Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction:

I have come to the understanding as I have been studying this chapter over the last several years, that Paul’s argument here about why all of the Jewish people are not saved is because God sovereignty intended it that way.

Now, I have always believed that, but that belief has been increased in this respect; i believe that this chapter does have a national context in this way.

As we have seen, it seems that he Apostle in several points of this chapter is answering an imaginary objector.

And one of the objections, is well if the people of Israel have been given all of these promises, then why are most of them rejecting the gospel.

So Paul is answering, I believe, a national objection, as to why national Israel (using that to speak of most) is rejecting.

It is not because of God’s Word, it is not because of God’s person or a violation of God’s plan....God alway determined that most of national Israel would reject.

Now, while we see that Paul is arguing about a National rejection, he argues by using how God dealt with individual people.

He argued about Israel as a nation rejects the gospel; it is a stumblingblock to them, by using how He dealt with individual election; Jacob and Esau…Moses and Pharoah.

So while he is answering a national question, he does so by arguing about the election of certain individual’s to salvation and then circles back and says, “that is why nation Israel rejects, because God did not chose all of national Israel”.

God was always selective even when He gave His promises to Israel, it was never intended that all Israel racially, everybody out of the loins of Abraham would automatically be saved, He was selective.

And God cannot be accused of being unjust because justice would send us all to hell, right?

It is only mercy that saves us, we have no right to ask for salvation, we have no deserving of it.

It is all of God’s grace.

And since God is selective in His distribution of grace, no man can complain, because no man deserves it.

You cannot complain if someone does not get what they do not deserve.

And no one would complain if they get mercy, which they do not deserve.

But, it is a hard for us to handle the selective, elective sovereignty of God.

But let me submit this to you, when we grow in our love for God and are utterly and totally satisfied with Him, it will override any human emotion.

And the nearer we draw to God the more intimate we become with Him, the more perfect He demonstrates His person to be, the less we are swayed away from His holiness by emotional attachments in this world

Now, it does not mean that we are utterly callous.

It does not mean that we do not love people.

What is does mean is we so supremely love God that the affront that sin is to His holiness is a much greater concern to us than the lostness of a person.

Now, we might have trouble wrapping our minds around that, because we do not live there a good part of the time.

But the nearer we draw to God the more we love and adore Him, the less we will be able to tolerate those who do not do that.

God has alway exercised His sovereignty, selectively.

Isaiah 65:33

For Calvin, the selective election of God always was rooted in His tremendous love for people.

If you read the first chapter of his “Institutes” book three, chapter 21, you will find how he frequently combines love and election.

‘We shall never be clearly persuaded, as we ought to be, that our salvation flows from the wellspring of God’s free mercy until we come to know his eternal election.’

‘To make it clear that our salvation comes about solely from God’s mere generosity—we must be called back to the course of election.

He spoke of God’s selective election as “the remarkable generosity of his fatherly benevolence”.

“God’s special grace”, “the marvelous secrets of God’s grace”, “His mere generosity”, “God’s generous favor”, and “his freely given mercy”.

Paul’s argument is that, in salvation, God has always been selective.

His word is not the problem, his person is not the problem and it is not a violation of His plan.

This selective, election is always the way God operated and Paul argues that in this chapter.

I.

The Calling Initiated by God the Father (vs.

24)

II.

The Compassion Illustrated by Hosea the Prophet (vs.

25-26)

III.

The Comparison as Proclaimed by Isaiah the Prophet (vs.

27-29)

The Apostle continues his argument here by quoting from .

Paul says that Isaiah “cried” and that is the Greek word “κράζω” and it speaks about shouting loudly, even sometimes to scream and the connotation here is the unpleasantness of the voice.

This is a scream to the people of Israel about an unpleasant proclamation.

Now, keep in mind that Paul is continuing his argument about the fact that just because most Jews will not be saved that does not not mean that the plan of God has failed or that the Word of God has failed.

Paul is arguing that this was always God’s plan because he never intended on saving all Jews and if they had just read the Prophets they would have known this.

Which is why he says in verse 6

So the Apostle continues his argument.

Quoting Isaiah he says that even though your number is as the sand of the sea (in keeping true to the promise given to Abraham in ), he says that only a remnant will be saved.

Have you every bought a remnant?

It is not the whole thing; it is just a piece, it is a small piece.

Isiah prophesied in Judah under Azziah beginning in about 760 B.C. and he prophesied for about 48 years.

And during that time he shouted (and the Greek indicated for us that it was a unpleasant scream of judgment) that even though their number is as the sand of the sea, though there are many Jews, only a small piece would be saved, only a small group would be saved, only a remnant will be saved.

So, you see, Isiah saw the unbelief of Israel.

He saw that not all of the Jews were going to be saved.

Now, I believe that Isaiah, Like Hosea, was thinking historically about the the very near fulfillment.

Isaiah was looking at the captivity, looking at the enemy who was going to come historically and haul the people away.

He was looking at something imminent on the historical calendar.

But what the Holy Spirit had in mind was not only that but something future as well.

For out of all the Jews ing the time of Christ, only a few believed.

And out of all the Jews since the time of Christ, only a few believed, just as it was in the time of Isaiah.

So the events of Jewish history monitored by Hosea and monitored by Isiah as pictures, prophetic pictures of the events about the time of Jesus Christ and the presenting of the gospel and the age in which we live when the Jews have also rejected God and been severed from Him, scattered.

There were only a few, by the way, who were saved out of the Assyrian conquest, just a few.

And they sort of typify the few who are saved in this age.

Now, this is very strange and what does it mean?

Well, God is going to judge Israel and it is going to be a thorough judgment and it is going to be a fast judgment; and when he said fast (short) he means that it is going to be complete.

Isaiah promised that a fast judgment was coming to Israel, a thorough judgment was coming to Israel and very few would escape, a very few.

Amos, the prophet had this most fascinating picture of this kind of thing.

This is a most vivd illustration.

When a shepherd is out with his sheep, if a lion came and got a sheep, the shepherd would run and try to get the lion to release whatever was in his mouth because he had to give it to the man that owned the sheep for whom he worked so that the man would know that he had not been stealing to sheep.

If he comes back in and says, “Hey, I lost two sheep,” and the guy says, “how did you lose them?”

“A lion ate them.”

He says, “Prove it.”

And the guy reaches in his little bag and pulls out a leg, he is going to say you proved it, and shows the teeth marks.

And the demonstration of what Amos is saying is that Israel is in the mouth of a lion and when God reaches He is going to get just a little bit that is left, snatching it our the jaws of destruction.

A small number of Jews were to escape the great Assyrian conquest, and that is exactly what happened.

The rest entered into the judgment of their unbelief and rejection of God.

And so it will be prophetically in the time Christ that only a small group will be rescued while the vast number of the Jews will enter into the judgment of God on them that reject Him.

Now you see the point that Pul is making?

His point is that Israel’s rejection of the gospel is no violation or hinderance or blame on the plan or Word of God.

It was predicted by Hosea, predicted bu Isaiah and even dramatized historically.

So, is God’s plan interrupted?

No, His plan is fulfilled.

Paul is quoting, at least in part, , and he changes from remnant to seed, but it means the same thing; a remnant or a small group, a seed.

Just a little bit; enough to get started again.

The objective of this reference, like the former reference from Isaiah, is to demonstrate that God planned it all.

And He planned that not all Israel would be saved, not all Israel would be exempt from judgment.

The Jews of antiquity face tremendous judgment.

And the Jews at the time of Christ face tremendous judgment because the Jews of antiquity rejected God, the Jews of the time of Christ rejected God, the parallels are obvious.

And the only reason any of us is saved, the only reason any of us is saved, look at verse 29, is because the Lord of Sabaoth left us a remnant … the Lord of Sabaoth left us a small seed.

Why is He called the Lord of Sabaoth?

That means host, marvelous contrast with .

Lord of hosts means Lord of everything.

The hosts are the angels, the stars, the heavenly bodies, the planets, the Lord of the much, the Lord of the many.

And he says, by contrast, “The Lord of the much and the Lord of the Many and the Lord of hosts has chosen a seed.”

God is very selective and that is the way the plan was from the very start.

And if it had not been that, all of us would have ended up like what?

Sodom and Gomorrah.

How dod they end up?