The Unfailing Word of God
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Before your seated greet someone next to you and tell them your glad they came today.
Good morning! Welcome to Freedom Chapel. My name is Pastor Terry and I am the lead Pastor here at Freedom Chapel. If you are new with us this this morning thank you for joining us. Please fill out the welcome card in your bulletin or online by using the QR Code.
If you are sitting near an offering bucket would you please grab that we are going to take up this weeks Tithes and Offerings.
We have three ways to give Online with the QR Code or Church Center App, In the Bucket, or in the black boxes at the back of the room.
No matter what way you choose we want to thank you for your continued faithfulness in giving. God is doing great things through your giving.
Let’s pray!
It is not lost on me what affords us the ability to meet freely here week after week. What allows me the freedom to speak my mind and profess my faith with out worry of being arrested or really facing condemnation. The freedom we experience here in what I still believe is the greatest place to live in all the world is bought and paid for on the backs of those men and women who have served our country in the armed forces. This past Friday was veterans day and if you are a veteran in attendance this morning would you please stand. Ladies and Gentlemen can we show our appreciation for our veterans this morning. Thank you.
Can you believe that 2022 is already drawing to an end. We are moving rapidly into the holiday season and there are three big things that I am excited for.
I am excited about Wednesday nights. Yes we are still having Bible Studies on Wednesday Nights. If you missed last week it’s ok you can jump right in with us this week at 6:30 PM
Next week we celebrate our Church Family Thanksgiving Dinner. This is an amazing opportunity to invite your unchurched FRANS. With that I have an important ask of everyone. Move up an move in. I already know some of you are going to say that’s uncomfortable to you but If I were to give you tickets........
I can not wait to start this years Christmas Series Titles The Ghosts of Christmas Past. For some of you the holidays are the greatest time of year for others it is a time marked with disappointment and hurt. Beginning December 4th we are going to look at three areas of life that Haunt so many and then discover new ways to overcome the Ghosts of Christmas Past with God’s Help.
If you have your Bibles Please turn with me to Roman’s Chapter 9 beginning in Verse 6.
The title of Today’s message is :
God’s Word Never Fails
God’s Word Never Fails
Let’s pray and then jump right in.
6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel,
7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”
8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.
9 For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.”
10 And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac,
11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls—
12 she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”
13 As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means!
15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”
18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
As I began to study this chapter of Romans I honestly got a little overwhelmed.
During my sabbatical Pastor Rustan and Pastor David got some really good material to teach through. Paul wrote some really good stuff in Chapter 8. Then we get to Chapter 9 and it is kind of like
HUH?
HUH?
As I have studied this chapter I have learned that some scholars believe that chapter 9-11 were actually a side note that Paul had written and the scribes sandwiched it between Chapters 8 and 12.
After looking through it more I tend to disagree with that thought but can understand why this is a section that a lot of people move right past without a lot of thought.
However we know this about scripture.
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
The Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write this with a purpose. So let’s discover that purpose together today the same way we have done it through the entirety of this study. Verse by verse peace by peace.
This one is going to be a little deep and a little uncomfortable.
In Chapter 9 we find Paul helping the reader work out some questions they have regarding all that he has written.
What About the Jews. The Vast majority of them had not accepted Christ as their messiah. What about them.
1 I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit—
2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.
3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.
4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.
5 To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.
You read this and naturally you can begin to wonder.
What about the Jews. They where God’s people. He Chose them yet they didn’t get it and now they don’t get the reward of being his people.
How can I trust that His promise will count me in?
How can I trust that His promise will count me in?
1.God’s Promises are For His People.
1.God’s Promises are For His People.
6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel,
Romans 9:7a (ESV)
7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but
Abraham was promised a son through Sarah but.........
When Sarah couldn’t have a child they chose to work around God’s plan and Abraham had
Ishmael through Hagar
He then had Issac through Sarah.
and six other sons after Sarah died.
What Paul is saying is that just because you came from the line of Abraham does not mean you are a child of the promise.
7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”
8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.
9 For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.”
15 And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.
16 I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”
17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”
Abraham is laughing because he knows that the only way Issac is going to happen is if God does a miracle.
It isn’t going to be because of any ability in He or Sarah. It is going to have to be God.
Here is what you need to understand:
For you to have come to Christ it took a miracle. It wasn’t by your ability to find him, who your daddy or momma was, it wasn’t because somebody preached good. It was because the Holy Spirit performed a miracle in your heart and you turned to God.
19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb.
20 No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,
21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
My faith grows stronger the more I trust in his promise.
My faith grows stronger the more I trust in his promise.
2. God’s Promises are Secured Through His Purpose.
2. God’s Promises are Secured Through His Purpose.
10 And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac,
11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls—
12 she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”
13 As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
This is a tough one. Let me explain.
13 As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
God did not Hate Esau in the manner that we think of Hate. What God is saying here is that my relationship with Jacob is going to be so great that it is going to look as if I hate Esau..
26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
God wants a relationship that is unequaled with any other relationship in our lives that it comes across that I hate all other relationships.
So why did he pick Jacob?
Was it because Jacob was more holy or a better pick?
11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls—
12 she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”
God was circumnavigating all social systems, common practices, human ability and hierarchy in instituting his planned.
He was Electing.
You see God knows our hearts before we do right from wrong. He knows the direction we will go before we chose it.
God had been putting people in the right places and time throughout history to orchestrate his purpose.
God had been putting people in the right places and time throughout history to orchestrate his purpose.
God had a purpose in choosing Jacob. He did not exclude Esau from knowing and loving him. God did not reject Esau’s eternal salvation He was simply choosing Jacob to lead the nation.
What Paul is saying here is God’s word didn’t fail. The Jews just misunderstood it. He didn’t elect them just to follow a bunch of laws, rituals, and have family or community ties. The had settled on enjoying the benefits and promises, rather that fulfilling their role to share God’s promises with the world.
Some of us here today have the same misconception. We are enjoying the benefits of salvation while completely ignoring that God wants to reach others and fulfill his purpose through us.
You were elected for a purpose.
14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means!
God Chose Isaac of Ishmael and Jacob over Esau, not because of who they were or what they could do. Simply because that’s who he wanted to chose.
That doesn’t seem fair?
That doesn’t seem fair?
Have you not figured out this isn’t about fair. It isn’t about what you deserve.............
Both Issac and Jacob were complete messes. They did really dumb stuff and mad some terrible decisions. But the one thing that God does over and over in scripture is choosing people inspite of their weakness and failures.....
It’s called Grace folks.
None of us here are getting what we deserve........None of us here Deserve God’s Mercy.
3. God’s Promises are Experienced Because of His Mercy
3. God’s Promises are Experienced Because of His Mercy
15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
God chose you out of Mercy Just like he chose the Jews out of Mercy. It is not about trying or achieving.
This is tough stuff to grab a hold of but that is exactly why He is God and we are not.
Paul then goes on to explain more of God’s Sovereign choices.
17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”
18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
God chooses who he has mercy on and he also chooses who he will harden. Why so his name might be proclaimed through out all the earth.
God Hardens Hearts?
God Hardens Hearts?
Here is the reality there is a point in our sinning and rebelliousness that God gives us up to our own destructiveness.
We see this with Pharoah. In Exodus there are 10 time that Pharaohs heart is hardened.
21 And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.
15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
Who hardened Pharaohs Heart God or Pharaoh. Both......
The simple truth we need to understand that there is a point where God will allow your heart to be hardened.
There are three ways that this can happen according to David Lindell.
1. God Can Remove the Restraining Power of Common Grace.
1. God Can Remove the Restraining Power of Common Grace.
Anything we experience that is good comes from God. Common Grace is exhibited all around us.........
But there is a point in our sinning that.
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,
2. He shows he perfect righteousness through the Law
2. He shows he perfect righteousness through the Law
8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead.
3. He displays His Mercy!
3. He displays His Mercy!
Jesus and the Religious Leaders
Jesus ate with sinners because of his Mercy.
Here is the main point of all that Paul is trying to help us understand.
As the Worship team returns.
15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
We get so caught up on the THAT’s NOT FAIR! or I DESERVE!
So did the Jews.
But what is Fair and Just in God’s Eyes is Death and Eternity in Hell.
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
You don’t want what is Fair and you definitely don’t want what you Deserve.
You want God’s Mercy and Compassion.
Romans 2:4b (ESV)
4b .......God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
Stand with me this morning.