Dale Partridge - Romans 11_28-32 The Undeserved Mercy of God

00:00:00.000 This is the second to last sermon in Romans chapter 11, and I say that because next week

00:00:13.900 we'll be out of the theological substance and we're going to be entering into Paul's

00:00:21.760 closing doxology, which actually if you can see on my Bible it says Romans 11 36 right

00:00:27.520 there is one of my favorite scriptures in all of God's word. And so this week, I would encourage

00:00:34.960 you guys to read chapter 11, go back through and reread chapter 11. I believe now you're going to

00:00:42.160 have a comprehensive understanding of this chapter. I think it's good practice to, after you

00:00:48.900 finish a book, to reread it with that understanding. And I believe you're also going to understand more

00:00:55.820 fully why Paul breaks out into this great doxology at the end of chapter 11. In two weeks, we're

00:01:05.040 going to start chapter 12. Now, any of you that are Bible students, you know the glories of Romans

00:01:13.940 chapter 12. We're going to essentially see what I would say is a dramatic shift from the theological

00:01:22.000 substance of the sovereignty of God to the practical application and how that should be

00:01:29.240 carried out in our own lives. Now, we have spent 11 months between chapter 8 and chapter 11.

00:01:38.900 11 months. Basically, since we've been in this building, we have been in Romans chapter 8, 9,

00:01:44.220 10, and 11, which really is just one section and chunk of the book of Romans. And so chapter 12,

00:01:53.720 I think, is going to be a great shift for our church to really focus on the application and

00:02:01.040 the practical reality of our theology in our own lives with one another. Now, if you remember,

00:02:08.220 chapter 11 is about the interconnected redemptive relationship between the Jews and the Gentiles. 0.94

00:02:17.500 It's interconnected interdependent relationship between those two groups of people. It informs us

00:02:23.660 of God's grand plan of redemptive history and it offers us a basic order of events

00:02:32.320 on the timeline of history. It is quite the book or quite the chapter. Now, today's sermon is

00:02:42.880 really the final sermon on the content because we're going to shift to the doxology next week.

00:02:50.700 And for that reason, I think it was important to offer a summary of chapter 11. So I'm going to do

00:02:55.820 that, and then we'll get in verse by verse at the end. Verses 1 through 10, if you look down at your

00:03:03.020 Bible, Paul explained basically due to Israel's rejection of the Messiah and their covenant

00:03:11.000 unfaithfulness, God cut off a majority of the Jewish people, only leaving a remnant. He explained

00:03:17.080 that it was similar to the days of Elisha, that, you know, there was a remnant kept during his time

00:03:23.980 as well. In verses 2 and 3, Paul identifies himself as part of that remnant. He himself

00:03:30.580 was an Israelite, preserved, which is important because chapters 8 through 10, if you remember,

00:03:38.580 they emphasize God's sovereignty over salvation. That was the general argument that God is sovereign

00:03:44.940 over the salvation of his people, which leads to a very important question. If God is sovereign

00:03:51.020 and God controls the salvation of his people, then why do the majority of God's own people

00:03:56.660 reject the Messiah? Now, we had so many dimensions of that answer delivered in previous sermons,

00:04:04.140 but the answer was clearly given in chapter 9. It stated, not all who are Israel are of Israel.

00:04:12.460 Not everyone who is in the covenant is actually of the covenant, essentially, is what Paul

00:04:20.160 was teaching. The only reliable metric that we can use to determine if someone is saved

00:04:28.560 is faith. Do you have faith? Faith that bears fruit. Saving faith. Casting yourself upon the

00:04:39.420 cross type faith. Not trusting in any good works of your own, but trusting only in the perfect

00:04:47.660 and finished work of Christ. 0.74

00:04:51.680 Now, this partial hardening that happened to the Jews, 0.84

00:04:56.400 it was a new revelation. 0.98

00:05:00.900 Nobody knew the reason why the vast majority of the Jews

00:05:05.540 rejected Christ until Paul wrote this letter. 1.00

00:05:10.780 It taught us an important truth. 0.91

00:05:12.780 the jews rejection of the gospel was intended and so just catch that i just feel like i can't go

00:05:25.100 over that just without you grasping that the jews rejection of the gospel was intended

00:05:30.960 sovereignly divinely appointed

00:05:34.180 and the jews rejection was not total it wasn't everybody there was left a remnant

00:05:44.360 this was new information that no one had understood until paul wrote this chapter

00:05:49.020 then in verses 11 through 32 we saw another important truth the jews rejection of the gospel

00:05:58.680 was not final. So, earlier it was not total, and now he's saying it's not final.

00:06:07.240 Paul tells us that their temporary hardening is that. It's temporary.

00:06:16.200 And it also has a purpose, and this was, I think, kind of what throws so many theologians

00:06:24.180 down rabbit holes, and there's such great discussion around this particular chapter.

00:06:31.400 But the partial hardening of the Jews had a purpose, and the purpose was to bring

00:06:37.840 the Gentiles to salvation. Paul even says in verse 11, by their transgression or their wrongdoing 0.94

00:06:46.840 or their rejection. Salvation has come to the Gentiles. And as we know, how did it come to 1.00

00:06:54.280 the Gentiles? Well, through the Great Commission. And how did the Great Commission start? With the 0.92

00:06:59.140 remnant. It's amazing. But God's plan is even more incredible. In a similar way that the Jews

00:07:11.340 transgression brought salvation to the Gentiles. The Gentiles' salvation will bring future revival

00:07:17.780 among the Jews. Again, it's this reciprocating, redemptive narrative. The Jewish revival will be 0.95

00:07:27.160 sparked by jealousy, is what Paul says in 11, which will arise from the Jews witnessing 0.85

00:07:34.360 the nations, the Gentiles, which is the Greek word,

00:07:38.440 nations is, or Gentiles is the Greek word for nations,

00:07:42.940 the Jewish revival will be sparked by jealousy, 0.93

00:07:45.720 now pay attention here, which will arise from the Jews witnessing

00:07:49.480 the nations receiving the blessings that were originally promised

00:07:53.920 to them. If a Jewish nation, 0.98

00:07:58.820 partial hardening, a remnant, 0.99

00:08:00.780 goes and gives the Great Commission, 0.98

00:08:04.420 sparks a worldwide global revival of Gentiles. 0.99

00:08:09.040 All of the nations are coming to Christ over a period of time. 1.00

00:08:13.600 And the Jews still remain hardened 1.00

00:08:15.840 only until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in. 1.00

00:08:20.680 And they're made jealous and provoked 1.00

00:08:23.260 that the whole world

00:08:24.980 is receiving the blessings and the substance of the promises 1.00

00:08:30.400 that were originally given to them and God wakes them up as the fullness of the Gentiles comes in 1.00

00:08:37.420 and a mass revival of Jews comes and the end of history follows. That's the general narrative 0.99

00:08:44.980 of chapter 11.

00:08:50.400 We read Habakkuk 2.14. It's one of my favorite verses. It's talking about a time

00:08:59.820 prior to the return of christ it says for the earth will be filled with the knowledge

00:09:08.980 of the glory of the lord as the waters cover the sea

00:09:13.360 we're not there yet i talked last week about how many billions of people are still unreached

00:09:23.480 how the Great Commission has still many, many generations to go,

00:09:28.020 to shift into a longer view of history. 1.00

00:09:34.580 But this fullness of the Gentiles coming in 0.96

00:09:38.280 was a second mystery that was revealed in chapter 11. 0.99

00:09:41.440 Nobody knew.

00:09:43.400 Yes, the prophets spoke of it,

00:09:45.080 but nobody really understood that there was a flow of rejection of the Messiah,

00:09:51.060 a remnant, the nations, a revival. This is new information.

00:09:58.500 This gives us a grid and a general timeline of history. 0.95

00:10:04.000 Now, last week we saw that God blinds the Jews and grafts in the Gentiles. 0.92

00:10:12.020 But we also saw his power to graft in those who had been cut off. 0.98

00:10:19.080 not only can God cut off

00:10:22.200 not only can God graft in

00:10:26.120 shoots and branches from other trees

00:10:29.960 but God can take the branches that were cut off

00:10:33.540 revive them and graft them back in

00:10:36.660 at the very least you should realize

00:10:40.020 God is sovereign over salvation

00:10:43.460 he is the one that's doing that

00:10:46.840 and when you when you just take that principle it just eliminates free will

00:10:53.840 you can't have free will and god's sovereignty over salvation

00:10:59.240 if you have a truly free will then god can't violate that free will and he's waiting and

00:11:08.020 hoping to learn what you might do. It doesn't work. It's an incongruent and inconsistent

00:11:18.020 and unsystematic idea. We have a will. It's never free. It's either enslaved to sin and self

00:11:28.620 or it's enslaved to Christ and righteousness. But we never have a free will.

00:11:36.200 now more astonishingly in verse 26 the apostle said that after the fullness of the gentiles

00:11:42.760 has come in he made this massive statement a statement that has thrown theologians for loops

00:11:49.240 all throughout christendom he said quote all israel will be saved and the debate is is he

00:11:57.440 talking about israel the church is he talking about ethnic israel is he talking about both

00:12:04.700 As I said last week, I stand with John Murray, Charles Hodge, R.C. Sproul, who believes this to be a prophecy about the vast majority, if not the entirety, of ethnic Israel, who is alive at the fulfillment of the Great Commission, that will be grafted into the church, which is the Israel of God.

00:12:29.940 Very careful language there. 0.71

00:12:34.700 Today, Paul anticipates a possible objection from the Gentiles about his prophecy. 0.95

00:12:43.840 And he acknowledges the remarkable nature of that claim. 1.00

00:12:48.040 He recognizes that during this time and now, like even today, the Jews are enemies of the gospel.

00:12:56.560 They're not just a little bit hostile towards Christians. 0.95

00:13:01.500 They're extremely hostile towards Christians. 0.92

00:13:07.960 However, he offers the Gentiles the proper perspective to understand God's purpose in this greater reciprocal, redemptive plan. 0.93

00:13:19.540 And I actually believe it's extremely applicable to our own theology and to our own lives. 0.56

00:13:27.640 Why don't you read with me in verse 28?

00:13:30.540 In relation to the gospel, they are enemies on your account.

00:13:38.200 But in relation to God's election, they are beloved on account of the fathers.

00:13:45.320 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

00:13:54.760 Paul is saying to the Gentiles, 0.55

00:13:59.240 As you reflect, as you reflect of the Jewish opposition of the gospel, as you think about 0.93

00:14:07.680 that, you see their hostility, remember that their opposition is tied to the blessings 0.92

00:14:15.360 that you've inherited.

00:14:20.720 Think about that.

00:14:22.720 Their hostility is tied to the blessings that you've inherited.

00:14:28.140 In other words, their enmity has been sovereignly orchestrated for your benefit.

00:14:35.260 It's an amazing thought. 1.00

00:14:38.100 This, of course, should eliminate Gentile pride. 0.97

00:14:41.600 It should also increase Jewish pity. 0.94

00:14:44.540 And why are we pitying the Jews? 1.00

00:14:46.900 Because we've inherited what was promised to them. 0.98

00:14:50.320 and because God caused their hostility

00:14:59.120 as a way to extend us mercy.

00:15:04.720 I think what Paul is trying to communicate is that

00:15:06.820 to reject that the Jews cannot or should not have a revival,

00:15:12.220 which I think is the posture of many Christians throughout church history,

00:15:16.540 because of their hostility towards the gospel,

00:15:20.320 because of their hostility towards Christians would be to forget that we are only saved

00:15:26.640 because God overcame our hostility to the gospel.

00:15:32.800 You can't look and say, they don't deserve salvation.

00:15:38.020 Look at them.

00:15:39.480 While forgetting that you don't deserve salvation, look at you.

00:15:43.980 Such were some of you, the apostle said.

00:15:50.320 In other words, in today's passage, I think you're going to see the underlying theme 1.00

00:15:53.520 is Jewish and Gentile equality in moral depravity and uniformity in undeserved mercy. 0.99

00:16:00.420 We are equally morally depraved. 0.98

00:16:04.640 We are equally experiencing undeserved mercy.

00:16:11.360 This is the intention of the apostle. 0.99

00:16:13.960 But as hostile as the Jews are, and as shocking as it may seem that such enemies of the gospel 0.80

00:16:23.360 can and will be saved, Paul is reminding the Gentiles that God's election of the nation 0.98

00:16:29.380 of Israel is unchanging. There was something there. There was something special about the

00:16:37.360 election of the nation of Israel, which is why Paul in verse 29 says, for the gifts and the calling

00:16:46.260 of God are irrevocable. It's not just that God can save elect Israel. It's that God must save

00:16:57.820 elect Israel. He must. 0.98

00:17:02.700 If he doesn't, he's a promise-breaking God.

00:17:10.880 Now, this is also a general truth. It's just a general truth

00:17:15.260 that the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

00:17:27.820 And what that means is that God is not fickle like men.

00:17:32.180 He doesn't change his mind.

00:17:35.020 He does not withdraw his elections and repossess his gifts of eternal life.

00:17:40.800 That's not the God that we serve.

00:17:43.180 And this doctrine has caused so much pain among so many people

00:17:47.240 because they don't understand the preservation of the saints

00:17:51.480 or the perseverance of the saints, if you want to go with that.

00:17:57.820 other way of saying it. 1 Samuel 15, 29 says, quote, he who is the glory of Israel does not lie

00:18:05.060 or change his mind, for he is not a human being that he should change his mind, end quote.

00:18:11.720 So the fact that the callings and gifts of God are irrevocable should be comforting

00:18:15.520 to us. It should be comforting. Do you remember the day that you were saved? Do you remember the

00:18:22.100 day that you felt altogether born again, as Luther would say? Do you remember the day that you feel

00:18:28.520 like you understood the gospel, the grace and mercy of God, the magnitude of your own sinfulness? Do

00:18:33.680 you remember that day? When scripture says that the callings and the gift of God are irrevocable,

00:18:45.280 It should give you peace.

00:18:48.420 It should make you realize that you are fickle, but God is not.

00:18:57.840 It's why we believe those whom God has elected and made covenant cannot be lost.

00:19:02.460 It's why we believe that you cannot lose your salvation.

00:19:07.500 This is why Jesus, I think, speaks with such certainty in John chapter 10, verses 26 through 27.

00:19:14.500 He says, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

00:19:18.860 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.

00:19:24.340 I don't know about you, but I have turned to that verse in my own life for comfort.

00:19:32.420 If you haven't, it's just because you maybe are unaware of the magnitude of your own sin.

00:19:36.920 but when you fall, when you feel like you have been just disowned, that God has changed his

00:19:45.280 mind about you, that he is recalling the gifts and calling on your life, that verse will hit.

00:19:53.220 That verse will help you. And that they shall never perish. He goes on, he says,

00:20:02.240 my, it says, no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me

00:20:07.900 is greater than all, and no one will snatch them out of the Father's hand. Think about that.

00:20:16.340 It's not just that you can't mess up, but nobody else can mess you up either.

00:20:24.200 You're rested perfectly in God's hands.

00:20:28.760 i think this actually backs up what paul said in chapter 8

00:20:33.300 which we all know and we know that god causes all things to work together for good

00:20:40.460 for who to those who love god to those who are called according to his purpose

00:20:52.040 for those whom he foreknew he also predestined and these whom he predestined he also called

00:20:58.620 and those whom he called, he also justified

00:21:00.860 and those whom he justified, he also glorified, end quote.

00:21:04.040 It's one of the most incredible passages in scripture.

00:21:06.400 It's called the golden chain of salvation.

00:21:08.160 We went through it extensively.

00:21:09.920 I think I did four sermons on just that one verse.

00:21:13.700 God is consistent.

00:21:15.460 He is reliable.

00:21:16.820 He is unchanging.

00:21:17.900 If you are elect, you will be called.

00:21:19.800 If you are called, you will be justified.

00:21:22.060 If you are justified, you will be glorified in heaven.

00:21:26.000 the callings and gifts of God are irrevocable he doesn't take them back it's think about it this

00:21:35.480 way when your child is born into your family you can't take that back he can leave he can walk

00:21:43.080 away he can run away you can disown him you can do all these things at the end of the day you

00:21:48.080 know what it doesn't change he's still your child it's impossible to break that reality

00:21:53.740 now i'm not saying that we can run away from our faith or run away from god i'm using it as a

00:22:02.440 reality is that birth is something that is not undone when you've been born into the family of god

00:22:10.840 you're in

00:22:13.280 that call that gift is irrevocable it will not change

00:22:21.800 it's not that you're saved until you mess up it's not that you're saved until your faith

00:22:32.060 is weak it's that you're saved now you will be kept because if god lost one of his sheep

00:22:41.020 then that passage that jesus spoke of is a lie

00:22:47.360 Christ wouldn't be much of a savior if he couldn't keep his own people saved

00:22:55.180 right I want you to look at verse 28 the apostle doesn't simply tie the assurance

00:23:01.720 of salvation to election he also ties it to covenant interesting

00:23:05.960 it says but regarding election they are loved because of the patriarchs that's the NIV I think

00:23:14.460 it translated in a better more clear way there and this is really important because it's quite

00:23:20.660 the statement for a western church that's bathed in individualism we are so individualistic we

00:23:25.740 can't even comprehend the the idea of covenant the assurance of your salvation rests not only

00:23:32.900 on the ground of your individual election but also on god's covenant promises to abraham

00:23:38.800 Interesting. We all sing the song, right?

00:23:45.280 Father Abraham has many sons.

00:23:48.780 We sing covenant. We intellectually know covenant.

00:23:57.460 But your spiritual forefather, Abraham in the faith,

00:24:02.380 you're also saved because of what was promised to him.

00:24:06.140 And when God said that your descendants will be as the stars in the sky or the sand on the sea.

00:24:20.400 I like Burke Parsons quote.

00:24:22.620 He says, when God points out the stars to Abraham, he was pointing at you.

00:24:31.200 You're one of those stars.

00:24:33.140 you're one of those grains of sand in the view of the Lord. Now, covenant is how Jews thought 0.99

00:24:39.580 about life. It was not a concept that was so struggled to understand as it is today

00:24:49.120 in our individualistic society. They knew that they were holy or set apart because their forefathers

00:24:55.680 were holy and set apart. They knew that they were recipients because they were represented

00:25:01.800 by Abraham. They understood covenant headship or covenant representation. They understood that,

00:25:10.680 at least the redeemed of Israel, understood that Adam was a representative of humanity.

00:25:18.100 He was a seed to humanity. And whatever comes of that seed will be like that seed.

00:25:25.420 And so if Adam is corrupt and sinful, then anything that comes from Adam will be corrupt and sinful.

00:25:35.780 They understood that there was a need for a second Adam.

00:25:41.540 That we must be born of a new Adam.

00:25:46.600 That anything that comes from that new Adam would be alive and have new life.

00:25:53.320 they understood covenant representation it's not just that you were elected and that you're this

00:25:59.520 individual and this vast ocean of people god is building a body and a building and a temple

00:26:08.200 and a flock and a bride he's building it together we are not individuals we are members

00:26:18.020 of the body of Christ.

00:26:22.500 Now, we saw that mentality in verse 16.

00:26:24.760 Paul uses that exact argument.

00:26:26.120 He actually says, if the root is holy,

00:26:28.220 so are the branches.

00:26:31.200 You know, if the piece of dough is holy,

00:26:33.600 then so is the crop, he said.

00:26:39.020 When asked why God elected Israel

00:26:41.520 in Deuteronomy 7, 7 through 8,

00:26:44.400 the Lord said, quote,

00:26:45.900 the Lord did not set his love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of 0.82

00:26:53.000 the other peoples for you were the fewest of all peoples but here's the answer because the Lord 0.84

00:26:59.400 loved you and kept the oath which he swore to your forefathers two reasons why is elect Israel

00:27:11.140 saved? Because he loved you and because he swore an oath to your forefathers. It's really difficult

00:27:20.540 for our generation to grasp covenant. Your election is part love and part covenant. Part love and part

00:27:29.940 covenant. This means that you ought to have a covenant mindset, which again, I think is developed

00:27:35.580 over many years of sermons and theological instruction because we have a culture and

00:27:44.200 society that fights covenantal mindsets at every possible corner. It's eroding at biblical thinking

00:27:53.260 and we need to constantly educate ourselves in the scriptures. Now verses 30 through 32,

00:28:02.080 and I think we'll get through this pretty quickly. Paul offers the reason the Gentiles 1.00

00:28:06.380 should not struggle with the idea of a future revival among the Jews. He says,

00:28:12.000 for just as you were once disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their

00:28:16.940 disobedience, so these also have been disobedient, that because of the mercy shown to you, they also

00:28:25.180 may now be shown mercy. Now, I know that sounds like, wow, what are you saying there? This is

00:28:30.120 where I think about Peter saying Paul writes in crazy terms and hard to understand. I had to break

00:28:34.780 this thing down for like an hour. Verse 32 says, for God has shut up all in disobedience so that

00:28:42.660 he may show mercy to all. Again, what you're going to see here is this reciprocal nature of redemptive

00:28:53.120 history. Just as the Gentiles have received mercy through disobedience of the Jews, 0.95

00:29:00.480 the Jews will receive mercy through disobedience as well. That's basically what's being said there. 0.85

00:29:06.660 In other words, no Gentile should be shocked that the disobedient Jew receives mercy 0.97

00:29:14.040 since the disobedient Gentile received mercy. 0.97

00:29:18.480 disobedience is not a qualification for God casting someone off forever apparently look at the room 0.68

00:29:27.920 Paul is showing the equality of disobedience and the equality of undeserved mercy 0.73

00:29:36.660 the Gentiles what's what's our spiritual history let's go back and look at our spiritual ancestry 1.00

00:29:43.620 I don't know how many generations you need to go back before you have your family members 1.00

00:29:47.200 bowing down before pagan idols. Not far from mine. Maybe, you know, six generations. 0.62

00:29:55.660 That's Gentile spiritual ancestry. It's paganism. It's bowing down to creation. 1.00

00:30:02.780 Romans chapter 1, it tells us that story. The spiritual ancestry of the Jews

00:30:09.240 is they're worshiping the one true God, yet many did so without faith.

00:30:18.200 The reality is, both are equally deserving of hell, yet by God's grace, many are going to receive mercy.

00:30:27.820 It's an amazing reality.

00:30:33.860 Now, I want to talk about this general principle, because I think this is going to be very applicable in your own life, and then we'll close.

00:30:41.220 I think it has a wide range of applications.

00:30:44.060 The idea, again, of thinking that a particular person may not deserve or God should not extend mercy.

00:30:55.840 Now, if you're saying that you've never thought those thoughts, you're probably lying.

00:31:02.160 Because when we get in the heat of an emotional moment, hurt, betrayal, frustration,

00:31:08.420 you may not say it out loud, but if you looked at your own heart with sobriety,

00:31:13.300 some of these thoughts would be present.

00:31:18.880 To believe that God can't or shouldn't save certain people.

00:31:22.480 Let's just say Joe Biden, Kamala Harris.

00:31:26.380 People that I've prayed imprecatory prayers over.

00:31:30.180 Lord, cast down your judgment if it be your will upon this man.

00:31:36.300 What about your abusive father?

00:31:38.040 your liberal neighbor who hates God

00:31:43.860 all of it is a form of spiritual pride all of it to believe that God can't or shouldn't save the

00:31:54.260 the trans activist the uh your ex-husband you know the the family member that betrayed you

00:32:03.680 The guy that continues to write articles about me online with lies and slander.

00:32:14.880 To not want, to not desire, to not think that it's possible or that God shouldn't save those people is spiritual pride.

00:32:27.520 God, recipients of grace should want to see others receive grace.

00:32:38.760 Recipients of grace should want others to see and experience grace.

00:32:44.960 To have a heart that says grace for me and justice for thee is wicked.

00:32:53.340 It's a wicked posture to have.

00:32:57.520 It's antithetical to Christ's call for the believer.

00:33:02.920 Luke 6.36 says, quote, be merciful just as your father is merciful.

00:33:10.740 I was tempted to give a whole other sermon in my sermon on the parable of the debtor.

00:33:16.960 I'm not going to.

00:33:19.300 But Matthew 18.21 through 35, you should read it.

00:33:22.840 It illustrates that we must extend to others what has been extended to us in the gospel.

00:33:33.300 If you don't, the Lord will discipline you.

00:33:38.060 ultimately

00:33:41.700 the reason we withhold grace or desire for salvation or forgiveness every divorce in a 0.85

00:33:54.440 Christian home you know the reason behind that divorce is because they've forgotten how much 0.86

00:34:00.060 they've been forgiven one party has at least every divorce can be traced back to that oh they're that

00:34:06.740 bad, are you? They're that terrible. Here's your mirror. When

00:34:14.960 we refuse to forgive others, we just forget that we killed

00:34:20.120 Jesus. That's all it is. When we harbor extreme bitterness from

00:34:33.300 betrayal or woundedness. We have forgotten how much we've been forgiven. We think that the debt

00:34:43.480 was small. And again, the parable of the debtor. The king forgives a multi-billion dollar debt

00:34:52.140 while you go over and you hold over somebody a $10 IOU, right? Pay me back.

00:35:03.300 we have to remember the mercy that's extended to us what the gospel does is it brings universal

00:35:13.680 spiritual sobriety sobriety we are all fallen it's the whole point of verse 32 read it

00:35:24.760 read it with me. For God has shut up all in disobedience so that he may show mercy to all.

00:35:39.640 As I close here, God's reciprocal redemptive plan between the Jews and the Gentiles. 0.77

00:35:45.940 If you're not grasping the magnitude of the glory of this beautiful plan, it's not that God put this 0.99

00:35:52.900 plan together because he thought, this will be creative. This will be mysterious.

00:35:57.160 That's not the reason.

00:36:00.520 God crafted this plan this way

00:36:03.720 because it is most wise, it is

00:36:08.600 most purposeful, it is most glorifying

00:36:12.400 to him. Why didn't

00:36:16.860 God do it another way? I'll tell you what. When I read Romans chapter 11, there is

00:36:20.720 no way that a man came up with this. It's just not, it doesn't have the mark of man. It has the mark

00:36:27.020 of as high as the heavens are above the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts

00:36:31.180 higher than your thoughts, says the Lord. That's what I see. Wait, you're going to harden some of

00:36:36.600 your people. Take that remnant. That remnant's going to go and start a global revival to save 0.99

00:36:45.680 and christianize the world and then that christianized world is going to provoke this 0.94

00:36:51.260 tiny nation to jealousy and you're going to pull back on that hardening and then israel 0.51

00:36:58.480 the elect portion of israel comes to christ the whole world proclaims the excellencies

00:37:05.160 and glories of his name that's an incredible plan

00:37:09.200 and that's important for you to grasp because then you will understand next week's sermon

00:37:16.880 of why Paul bursts out into acclamations of praise he realizes it's I would not have written

00:37:28.580 it this way I would not have done it this way but God you are so holy and you are so good for

00:37:33.800 from him and through him and to him are all things forever and ever. Amen. That's the posture we need

00:37:41.180 for next Sunday. Amen? Amen. Let's pray. Father, we thank you

00:37:47.240 for the incredible testimony of your word.

00:37:55.400 Lord, we ask that you would help us to understand it, that it would not be forgotten, but it would

00:38:00.280 shape our theology. Father, we know that our praise and worship can only go as high as our

00:38:06.020 theology is deep. Lord, we ask that you would dig deep into our hearts, add concrete to the truths

00:38:12.460 of doctrines that we must rely upon. Lord, we ask for your blessing upon this congregation this week

00:38:21.500 that these truths would form and shape the way that they act and behave with one another.

00:38:30.280 We thank you for your apostle, for his writings.

00:38:36.120 In Jesus' name, amen.

Dale Partridge - November 22, 2024

Romans 11_28-32 The Undeserved Mercy of God

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