The Choice, Is It Yours? – Part 2 (Romans 9:1-13)

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The Choice, Is It Yours? – Part 2 (Romans 9:1-13)

The Choice Is Yours – But Where Did The Ability to Choose Come From? And, where Did The Opportunity to Choose Come From? And, why Are you Personally held Responsible for the choice you make?

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listen we’ve got uh we’ve got a deep dive so I’m telling you Romans chapters 910 and 11 it’s not for the faint of heart I kind of laid that down last week as well and it’s going to be listen if you’re not into Bible study you need to skip the next few months you can go whatever you’re going to do come back later this is deep stuff but I tell you what jokingly of course if you stick this out and come to the end of chapter 11 um it’s going to be remarkable how you see the nature of God
and what God has promised us he cannot fail you you need to know that he God keeps his promises not because you’re so sweet he keeps his promises completely irrelevant of you and me he has sworn by himself to himself to keep his promises you and I like kids who maybe have grown up I’m making it up right now imagine if all of us found out that we were related to the Rothchilds and you’re all a bunch of brazillionaires all of a sudden we did nothing we knew nothing but we became Ben benefits or we received the benefits
of God did all the work he did all the lifting he paid the price he made an agreement to keep it empowered forever with himself and then turns around and Gifts all those who trust Christ with all that he’s gotten for us and it’s all of God’s grace and it’s all of God’s favor it’s absolutely awesome and so Paul with his with his remarkable Jewish history him being a Hebrew of the Hebrews he says of himself self that he was circumcised on the eighth day of the tribe of Benjamin he gives his pedigree and Paul
announces that if you want to meet God on Jewish standards Paul says you’re going to have to beat me because I’m at the front of the line then he turns right around and announces and all of that means nothing that’s why by the way today Paul is hated among the Jewish circles because Paul is the one who nobody has met the demands and the the the degree that Paul has the guy was a genius but he was also schooled by gel and was one of the greatest Minds if not their greatest mind ever converted to Christianity to this
day so if you were to arm wrestle him with his brain you’re going to lose but Paul doesn’t lean on that he says everything that I’ve gained in this world in in religion the moment I met Christ I found out all of it was nothing what was he saying he was saying that you can’t relate to God and experience God on a relationship of legalism or what I can achieve or do for God to get his favor Paul says you relate to God based upon the invitation of an experience to know him personally nobody listen if somebody
says to you I love you because of all the things you give me that’s not love if somebody says I love you because and then you would pressure them because why I the the list is endless but don’t I ever drive you crazy yeah quite often that has nothing to do with my love for you well tell me some more well how about this let’s spend the rest of our lives together together and I’ll tell you as we go along and that’s what God does with us he loves us and here is in Romans chapter 9 some of the most difficult theological
struggles in the Bible and yet I want to recommend to all of you God didn’t give it to us to confuse us he gave this to us for us to enjoy and believe and rest and the amazing thing about it as you listen over the course of these next several weeks uh in this section from chapters 9 to 11 if you find yourself getting like what I don’t know if I I don’t like that I don’t know if well you need to calm down because in God there is no Injustice he’s completely right all the time and rooted and based in his love
that when he says something you need to ask yourself are you actually a real believer or not that might be the issue so this is going to demand our attention so church family I’m going to give you a a little bit of a intro before we stand to read the scriptures we’re looking at a message series titled the choice is it yours and you going to write that down the choice is it yours and of course we’re talking about the sovereignty of God in these chapters of Romans 910 and 11 and I I floated this out to you last week and that I promised
you I would remind you of this and regarding the choice is it yours I put this out there the choice is yours but where did the ability to choose come from you want to ask yourself that question and where did the opportunity to choose come from and why are you and I personally held responsible for the choices that we do make now I say that this way responsible listen for those in heaven they didn’t get to heaven because they were smart enough to figure out the gospel and they honored God by choosing God that’s not how it works
God gave them the opportunity that when the gospel was presented they responded the response to the gospel was given by God are you hearing me was it your brain or your wisdom that figured it out and and and added uh Jesus onto your life you and I were lost without hope in this world that’s right but God gave the opportunity for you to hear the gospel that’s a gift and then to respond to the affirmative yes Lord I want in my life that’s a gift so that when you and I enter Heaven we are going to be praising God for him doing
it all but the reverse is also true in this sense for those who wind up waking up in Hell having rejected Jesus all their lives blowing him off rejecting him they wind up in a christless eternity because that’s what they wanted that’s what they chose God didn’t send them there friends you cannot find anywhere in the Bible where the Bible says that God sends them there he orders them there no no no those that are in hell are responsible for their own choice and they know it the way of Salvation was provided for
them they rejected it does that make sense I hope it does he gets all the glory but for those who are suffering in a christless eternity they’re responsible for their own rejection the price was paid but some reject many reject According To Jesus that offer and by way of introduction to this again Romans chapter 8: 29-3 tells us for whom he fornew and I tell you over and over again circle the word forne you want to Circle that in your Bible highlight it draw arrows to it everything it’s all based on God’s forn knowledge that he
also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son that he might be the firstborn or preeminent one or prototype among many Brethren moreover whom he predestined these he also called and oh by the way they all go together this is a package deal you don’t have three of these and missing the others it’s all one whom he predestined these he also called whom he called these he also Justified and whom he justified these he also glorified the best part about that last closing statement is that for those
of us listen we’ve been glorified in Christ Jesus I know you don’t feel like it I know you lost an hour of sleep last night maybe you got up and you needed ibuprofen that’s because listen positionally we’ve been glorified in Christ but practically you and I are waiting to experience that here’s some good news if we all drop dead today or we get raptured no more ibuprofen you won’t need it we’re going to enter into his presence and it’s going to feel just fine it’s going to
feel great but all all of this is in play all of this is being played out all of this is secured as we’ll see today in the life of the believer so very important so church with that let’s stand and I will read Romans 9 verse1 if you’ll pick it up out loud and read Romans uh two and four and six and so on in the even numbered verses you guys ready yes okay five of you are ready this is great okay come on I tell you the truth truth in Christ I am not lying my conscience also bearing me witness in the holy spirit
that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart for I could wish that I myself were a cursed or cut off from Christ for my brethren my countrymen according to the flesh who are Israelites to the adoption Glory the covenants the giving of the law service of God the promises of whom are the fathers and from whom according to the flesh Christ that’s Messiah came who is overall the eternally blessed God Amen is not that the word of God has taken no effect for they are not all Israel or of Israel verse seven nor are
they all children listen everybody nor are they all children because they are the Seed of Abraham but Isaac your seed shall be called that is those who are the children of the flesh these are not the children of God but the children of Promise are counted as a seed for This Is The Word of Promise at this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son and not only this but when Rebecca also had conceive by one man even by Our Father Isaac and here’s our parenthetical insert for the the children not yet being born nor
having done any good or evil that the purpose of God according to election might stand not of works but of him who calls to her the oldest Shall Serve the younger as it is written Jacob I have loved but Esau I have hated you said man that’s tough say what this is where Christians stumble on the glance of this I thought God loved everybody well he does love everybody but we’re going to find out later on that when it says Jacob I have loved and Esau have I hated what I want to remind you guys about even though this is not what the Bible
study is pertaining to today exactly this statement comes out of the Old Testament and it’s a statement that is made long after Jacob and Esau had ever been born they lived their lives they died of old age and they were in eternity and then God in the Book of Malachi makes this comment are you hearing me so the question is going to be why why would God love Jacob in fact this is the amazing thing people say why would God hate Esau well you’re going to find out why and when you when we read their word hate uh it’s the it’s the
fact that Esau did wickedness and you’re going to find out but Jacob Jacob was no saint in fact people have struggled with Esau have I hated I struggle with Jacob have I loved how could God love Jacob well wait a minute how could God love Jack how could God love you say Pastor you don’t know me I’m wonderful you just keep looking at yourself as a legend in your own mind we know you and the Bible says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God Amen father we pray that you’d speak to us from your word for your word alone
is truth and we pray that it would be seated deep within our souls thank you God thank you and this this world more than ever thank you that heaven is real it is eternal we’re on our way there and father we just can’t get there soon enough you’re precious and we can’t wait to see you until then Lord cause us to be faithful unto thee in Jesus name and all God’s people said amen you may be seated so church as we go through these three chapters always keep this in mind that the issue this is kind of
fun I almost feel like I need to have like a a prop and the prop would be a a big chalkboard and I would be wiping it clear of all kinds of words all kinds of things all kinds of denominations all kinds of Persuasions all kinds of religions just wiping the board completely clean so there’s nothing on it and that we would just have the Bible I mean what’s wrong with that just the Bible what would you conclude what would happen to you if there was no earthly external input in your life or mine except the Bible and the Holy Spirit
using the word of God to teach us where would we land do you know that we’ all land in the same spot God using the word the Holy Spirit speaking no human intervention whatsoever and we’d come to the same spot if we just stuck to the Bible how do you what do you mean by that well because from Genesis to Revelation the entire Revel of the Bible 66 books is actually about one I I’ll say issue but that’s not a a very good way to put it but I’ll just say it’s all about one issue and this one issue was the issue
that concerned uh Abraham it was the issue that concerned Moses it’s the issue that concerned the prophets it’s the same issue by the way that that concerned all the psalmist same issue same common denominator it’s the same one that of all of the Apostles or new testament authors same issue moving forward into the future events of the Book of Revelation same issue there’s one issue from Genesis to Revelation and the answer by the way is two grand book ends in Genesis 3:1 15 the Bible says that after Adam and Eve had sinned that God
would send them a deliverer did you know that in Genesis 3:15 the Bible tells us that through Eve would eventually be born through her Descendants the seed from her the one would come who is none other than the savior of the world the issue is then concluded in the Book of Revelation where eternity is commenced and there in the the presence of Eternity is none other than the Lamb of God who appears to all those in heaven as though he were a lamb that had been slain for the sins of the world and it’s none other than Christ the Messiah
Christ the Messiah but did you realize that there’s one name in association with that one issue or with that one person and that is Jesus you can’t get around it he goes by very names that we don’t have the time to go through now in this session together but the name of Jesus you and I know from the Greek or the Western world but his name appears throughout all scripture even with the source of the name of God himself out of the book of Isaiah yah or Yahweh yahovah it is absolutely awesome to realize that now knowing this if you
read the Bible being a Jew or a gentile this is where we start to get there’s going to be people that are going to start struggling now with what I’m where I’m going Jew or Gentile Jew or non-jew if you read the Bible and let God’s word speak to you you just may find out that regarding pedigree or bloodline God could care less and this is a shock to legalism to legalists religionists it’s a shock and yet Paul the Apostle with genius unpacks this completely we’re now in our second installment the first installment was
this found in Verses 1-5 and that is the scope of God’s sovereignty we learned this about it that in verses 1 and two that it includes sorrow and grief and O over the Lost Paul said I wish myself a cursed now listen this is a big prayer Paul knows the Lord like you and I have never yet known him Jesus revealed himself to Paul personally Paul goes around and says I would rather have myself cut out of eternal life that my brethren in the DNA of the Jews might be grafted in or might be brought into the kingdom and listen you can almost hear
Heaven applaud by saying that is so amazing Paul that’s so amazing but stop it it doesn’t work that way Moses did the same thing oh God please blot my name out of your book if these people might be saved take me out and put them in and God says it doesn’t work that way powerfully and Paul says I sorrow and I grieve over the fact that my brethren the Jews do not recognize that Jesus is the Messiah as they ought in total in totality church family you’ve heard of Israel being the chosen people the Jew
being the chosen people God chose them for a mission now that mission has been been delayed and it will happen in the near future I believe not too distant future but it was Israel that was called by God to preach the gospel to the ends of the Earth but the religious side of Judaism kept that from happening and so the Bible tells us that the Gentiles began to hear the gospel preached by many Jews who did believe in the church eventually became predominantly gentiles but that’s going to change in the tribulation period
Bible makes that very clear but Paul says I grieve over them and uh I think that’s something you and I need to check our hearts I need to check my hearts how many people do I come in contact with that are lost and I don’t grieve I don’t lose sleep over them I don’t cry for them if I believe in heaven is it incumbent upon me to believe in hell if I’m going to heaven because Jesus died for me and 45 plus years ago I responded to the gospel should not my heart break with Paul’s over those people that you and I
know do are all of your friends going to heaven what about your children are they all going if the Rapture happened today are they going if they’re not going that should break our hearts and that’s a challenge to me we also learned that it involves love and compassion and mercy that we would give of ourselves we also learned that in incorporates the full counsel of God in verses 1-5 that God’s word is the answer and we’re to read God’s word and know God’s word because the answer is completely there
the the Jews in Jesus’s day were held responsible to know the word of God by the way all people in the world today are held responsible to know the word of God every single one of us today in this Modern Age so we pick it up here church this is our second argument verses 6-9 and that is the security of God’s sovereignty this should give you great comfort begins in verse 6 the security of his uh of his Sovereign word when God speaks God who is not a man the Bible says cannot lie when God speaks he speaks the truth and the Bible tells us
in verse six right here in the opening part of verse six it says but it is not that the word of God has taken no effect when he speaks about this uh the Jews not believing that not all who say they are Israel are of Israel what does this mean what’s the result those that say they are Jews but not all of them are Jews is it the lack of God’s word being powerful has God’s word failed will God’s word ever fail you never fail you God’s word cannot fail the only reason why you and I would say this is not
working it’s because of us not him and they refused to believe Jesus had to contend with it they had taken the revelation of God and they had made it into a man-made religion and they set up all of these orders and all of these dos and don’ts and all God desire and desires is a personal relationship and you come to know that by his awesome Sovereign word when God speaks to you he says listen does this does this attract you God says I have loved you with an Everlasting Love Therefore with loving kindness do I draw
you the word draw means he pulls you in but he doesn’t he doesn’t um make you love him that would not be a a relationship that would be tyranny his love for us is clearly revealed in scripture but this is pretty uh I think powerful for us when you look at verse six and the opening words of it but it is not that the word of God mark it down in your notes that’s the logos of God the logos that beautiful word logos and this is the meaning of it logos the logos is the embodiment of thought think about that when the word
Jesus became flesh and dwelt Among Us right everybody are you guys awake okay so the logos is the embodiment of a of a thought this is fun Jesus what does this mean that means that Jesus is the manifestation of the will of God you could actually see the will of God when you’re watching and listening to Jesus Minister 2,000 years ago can you imagine you’re watching the will of God be lived out on Earth an idea in expression it is the embodiment of a statement an answer in utterance in appearance it is the divine
revelation of the Divine thought and is the communication of the most perfect thought in information or intelligence to another in other words it’s communicated the logos by being the very logos Jesus Christ is to be spoken of is to be announced I love this Jesus Christ The Name of Jesus the word of God itself was never to be contained in a box or hidden it is to be announced to the world that for God so Lov the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever would believe in him would not perish but have everlasting life that
Christ died on the cross for our sins he rose again from the grave for our justification that’s to be preached among the world never contained God’s Sovereign word when it goes out people have to decide on it let’s be honest I know you’re ringing your hands you’re frustrated you see your son or your daughter or your mom or your dad they’re just not responding to the gospel just pray but just know this as ask God to intervene ask God lord wake them up Lord cause your mercy to fall upon them you pray and you
battle like that in prayer but know this God’s word goes out and his children will respond to his word and he knows this he’s always known this and God has never existed without knowing this it’s called forn knowledge we read it a moment ago and that’s a strong foundation for where we’re going Revelation 1 verse one is a beautiful picture of this logos being revealed it says the revelation of Jesus Christ The Book of Revelation is the apocalyps or the revealing or the the pulling of the drape so to speak
imagine you have a statue and you’re going to reveal the statue you pull off the covering and that is the apocalypsis the revealing of the statue okay are you with me the Book of Revelation is is pulling off the veil of who Jesus Christ is and it’s awesome read always the Book of Revelation you should read it all the time the Bible the Book of Revelation says you should read it all the time because number one it says God says I’ll bless those who read it and I’ll bless those who hear it being read you want to bless your family
read the book of Revelation to them so you got to be kidding me I’m not kidding you but I will tell you this The Book of Revelation has a presupposition to it it it supposes youve already read the Old Testament you will never understand the Book of Revelation unless you read the Old Testament it’s impossible what’s mentioned in the old is fulfilled in the Book of Revelation that book will unlock things to you not make you more confused unlock things to you but God’s word is effective even if people don’t believe it this is what
Paul is saying in the front end of verse six is God’s word never fails and in fact the word listen when it says that uh it it’s not that it has not taken any effect the word effect means to drop off or to to diminish um God’s word does not drop off in strength so the Bible it’s so old I can’t believe you get up in the morning you guys go to that church and you would you just gather around an old book it’s not an old book this thing is alive and it’s and listen there’s stuff that
hasn’t even happened yet that’s written in this book and it’s we’re waiting for it to happen this thing’s alive okay it’s not the newspaper to drop off or to or to diminish to fade away the Bible doesn’t fade away it doesn’t lose power wow doesn’t fail it’s not going to fail church family the effectiveness of the word of God it doesn’t need to be charg does it need to be pumped up I don’t know if this is good or bad but the other day like last night actually over by PF chains you know
there’s a whole lineup of Teslas getting charged up some people are sitting in their car reading books seriously I said what are they doing in there they’re reading a book why are they reading a book because they’re charging their batteries and this one guy you got to hand I’ve never seen this happen before you got to handed this guy some guy pulled up in a big Ford pickup truck and just parked right in one of those Tesla Parks I mean he turned off his he had his diesel going turned that thing off he got off
and he just walked into PF Changs and I’m thinking that’s awesome he didn’t plug it in he couldn’t find a parking spot so he parked where the electric car is supposed to park ate his dinner got back in his truck the people are still sitting there reading a book God’s word’s not like that in fact tonight if the if the conditions are right and everything goes off at about 7:13 this evening looked to the west and watched Elon Musk launch a rocket and you’ll see it go out and listen that thing not only picks up
speed but once it gets into space it keeps going and you’re going to watch it you’ll lose sight of it just south of Hawaii by the time it’s just a little speck what’s going on it’s accelerating and then it gets into an atmosphere that it doesn’t diminish it just keeps going think about that regarding the Bible God launched the Bible through his proph prophets he launched the Bible through Abraham he launched the Bible through Moses through Deborah you name the great men and women of the Bible and that
truth of his never diminishes it keeps going it doesn’t run out well that was then today’s now the Bible doesn’t lose any power what we need to do is align ourselves with the strength of God’s word I want to see God move so do I so let’s find out where he’s moving or what he wants to do to move his his word is alive and God says in Isaiah 5511 I’m going to send it out to accomplish whatever I’ve intended it to do and it will not return unto me void the power of God’s word is absolutely
awesome and you know something about this and how beautiful this is that God would personify his word in John chapter 1 very familiar to all of us as Christians John 1 verse one that is in the beginning that was of physical Universe in the beginning of the physical Universe was that is was already the logos the word and the logos the word was with God and the Word was God let that sink in he the logos was in the beginning with God so when physical Universe was being created he was already there Jesus was never
created the Cults create Jesus that’s why there a cult Jesus has never been created Jesus is the Eternal Son of God savior the second person of the Holy Trinity as revealed in the Bible thus the Elohim of the Bible God in singular plurality God the Father God the son God the Holy Spirit awesome all things were made through him and without him nothing was made that was made verse 14 and the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory John says the glory as of the only begotten of the father full

 

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