Dale Partridge - July 18, 2024


Romans 9_25-29： The Remnant and the Promise with Dale Partridge


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58 minutes

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7,707

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476

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Transcript

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00:00:00.000 Open your Bibles, if you would, please, to Romans 9, 19.
00:00:05.140 Romans 9, 19.
00:00:08.120 This is the Word of the Lord.
00:00:11.520 You will say to me then,
00:00:13.360 Why does he still find fault?
00:00:15.340 For who can resist his will?
00:00:17.480 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God?
00:00:20.040 Will what is molded say to its molder?
00:00:22.160 Why have you made me like this?
00:00:23.940 Has the potter no right over the clay to make out of the same lump
00:00:27.040 one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?
00:00:30.000 Verse 24,
00:01:00.000 to them, you are not my people, there they will be called sons of the living God. Verse 27. And
00:01:05.760 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of
00:01:11.020 the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved. For the Lord will carry out his sentence upon 0.85
00:01:15.300 the earth fully and without delay. And as Isaiah predicted, if the Lord of hosts had not left us
00:01:21.880 offspring, we would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah. Verse 30. What shall we say
00:01:28.100 then, that Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that 0.89
00:01:33.000 is by faith, but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed
00:01:37.900 in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on
00:01:44.080 works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written, Behold, I am laying in Zion a
00:01:51.140 stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.
00:01:56.640 This is the word of the Lord. Amen. Well, it's good to get towards the end of Romans 9.
00:02:10.780 Over the past several weeks, we have worked our way through what Steve Lawson calls the Mount
00:02:18.860 Everest of the New Testament. I believe it's a beautiful chapter. It's a glorious chapter.
00:02:25.540 Romans 9 is one of the most powerful pieces of literature that you can find in the New Testament.
00:02:37.600 We must remember that in chapter 8, Paul just asserted that God causes all things to work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose.
00:02:52.120 in other words he claimed that God is absolutely sovereign from election to glory
00:03:01.240 he is commanding the destiny of his people and so when you say something so strong
00:03:12.100 that those whom he foreknew he predestined those whom he predestined he called and those whom he
00:03:17.340 called he justified and those we justified he glorified. When you say those terms the central
00:03:25.440 question becomes if God is sovereign over his people then why did the vast majority of the
00:03:35.080 Jews reject Christ? That is the natural question. He's sovereign. Look at Israel. What's going on? 0.96
00:03:47.340 and this is the thematic intention of this entire chapter, and Paul offers a thorough
00:03:54.900 explanation by clarifying four points that I believe that we have touched thoroughly,
00:03:59.540 and if you want to go back, you're welcome to do that, to go watch or listen to any of 0.69
00:04:03.520 these sermons, but number one is, all Jews do not believe because all Jews are not elect.
00:04:09.640 That was point number one. That's verse 6. Not all who are Israel are Israel. 0.64
00:04:21.140 Shocking words to first century Christians. Number two is those who are elect are not 1.00
00:04:29.380 elected based on works or foreseen future works, but solely on God's will before they're even
00:04:35.860 born. That was a hard one. That's 914. Number three, there is no injustice with God in electing
00:04:48.420 some and leaving others to justice. We like to believe that in election, that there's some sort
00:04:55.600 of injustice, that we're not equally opportunity elected. No, the reality is none of us deserve
00:05:02.440 election. All of us deserve wrath. There is no injustice in election. There's only justice and
00:05:07.940 mercy. So the only two categories. And there's no injustice because all deserve his wrath.
00:05:16.960 And number four, which we dealt with last week, is God's purpose in not electing all
00:05:22.060 is to display all his attributes, including his wrath and his justice.
00:05:29.140 this is a key point from last week. God cannot have attributes that do not have functions.
00:05:39.300 God cannot have attributes that do not have functions. And God's attributes include his wrath
00:05:48.740 and include his justice. Therefore, he must have a world that includes the opportunity for wrath
00:05:55.620 and justice. You want to know why sin is included in this world? Why God saw that it was good to
00:06:01.480 include sin in his world? Because it glorifies him in his wrath and in his justice. His entire
00:06:08.980 person must be glorified and displayed. Ultimately, we learned that a world with sin
00:06:16.580 brings about more glory than a world without sin.
00:06:22.240 Strange topic.
00:06:24.200 R.C. Sproul said once,
00:06:26.520 evil is not good, but it's good that there is evil.
00:06:32.080 God did not create this world accidentally and go,
00:06:34.820 oh man, I can't believe sin came in there.
00:06:38.320 He permitted sin, ordained for sin,
00:06:41.380 that his glory might be shown in his wrath and justice.
00:06:46.580 We closed last week by looking at two categories of predestined people.
00:06:55.120 There was the vessels of wrath and the vessels of mercy.
00:07:01.120 And we saw that just as the vessels of wrath were prepared to demonstrate God's glory in his justice,
00:07:08.080 the vessels of mercy, us, were prepared to demonstrate the glory of God's grace.
00:07:19.260 And then Paul closed this discussion regarding these vessels of mercy with these words.
00:07:26.980 He says, I believe it's verse 24, he says,
00:07:28.540 even us, whom he has called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles. 0.72
00:07:40.240 In other words, God's election and reprobation, when you elect somebody, you inadvertently pass
00:07:49.620 over someone else. So in election and reprobation extended not only to the Jews, but also to the 0.94
00:07:57.760 Gentiles. Now, the first century Christians, this passage is particularly shocking because it
00:08:02.880 reemphasizes that many of the Jews are not elect. This passage today, you're going to see this,
00:08:12.300 that many of the Jews are not elect, while it deepens the shock by emphasizing that some of
00:08:19.180 the people who were not God's people are elect. It's a twist in the plot, for sure.
00:08:25.920 God is an incredible storyteller. In other words, many of the people we thought were saved
00:08:34.960 are not saved, the Jews. And all the people we thought were condemned, many are actually saved,
00:08:42.780 the Gentiles. This is absolutely a monstrous idea to a Jew. Absolutely monstrous. 1.00
00:08:54.020 There's a reason why Paul was often stoned and beaten and thrown in jail, 0.66
00:09:00.060 because this message he preached against the Jews. 0.98
00:09:04.100 And he did so with the use of the scriptures. 0.54
00:09:08.660 Now, to add further shock, Paul demonstrates that it has always been God's plan to do this.
00:09:16.320 This is not some random, unexpected, out of thin air.
00:09:23.020 no this is been the plan since the beginning of time as is prophesied in the old testament
00:09:32.620 so two things are important one we start to see that god has orchestrated the salvation of his
00:09:39.500 people and of mankind in the reprobation paul is not inventing this doctrine of sovereign
00:09:45.980 election that he is defending here in chapter 9 he's going to show you that god has predestined
00:09:51.100 this reality in the old testament to uphold what he's saying here in chapter nine number two
00:09:56.860 is as a gentile your conversion is a fulfillment of this prophecy we're going to see that today
00:10:05.900 your conversion is actually a fulfillment of this prophecy so again contextually verse 24
00:10:12.140 we're coming off the heels paul claims that god's electing grace extends to the gentiles
00:10:16.540 and in verses 25 to 26 which we're going to hit here in just a second
00:10:19.900 He offers the biblical evidence for that claim.
00:10:23.640 That's the argumentation.
00:10:26.220 Verse 25 to 26, let's read it together.
00:10:29.280 As indeed he says in Hosea,
00:10:32.260 those who were not my people, I will call my people.
00:10:36.440 And her who was not beloved, I will call beloved.
00:10:40.800 And in the very place where it was said to them,
00:10:43.920 you are not my people,
00:10:45.580 there will be called sons of the living God. 0.99
00:10:49.900 Now, Paul's ministry, as we know, is directed, ordained to the Gentiles.
00:10:57.540 He's focusing on proclaiming, demonstrating, and defending the expansion of redemption
00:11:02.000 from ethnic Israel to the ends of the earth. 0.89
00:11:06.440 And he wants to show how this all-sovereign, all-electing God 0.76
00:11:12.780 has not limited his mercy to the Jews only,
00:11:17.920 but has extended it to every tribe, nation, and tongue.
00:11:25.620 Now, the central way to authenticate a claim like that
00:11:29.680 was to show the Old Testament prophecies
00:11:32.500 that foretold that God intends to save foreign people.
00:11:38.720 Now here, he cites Hosea 2.23, which was written 800 years before this was penned by Paul.
00:11:53.920 Those who were not my people, I will call my people.
00:11:58.820 The apostle Peter actually references the same prophecy in 1 Peter 2.10.
00:12:03.140 it says, once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. Once you had not received mercy,
00:12:10.740 but now you have received mercy. But then Paul says this line,
00:12:19.640 her who was not beloved, I will call beloved.
00:12:24.760 Now, God often refers to Israel throughout the Old Testament as his beloved, as his bride,
00:12:30.080 as his betrothed. He uses those terms. And he excludes the Gentiles from that covenant title.
00:12:38.940 But as we're going to see in Romans 11, God has grafted us in. We have been grafted into this
00:12:46.160 bride, to this beloved. In verse 26, he offers further evidence for the Gentiles' inclusion. 0.87
00:12:56.840 He cites Hosea 1.10 that says, and in the very place where it was said to them, you 0.77
00:13:01.740 are not my people, there they will be called sons of the living God.
00:13:07.740 Okay.
00:13:10.060 How do we get this to hit?
00:13:12.480 All right.
00:13:13.320 As Christians, 2000 years this side of the cross, it's difficult to grasp how beautiful
00:13:23.260 this prophecy is being fulfilled.
00:13:25.240 We need to remember that we are not the Jews. We are not Israel. We are outside of Christ a 0.98
00:13:35.080 godless people having no promise, having no oracles of God, having not the covenants,
00:13:40.420 having not the fathers, having not the temple, having not all of the things that Paul opened 0.62
00:13:46.160 up this chapter with talking as he's mourning and grieving the loss of the Jews.
00:13:50.940 we were a people without hope under the bondage of sin, death, and Satan.
00:14:01.060 In other words, we struggle to see the blessing of the gospel
00:14:04.320 because we never lived in a world where it was never available to us.
00:14:10.680 A first century Gentile hearing about the absolute opportunity, offer of the gospel,
00:14:19.740 the proclamation of the good news 1.00
00:14:22.140 would have been shocking 0.78
00:14:24.980 that the God of Israel
00:14:28.720 is expanding
00:14:30.900 to the whole world
00:14:33.100 it would have been equally shocking
00:14:35.600 in the wrong way
00:14:36.600 to a Jew 0.98
00:14:37.760 that the God of Israel 0.97
00:14:39.720 is now opening
00:14:41.120 salvation to the dogs
00:14:43.580 that's exactly how
00:14:46.860 it was viewed
00:14:48.020 But God calling us, the Gentiles, really needs to be felt as an orphan feels adoption
00:14:56.400 or as a prisoner feels freedom. 0.99
00:15:02.240 Again, it's difficult for us in this generation.
00:15:06.140 You are not a people, but are now a people.
00:15:13.580 Do you remember what it's like to be not a people?
00:15:15.820 Do you remember, outside of the church, before you came to Christ, what it's like to be not
00:15:25.540 a people?
00:15:26.740 To have no identity but sin and Satan and death? 0.99
00:15:32.800 I want you to notice the language in verse 26 because it continues to uphold this kind
00:15:37.540 of overarching theme of Romans 8 through 9, that God is sovereign.
00:15:42.440 Look down at your Bibles, look at verses 26.
00:15:44.140 It says, I will call my people, and I will call beloved, and they will be called sons
00:15:56.060 of God.
00:15:57.700 It's like the Ezekiel passage that you have constantly, I will, I will, I will, I will.
00:16:04.360 this is not
00:16:07.740 the language
00:16:12.180 of a God who allows human autonomy
00:16:17.400 to determine ultimate outcomes
00:16:18.800 the idea of free will
00:16:20.760 that we love to worship in America
00:16:22.960 especially with our individualism
00:16:24.340 if free will was truly a biblical concept
00:16:27.820 then God could not speak this way
00:16:29.540 because the outcomes of society would be based upon the free will of man.
00:16:36.960 And again, I say it every week. I'm going to say it again. We do not have free will.
00:16:40.160 We have a will. It's never free. It's always enslaved either to Christ and righteousness,
00:16:45.760 or it's enslaved to sin and death. You have a will.
00:16:53.340 It's never free. Now you have a, what we call free agency. Now free agency means that you
00:16:59.520 you can in your nature in your sinful nature when you're in sin enslaved to
00:17:06.960 death you're free to sin you're free to operate within your nature you know
00:17:13.560 what you're not free to do is change your nature you need God's divine
00:17:19.980 intervention for you to change your nature this is the whole purpose of 0.66
00:17:24.000 Jesus's miracles he wants to show if you're blind I need to come to help you
00:17:27.840 see. If you're deaf, I need to come and help you hear. If you're dead, I need to come and help you
00:17:32.780 be made alive. You are not free to go from death to life, from deaf to hearing, from blind to seen.
00:17:44.500 You cannot do that on your own. It requires God's intervention. You have a will. It's never free.
00:17:53.360 You cannot change your nature. You must have divine intervention.
00:18:00.760 It's a beautiful thing to realize that you're alive. You love God. Your nature has been changed.
00:18:11.340 Not because of you, but because God came and gave you new life. What does John chapter three says?
00:18:20.640 say, we must be born again. How much of you or how many of you had any involvement in your first
00:18:27.720 birth? None. There is no involvement in your first birth. It's the whole reason Jesus chose that
00:18:34.640 metaphor. We cannot born ourselves again. It is a sovereign act of God. You are alive and seeing
00:18:45.580 and hearing, because God came when you were dead, disinterested, deaf, blind, and hostile.
00:18:56.000 Without your permission, only because of his love, made you alive.
00:19:03.680 When you realize how great a rescue we had, you will appreciate the rescuer.
00:19:10.920 It's not a synergistic deal
00:19:13.980 You didn't work with God to save yourselves
00:19:16.240 It wasn't a great deal in the sky
00:19:18.060 I'll take that offer
00:19:19.480 No
00:19:20.080 No
00:19:21.700 This is the sovereign work
00:19:24.080 Of a loving God
00:19:26.300 Now for the next verse
00:19:32.740 Verses, if you look down to verses 27 through 29
00:19:35.820 We need to bring ourselves into the world of the Bible 0.90
00:19:38.700 okay the jews viewed themselves as the exclusive people of god and paul just dethroned the 0.65
00:19:47.120 assumption by declaring the gentiles inclusion by using this old testament reference they think
00:19:55.420 that they're the exclusive paul's coming in with hosea he's going to come in with other passages
00:20:00.560 and other texts that he writes and other epistles and as i said earlier what makes romans 9 and this
00:20:06.540 understanding of God's electing grace so profound, is that many of the people we thought were
00:20:12.280 saved, the Jews, are not saved. And all the people we thought were condemned, many are actually 0.95
00:20:23.380 saved, the Gentiles. This is the plot twist of this particular chapter. So while many of the 0.99
00:20:34.660 preceding verses prophesied that the Gentiles were going to be saved in mass. The forthcoming 0.76
00:20:44.580 verses prophesied that most of the Jews are condemned, that most of the Jews are condemned.
00:20:51.020 If you want to go back and read verses one through five, you can see the absolute sorrow
00:20:56.740 and grieving of Paul that his kinsmen, his people, his fellow brothers and sisters in Israel have
00:21:05.500 rejected Christ. It says in verse 27 to 29, and Isaiah cries out concerning Israel.
00:21:16.000 Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be
00:21:23.920 saved. For the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay. And as 0.94
00:21:36.680 Isaiah predicted, if the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, we would have been like Sodom
00:21:44.740 and become like Gomorrah. Okay, I'm going to take a little bit of a side turn here for a second,
00:21:51.920 Because I think this passage really speaks to some eschatological, end times, post-millennial realities that I want to touch on.
00:22:03.340 Many modern Christians have adopted the Old Testament concept of the remnant.
00:22:08.380 A couple years ago, I went to John MacArthur's Shepherds Conference, and the theme was the remnant. 0.98
00:22:15.180 Now, they're dispensationalists.
00:22:17.120 They do not have the same covenant theology or eschatology.
00:22:20.480 Same gospel.
00:22:21.180 love MacArthur, but we do not share the same view of the covenants and or eschatology that,
00:22:28.360 and in fact, the vast majority of church history does not share the same view that John MacArthur
00:22:32.760 has. But many modern Christians have adopted this Old Testament reality of the remnant,
00:22:44.300 which suggests that only a small number of humanity will be saved.
00:22:48.100 and they've applied this idea incorrectly to the church. I'm going to say that again.
00:22:58.300 I'm going to say that again. Many modern Christians have adopted the Old Testament 0.94
00:23:02.080 concept of the remnant and they've applied this idea to the church. 0.99
00:23:08.520 Now this is the posture of the kind of doom and gloom Christians that it's only going to get 0.85
00:23:12.740 worse. Why would we polish brass on a sinking ship? It's all going to hell in a handbasket. 1.00
00:23:17.940 Let's not engage society at all.
00:23:19.480 In fact, let's just wait for it to crumble
00:23:21.060 because that means Jesus will come back sooner. 1.00
00:23:25.460 That community of Christianity
00:23:27.720 that has basically existed for the last 100 years
00:23:29.620 and has created the world that we have today, 0.56
00:23:32.320 that is not the Christianity that founded America,
00:23:34.660 that is not the Christianity of the Puritans,
00:23:36.520 that is not the Christianity that built cathedrals
00:23:38.200 that take 500 years,
00:23:39.260 that is not the Christianity of the early church.
00:23:41.240 This is a very new thing, 1840,
00:23:43.360 John Nelson Darby, dispensationalism,
00:23:45.580 brand new invention of eschatology.
00:23:46.980 That is not the Bible's view of how end times work.
00:23:56.840 What they fail to understand is that term remnant.
00:24:00.840 Remnant was strictly applied to the Jews.
00:24:05.480 It's strictly applied to the Jews. 0.92
00:24:09.280 What that means is that the promise to Abraham, 0.77
00:24:11.820 The number of the sons of Israel being as the sand of the sea or as numerous as the stars. 0.50
00:24:19.180 Who's that talking about?
00:24:21.860 It's talking about the church.
00:24:23.640 I like Burke Parsons' quote.
00:24:24.740 It says, when Abraham counted the stars, he was counting you.
00:24:32.540 Is that promise not going to be fulfilled?
00:24:36.420 Do we have a God that doesn't fulfill promises?
00:24:39.380 How can you have a remnant, but also have the sand of the sea and as numerous as the stars?
00:24:44.160 We have a dilemma there. 0.99
00:24:47.100 No, it will still be fulfilled, not by the remnant of ethnic Israel, but through the Gentiles being grafted into that remnant of Israel. 0.98
00:24:57.820 We are seeing the billions of Christians that have come, that have become those stars and become that sand. 0.96
00:25:07.140 In other words, it was perfectly normal for the Jews to be pessimistic prior to the Messiah. 0.99
00:25:14.000 The remnant ideology was perfectly normal. 1.00
00:25:18.160 Things would only get harder, smaller, and more difficult until Christ came. 0.77
00:25:25.760 Pessimism pre-cross is totally fine. 0.97
00:25:28.100 You want to be a pessimistic Christian? 0.81
00:25:30.120 You cannot do that.
00:25:31.800 Pessimism was an Old Testament reality waiting for the coming of the Messiah. 0.91
00:25:38.500 For Christians to adopt this kind of pre-Messiah Jewish pessimism, 0.94
00:25:42.880 the remnant mentality, after Christ's victory over death and sin, 0.96
00:25:49.880 and the expansion of the gospel to all nations,
00:25:53.860 it's to misapply the idea of the remnant to the church.
00:25:57.760 We are not a remnant.
00:26:01.060 We are not a remnant.
00:26:02.880 The church is not going to be a remnant of the population.
00:26:09.820 Now, what does the gospel say about this?
00:26:13.200 Well, the kingdom of God is like what?
00:26:16.380 A seed.
00:26:17.700 That's small.
00:26:18.500 Sounds like a remnant.
00:26:20.140 But what does it become?
00:26:22.080 It becomes the largest tree in all of the garden plants,
00:26:26.560 the greatest kingdom of the kingdoms.
00:26:28.160 Jesus also says that the kingdom of God is like leaven
00:26:32.660 Leaven's small
00:26:35.100 But what does leaven do?
00:26:37.820 It leavens the entire lump
00:26:39.580 Let me give you
00:26:43.820 The reason that I believe
00:26:46.420 In the optimism
00:26:48.740 Of the gospel
00:26:50.600 I think that
00:26:54.580 The power
00:26:57.200 of the resurrection of Christ is more powerful than the fall of Adam. That's the simplest
00:27:05.880 explanation. I believe that when Jesus says that all authority in heaven and on earth has been
00:27:12.440 given to him, that we should expect to win because he already won. Is there any paradigm in which the
00:27:21.080 body can lose and the head can win? Do we not rise and fall together? Can the church lose down
00:27:28.240 here and Christ still win as our head? Are we not one? No, we must win together. If we lose,
00:27:36.280 Christ loses. That cannot function with the scriptures. No, Christ wins because he already
00:27:43.200 won. And we should expect the church to win because we are the body of the head.
00:27:53.840 I'm going to give you a biblical parallel. And I'll wrap this up into this verse here in a minute.
00:27:59.980 Just as God's rescue of the Israelites from slavery to Egypt was this shadow, it's a foreshadow or a
00:28:06.260 prefigurement. If you've read your Bible, you start to see, wow, the Old Testament is shadows
00:28:12.500 of the substance to come. It's the type and the anti-type. And just as God's rescue of
00:28:21.460 the Israelites from slavery of Egypt is the shadow of God rescuing his people from the
00:28:26.460 slavery of sin, the number rescued was not a remnant of the Egyptian population. Hang 0.97
00:28:34.120 with me here. This is a fun little exercise. Scholars estimate that the population of Egypt
00:28:39.200 at the time of the Exodus was about 3 million people.
00:28:43.660 Now, that 3 million people actually included the Jews.
00:28:47.140 Now, according to the Bible, there was 600,000 Jewish men,
00:28:51.360 which equals about 2 million people with Jewish women and children.
00:28:55.880 So in the shadow, in the shadow of the Exodus,
00:29:01.660 God's people made up of two-thirds of the population.
00:29:05.620 You know why the Egyptians were freaked out about all of the Israelites living? 0.62
00:29:12.720 Because basically two-thirds of their entire population was about to go away. 0.93
00:29:19.080 And so if two-thirds of the population in the shadow, we should expect in the substance
00:29:27.560 that that was reflecting in the gospel that the majority of the population is saved from sin.
00:29:34.740 We should see a similar parallel from the exodus, from the slavery of Egypt, for the
00:29:41.800 exodus of sin and the slavery of God's people in the gospel.
00:29:46.960 And so what's really going on in this verse?
00:29:50.840 The remnant is not God's word failing to complete its purpose, which is the dilemma, right?
00:30:00.100 This chapter started off with, it's not as though God's word has failed.
00:30:05.400 It's not like God tried to save the Jews but couldn't.
00:30:09.520 We know that God's word accomplishes that which it purposes. 0.84
00:30:14.480 No, the remnant is the evidence of God's word accomplishing its purpose.
00:30:19.900 It was prophesied beforehand, there was always intended to be a remnant. 1.00
00:30:24.820 You just misunderstood it, Jews.
00:30:29.040 John 12, 37 through 40 says, 0.77
00:30:31.640 though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him so that the
00:30:36.940 words spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled. Lord, who has believed what he had
00:30:41.800 heard from us and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore, they could not believe.
00:30:48.260 And again, Isaiah said, he has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart,
00:30:53.020 lest they see with their eyes and understand with their heart and turn and I would heal them.
00:31:01.640 The remnant isn't evidence that God's word has failed.
00:31:07.080 The remnant is God's evidence that God's word has actually succeeded.
00:31:13.240 The intention was only to save a remnant. 0.99
00:31:21.260 God intended to save only a remnant that would be combined with the fullness of the Gentiles. 0.95
00:31:28.000 to fulfill the promise to Abraham that his descendants by faith 0.99
00:31:32.500 will be as numerous as the sand of the shore or the stars in the sky.
00:31:38.880 Today, we know that about one-third of the population confesses Christ.
00:31:42.480 Now, that's about 2.8 billion people.
00:31:44.120 We know that not all of them are regenerate or actually born again.
00:31:48.380 But that number, if you look historically, has never gotten smaller.
00:31:53.400 There has never been a time, if you look at 100-year periods,
00:31:56.480 that the church has ever gotten smaller.
00:32:03.280 So why should we expect that it's going to get smaller?
00:32:07.660 No, we should only expect what history has proven,
00:32:10.320 that it will only get bigger.
00:32:13.200 Why?
00:32:13.940 Well, because the gospel doesn't fail.
00:32:16.860 Because who is at the spearhead of the gospel?
00:32:20.280 Christ.
00:32:22.260 I believe, and you should believe too,
00:32:24.260 that the Great Commission will be fulfilled,
00:32:26.820 not by the strength of the church,
00:32:28.720 but by the strength of Christ through the church.
00:32:32.520 We're the hands and feet of Christ.
00:32:36.780 You should be confident that 500 years from today,
00:32:42.460 there will be 500 million more Christians
00:32:45.680 than there are today. 0.93
00:32:47.900 If you just want to be sheerly relying on math,
00:32:51.560 we look at America and we think oh it's getting terrible everybody's falling
00:32:56.980 okay are you not aware of India are you not aware what's going on in the Middle East
00:33:02.640 are you not aware of what's happening in Cuba are you not aware of the revivals that are
00:33:09.080 occurring across the nations of course we're not fully aware
00:33:11.400 the truth is that every time God allows persecution what happens to the church does it get smaller
00:33:21.400 No, it gets bigger. 0.68
00:33:24.040 Try to kill us, we'll multiply. 0.90
00:33:27.140 That's basically the narrative of church history.
00:33:30.320 You can't have a church that continues to grow smaller.
00:33:33.640 Get rid of the remnant pessimistic reality out of your mind.
00:33:38.080 Be optimistic about the future.
00:33:40.400 Doesn't mean that we don't fight.
00:33:41.760 Doesn't mean that we don't get persecuted.
00:33:43.140 Doesn't mean that we don't have a terrible multi-decade period.
00:33:47.300 I think we're living in a very difficult time.
00:33:50.960 I don't think it's as bad as times before us.
00:33:57.660 We have comfortable beds and sunglasses and surgeries.
00:34:03.720 Other generations do not have these things.
00:34:06.100 We're also not watching people get eaten alive for fun.
00:34:14.280 As a result, it's becoming increasingly difficult
00:34:17.080 for Christians to be pessimistic.
00:34:20.960 I think in about a thousand years, yes, that means that I don't think Christ is coming back 0.99
00:34:26.220 anytime soon. I think in a thousand years, this idea of the remnant, the church is only getting
00:34:32.900 smaller. It's only getting worse. It's just going to get harder and harder and harder
00:34:37.540 to uphold that position. Now, in verses 28 through 29, if you look down with me,
00:34:43.400 we see a prophetic reference or a reason for the remnant, the judgment of the remnant, 0.97
00:34:51.980 and why so many Jews have been left to wrath, why they have been vessels of wrath. It says in verse 0.99
00:34:59.980 28, for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay. And
00:35:08.460 as Isaiah predicted, if the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, or your translation might
00:35:15.160 say seed, we would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah. Now again, you know that
00:35:24.160 we opened up chapter nine, Paul has the sorrow for the mass of his people who have been cut off
00:35:29.560 or accursed from Christ. And through Paul, or sorry, though Paul was part of the remnant,
00:35:38.780 Paul is actually part of this remnant. He was grieved over the majority of his people being
00:35:46.000 cut off. Now, when you understand that God's intention was not only to save a remnant of the
00:35:52.240 Jews, you begin to see how passages like Matthew 7, verse 13 and 14 apply specifically to the
00:35:58.080 Jews and not the church. I'm going to read it. Actually, why don't you guys turn there real
00:36:00.380 quick. Matthew chapter seven, verses 13 and 14. So many times this passage comes up.
00:36:10.760 When you understand that God's intention was to only save a remnant of the Jews
00:36:16.520 and to not apply that to the church, passages like Matthew 7, 13 through 14, start to make sense.
00:36:24.940 Jesus says,
00:36:54.940 text more than many scriptures. Who is Jesus talking to? Basic hermeneutics here, people.
00:37:02.820 Who's the audience? Okay, let's ask another question. There are four Gospels, three synoptics.
00:37:11.180 Matthew is considered what? The Jewish Gospel. The Jewish Gospel speaking to a Jewish audience.
00:37:19.240 and he says enter by the narrow gate this is jewish language by the way talking about
00:37:31.100 the architecture around jerusalem for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to
00:37:38.360 destruction and those who enter it are many he's prophesying right now about the vast majority 0.87
00:37:47.940 of Jews that will not come to Christ, to himself. For the gate is narrow and that way is hard that 0.95
00:37:59.020 leads to life and those who find it are few. When you realize that this is talking about the Jews 0.84
00:38:05.840 to the Jews and not about us, you go, oh, that makes sense. That makes sense. Few find it. Few 0.66
00:38:15.600 of the Jews find it. You could not say this to be true of the Gentiles. Literally billions of
00:38:22.160 Gentiles have found it. And it's continuing to grow century after century after century. 0.99
00:38:31.400 Verse 29 says in Romans, as Isaiah predicted, if the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring,
00:38:41.360 we would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah. This prophecy had not been fulfilled
00:38:49.800 when Paul had wrote this letter. Now, yes, it's fulfilled in the Babylonian exile. Yes,
00:38:57.220 it's fulfilled in the remnant of the church and the fact that many of Jesus' own people
00:39:01.020 have rejected him. But the ultimate fulfillment of this passage of scripture is not coming until
00:39:07.160 a few years after Romans was written. Now, if you look down with me, it says again,
00:39:12.400 as Isaiah predicted, if the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, we would have been like Sodom
00:39:18.480 and become like Gomorrah. What you need to know about prophecy is that there is an immediate
00:39:25.140 fulfillment and there is often, almost always a future fulfillment. So when Isaiah prophesied
00:39:32.680 this, it was speaking certainly of the Babylonian exile. It was certainly speaking about the
00:39:37.140 rejection of the Jews in Jesus's ministry. And it's certainly speaking about what we call 70 AD
00:39:42.920 in the destruction of Jerusalem. As Jesus prophesied in Matthew 24, verse 22, it says,
00:39:55.520 and if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake
00:40:02.140 of the elect, those days will be cut short. Someone give me a Bible. I don't have my Bible
00:40:10.960 with me. Can I use your Bible real quick? I brought my iPad here. I want to read something
00:40:17.820 to you guys. Open up to Matthew 24. Is this ESV, Trevor? Okay. One of the greatest problems
00:40:34.900 of the American church is understanding, is not understanding the significance of 70 AD
00:40:45.320 in interpreting biblical prophecy.
00:40:49.600 Now, this is not my sermon text,
00:40:51.100 but I'm going to just give you a little bit here
00:40:52.540 if you guys follow along with me for a second.
00:40:56.680 Jesus in chapter 24 is prophesying
00:40:59.840 in the same way that Ezekiel,
00:41:02.280 in the same way that Isaiah
00:41:03.200 is prophesying the Old Testament.
00:41:06.260 He's prophesying a judgment that's about to come 0.89
00:41:09.220 upon Jerusalem for the Jews rejecting the Messiah. 0.95
00:41:17.060 That's what's happening here. 0.98
00:41:18.160 So pay attention, look down with me.
00:41:19.760 It says, Jesus left the temple and was going away
00:41:22.500 when his disciples came to point out to him
00:41:25.960 the buildings of the temple.
00:41:28.560 But he said, or he answered them,
00:41:30.600 you see all these?
00:41:33.780 Do you not?
00:41:35.100 Truly I say to you, there will not be left here
00:41:37.920 one stone upon another that will not be thrown down. So the context is what? You're in Jerusalem.
00:41:45.860 You're looking at the temple. The disciples are like, I'm looking at the building. And Jesus says,
00:41:51.280 you know what? All of these blocks that are here, not one will be standing upon the other.
00:41:59.860 It'll be thrown down. Verse three says, as he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came up to
00:42:07.280 him privately saying, tell us, when will these things be? When will this destruction occur
00:42:12.920 essentially? And what will be the sign of your coming and the closing of the age? Man, I don't
00:42:20.800 have time to go into the deepness of that, but this is, when will be the time of your coming,
00:42:25.520 your judgment, the fulfillment of this prophecy, the destruction of those buildings?
00:42:31.980 And Jesus answered to them saying, see that no one leads you astray for many will come in my name
00:42:36.580 saying that I am the Christ and they will lead many astray and you will hear of wars and rumors
00:42:41.680 of wars. This isn't talking about our time. This is talking about pre 70 AD culture.
00:42:49.180 Keep in context people and you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed
00:42:53.860 for this all must take place. He's telling you when those things, when that building will fall
00:42:58.180 apart. He's, he's giving you the context. See that you are not alarmed for this must take place,
00:43:03.080 But the end is not yet, for nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom,
00:43:07.220 and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places, and all these things are
00:43:11.140 but the beginning of the birth pains.
00:43:13.900 Then they will deliver you.
00:43:16.500 Oh, what's the antecedent to the pronoun you?
00:43:21.200 I'll tell you what, it's not an American from Ohio, okay?
00:43:24.540 No, he's talking to his disciples. 0.99
00:43:28.560 Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death. 0.67
00:43:33.080 Sounds very familiar with church history. 0.98
00:43:35.360 And you will be hated by all nations for my sake.
00:43:38.080 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.
00:43:41.600 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.
00:43:44.600 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.
00:43:49.360 But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
00:43:52.280 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world, as Paul says.
00:43:55.840 It has already been proclaimed to the entire Roman world.
00:43:59.760 A testimony to all nations.
00:44:01.200 And then the end will come.
00:44:02.280 Well, what's the end?
00:44:02.840 He was talking about the end of the building.
00:44:04.620 That's the context, the end.
00:44:06.520 Not the end of the world.
00:44:08.040 It's the end of the building.
00:44:10.100 That's the question that Jesus is answering here.
00:44:13.100 Verse 15.
00:44:14.480 So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken about the prophet Daniel
00:44:17.600 standing in the holy place, let the reader understand.
00:44:20.400 That is, let the reader of the prophecy of Daniel understand.
00:44:25.780 And it's talking about the military rulers.
00:44:30.160 There's so much here.
00:44:30.720 I'll do a teaching on this in a few months. 0.99
00:44:33.500 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 0.85
00:44:36.340 Oh, wait, what about the guy in Ohio? 0.62
00:44:40.440 Because I think this just geographically anchored us in Judea.
00:44:45.020 Oh, so this must be talking about something that's going to happen there.
00:44:51.760 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 0.72
00:44:54.820 Let the one who is on the housetops not go down and take what is in his house, 0.95
00:44:57.940 and let the one who is not in the field turn back and take his cloak. 0.99
00:45:00.820 And alas, for the women who are pregnant
00:45:02.300 and for those who are nursing infants in those days,
00:45:05.040 pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath.
00:45:07.420 Oh, again, Sabbath, that's anchoring us
00:45:15.180 into Jewish culture and Jewish language. 0.88
00:45:17.860 For then there will be great tribulation,
00:45:19.380 such as has not been from the beginning of the world
00:45:22.960 until now or ever will be.
00:45:26.560 Okay, if this is talking about the end of the earth,
00:45:28.420 and not the destruction of the temple.
00:45:33.640 This line right here that says,
00:45:35.220 For then there will be great tribulation,
00:45:38.020 such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now,
00:45:44.040 no and never will be.
00:45:48.280 That means that this would need to be greater than the flood
00:45:52.600 that left eight people alive.
00:45:58.420 So is this talking about the end of the world or is this talking about the destruction of
00:46:03.540 a locality and is Jesus prophesying the destruction of Jerusalem?
00:46:07.620 It says in verse 22, and if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved.
00:46:17.060 But for the sake of his elect, those days will be cut short.
00:46:21.460 Then if anyone says to you, look, here's the Christ or there he is, do not believe it.
00:46:26.500 For false Christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders
00:46:31.880 so as to lead even the elect astray. 0.97
00:46:35.180 See, I have told you beforehand.
00:46:37.620 So if they say to you, look, he is in the wilderness, do not go.
00:46:42.480 If they say, look, he is in the inner rooms, do not believe it.
00:46:45.860 For as the lightning comes from the east and shines to the west,
00:46:48.840 so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
00:46:50.460 This is what's called prophetic apocalyptic language.
00:46:54.480 Hang with me here and I'll wrap it up.
00:46:59.380 Verse 29.
00:47:01.260 Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon
00:47:05.540 will not give its light and the stars are fallen from heaven and the powers of heaven
00:47:09.660 will be shaken.
00:47:10.240 You're thinking, oh, certainly this is talking about the end of the world.
00:47:12.800 The problem is, is that I could give you four other instances in the Old Testament that
00:47:16.520 use those exact phrases.
00:47:18.920 This is apocalyptic literature.
00:47:20.640 It's called decreation language.
00:47:22.020 Jesus is basically saying, Israel, Jerusalem, I'm going to uncreate you.
00:47:29.700 I'm going to decreate you. 0.82
00:47:32.640 I'm about to come with my wrath upon Jerusalem for the rejection of the Messiah 0.95
00:47:38.500 and judge you with such a judgment that only a remnant will be left. 0.87
00:47:46.440 Only a seed will be left.
00:47:49.880 Now, again, I can't do a full teaching on Matthew 24 today,
00:47:55.220 but I want to give you that text so that you can at least go back.
00:48:00.280 R.C. Sproul has a fantastic exposition of Matthew 24.
00:48:07.460 Jeff Durbin, down at Apologia, probably has the best exposition of Matthew 24.
00:48:13.760 I don't know how long he went through it, maybe a year.
00:48:16.260 Incredible exposition, historical, biblical.
00:48:20.840 And when you start to see that the tribulation is actually 70 AD,
00:48:28.280 when you start to realize that the Puritans all believe this as well,
00:48:33.480 and Calvin, and Zwingli, and Knox, probably Luther, certainly Augustine,
00:48:39.700 when you start to see these things come together,
00:48:42.200 it'll start to help you have a more systematic framework
00:48:47.200 around New Testament interpretation of prophecy.
00:48:55.700 Now, Isaiah, Jesus, Matthew, and John
00:48:58.820 all prophesied about the destruction of Jerusalem
00:49:00.860 due to the rejection of Messiah.
00:49:02.740 That's what Revelation is.
00:49:05.000 Only the remnant who understood the prophecy
00:49:07.220 fled and survived.
00:49:08.800 I'm going to tell you actually
00:49:09.960 about this remnant that's in our verse here, that seed that was left. Because had they not left
00:49:15.940 Jerusalem and stayed there, it would have been like Sodom and Gomorrah. There would have been 1.00
00:49:20.160 nobody. There would have been no seed. One article says, quote, historical records and early
00:49:28.480 Christian writings indicate that Christians fled Jerusalem prior to its destruction in 70 AD,
00:49:34.320 seeking refuges in places like Pella. This flight is associated with Jesus's prophecy
00:49:40.880 about the coming destruction of Jerusalem, as found in Matthew 24 and Luke 21. Eusebius,
00:49:47.300 an early church historian, documented the Christians in Jerusalem were warned through
00:49:52.720 a divine revelation to leave the city. They heeded this warning and moved to Pella, a city in the
00:49:58.280 region of Decapolis, before the Roman siege and subsequent destruction of Jerusalem.
00:50:04.320 This is in Eusebius' history of the church, chapter 3, verse 5.
00:50:09.200 This move was seen as the fulfillment of Jesus' warning about the impending desolation of
00:50:15.660 Jerusalem.
00:50:16.720 Other sources, like Epiphanius, also confirm that the Christians fled to Pella, underscoring
00:50:26.260 the belief that they were divinely guided to avoid the catastrophic events that befell
00:50:30.900 Jerusalem.
00:50:32.740 This Exodus helped preserve the early Christian community, which later returned and contributed 0.98
00:50:39.540 to the spread of Christianity." 0.98
00:50:41.840 Amazing.
00:50:45.740 This passage is talking about a fulfilled prophecy.
00:50:49.880 And so to connect all of this verse together, unlike Sodom and Gomorrah, which was left with
00:50:59.980 no survivors. God permitted, through the prophecy of Matthew 24, through the prophecy of John
00:51:07.640 and Revelation, a seed to remain, a remnant to remain that would ultimately and eventually
00:51:15.760 grow into the church. There is so much there, and I wish that I had more time to take you
00:51:23.120 through that. Why does this all matter? Okay, first, having the scriptures does not mean that
00:51:32.960 you see. That's one takeaway that I would say. The Jews had the scriptures. They had the oracles of
00:51:37.980 God. They were not only having them, they were proud of their interpretations of them.
00:51:42.880 John 5, 39 through 41 says, you search the scriptures because you think in them you have
00:51:47.460 eternal life. And it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me and have
00:51:52.240 eternal life. I don't know about you, but I've met pagans that reject Christ and they go,
00:52:00.340 I've read the Bible. I've read the Bible. I've read it cover to cover. And I go, you probably
00:52:07.680 have. You have just not been given eyes to see. You have not been given ears to hear.
00:52:15.100 You were like the Pharisees who knew all there was.
00:52:20.500 You know that Caiaphas, the high priest, is supposed to be the man that knows more about God than anyone else on earth?
00:52:29.140 Isn't that incredible? 0.89
00:52:30.740 The guy who was supposed to know more about God and the scriptures than anyone else on earth is the guy that kills the Messiah.
00:52:40.840 Incredible. 0.78
00:52:42.640 Pride.
00:52:44.280 We cannot do anything without the Holy Spirit's illumination.
00:52:52.060 So the takeaway for point one is pray that the Lord might give you right interpretation.
00:52:58.860 We live in the information age where you guys will leave and watch three videos and read a book
00:53:05.180 and an article and listen to a podcast. And you have to learn how to rightfully interpret the
00:53:10.100 Word of God. You want a systematic comprehension of the gospel. Sadly, many Christians have an
00:53:17.760 unsystematic, an incoherent theology. But we want a systematic, cohesive view of the scriptures.
00:53:26.880 1 Corinthians 2.14 says, the natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God because
00:53:30.600 they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually
00:53:34.280 discerned. The Bible alone cannot cause a convert. It must require the Spirit of the Lord to come 0.55
00:53:41.860 and give them eyes to see. Pray that the Lord gives you eyes to see as you're reading the
00:53:48.920 Scriptures, interpreting the Word of God. Check your conclusions against church history. Check
00:53:55.680 your conclusions against the cross-references of Scripture. Pray for the right interpretation. 0.77
00:54:01.660 Second, without God's plan of election that we see here in Romans 9, there would have
00:54:10.680 never been a remnant.
00:54:12.400 And if there was never a remnant, there would have never been a seed that produced the redemption
00:54:18.920 that you are a part of.
00:54:22.860 God's election for the remnant became the seed that saved you.
00:54:31.660 You heard the gospel through somebody, through some means,
00:54:34.580 through the proclamation, through the giving of the Bible,
00:54:37.140 whatever it may have been.
00:54:38.620 How are they going to hear unless there was a preacher sent?
00:54:42.940 No, the truth is, this is why we should really appreciate
00:54:46.420 and why Paul fights, as you will see in the following chapters,
00:54:50.600 to respect the Jews.
00:54:54.020 Not in the sense that we owe them anything. 0.98
00:54:58.060 God even judged them harshly on 70 AD.
00:55:02.380 But the reality is, is that God blessed them to bless us.
00:55:07.820 God blessed them to bless us.
00:55:11.500 Through the Jews came the gospel to the Gentiles.
00:55:17.460 One commentator said,
00:55:18.900 At the Exodus, God rejected the Gentiles, the Egyptians, and elected the Jews.
00:55:30.360 He might save the mass of the Gentiles.
00:55:34.840 And so God's election should never be viewed as this kind of tight-fisted reality.
00:55:40.980 It's a generous election.
00:55:44.240 He has taken a small number, a seed.
00:55:48.900 In the same way that he preserved Noah, a seed.
00:55:55.340 And with that seed, he started the kingdom of God, starting with Christ, moving on to
00:56:02.220 that remnant, preserving that remnant, which turned into the proclamation of the gospel
00:56:09.660 to all the nations, which resulted in your salvation.
00:56:15.660 It's a really beautiful systematic view of how God is saving his people throughout the generations
00:56:22.800 according to his will, without our involvement.
00:56:29.200 It's a real blessing to know that God is in charge of the salvation of his people.
00:56:35.740 Let's pray.
00:56:38.440 Father, we thank you.
00:56:39.580 Lord that
00:56:43.900 we are not
00:56:45.420 in submission to accidents
00:56:52.640 but Lord that you are working your plan
00:56:56.800 from the preservation
00:57:01.020 of your line
00:57:05.000 in Seth to Noah
00:57:08.460 to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob
00:57:12.760 through Moses
00:57:16.500 through David
00:57:19.340 and through Christ
00:57:21.640 Lord that you promise
00:57:24.420 to redeem us
00:57:28.140 from Genesis to Revelation
00:57:31.040 Father your plan has been unfolding
00:57:33.600 Lord that we can trust
00:57:36.980 that you will fulfill that which you promised.
00:57:43.940 And Lord, the way that you fulfilled it,
00:57:45.820 Lord, help us to glory in awe. 0.77
00:57:50.980 Lord, that you would save only a remnant of your own people, 1.00
00:57:54.680 that you might save a mass of the Gentiles. 1.00
00:58:00.880 Lord, we pray that we would see the beauty
00:58:03.000 of this grand narrative
00:58:04.700 that would help us to comprehend and appreciate with gratitude,
00:58:10.640 that it would change our hearts to obedience,
00:58:14.100 that we would walk in a way that sees this great salvation
00:58:19.400 that is orchestrated by your electing grace.
00:58:22.720 In Jesus' name, amen.