:10.000 It's by faith alone in Christ alone.
00:05:13.120 I said last week, the gospel is simple. Religion is complex.
00:05:21.720 Religious people make the gospel complex. It's not complex.
00:05:29.100 Yes, theology is complex. The gospel is not complex.
00:05:34.280 We learned that the gospel of the New Covenant is not, and was never intended to be, exclusive to the Jews.
00:05:46.900 This is a shocker, if you were a Jew, to realize that God actually has another people.
00:05:55.560 A people that will be brought in and grafted into the existing people to become one people. 0.81
00:06:04.280 In other words, what was once limited and local is now extensive and global.
00:06:15.560 The gospel is global.
00:06:18.680 It's a great, great thing.
00:06:21.960 Now, this distinction is crucial because while the gospel's purpose was only to save all the Jews, 0.96
00:06:29.660 No. A remnant of the Jews. A remnant of the Jews. The purpose for the Gentiles is to save billions. 0.90
00:06:40.640 God is saving billions of Gentiles. We often misapply that remnant theology.
00:06:50.420 The church is so small and it's only getting worse and it's just going to get pushed into the corner
00:06:55.900 as it gets darker and darker in society.
00:06:58.660 No, that is exactly the opposite
00:07:00.880 of the historical account.
00:07:03.060 No, the church is getting bigger and bigger.
00:07:05.680 It's continuing to take ground through the gospel.
00:07:08.820 It's continuing to see Jesus crush his enemies
00:07:14.340 through conversion.
00:07:17.220 You were once an enemy of Christ.
00:07:19.620 How did he crush you?
00:07:21.800 He converted you.
00:07:24.300 He saved you.
00:07:25.900 You once hated Christ and the light, and now you love Him.
00:07:32.240 He conquered you through conversion.
00:07:39.480 We also learned that the gospel needs to be spread.
00:07:46.180 It's not just simple, it needs to be spread.
00:07:49.900 And if the gospel requires belief, then it also requires hearing, and if it requires
00:07:53.520 hearing, then it also requires preaching. If it requires preaching, then we must send preachers
00:08:00.360 and missionaries and evangelists. So I want to just zoom out for a second, give you kind of an
00:08:06.800 overall structure of where we've been 8, 9, and 10 in Romans, and then we'll jump in, okay?
00:08:12.880 Paul is still answering, in a sense, this question, if God is sovereign over
00:08:20.280 the salvation of his people. He made a claim, Romans chapter 8, God causes all things to work
00:08:27.540 together for good who are called according to his purpose. If God is sovereign, then why did
00:08:34.780 the majority of the Jews reject the Messiah? Those are his people, yet they're rejecting 0.97
00:08:42.200 the Messiah, but God is sovereign? Wait, what happened? And he spent all of chapter 9 explaining
00:08:49.020 that the reason that they were all not chosen
00:08:55.320 or all not saved
00:08:56.780 is because they were all not elect.
00:09:00.300 Only some were elect.
00:09:02.460 Only a remnant was elect.
00:09:06.660 And so in chapter nine,
00:09:09.700 he argues his point of divine sovereignty over salvation
00:09:14.080 from election.
00:09:16.940 That's his point.
00:09:18.340 Chapter 10, he is arguing divine sovereignty over salvation from rejection.
00:09:26.380 Chapter 9 is election.
00:09:29.140 Chapter 10 is an argument from rejection.
00:09:32.300 I want you guys just to keep that kind of a banner over today.
00:09:36.780 Verses 1 through 4 and 10, they reject the way of the gospel.
00:09:42.040 6 through 9, they reject the simplicity of the gospel.
00:09:47.080 Verses 10 through 15, they were blind to the universality of the gospel.
00:09:53.020 16 through 21, they reject the clarity of the gospel. 0.98
00:09:57.520 So we're going to see that God's people, the Jews, rejected the gospel. 0.97
00:10:06.240 And we're going to see how that actually upholds election. 0.99
00:10:11.060 So we're going to see today that even though the gospel was simple, even though preachers 0.81
00:10:20.620 were sent, even though all these things were catered to the Jews, the vast majority of
00:10:27.640 Jews still rejected the Messiah.
00:10:31.800 And so you might recall in Romans 9, 27, Paul cited Isaiah, he says, though the number of 0.51
00:10:36.140 the sons of Israel will be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant will be saved.
00:10:43.340 Only a remnant will be saved. Okay, so follow with me, verse 16. 0.92
00:10:51.440 But have they not all obeyed the gospel?
00:10:56.640 Yours might say, but they have not all obeyed the gospel.
00:10:59.720 for Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us? Okay. We're smart Bible
00:11:10.180 interpreters. We know grammar. We're trying to figure out who is the object of the pronoun
00:11:14.360 they. What's the antecedent to they? Who's the they? Well, it's the Jews. Okay. He's talking
00:11:24.160 about the Jews. And this statement is intended to be surprising. But they have not all obeyed
00:11:30.860 the gospel. It's simple. It's universal. It's accessible. But they've not all obeyed it.
00:11:43.740 Why? Why did they not all obey? Paul provides an answer.
00:11:49.480 from Isaiah 53.1, which we had just read by our deacon, Josh Wills.
00:11:59.840 It's talking about the suffering servant in chapter 53, and it says,
00:12:03.880 who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
00:12:09.200 What Isaiah, what's happened in Isaiah is that Isaiah predicts the rejection of the Messiah. 0.65
00:12:18.120 Paul shows the fulfillment of that prediction. 1.00
00:12:23.680 That make sense?
00:12:26.100 We're seeing the fulfillment.
00:12:28.980 Paul's saying, hey, this rejection that you're watching, everybody,
00:12:32.460 it's not surprising to anyone who's read their Bible.
00:12:36.640 Look, it's right here in Isaiah, and it's fulfilled right here in Romans.
00:12:42.720 And so, as we know from chapter 9, why did most people reject the Messiah of God's people?
00:12:48.900 Because there was only a remnant.
00:12:50.380 There was only a remnant that were actually elect.
00:12:54.540 John 12, 39 through 40.
00:12:58.100 It speaks to this connection of election of the Jews and the Messiah.
00:13:04.320 I want you to pay attention to this very important scripture.
00:13:07.840 John writes,
00:13:08.720 though Jesus had done so many signs before them,
00:13:11.520 they still did not believe in him.
00:13:14.340 So that, purpose clause,
00:13:16.440 that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah
00:13:19.080 might be fulfilled.
00:13:20.220 Well, what's that word?
00:13:20.980 It says right here.
00:13:22.160 Lord, who has believed what he heard from us?
00:13:26.840 And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
00:13:30.000 Then it says in verse 39,
00:13:31.300 therefore, they could not believe.
00:13:35.700 Could not believe.
00:13:38.260 For again, Isaiah said,
00:13:43.020 God is blinding the eyes and the heart of some of the Jews.
00:14:03.900 Huh.
00:14:04.580 sounds like God is in control of who is saved and who is not.
00:14:12.380 Now, if this concept of divine election is new to you,
00:14:17.940 it would be probably helpful for you to go back to Romans 8, 28,
00:14:22.860 and listen to the 12 sermons that got us here,
00:14:27.540 because I did an extensive exposition on God's sovereignty over salvation.
00:14:35.560 God's plan was never to save all of Israel, ethnic Israel. 0.75
00:14:40.820 Okay? 0.94
00:14:41.900 His plan was to save a remnant of ethnic Israel,
00:14:46.040 people of Jewish descent from the nation of Israel. 0.95
00:14:49.280 The true Israel is the elect.
00:14:52.760 The true Israel is the people of God
00:14:55.260 from every tribe, nation, and tongue.
00:14:57.000 You are part of the Israel of God.
00:15:05.540 Now, I want to point out this phrase.
00:15:07.240 I want you to look down at your Bible, because we're smart Bible interpreters.
00:15:09.740 I don't want to see your faces.
00:15:10.540 I want to see the tops of your heads, okay? 0.95
00:15:12.460 Look down at your Bible.
00:15:14.140 It says in verse 16, but they have not all obeyed the gospel.
00:15:19.520 Think about that.
00:15:20.660 They have not all obeyed the gospel.
00:15:26.340 Now, in a time where the gospel has been diminished to an offering,
00:15:33.540 You guys have heard this. We freely offer the gospel. Okay, it's been diminished to a presentation.
00:15:41.260 Did you present the gospel? Did you offer them the gospel? Did you share the gospel?
00:15:50.640 Did you give them the opportunity of the gospel? Okay, these are phrases that are not biblical
00:16:00.060 and have been softened by American culture.
00:16:04.180 This is not the apostles' posture.
00:16:07.500 To them, the gospel is a command.
00:16:11.520 A command.
00:16:13.900 Think about this for a second.
00:16:16.340 It's a decree to be declared, to be proclaimed,
00:16:19.580 to be heralded, to be obeyed.
00:16:23.380 The gospel is to be obeyed.
00:16:26.840 Now, stay with me here.
00:16:31.340 The gospel is not just good news, it's in a sense good law.
00:16:37.340 Now, don't mishear me.
00:16:39.640 I'm not blurring the lines between the law and the gospel, I understand the difference
00:16:42.920 between that.
00:16:43.920 I'm saying that the gospel actually has legal jurisdiction over your soul.
00:16:53.600 something that you either obey or suffer the consequences for your disobedience to submission
00:16:59.600 of the king yes the gospel is all of grace there's no work to be done in us but the gospel
00:17:10.880 is a command of repentance and faith believe repent
00:17:18.480 If you go back into any century than the one that we live in, you're going to hear pastors
00:17:26.320 preach that way, with authority.
00:17:32.400 Let's open up our Bibles, Acts 17, 30 through 31.
00:17:36.280 I'll wait for you guys to get there.
00:17:37.360 Acts 17, 30 through 31.
00:17:45.060 Acts 17, 30 through 31.
00:17:48.480 it says the times of ignorance God overlooked but now he commands all
00:18:04.240 people everywhere to repent because he has fixed a day on which he will judge
00:18:10.740 the world and righteousness by a man whom he has appointed and of this he has
00:18:16.920 given assurance to all by raising him from the dead underline command he's
00:18:23.040 commanded all people everywhere to repent
00:18:29.540 first Thessalonians 7 3 or 1 7 through 8 when the Lord Jesus is revealed from
00:18:34.680 heaven with his mighty angels and flaming fire inflicting vengeance on
00:18:38.100 those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord
00:18:44.400 Jesus. That's the second time that he's used the word obey. So you got Paul saying it in Romans.
00:18:55.620 You got Luke saying it in Acts. You got now Paul saying it again in 1 Thessalonians.
00:19:05.620 Let's get one more apostle. Let's go to 1 Peter 4, 17.
00:19:09.840 For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God.
00:19:20.900 And if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
00:19:31.480 The gospel is a command.
00:19:33.960 It's not an offer.
00:19:35.440 It's not a presentation.
00:19:36.780 It's not an opportunity.
00:19:37.980 It's not something you share.
00:19:39.180 This is why men do it generally as evangelists.
00:19:42.280 It's a proclamation of command with authority by the power of the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ.
00:19:49.860 That's what it is.
00:19:53.780 I can't emphasize this enough.
00:19:58.460 This subtle shift from command to offer.
00:20:05.500 Think about this just for a second.
00:20:06.720 The subtle shift from preachers preaching with authority about the gospel to believe
00:20:12.880 to this kind of soft, gentle Christianity.
00:20:19.900 It's affected our nation in many ways.
00:20:22.320 Let me talk about this for a second.
00:20:23.640 When the church softens the gospel, it's like dulling the blade of a knife.
00:20:30.720 It's like dulling the blade of a knife.
00:20:32.340 It can no longer achieve its purpose.
00:20:33.960 The purpose of a knife is to cut. The purpose of the gospel is to wound.
00:20:40.700 It's to kill the flesh. Now, why is it wound? It's because it's telling you that you have no hope
00:20:47.900 in yourself. You're not a good person. There is no righteousness in you. You're a lawbreaker,
00:20:53.700 eternally unrighteous, on your way to hell. Your only hope is to run, turn from your sin, 1.00
00:20:58.240 crash down at the feet of Christ, trust in the righteousness of Jesus. That's it.
00:21:10.980 To dull the gospel is to strip the gospel of its power. We don't want to dull the gospel.
00:21:22.640 Now, why do we dull the gospel? Two reasons.
00:21:28.240 Two reasons.
00:21:30.180 One, because we've been so influenced by Arminianism
00:21:36.220 or pragmatism, free will theology.
00:21:45.840 The idea that salvation comes from intellectual persuasion.
00:21:50.560 And that's why we use so many theatrics and gimmicks in American Christianity.
00:21:56.800 You know what?
00:21:57.640 If it's about persuading the mind and not God actually resurrecting your soul,
00:22:05.740 then you know what?
00:22:07.240 We should probably have the smoke machine and, you know, all of the props.
00:22:14.380 Because honestly, if it's about persuasion, I'm going to use everything I can.
00:22:18.500 But if it's not about persuasion,
00:22:20.780 if it's actually about faithfulness to the message of Christ
00:22:24.800 and letting the Holy Spirit bring conviction upon those who are his.
00:22:31.080 Then we can keep it simple.
00:22:33.200 We can keep it reverent.
00:22:35.900 So you go to a church and you start to see
00:22:37.960 some sermon about the Lion of Judah and they rent a lion from a zoo.
00:22:43.800 You know that they actually believe that salvation comes
00:22:47.880 from some sort of intellectual persuasion.
00:22:50.420 It doesn't.
00:22:52.040 That's not what the Bible teaches at all.
00:22:53.240 No, the Bible teaches that when the gospel is preached faithfully,
00:22:59.140 that the Holy Spirit comes into the room like the wind
00:23:01.680 and gives you ears to hear and eyes to see,
00:23:07.520 convicts your heart, awakens your soul.
00:23:11.340 You see your sin.
00:23:13.720 You repent and believe.
00:23:16.220 It's simple.
00:23:16.920 the second reason
00:23:22.520 that we
00:23:26.940 that we go away from this command of the gospel
00:23:34.060 is because of the fear of man
00:23:36.540 we are afraid of rejection
00:23:40.560 we hate the idea of proclaiming the gospel
00:23:46.060 and someone hating us for it. 0.99
00:23:49.140 Go tell someone that they're going to hell 0.99
00:23:51.200 if they don't repent.
00:23:52.640 That is what pastors have done for centuries.
00:24:03.140 And why is it a struggle?
00:24:04.780 Because we're afraid to be ridiculed.
00:24:06.920 We're afraid of...
00:24:07.600 Now, you have to remember,
00:24:08.480 when we preach,
00:24:10.920 whose authority are we preaching from?
00:24:13.320 Not mine.
00:24:16.060 It's the authority of Christ.
00:24:17.560 All authority has been given to him in heaven and on earth,
00:24:19.820 says the Great Commission.
00:24:22.020 And when he rejects the gospel, this person that I'm talking to,
00:24:25.980 who is he rejecting?
00:24:28.560 Is he rejecting me?
00:24:31.700 No, we know that when Paul persecuted Christians,
00:24:36.700 Jesus himself confronted him and said,
00:24:38.400 Saul, why are you persecuting me?
00:24:40.980 when you reject Christ
00:24:45.080 that person is sorry when you preach the gospel and someone rejects Christ
00:24:50.980 they're not rejecting you they're rejecting Christ
00:24:53.560 now they may kill the messenger they may hate the messenger
00:24:59.440 and this is why evangelism missionaries pastors generally are men
00:25:08.080 It's a very unsafe thing to go into a crowd proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ.
00:25:18.040 We truly are just messengers bringing the good news of the reign of a good king that
00:25:26.060 overcame the rule and reign of a bad king.
00:25:29.720 That's the gospel.
00:25:31.540 It's almost like you could say, sir, you are ruled by Satan.
00:25:36.240 but Christ has overcome him. Submit to your new king or die. 1.00
00:25:44.040 That's basically the gospel. Every knee will bow at some point. 0.97
00:25:51.840 When Christians return to this perspective, we start to see conversion. I don't know if you've 0.99
00:25:59.980 ever watched like a Paul Washer sermon he will never allow an altar call he was
00:26:06.160 once preaching and he saw the room be convicted over their sin and the pastor
00:26:17.500 there he was a guest the pastor there was kind of urging him on do the altar
00:26:24.100 call. Do it. Look at the room. And he refused. No. Let the Holy Spirit do the heavy lifting.
00:26:35.260 It's not about an altar call moment. It's about the Holy Spirit lifting and changing the hearts.
00:26:48.060 When we come to this perspective of bold, historic, biblical preaching,
00:26:53.360 We should expect conversion.
00:26:54.600 We should expect revival.
00:26:57.260 Go read Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God by Jonathan Edwards.
00:27:04.200 It's the sermon that ignited the first great awakening.
00:27:11.480 It's intense.
00:27:13.600 Do you know how he preached that?
00:27:16.220 He read it.
00:27:19.160 He read it.
00:27:21.600 Like this.
00:27:23.640 Jonathan Edwards very rarely looked up.
00:27:27.280 And people are recorded to be moaning and howling in the room.
00:27:36.120 Asking for forgiveness, begging, crying, weeping, walking up to the table.
00:27:42.980 You don't need the gimmicks.
00:27:45.840 All you need is the gospel.
00:27:48.160 And it doesn't need to be dull.
00:27:50.600 You need that thing sharp.
00:27:52.760 it's to cut, and it's to cut the flesh.
00:28:00.200 Verse 17, it says,
00:28:01.400 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
00:28:05.900 The gospel must be proclaimed.
00:28:10.740 It needs to be done in writing or in word.
00:28:12.800 It needs to be heard.
00:28:14.620 Now, it's important to understand that there's a difference
00:28:16.320 between audible hearing and hearing.
00:28:19.720 Four times.
00:28:21.320 You hear Jesus say the words,
00:28:23.960 he who has ears to hear, let him hear.
00:28:28.520 What an interesting phrase.
00:28:31.280 He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
00:28:34.400 What it does is it highlights God's sovereignty
00:28:37.680 over someone hearing the gospel.
00:28:41.620 You know how many people heard Jesus preach the gospel,
00:28:43.960 but didn't actually hear Jesus preach the gospel?
00:28:47.200 Lots.
00:28:47.680 Yes. There's a quote from Thomas Boston. Judas heard every single one of Jesus's sermons.
00:28:59.020 Crazy. This proves one thing. I say this pretty often. Spiritual life must precede spiritual 0.78
00:29:10.760 actions. Okay, we're logical people, right? This makes sense. Spiritual life must precede
00:29:16.540 spiritual actions. Just as dead people, corpses, cannot hear, spiritually dead people cannot 0.74
00:29:24.260 spiritually hear, right? This makes sense. We have to be resurrected first before we can hear, 0.99
00:29:33.160 which means that salvation is actually, it's not repentance plus faith equals born again.
00:29:43.340 No.
00:29:44.500 According to the Bible, it's you're born again, sovereignly, without your permission,
00:29:50.320 in the same way that your physical birth was.
00:29:52.060 Again, if God gave you no choice in your physical birth, he gives you no choice in your spiritual
00:29:58.740 birth.
00:29:59.020 If you have no involvement in your creation, you have no involvement in your recreation.
00:30:06.500 It's born again
00:30:09.700 Equals ears and eyes to see
00:30:13.280 Plus repentance 0.91
00:30:16.020 Plus faith
00:30:17.200 You're actually born again
00:30:19.780 And then you repent and believe
00:30:22.400 Regeneration precedes faith
00:30:27.220 Faith is a gift 0.98
00:30:28.820 The other thing is the only people who can hear the
00:30:35.200 hear the word of the gospel, or hear the shepherd, is who? It's the sheep. Jesus
00:30:43.580 says in John 10, 3 of the Good Shepherd, he says, the sheep hear his voice, and he
00:30:50.700 calls his own, and he calls them by name and leads them out. The gospel is
00:30:57.920 personal. Every one of you that are actually believers here, he called you
00:31:04.080 by name, and not everybody's a sheep. In fact, Jesus says that at the end, they're
00:31:13.320 going to separate the sheep from the goats. Goats do not become sheep. Goats
00:31:19.460 will always be goats, and sheep will always be sheep. There are sheep, and
00:31:22.960 there are goats. Let me tell you another chapter if you're struggling with this.
00:31:28.020 Jesus speaks more clearly about this in John chapter 10.
00:31:30.440 he says so the Jews gathered around him and said to him how long will you keep us in suspense
00:31:38.560 if you are the Christ tell us plainly Jesus answered he said I told you and you do not 0.78
00:31:50.980 believe now he's about to give you the answer why you do not believe because you are not
00:31:59.100 among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. End quote. That's John
00:32:10.100 10, 24 through 27. If you came to Christ, it's because you were a sheep and you heard.
00:32:19.980 So getting back to our verse, yes, they have not all obeyed because they have not all heard and
00:32:24.720 they have not all heard because they are not all sheep. They have not all heard, the Jews 0.97
00:32:28.900 have not all heard because they are not all sheep. And Paul anticipates a couple of objections
00:32:36.680 from his Jewish readers in the next verses. Verse 18, he says, but I ask, have they not
00:32:45.080 heard? Have they truly not heard? Verse 18, he says, indeed they have, for their voice
00:32:53.040 has gone out into all the earth
00:32:54.740 and their words to the end of the world.
00:32:58.180 Paul cites Psalm 19.4.
00:33:01.900 Some people think that he's interpreting this
00:33:05.720 as the creation, as a witness out through all the world
00:33:08.320 that God is righteous and you are not.
00:33:10.520 I don't think that's what he's talking about here.
00:33:11.820 I think that I'm going to side with John Calvin here
00:33:13.960 who interprets this passage as an idiomatic expression,
00:33:17.460 basically saying that the gospel
00:33:19.260 through the apostles has gone out.
00:33:23.040 The 12 have taken it all across.
00:33:25.580 The seeds of the church have been planted far and wide.
00:33:31.040 The Roman Empire has been saturated with the seeds of the gospel, and it has taken root. 0.92
00:33:37.300 And I think history proves that it was true because Christianity took over Rome about 0.91
00:33:42.840 a century and a half later. 0.95
00:33:48.580 Now, I want to address this question.
00:33:50.720 What about those who never hear the gospel?
00:33:53.040 What about those who'd ever hear the gospel?
00:33:57.820 I want to remind you of John 6, 37, 39.
00:34:01.920 Jesus says, all that the father gives to me will come to me.
00:34:08.500 So the father gives a certain number of sheep to the son.
00:34:15.660 And he says, all that the father will give to me or gives to me will come to me.
00:34:21.440 And whoever comes to me, I will never cast out.
00:34:25.020 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me.
00:34:33.620 Okay.
00:34:36.380 So God gives Jesus a certain number of sheep.
00:34:42.280 And Jesus says, all will come to me.
00:34:45.220 And I won't lose any of them.
00:34:47.220 This is actually, if you want to read, we're not going to do it today, but the parable of the lost
00:34:53.040 sheep in Luke 15, four through seven. He said, you know what? Even if one is way off,
00:35:01.180 I'll leave the 99 and go get that one. I will not lose one is basically what is being taught there.
00:35:09.880 Every sheep, both Jew and Gentile, will hear. 0.71
00:35:15.900 When I'm preaching into a crowd of 2,000 people, 0.99
00:35:19.920 and I preach a biblical gospel with authority and command,
00:35:26.080 whoever is hearing it, it's the Holy Spirit in the room.
00:35:31.700 Light bulbs, resurrections are happening.
00:35:34.340 many heard, but few actually came out of that moment. Those are the sheep of Christ.
00:35:44.460 When I'm preaching, so faith comes by hearing and hearing by the preaching of Christ. When I preach
00:35:51.520 Christ, Jesus's sheep say, I hear his voice and I follow him. That's what's happening.
00:36:00.120 the second objection is that maybe maybe Israel didn't understand so he just said hey they heard
00:36:09.120 they heard the Messiah himself came
00:36:13.440 second objection is well maybe they just didn't understand
00:36:19.440 verse 19 says first Moses says I will make you a jealous or make you jealous of those 0.84
00:36:27.260 who are not a nation, with a foolish nation, I will make you angry.
00:36:32.700 Then Isaiah says boldly, I have been found by those who did not seek me. 0.98
00:36:39.080 I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.
00:36:43.040 But of Israel, he says, all day long, I have held out my hand
00:36:47.400 to a disobedient and contrary people. 1.00
00:36:53.800 This shouldn't shock the Jews. 0.99
00:36:57.260 Many Jews had to memorize the first five books of the Bible.
00:37:02.760 This is very standard biblical and theological literacy of the Jews. 0.90
00:37:10.300 This shouldn't shock a Jew. 0.85
00:37:13.460 Was Israel unaware that many Jews would reject the Messiah
00:37:18.020 and that only a remnant would actually hear and understand?
00:37:22.840 No. No.
00:37:24.960 Did Israel not grasp the divine irony that the Gentiles, those pagan people over there who were not originally part of God's covenant, would actually embrace the gospel while the people, the Jews, who were part of God's covenant would reject it? 0.68
00:37:43.960 You have to see the irony in this. 0.51
00:37:48.100 To these questions, Paul gives those two passages of Scripture, Deuteronomy 32, 21, Isaiah 65,
00:37:56.480 1. He confirms that the rejection has been talked about in the prophets. You should have seen it.
00:38:00.400 You had every reason to understand exactly how this was going to go.
00:38:04.440 Why is it important? Because irony, irony reveals the unexpected and the unexplainable.
00:38:15.060 That's why we love it.
00:38:17.440 That was ironic.
00:38:19.140 I didn't expect that.
00:38:23.820 Those who knew nothing about God embraced the gospel,
00:38:27.720 and those who knew everything about God rejected it?
00:38:31.000 What?
00:38:32.300 Who wrote this story?
00:38:34.200 Not logic.
00:38:37.960 God's logic.
00:38:41.200 God's plan.
00:38:44.060 i think about this reality of isaiah says as high as the heavens are above the earth
00:38:50.540 so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts says the lord
00:38:57.820 yeah the people who knew everything rejected and the people who knew nothing accept it this is
00:39:06.380 irony only sovereign election can explain that that's what paul's point is
00:39:19.100 only sovereign grace can explain this illogical outcome this doesn't make any sense how did it go
00:39:27.260 like this because god controls salvation it's his plan it's not your plan i'll tell you what
00:39:35.980 what, I would have wrote a different story. And it wouldn't have been as good as it is.
00:39:41.220 This is further evidence of the doctrine of election. It becomes key to that question. Why?
00:39:50.520 Why? If God is sovereign over the salvation of his people, why did the Jews reject Christ in mass?
00:39:56.620 because God wrote a story of irony. 0.55
00:40:04.040 One that you didn't expect.
00:40:07.060 A people who hated and loved the pagans 0.67
00:40:10.620 or loved the pagan gods and worshiped demons. 0.92
00:40:13.860 Those people heard and understood.
00:40:19.160 And the people who had the covenants
00:40:21.140 and the fathers and the prophets
00:40:23.380 and the word of God and the temple
00:40:25.520 and the priesthood and the Messiah himself
00:40:28.400 and the apostles rejected it?
00:40:31.400 What?
00:40:33.320 Try to make logical sense of it.
00:40:35.300 You can't.
00:40:36.880 The only evidence is,
00:40:39.540 wow, God must be saving those people who knew nothing
00:40:43.820 and blinding those people who knew everything.
00:40:49.000 It sounds like maybe God is sovereign over salvation.
00:40:55.520 This makes sense, right?
00:40:56.640 Because Jesus' economy is what? 0.58
00:40:58.180 Down is up, up is down, last is first, first is last,
00:41:03.620 weak is strong, strong is weak.
00:41:07.540 It's totally different.
00:41:12.000 You want to save your life?
00:41:13.780 Lose it.
00:41:16.820 If you lose your life for my sake, you'll find it. 0.87
00:41:19.920 What?
00:41:20.160 that's
00:41:22.880 that's not the way that I would think
00:41:26.320 you want a wonderful gospel filled life
00:41:31.100 kill all of your fleshly desires
00:41:34.980 and seek Christ 1.00
00:41:36.260 you're looking for meaning and purpose
00:41:40.440 it doesn't come
00:41:44.820 in pursuing what the world calls meaning and purpose
00:41:47.680 It calls for following Christ.
00:41:57.160 This shouldn't shock us because it actually happens in our own life.
00:42:05.960 Let me give you an example.
00:42:10.460 I know some kids that I grew up with who were straight-A students
00:42:15.340 and seemingly good parents.
00:42:20.960 And two of them are atheists.
00:42:24.260 The straight A student with the great family,
00:42:27.380 parents are still together,
00:42:29.860 hate God. 0.93
00:42:31.840 Me, the drug dealer, the party kid, 1.00
00:42:36.060 the drunkard, is the pastor. 0.97
00:42:41.440 The irony is sharp. 0.85
00:42:46.340 It's not logical.
00:42:48.380 It's ironic.
00:42:52.400 And he does this to reveal his providence.
00:42:54.580 You've probably seen this in your own life.
00:42:56.720 Why me?
00:42:58.260 Now again, I hope my kids don't have my testimony.
00:43:02.660 I hope my kids just come to Christ by God's grace
00:43:05.220 and get to skip the terrible love affair that I had with sin.
00:43:10.580 But you could see the irony in your own life.
00:43:14.420 Why me?
00:43:15.340 Why not that guy? Why not that girl?
00:43:22.240 It forces us to see that he did it.
00:43:27.680 We live in an independent, autonomous, self-focused,
00:43:33.840 you know, self-loving culture
00:43:37.320 that wants to attribute all of our choices and decisions to ourselves.
00:43:43.120 God does not let you do that in the scriptures.
00:43:45.340 You want to know why you're saved? Why you chose God? It's because God first chose you.
00:43:55.960 That's the key point that Paul is trying to get across here.
00:44:01.420 I'm going to read. I want you guys to open up your Bible to this one. This is a good one.
00:44:04.040 1 Corinthians 1. We're going to read 26 and 29. I'll wait for you to get there.
00:44:10.480 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Look it up on your phone. I don't care. Every single person should
00:44:17.740 be looking at it. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, 26 through 29.
00:44:23.560 the apostle writes
00:44:36.220 for consider your calling
00:44:38.900 that is not your
00:44:40.860 vocational calling this is your
00:44:42.900 calling from God
00:44:44.560 to come to him in faith
00:44:46.260 consider your calling
00:44:48.480 brothers
00:44:49.160 brethren you ladies do
00:44:53.700 Not many of you were wise, according to worldly standards.
00:44:57.780 Not many of you were powerful.
00:44:59.820 Not many of you were of noble birth.
00:45:02.780 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise.
00:45:08.320 God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.
00:45:12.440 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even the things that are not to bring
00:45:17.880 nothing, to bring to nothing things that are.
00:45:20.500 Why? Because there's the so that, there's your purpose clause, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
00:45:31.360 There's your biography.
00:45:34.100 That's you.
00:45:35.760 That's your story.
00:45:39.580 God took the least of the world and made them rich in Christ.
00:45:47.500 God took the ugly and made them beautiful 0.99
00:45:52.760 He took the prostitute and made a wife 1.00
00:45:57.600 It's amazing 0.99
00:46:00.700 Unless your self-love is still blinding you
00:46:06.120 And you don't realize how terrible you actually are and were
00:46:09.440 You'll see this as absolutely treasured truth
00:46:15.340 God saved you from a love affair of sin
00:46:21.720 that will lead to eternal death
00:46:24.780 He saved you
00:46:27.600 The apostle closes with a final confirmation
00:46:35.480 I'll close with this here in a second
00:46:40.660 He focuses on God's mercy to Israel 0.61
00:46:43.340 and the Jews' guilt
00:46:45.100 for their resurrection, or sorry, for their rejection.
00:46:51.120 He says again, ultimately,
00:46:53.420 I have not withheld my hand from you, Jews.
00:46:57.100 I've given you everything.
00:47:03.180 And again, why did the vast majority reject Christ?
00:47:08.340 Because God writes ironic stories.
00:47:11.760 We don't know why.
00:47:13.380 This is why it's called unconditional election.
00:47:15.320 There are no conditions by which we know why God chooses a particular person and not another. 0.85
00:47:20.580 Why did he save Peter and not those Pharisees? 0.98
00:47:24.220 I don't know. 0.99
00:47:26.180 What I do know is that none of them deserve to be saved.
00:47:30.820 None of us deserve to be saved.
00:47:35.140 His plan of redemption is not our plan of redemption.
00:47:40.100 So I want you to hear this.
00:47:42.840 If you are not resting in the righteousness of Christ,
00:47:46.840 you cannot, if you die today, if you drive home,
00:47:49.620 you get a car accident, you have a heart attack,
00:47:51.860 whatever it may be, and you think that any of your good deeds,
00:47:56.840 if your moralism, that you're a good person in any degree,
00:47:59.440 if you think that is what is going to justify you before God,
00:48:02.600 make peace, deal with the sin,
00:48:05.860 you're going to hear the words that Jesus says,
00:48:10.000 away from me, I never knew you.
00:48:13.400 You must, must be resting on the righteousness of Christ.
00:48:17.960 That is the key to the gospel.
00:48:20.600 Jesus is the one that paid the cost for your sins,
00:48:24.160 imputed to the cross.
00:48:25.840 The blood payment was paid with Christ.
00:48:31.040 The righteousness that you need,
00:48:33.040 the white robes, the ticket,
00:48:35.360 the entrance into heaven is Christ.
00:48:38.460 Don't trust on anything else.
00:48:39.940 don't think that your good works and moralism contributes to keeping yourself
00:48:45.580 saved it doesn't know the fruit of your salvation is your works your obedience
00:48:53.260 but the root is Christ Christ is that root rest a hundred percent not like the 0.94
00:49:00.140 Jews who reject and seek their own way for righteousness turn it's strictly
00:49:04.420 clearly, fully 0.83
00:49:06.300 to the righteousness
00:49:08.000 of Christ.
00:49:10.600 Amen?
00:49:12.000 Amen. Let's pray.
00:49:17.160 Father, we thank you.
00:49:20.700 Lord, that you give us a righteousness
00:49:22.500 that's not our own,
00:49:25.580 but that is
00:49:26.680 unmovable and unshakable
00:49:28.200 and stable
00:49:30.440 and assured, Lord, that we can rest
00:49:32.500 even when we sin
00:49:34.000 we can know that it was paid for on the cross
00:49:36.560 and that our righteous robes have not been stolen from us
00:49:39.620 because they've been given to us through faith.
00:49:43.240 Father, we ask that you would anchor that truth
00:49:47.280 into the hearts and minds of this people.
00:49:52.120 That the good news would be so good
00:49:53.720 that we might share it with others.
00:49:56.020 That we would keep it simple,
00:49:57.420 that we would keep it universal,
00:49:58.620 that we would keep it accessible.
00:50:00.380 And Lord, that you would go before us
00:50:02.140 so that people would not reject it.
00:50:04.920 We ask all these things in your son Jesus' name.
00:50:08.580 Amen.
00:50:09.480 Amen.