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Hello and welcome to the
Middletown Baptist Church Podcast

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where we are proclaiming the
truth to the world.

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My name is Pastor Josh and I
want to thank you for listening to

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this podcast.

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I hope that this podcast can
be a blessing to you and strengthen

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you in the word of God.

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Now come along, let's look
into the Bible and see what God has

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for us here today.

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We're going to be in Romans
chapter 11.

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If you have your Bibles, you
can turn there with me.

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Romans chapter 11.

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We're going to start out in
verse number seven.

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But by way of review, let me
tell you a little bit about what

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we've been studying here,
Romans 11.

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And really it's tied to what
we've been studying, Romans 9 and

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10.

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And that's all about this idea
that there were people at this time,

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at the time of the writing of
the book of Romans, that were questioning

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Paul and saying, if God is so
powerful and if God loves his people,

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why do his people, the nation
of Israel for the most part, reject

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that he sent his only begotten
Son as Messiah, that they reject

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his sacrifice, that they
reject his salvation?

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And what Paul is essentially
doing is explaining that even though

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there is a rebellion for the
most part with the nation of Israel,

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that there is still a remnant
and God has not forgotten about his

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people.

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And though now this is opening
the door for Gentiles to come in,

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we do know that there is still
a plan and a purpose for the nation

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of Israel and that there's
still hope.

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I don't know about you, but
there's been times in my life that

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I've looked out at certain
individuals and I've seen their rebellion,

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I've seen their disobedience,
I've seen their lack of faith and

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maybe even been tempted to
say, well, we've lost hope in the

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fact that they can even be saved.

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Maybe we've lost hope in the
fact that someone that we love, maybe

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it's a family member or a
friend, that they could actually

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come to Christ because they're
so blinded to the truth through their

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rebellion, through their disobedience.

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And what we're going to see in
this passage this morning is that

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there is a hope in the fact
that God can still save those that

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are in rebellion, that God can
still save those that are hard hearted,

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that he can break those chains
of aggression against the gospel

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and hopefully soften the heart
of an individual as we see in the

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Old Testament, from a heart of
stone to a heart of flesh.

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And so what Paul is saying
here is that yes, for the most part,

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the nation of Israel has
turned their backs against the Lord

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because they rejected Jesus.

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But he says there is a remnant.

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There's always a remnant.

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And that remnant is not found
through how they're born and where

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they're born and what they do.

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The remnant is always through
the grace of Jesus Christ and through

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faith.

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Everybody is saved in the same way.

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Everyone throughout all of
history has been saved because of

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the grace of God and through
faith in a Messiah.

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For the Old Testament, it was
those looking forward to a Messiah.

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For us, it's looking back to
the one who gave that sacrifice for

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us.

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And so here In Romans, chapter
11, verse 7, he says, what then?

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Israel hath not obtained that
which he seeketh for?

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And the question would be this.

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You know, there are a lot of
people that are religious.

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He's indicating here, and he's
already indicated even back all the

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way in Romans chapter 10, that
the people of Israel are religious

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people.

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They want to have some type of
relationship with God.

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But the way that their
relationship is based in is the relationship

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of works.

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It's a relationship of a birthright.

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It's a relationship of trying
to earn something.

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And he says, no, it's not
because they keep seeking and they

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just can't find Him.

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It's because they're seeking
in the wrong way.

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They're seeking after the
wrong attitude.

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They're seeking in the wrong actions.

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And he says, really what we
can see is that everybody finds the

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Lord and finds a relationship
with him through grace.

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And that's what he talked
about in verse number six.

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He says, and if by grace, then
it is no more of works, otherwise

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grace is no more grace.

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But if it be of works, then it
is no more grace, otherwise work

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is no more work.

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He says, it's not about
working our way to a relationship

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with God.

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Israel is not saved through working.

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The Gentile is not saved
through working the Jew and Gentile

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alike.

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As we saw in Romans chapter
one, the Jew and Gentile alike is

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saved through faith in Jesus Christ.

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It's the Gospel message of grace.

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And so in verse number seven,
he's asking a question.

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He says, what then?

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Israel hath not obtained that
which he seeketh for, but the election

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hath obtained it, and the rest
were blinded.

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Essentially what he's doing
here is he's explaining that there's

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a group of people that are
excluded because they're focusing

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on their work.

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That's the one that we see at
the end of verse seven.

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Those are the ones that are blinded.

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They're confounded in the fact
that they're trying and they can't

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find it.

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It's the Bible even says in
the New Testament that the cross

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is foolishness to those that
are in unbelief.

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So someone who is walking in
their works, someone who's walking

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in their own righteousness, it
says here that they're blinded.

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And, and what we can see here
actually is a Paul quotes.

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He.

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He quotes two different
passages from the Old Testament.

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He quotes a passage from the
book of Isaiah, Isaiah 29, and he

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quotes a passage from Psalm 69.

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And we're going to see both of
those quotes here in this passage.

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And essentially what Paul is
describing is that those that are

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excluded from salvation, those
that are excluded from the elect,

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are those that are trusting in
their own works.

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That's where Jew and Gentile
alike, if we're trying to earn our

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own way, we're going to be
blinded by the fact that we we're

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trusting in the wrong avenue.

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Jesus says in John 14,6 that
he is the way, the truth and the

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life, that no man could come
to the Father, but through him.

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And so if we're trying to find
a way in and of ourselves, we're

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never going to find that we're
going to be lost.

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We're going to be totally
confounded in that endeavor.

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But then he says that there
still are that some that are included.

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And we see that in verse
number seven he says, but the election

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hath obtained it.

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Now.

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Now some folks would see that
phrase, the election, and say, well,

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this is the group of people
that got selected before they even

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had a choice.

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This is no choice of their own.

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They're selected and those are
the ones that are saved.

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But if you go back, we even
see that in verses five and six in

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this same very, the same
chapter, chapter 11, he says, even

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so then at this present time
also there is a remnant according

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to the election of grace.

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So again, he's talking about
those who are saved by the grace

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of God through faith.

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Ephesians 2, 8, 9.

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You guys have heard this verse
quoted quite a bit here recently.

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For by grace are you saved
through faith, and that not of yourselves.

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It is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast.

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So those that are saved, those
that are the elect, are those that

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receive the grace of God,
believed in the grace of God through

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faith, and now have that gift
of salvation in their life.

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So he's really contrasting two
groups of people, those that are

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of the nation of Israel, that
are included in the election Those

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are the ones that come by
faith and then those are the ones

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that are excluded.

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Those are the ones that he
says here are blinded and they're

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blinded by their own works.

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So he's particularly talking
about the nation of Israel here.

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In verse 8 he says, According
as it is written, God have given

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them the spirit of slumber,
eyes that should not see and ears

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that they should not hear unto
this day.

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Meaning this, there are many
people are trying their own route

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and they're trying their own
path to salvation, that they're finding

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themselves in the spirit of
slumber and the spirit finding themselves

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in this spirit of being
blinded and, and being deaf to the

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cause of the gospel, the truth
of the gospel.

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So essentially what he's
saying is, is those are in faith,

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those are the corporate elect
that come to him and know the grace

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of God.

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The rest are blinded because
of their rebellion.

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So it's the save versus the unsaved.

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It's the elect versus the non elect.

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And so for some people out
there, they say, well, there's the

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elect and those are the ones
that have hope.

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And then there's the non elected.

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They have no hope.

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Whether they know it or not,
there's no hope for them.

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They can't be saved.

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They're, they're so in
rebellion that they can't come to

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the Lord.

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But then we see something so
interesting here.

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He says, yes, David saith in
verse nine, let their table be made

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a snare and a trap, and a
stumbling block and a recompense

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unto them.

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Let their eyes be darkened
that they may not see and bow down

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their back always.

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Now you say, what is he
talking about here?

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Well, he's using a quote from
David from Psalm 69.

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But essentially what he's
saying is this.

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God is using the rebellion.

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God is using the disobedience
of the people of Israel to open a

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door for other people.

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That would be the Gentiles, to
open up a larger window of window

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of salvation and an inclusive
window of salvation to all that are

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in the world.

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And so basically we've seen
this from Romans 9, 10 and 11, that

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God doesn't force people into
rebellion, but God uses their rebellion.

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That idea of hardening is that
sense of hardening with a, with a

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pot, right?

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You, you, you can.

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I've never done pottery, but
I've, I've seen it on a YouTube video.

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They're making pottery, right?

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And it's soft.

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But then there's that place
where they put it into the kiln.

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They put it into the, the Heat.

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And that's.

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It hardens in the place that
it's in, right?

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Whatever form that it's in,
that's where it's hardened.

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And so we see that God hardens
individuals in their rebellion.

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And God can use obedience for
his glory, but God can also use his

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nation of Israel and.

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And their disobedience for his
glory as well.

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That's the sovereignty of God.

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And so God is using at this
point in time the hardness of the

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nation of Israel's heart, as
he says here, to be a stumbling block

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and to be a recompense unto them.

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And he says their eyes are
darkened, that they may not see and

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bow down their back all the way.

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But then he says in verse
number 11, okay, if you just ended

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at verse 10, it looks like
there's no hope.

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It looks like there's no hope
for them.

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But verse 11, he says, I say,
then have they stumbled that they

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should fall?

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And we see that there's a
distinction between stumbling and

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falling.

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What he says here is that
there is a chance.

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There.

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There is actually the.

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What I would say is the
inevitability that eventually all

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of us will stumble there.

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There is that sense of stumbling.

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But then he says that there's
something more than suffering.

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There's that fall.

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That fall means to fall away,
to never have a chance.

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So he says, I say, have they
stumbled so far, have they tripped

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and stumbled so far that
they'll never have a chance, that

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they've fallen away, that
there's no hope for them?

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And he says, God forbid,
there's no chance of this, but rather

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through their fall, their
stumbling, through their fall, salvation

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has come unto the Gentiles,
meaning it's not a waste.

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This is not hopeless.

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Actually, God is using their stumbling.

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God's using their blindness at
the moment.

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For as it says here, the.

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The salvation coming to the Gentiles.

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So it's a huge blessing, right?

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Though the world is blessed
through this disobedience.

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He says, for to provoke them
to jealousy, meaning the whole point

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is that the Gentiles will be
saved, the world will be saved, and

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that God would stir their
hearts to come back to him so that

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00:10:40,270 --> 00:10:43,150
there would be that godly
jealousy, that there would be a healthy

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00:10:43,150 --> 00:10:43,750
jealousy.

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00:10:43,910 --> 00:10:47,030
Now, every time we see the
word jealousy in Scripture, we often

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00:10:47,030 --> 00:10:48,550
think that it's always a
negative thing.

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But we know that God is jealous.

250
00:10:51,080 --> 00:10:54,080
We know that there is a
righteous type of jealousy.

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00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:56,800
And I think that we have to
understand that when we look at this

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passage, for example, right, I
love my wife.

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She's my only one and I should
be jealous.

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There's a.

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00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:07,280
There's a righteous jealousy
to the fact that I want to have her

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00:11:07,280 --> 00:11:09,200
love completely and I want to
love her completely.

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That's what God's love is for
us, and that's what God's jealousy

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is for us.

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00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:16,840
So for Israel to see other
people that historically had not

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00:11:16,840 --> 00:11:20,250
been lumped into the family of
God, be part of the family of God,

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00:11:20,250 --> 00:11:23,130
it should stir in their heart
jealousy to the point of wanting

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00:11:23,130 --> 00:11:26,130
that relationship with God,
desiring that relationship with God.

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So he says that the Gentiles
being included into salvation, which

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we can see happening
throughout the book of Romans, he

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00:11:33,490 --> 00:11:37,050
says that that should at that
point bring them to a place of jealousy

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to come back to a relationship
with God.

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00:11:39,170 --> 00:11:39,890
Verse 12.

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00:11:40,050 --> 00:11:44,730
Now if the fall of them be the
riches of the world, meaning we as

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the world gain spiritual
riches through their mistake, through

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their rebellion.

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00:11:50,380 --> 00:11:52,060
So, so now the door has been open.

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Now we get a chance.

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This is a blessing.

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00:11:54,460 --> 00:11:57,260
This is, this is a miracle, he says.

275
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So we the get to be the, the
beneficiaries of this, he says, and

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the diminishing of them, the
riches of the Gentiles, how much

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00:12:04,940 --> 00:12:10,100
more their fullness meaning
how much better will it be when the

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00:12:10,100 --> 00:12:13,600
nation of Israel comes back
to, in a revival to him?

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00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:15,240
He says, that's the amazing thing.

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How, how much greater is it
that they left and came back?

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00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:19,680
It's the picture of the
prodigal son.

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00:12:19,680 --> 00:12:22,800
It's a picture of the one who
turned their back and, and came to

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00:12:22,800 --> 00:12:23,240
the Lord.

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00:12:23,240 --> 00:12:24,800
And then there's that restoration.

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00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:28,880
And we often think about this
when it comes to even our own lives.

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00:12:28,880 --> 00:12:31,160
I mean, there's probably
people in our lives that we've been

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00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:34,120
praying for that we hope that
they come to Christ, but it doesn't

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00:12:34,120 --> 00:12:34,800
seem like they will.

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00:12:34,800 --> 00:12:38,000
Think about how much of a
blessing it will be when those people

290
00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:41,110
that we've seen walk in
rebellion to God and eventually come

291
00:12:41,110 --> 00:12:44,590
back to the fold or come to
the fold for the first time and see

292
00:12:44,590 --> 00:12:47,590
that beauty and see the grace
of God and taste of the grace of

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00:12:47,590 --> 00:12:47,790
God.

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00:12:47,790 --> 00:12:50,710
He says, that will be a
beautiful day that will be in a wonderful

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00:12:51,030 --> 00:12:54,870
time when we see all of those
riches being bestowed back upon the

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00:12:54,870 --> 00:12:56,190
people of the nation of Israel.

297
00:12:56,190 --> 00:12:59,950
And he says, Verse 13, For I
speak to you Gentiles in as much

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00:12:59,950 --> 00:13:01,710
as I am the apostle of the Gentiles.

299
00:13:01,710 --> 00:13:05,830
So, so Paul goes back to the
call that God had for him back in

300
00:13:06,220 --> 00:13:06,940
Acts chapter 9.

301
00:13:06,940 --> 00:13:10,540
If you remember Acts chapter
9, God tells Paul, you will have

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00:13:10,540 --> 00:13:12,980
a predominant ministry, and
that will be the ministry of the

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00:13:12,980 --> 00:13:13,580
Gentiles.

304
00:13:13,660 --> 00:13:15,180
So Paul knew his call.

305
00:13:15,420 --> 00:13:18,500
Paul understood the marching
orders, that for the most part, he

306
00:13:18,500 --> 00:13:20,220
would be ministering to the Gentiles.

307
00:13:20,620 --> 00:13:24,740
But then also we see through
Romans 9, 10, and 11 that Paul still

308
00:13:24,740 --> 00:13:26,140
has a heart for his own people.

309
00:13:26,460 --> 00:13:29,180
So he says, I know my call to
the Gentiles.

310
00:13:29,340 --> 00:13:33,580
And by the way, just a side
note, it is a wonderfully liberating

311
00:13:33,660 --> 00:13:36,370
thing to know what your call
is in the Lord to.

312
00:13:36,370 --> 00:13:38,370
To know what God has for you
in your life.

313
00:13:38,450 --> 00:13:41,930
To be so narrowly focused on
what God has for you that you can

314
00:13:41,930 --> 00:13:43,530
say, I know what God wants for me.

315
00:13:43,530 --> 00:13:45,410
And Paul says, I know what God
wants for me.

316
00:13:45,650 --> 00:13:47,890
And he even says, he says, and I.

317
00:13:47,890 --> 00:13:51,210
He says, in as much as I'm the
apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify

318
00:13:51,210 --> 00:13:53,690
mine office, meaning I. I
exalt that office.

319
00:13:53,690 --> 00:13:56,050
I put that as the first thing
in my life.

320
00:13:56,050 --> 00:13:57,850
I put that as a priority in my life.

321
00:13:57,850 --> 00:14:01,370
I understand that it is my
priority to preach to the Gentiles.

322
00:14:01,370 --> 00:14:02,610
But then he goes on to say this.

323
00:14:02,950 --> 00:14:06,670
He says, but okay, just
because I know that that's my priority

324
00:14:06,670 --> 00:14:07,870
that God has called me to do.

325
00:14:07,870 --> 00:14:13,630
He says, but if by any means I
may provoke to emulation them which

326
00:14:13,630 --> 00:14:17,510
are my flesh and might save
some of them.

327
00:14:18,150 --> 00:14:20,590
So, so this is really the key
verse in this passage.

328
00:14:20,590 --> 00:14:21,670
I believe that.

329
00:14:21,670 --> 00:14:25,030
That Paul is saying, here you
have these people that, as it says

330
00:14:25,030 --> 00:14:28,980
earlier on, are blinded, that
are in a spiritual stupor, that,

331
00:14:28,980 --> 00:14:31,580
that are at a place where they
don't see the truth, they don't want

332
00:14:31,580 --> 00:14:32,180
the truth.

333
00:14:32,260 --> 00:14:35,220
They're walking with spiritual
blinders on, trying to find their

334
00:14:35,220 --> 00:14:35,700
own way.

335
00:14:36,020 --> 00:14:38,220
If that meant that that was
the death sentence, if that.

336
00:14:38,220 --> 00:14:42,060
If that was an inevitability
of lostness, then Paul would say,

337
00:14:42,060 --> 00:14:42,740
okay, they're lost.

338
00:14:42,740 --> 00:14:43,500
They're a lost cause.

339
00:14:43,500 --> 00:14:44,340
Don't worry about them.

340
00:14:44,420 --> 00:14:45,780
We just focus on our things.

341
00:14:45,940 --> 00:14:46,260
We.

342
00:14:46,260 --> 00:14:47,220
We focus on our.

343
00:14:47,460 --> 00:14:49,460
Our job that we have here.

344
00:14:49,460 --> 00:14:51,220
But then he says, no, there is
a bigger job.

345
00:14:51,220 --> 00:14:53,460
And he says, actually, I pray
for them.

346
00:14:53,860 --> 00:14:56,350
He says, actually, that some
might be saved.

347
00:14:56,910 --> 00:14:59,910
So the idea for Paul is that
they're not inevitably lost, that

348
00:14:59,910 --> 00:15:01,310
they can be compelled by the.

349
00:15:01,470 --> 00:15:03,110
The conviction and the
preaching of the.

350
00:15:03,110 --> 00:15:06,030
The word of God and the Holy
Spirit to come back to salvation,

351
00:15:06,030 --> 00:15:07,470
that some of them might be saved.

352
00:15:08,270 --> 00:15:09,790
And we know that that might be
the case.

353
00:15:09,790 --> 00:15:10,030
We.

354
00:15:10,030 --> 00:15:13,910
We know that even at the very
beginning of the early church, the

355
00:15:13,910 --> 00:15:16,910
church there in Jerusalem was
not founded by Gentiles.

356
00:15:17,070 --> 00:15:17,350
The.

357
00:15:17,350 --> 00:15:18,750
The Church there in Jerusalem were.

358
00:15:18,750 --> 00:15:20,190
Were Jewish people being saved.

359
00:15:20,190 --> 00:15:23,550
And so doesn't mean here in
this passage that all of the people

360
00:15:23,550 --> 00:15:25,750
that are of the nation of
Israel will not be saved.

361
00:15:25,750 --> 00:15:26,710
They can't be saved.

362
00:15:26,710 --> 00:15:29,350
What he's saying is, is that
in their rebellion, they do find

363
00:15:29,350 --> 00:15:34,230
them play themselves in a
place of darkness and deafness and

364
00:15:34,230 --> 00:15:34,870
hopelessness.

365
00:15:34,870 --> 00:15:37,550
But when they come to the
truth of Jesus Christ, anybody can

366
00:15:37,550 --> 00:15:38,150
be saved.

367
00:15:38,230 --> 00:15:41,510
The way that I've heard it
said before is that all of us are

368
00:15:41,510 --> 00:15:43,270
on equal standing before the cross.

369
00:15:43,750 --> 00:15:46,990
The Jewish person doesn't come
to the cross saying, well, look where

370
00:15:46,990 --> 00:15:47,950
I was born.

371
00:15:48,110 --> 00:15:49,390
Look at my bloodline.

372
00:15:49,390 --> 00:15:51,710
Just like the Gentile doesn't
come to the cross and say, look,

373
00:15:51,710 --> 00:15:52,990
at least I'm not those people.

374
00:15:53,390 --> 00:15:56,910
We all come to the cross with hopelessness.

375
00:15:57,230 --> 00:15:59,230
We all come to the cross with sin.

376
00:15:59,630 --> 00:16:03,270
We all come to the cross with,
really what we would say is a.

377
00:16:03,270 --> 00:16:06,750
Is a sense of darkness or even
death, as the book of Ephesians says.

378
00:16:07,470 --> 00:16:10,310
But what we're going to see
here is that all of us come on equal

379
00:16:10,310 --> 00:16:10,830
playing field.

380
00:16:10,830 --> 00:16:12,830
All of us come with, with sin.

381
00:16:12,830 --> 00:16:14,910
And, and the wages of sin is death.

382
00:16:15,870 --> 00:16:18,310
And I think that sometimes we
think that, well, you know, if I

383
00:16:18,310 --> 00:16:21,710
come to the Lord with, with
money, or if I come to the Lord with

384
00:16:21,710 --> 00:16:25,350
status, or if I come to the
Lord with some kind of pedigree,

385
00:16:25,350 --> 00:16:29,030
like my dad was a pastor or my
granddad was a pastor or whatever

386
00:16:29,030 --> 00:16:31,230
it is, that maybe I'm saved a
different way.

387
00:16:31,390 --> 00:16:34,350
What Paul is saying throughout
all of the book of Romans is that

388
00:16:34,350 --> 00:16:37,910
everybody is saved the same
way and everybody has the same hope

389
00:16:37,910 --> 00:16:38,910
standing before the Lord.

390
00:16:38,910 --> 00:16:39,550
Meaning this.

391
00:16:39,630 --> 00:16:42,730
We can all come to him at
faith knowing that he can save us

392
00:16:42,730 --> 00:16:44,130
and that he alone can save us.

393
00:16:44,130 --> 00:16:47,690
So he says, it's my desire
that we come to a place that we are

394
00:16:47,690 --> 00:16:51,010
preaching the gospel not only
to the Gentiles, but also to my own

395
00:16:51,010 --> 00:16:51,330
people.

396
00:16:51,650 --> 00:16:54,210
And so it's not an
inevitability of lostness.

397
00:16:55,330 --> 00:16:56,850
Some rejected Jesus.

398
00:16:56,850 --> 00:17:00,530
Yes, actually this time most
rejected Jesus and they rejected

399
00:17:00,530 --> 00:17:01,570
him in his ministry.

400
00:17:02,210 --> 00:17:06,170
But we know that later on,
some believe that we, we know God

401
00:17:06,170 --> 00:17:09,660
used rejection to advance the gospel.

402
00:17:10,140 --> 00:17:15,020
Think about back in the time
of Jesus, he's going to the cross.

403
00:17:15,260 --> 00:17:18,980
And just a week before, people
were crying out hosanna.

404
00:17:18,980 --> 00:17:20,700
We just celebrated this at
Palm Sunday.

405
00:17:21,580 --> 00:17:23,980
People were expecting
something from Jesus.

406
00:17:25,100 --> 00:17:29,660
And when Jesus did not fulfill
those expectations, what happened?

407
00:17:29,660 --> 00:17:32,380
Many of them, most of them
turned on him.

408
00:17:33,030 --> 00:17:35,430
This is the same people that
were crying out hosanna.

409
00:17:35,430 --> 00:17:38,590
He's the one who's going to
save us were the same people that

410
00:17:38,590 --> 00:17:40,550
were crying out, crucify him a
week later.

411
00:17:41,190 --> 00:17:41,550
So.

412
00:17:41,550 --> 00:17:44,870
So we could very clearly see
that those rejected Jesus.

413
00:17:44,870 --> 00:17:48,790
Those people at that point in
time rejected Jesus, right?

414
00:17:49,190 --> 00:17:51,190
So some might say they
rejected Jesus.

415
00:17:51,190 --> 00:17:52,670
They had no hope of being saved.

416
00:17:52,670 --> 00:17:53,750
They missed their chance.

417
00:17:54,550 --> 00:17:58,070
But we know very shortly after
that, in the day of Pentecost, there

418
00:17:58,070 --> 00:18:01,030
were people that were in
Jerusalem that probably were crying

419
00:18:01,030 --> 00:18:04,710
out, crucify him, that saw the
change, they saw the difference and

420
00:18:04,710 --> 00:18:07,190
heard the gospel message
preached by Peter.

421
00:18:07,190 --> 00:18:08,750
And they were stirred in the.

422
00:18:08,750 --> 00:18:11,310
In the spirit to trust in
Jesus and come to Christ.

423
00:18:11,310 --> 00:18:13,830
And so those people were not
inevitably lost.

424
00:18:13,990 --> 00:18:16,470
And what we look at today is
that there's people out there that

425
00:18:16,470 --> 00:18:19,790
might be so far away from the
Lord that we might be tempted to

426
00:18:19,790 --> 00:18:20,710
say that they're.

427
00:18:20,710 --> 00:18:21,990
They're inevitably lost.

428
00:18:22,390 --> 00:18:24,310
There's no chance they're
going to come to Christ.

429
00:18:24,470 --> 00:18:26,870
There's no way that that
person would humble themselves and

430
00:18:26,870 --> 00:18:27,430
come to Christ.

431
00:18:27,840 --> 00:18:30,160
But the truth is, is that
that's not our decision to make.

432
00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:31,400
That's.

433
00:18:31,400 --> 00:18:34,880
That's not our marching
orders, is to look at someone and

434
00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:37,120
make a judgment call whether
or not they're going to be saved.

435
00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:40,480
It's our job, it's our
purpose, to preach the message of

436
00:18:40,480 --> 00:18:43,160
the truth, to pray for those
that are lost to stay at it.

437
00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:46,400
And you know what that might
be, that God would save that person,

438
00:18:46,400 --> 00:18:48,640
that that person might come to
a place of humility.

439
00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:51,960
And then that would be a day
of rejoicing for the nation of Israel,

440
00:18:51,960 --> 00:18:53,120
for the people in our families.

441
00:18:53,620 --> 00:18:56,300
And I think for some of us,
maybe there's a burden upon our lives

442
00:18:56,300 --> 00:18:57,180
to say, you know what?

443
00:18:57,180 --> 00:18:58,180
I really love this person.

444
00:18:58,180 --> 00:18:59,420
I really want them to come to Christ.

445
00:18:59,420 --> 00:19:02,660
But I don't think they'll ever
get saved by the way that they're

446
00:19:02,660 --> 00:19:04,180
talking, by the way that
they're acting.

447
00:19:04,420 --> 00:19:07,580
I could say that there is a
sense of spiritual stupor in their

448
00:19:07,580 --> 00:19:07,820
life.

449
00:19:07,820 --> 00:19:08,140
There.

450
00:19:08,140 --> 00:19:09,380
There is a sense of.

451
00:19:09,460 --> 00:19:13,380
Of being deaf to the cause of
the gospel, to the truth of the gospel.

452
00:19:14,020 --> 00:19:15,620
And I would say to you, don't
give up.

453
00:19:16,500 --> 00:19:19,060
Pray for them, as Paul says here.

454
00:19:19,060 --> 00:19:21,060
Have a desire to see them come
to Christ.

455
00:19:21,430 --> 00:19:24,870
Do everything that you
possibly can to be the light to a

456
00:19:24,870 --> 00:19:26,870
person who needs the truth of
Jesus Christ.

457
00:19:27,030 --> 00:19:29,070
They need to see that Jesus
can change.

458
00:19:29,070 --> 00:19:30,630
They need to hear the gospel.

459
00:19:30,710 --> 00:19:33,870
But ultimately we know that
it's through prayer and trusting

460
00:19:33,870 --> 00:19:36,470
in the Lord for the Holy
Spirit to awaken their hearts and

461
00:19:36,470 --> 00:19:38,190
bring them to a place of repentance.

462
00:19:38,190 --> 00:19:39,670
And bring them to a place of faith.

463
00:19:40,150 --> 00:19:42,990
Folks, sometimes we give up
too easily on people that are walking

464
00:19:42,990 --> 00:19:45,670
away from the Lord or maybe
have never even come to the Lord.

465
00:19:46,070 --> 00:19:49,680
And we look at it from the
perception of humanity to say they'll

466
00:19:49,680 --> 00:19:50,760
never come to Jesus Christ.

467
00:19:50,760 --> 00:19:52,520
And that's what many people
were saying here.

468
00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:54,920
They said, there's no way that
they can come to the Lord.

469
00:19:55,080 --> 00:19:56,600
And Paul says, no, they can't.

470
00:19:56,760 --> 00:19:58,560
And I pray that some of them
might be saved.

471
00:19:58,560 --> 00:19:59,160
Verse 15.

472
00:19:59,320 --> 00:20:02,840
For if the casting away of
them be the reconciling of the world,

473
00:20:02,840 --> 00:20:06,040
meaning though they're cast
away because of the rebellion, there

474
00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:09,440
is a reconciliation with the
world, meaning that the Gentiles,

475
00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:12,680
the ones that were not lumped
into the family of God before they

476
00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:13,800
can now come to Christ.

477
00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:15,960
He says, what shall the
receiving of them be?

478
00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:20,720
Meaning the Jewish people, but
from life, but life from the death,

479
00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:23,320
meaning this, it'll be a
beautiful thing, just like every

480
00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:24,040
salvation is.

481
00:20:24,040 --> 00:20:26,520
It's a picture of death to life.

482
00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:32,880
It's a picture of having new
hope, as Peter mentions in his Epistle

483
00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:35,800
that he talks about it going
from darkness into marvelous light.

484
00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:40,280
So verse 15 he says, yes, he's
kind of painting a picture of how

485
00:20:40,280 --> 00:20:43,440
great it will be when those
people come to Christ.

486
00:20:43,440 --> 00:20:46,650
And there will be this
restoration, that there will be this

487
00:20:46,650 --> 00:20:47,610
time of celebrating.

488
00:20:47,610 --> 00:20:51,370
He says, just as it's been a
blessing that they rejected and many

489
00:20:51,370 --> 00:20:54,450
people came in, so it'll be
even more of a blessing when we see

490
00:20:54,450 --> 00:20:57,370
them come back and they are
taken from death to life.

491
00:20:58,570 --> 00:21:01,970
And so he talks here about
there is the prophecy of stubbornness.

492
00:21:01,970 --> 00:21:03,330
This is something that God
knew about.

493
00:21:03,330 --> 00:21:06,330
This is something to some
degree that God allowed and ordained.

494
00:21:06,570 --> 00:21:09,490
But at the same time, there is
a difference between stumbling and

495
00:21:09,490 --> 00:21:09,930
falling.

496
00:21:10,250 --> 00:21:10,510
And.

497
00:21:10,580 --> 00:21:13,180
And what Paul is saying here
is that though the nation of Israel

498
00:21:13,180 --> 00:21:17,500
is stumbling, there is not a
place that they are so far gone that

499
00:21:17,500 --> 00:21:18,660
they can't come to Christ again.

500
00:21:19,300 --> 00:21:21,540
And that goes to our own life
as a Christian.

501
00:21:21,700 --> 00:21:23,060
It's a similar principle.

502
00:21:23,460 --> 00:21:23,980
There's a.

503
00:21:23,980 --> 00:21:27,580
There's a psalmist, as though
he fall, he shall not be utterly

504
00:21:27,580 --> 00:21:28,140
cast down.

505
00:21:28,140 --> 00:21:31,300
It's the same idea of there is
a time and a place in our life that

506
00:21:31,300 --> 00:21:33,900
we might have had a stumble,
we might even have struggled with

507
00:21:33,900 --> 00:21:36,820
something, we might have even
gone to a place of doubt and confusion.

508
00:21:37,180 --> 00:21:40,220
But ultimately, if we are a
child of God, there is no casting

509
00:21:40,220 --> 00:21:43,180
out, because we have that hope
that we have the security in him.

510
00:21:43,180 --> 00:21:47,020
And so he says in verse 15,
there can be this hope still there's

511
00:21:47,020 --> 00:21:48,300
still hope for the loss.

512
00:21:50,460 --> 00:21:50,820
So.

513
00:21:50,820 --> 00:21:55,660
So God allows good to come
through the rejection.

514
00:21:56,540 --> 00:21:59,140
Sometimes we think that God is
limited by our decisions.

515
00:21:59,140 --> 00:22:03,780
And that's actually what we
would call something that is very

516
00:22:03,780 --> 00:22:07,420
detrimental to our faith
because we think that we can limit

517
00:22:07,420 --> 00:22:07,780
God.

518
00:22:08,340 --> 00:22:11,300
And we look at a situation and
someone says, well, you know what?

519
00:22:11,460 --> 00:22:12,580
Look at our nation today.

520
00:22:12,580 --> 00:22:14,540
Look at all these bad
decisions that people are making.

521
00:22:14,540 --> 00:22:15,860
God can't work in our nation.

522
00:22:16,260 --> 00:22:19,540
I'm going to say that
regardless of our decisions, God's

523
00:22:19,540 --> 00:22:20,100
always working.

524
00:22:20,580 --> 00:22:21,780
We cannot hinder God.

525
00:22:21,780 --> 00:22:23,300
That's the picture of sovereignty.

526
00:22:23,460 --> 00:22:25,740
A lot of times people think
sovereignty is God just up there

527
00:22:25,740 --> 00:22:28,740
moving us around like chess
pieces and that we have no choice.

528
00:22:29,220 --> 00:22:32,500
I believe that that's a
limited view of God's sovereignty.

529
00:22:32,500 --> 00:22:35,430
I believe that that Scripture
teaches that God allows us to have

530
00:22:35,430 --> 00:22:36,350
decisions that we make.

531
00:22:36,350 --> 00:22:40,030
And God is still sovereignly
powerful to deal with all those decisions

532
00:22:40,030 --> 00:22:41,270
and work it out for his good.

533
00:22:41,430 --> 00:22:46,110
And so we see ultimately what
happens here is that God allows for

534
00:22:46,110 --> 00:22:47,870
the nation of Israel to make a choice.

535
00:22:47,870 --> 00:22:50,830
And for the most part, they
made a choice to reject Jesus, even

536
00:22:50,830 --> 00:22:51,790
though there is a remnant.

537
00:22:51,790 --> 00:22:53,830
He does say that not everyone
is this.

538
00:22:53,990 --> 00:22:56,950
But he says that through this,
good can come through those people

539
00:22:56,950 --> 00:22:57,550
that reject.

540
00:22:57,550 --> 00:23:00,470
Because we've seen now more
people come into the fold.

541
00:23:00,550 --> 00:23:03,830
But then we also were reminded
in this passage that there's still

542
00:23:03,830 --> 00:23:04,710
hope for the lost.

543
00:23:05,880 --> 00:23:08,480
It's not a death sentence,
even though it's a death sentence

544
00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:09,000
at the end.

545
00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:11,360
We know that if someone dies
in their sin.

546
00:23:11,360 --> 00:23:14,240
We know that if someone stays
in their rebellion that they will

547
00:23:14,240 --> 00:23:14,880
be rejected.

548
00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:18,000
They will not be welcomed into
the family of God just because of

549
00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:20,839
something called universalism,
that if God loves everyone, everyone

550
00:23:20,839 --> 00:23:21,480
comes in.

551
00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:23,080
No, that's not what that's
talking about.

552
00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:24,440
What that's talking about is this.

553
00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:26,680
If they're still drawing
breath, it's never too late.

554
00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:29,640
I've heard of some people
talking about deathbed confessions

555
00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:31,280
and having a real struggle
with that.

556
00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:34,620
And I really think that, like,
well, hey, don't you look at the

557
00:23:34,620 --> 00:23:35,460
thief on the cross?

558
00:23:35,700 --> 00:23:38,140
I mean, if you don't believe
in deathbed confessions, then you

559
00:23:38,140 --> 00:23:40,780
can't believe the Scripture
because Scripture teaches that there

560
00:23:40,780 --> 00:23:43,140
was someone that was hanging
on the cross that wasn't going to

561
00:23:43,140 --> 00:23:43,900
live very much longer.

562
00:23:43,900 --> 00:23:45,940
And he believed, and the Lord
gave him salvation.

563
00:23:46,340 --> 00:23:48,460
And I want you to see here
that it's not too late.

564
00:23:48,460 --> 00:23:50,820
If there's someone there, even
if they're in rebellion, even if

565
00:23:50,820 --> 00:23:53,340
they're in sin, we need to be
preaching the message of the truth

566
00:23:53,340 --> 00:23:53,780
to them.

567
00:23:53,860 --> 00:23:57,220
We need to be living as salt
and light to them, not just by what

568
00:23:57,220 --> 00:23:59,940
we say, but by what we do, by
word and by deed.

569
00:24:00,610 --> 00:24:02,250
And then he goes on to say this.

570
00:24:02,250 --> 00:24:05,210
In verse 16, he says, for if
the first fruit be holy.

571
00:24:05,210 --> 00:24:06,370
Now who's the first fruit?

572
00:24:06,370 --> 00:24:09,170
Well, there's a lot of debate
on who the first fruit is, but most

573
00:24:09,170 --> 00:24:11,450
commentators would say that
that is the early church.

574
00:24:11,450 --> 00:24:13,250
That would be the church there
in Jerusalem.

575
00:24:13,570 --> 00:24:15,170
Now, remember who the first
fruits were.

576
00:24:15,650 --> 00:24:16,930
They were not Gentiles.

577
00:24:17,330 --> 00:24:18,370
They were Jewish people.

578
00:24:19,090 --> 00:24:19,490
The.

579
00:24:19,570 --> 00:24:23,570
The Gentile salvations don't
come really until later on in the

580
00:24:23,570 --> 00:24:24,210
Book of Acts.

581
00:24:24,290 --> 00:24:27,210
But what we see there in early
parts of the Book of Acts and their

582
00:24:27,210 --> 00:24:29,740
Pentecost, he says that the
first fruits be holy.

583
00:24:29,740 --> 00:24:31,460
The lump is also holy.

584
00:24:31,540 --> 00:24:34,660
If the root be holy, so are
also the branches.

585
00:24:35,620 --> 00:24:36,820
What is he talking about here?

586
00:24:36,900 --> 00:24:38,540
He's talking about this idea
that as.

587
00:24:38,540 --> 00:24:41,460
As Christians, as believers,
no matter if you're Jew or gentile,

588
00:24:41,460 --> 00:24:43,620
you're tapped into a greater root.

589
00:24:43,700 --> 00:24:44,740
And who is the root?

590
00:24:44,740 --> 00:24:47,860
Well, there's a lot of thought
about that in this passage.

591
00:24:47,860 --> 00:24:50,780
Most people in this passage
would talk about that, that the root

592
00:24:50,780 --> 00:24:51,940
is the nation of Israel.

593
00:24:51,940 --> 00:24:55,140
It's how God revealed himself
through the law, through the prophets,

594
00:24:55,140 --> 00:24:56,800
and ultimately through the Messiah.

595
00:24:56,800 --> 00:25:00,720
He says that we are branches
of that we've tapped into ultimately

596
00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:01,200
the Lord.

597
00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:04,520
And we even know in John 15
that he is the vine, we are the branches.

598
00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:07,720
But before the first fruit be
holy, the lump is also holy.

599
00:25:08,120 --> 00:25:10,280
So the whole group that have
come into faith is.

600
00:25:10,280 --> 00:25:12,200
Is holy, meaning separated, special.

601
00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:14,960
If the root be holy, so are
the branches.

602
00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:15,160
So.

603
00:25:15,160 --> 00:25:16,840
So we get to be beneficiaries
of it.

604
00:25:16,840 --> 00:25:17,480
Verse 17.

605
00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:21,560
And if some of the branches be
broken off, and thou, being a wild

606
00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:25,910
olive tree, were grafted in
among them, and with them partakers

607
00:25:25,910 --> 00:25:27,790
of the root and fatness of the
olive tree.

608
00:25:27,790 --> 00:25:30,510
So you might say, what is he
talking about here with this olive

609
00:25:30,510 --> 00:25:30,870
tree?

610
00:25:31,030 --> 00:25:33,470
And I think it's important for
us to note what he's talking about

611
00:25:33,470 --> 00:25:33,830
here.

612
00:25:34,550 --> 00:25:36,950
So what happens here is, is
that there's a picture that there's

613
00:25:36,950 --> 00:25:38,550
this tree, there's this olive tree.

614
00:25:39,030 --> 00:25:41,870
And the picture of the tree,
it has branches.

615
00:25:41,870 --> 00:25:45,790
And what would happen back in
that time and even today is that

616
00:25:45,790 --> 00:25:48,550
if there was an old olive tree
and it had lost its.

617
00:25:48,790 --> 00:25:53,720
Its fruitfulness, it had lost
its healthiness, it would mean that

618
00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:56,360
there would be a time they
would need to remedy that.

619
00:25:56,520 --> 00:25:59,880
And so history tells us that
they would cut away some of the failing

620
00:25:59,880 --> 00:26:01,560
branches of the tree.

621
00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:05,640
And then there would be these
wild olive branches that would be

622
00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:09,400
grafted in to give
invigorating life to that tree, more

623
00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:10,600
fruitfulness to the tree.

624
00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:12,280
So the picture here would be this.

625
00:26:12,360 --> 00:26:14,560
You have the root of the Lord, You.

626
00:26:14,560 --> 00:26:15,720
You have the.

627
00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:19,960
The nation of Israel, who had
lost its fruitfulness, had lost its

628
00:26:19,960 --> 00:26:20,880
passion for him.

629
00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:23,840
Then we would see that there's
these wild olive branches, the.

630
00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:26,880
The Gentiles, that were
grafted in to bring vitalization

631
00:26:27,360 --> 00:26:28,880
to this, the.

632
00:26:28,880 --> 00:26:30,080
The kingdom of God.

633
00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:31,720
And therefore we have that.

634
00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:33,360
We are the beneficiaries of that.

635
00:26:33,360 --> 00:26:34,920
It says there at the end of
verse 17.

636
00:26:34,920 --> 00:26:38,320
And with them partakers of the
root and fatness of the olive tree.

637
00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:39,880
So we're the wild olive branch.

638
00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:43,680
The Gentiles are the wild
olive branch grafted into the root.

639
00:26:43,940 --> 00:26:47,220
And we are taking in, as this
is the fatness or the healthiness

640
00:26:47,780 --> 00:26:50,500
of the root of the olive tree.

641
00:26:51,860 --> 00:26:55,620
And so there's this idea that
we are the bl.

642
00:26:55,620 --> 00:26:56,940
We are the blessed, right?

643
00:26:56,940 --> 00:26:58,740
From the One who has given us
the blessings.

644
00:26:58,740 --> 00:27:01,380
And so the first fruits were
the early church.

645
00:27:01,380 --> 00:27:04,180
And then some of the branches
were taken off, and some of these

646
00:27:04,180 --> 00:27:05,620
new branches are added in.

647
00:27:05,860 --> 00:27:08,420
But then he says in verse
number 18, something very important,

648
00:27:08,420 --> 00:27:10,950
because he says, oh, okay,
remember your standing.

649
00:27:10,950 --> 00:27:12,030
You were grafted in.

650
00:27:12,750 --> 00:27:13,310
Remember?

651
00:27:13,390 --> 00:27:13,710
You.

652
00:27:13,710 --> 00:27:14,830
You did not earn this.

653
00:27:15,070 --> 00:27:15,390
You.

654
00:27:15,390 --> 00:27:16,630
You were given a blessing.

655
00:27:16,630 --> 00:27:19,550
You were given an opportunity
by grace.

656
00:27:19,710 --> 00:27:20,350
Verse 18.

657
00:27:20,350 --> 00:27:24,470
Boast not against the
branches, but if thou boast out,

658
00:27:24,470 --> 00:27:27,470
bearers, not the root, but the
root, thee.

659
00:27:27,870 --> 00:27:28,870
So what is he saying here?

660
00:27:28,870 --> 00:27:29,550
He's saying this.

661
00:27:30,190 --> 00:27:33,390
Don't ever get so prideful
with your salvation thinking that

662
00:27:33,390 --> 00:27:35,870
you earned it, because you're
not the ones that are in rebellion.

663
00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:38,240
Because, number one, you could
turn to rebellion and.

664
00:27:38,320 --> 00:27:39,840
And find issues.

665
00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:43,280
But the number two, you were
not given this opportunity because

666
00:27:43,280 --> 00:27:43,920
you earned it.

667
00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:46,600
You were given this
opportunity because God graced you

668
00:27:46,600 --> 00:27:47,040
with it.

669
00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:49,600
And therefore we can never get
prideful in our salvation.

670
00:27:50,640 --> 00:27:53,360
And oftentimes we start
thinking that, you know, we either

671
00:27:53,360 --> 00:27:55,840
earned our salvation or
whether or not we.

672
00:27:55,920 --> 00:27:58,160
We keep God's love because of
what we do.

673
00:27:58,320 --> 00:28:00,720
You know, we're good people,
we're the right people.

674
00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:04,460
And then actually, what we see
here is he's condemning them to look

675
00:28:04,460 --> 00:28:07,140
down upon the nation of Israel
because of their rebellion.

676
00:28:07,140 --> 00:28:07,460
Why?

677
00:28:07,540 --> 00:28:10,260
Because if we're not careful,
we can fall into that same rebellion.

678
00:28:10,500 --> 00:28:11,860
The church can fall away.

679
00:28:12,500 --> 00:28:15,140
Now, I'm not saying that we
can lose our salvation, but what

680
00:28:15,140 --> 00:28:16,180
I can say is this.

681
00:28:16,180 --> 00:28:17,300
There's a time and a place.

682
00:28:17,300 --> 00:28:21,060
If we dismiss the head of the
body, which is Jesus Christ.

683
00:28:21,300 --> 00:28:25,140
If we dismiss the chief
cornerstone of the spiritual building

684
00:28:25,140 --> 00:28:27,620
of the church, which would
mean that's Jesus.

685
00:28:27,620 --> 00:28:29,930
If we dismiss Jesus, which
means we have no hope.

686
00:28:29,930 --> 00:28:32,450
And he says, that's really the
problem with everybody.

687
00:28:32,450 --> 00:28:35,130
The problem with everybody
that has not found salvation is that

688
00:28:35,130 --> 00:28:36,530
they've dismissed Jesus Christ.

689
00:28:36,690 --> 00:28:39,290
They've dismissed the
cornerstone, they've dismissed the

690
00:28:39,290 --> 00:28:42,170
head of the body, they've
dismissed the centerpiece of everything.

691
00:28:42,170 --> 00:28:44,170
Then that's the hope in Jesus Christ.

692
00:28:44,170 --> 00:28:47,770
And so he says, just as they
had a problem, so we'll have a problem

693
00:28:47,770 --> 00:28:50,450
if we turn away from the truth
of God.

694
00:28:50,930 --> 00:28:54,330
And so there, at the end of
this thought that he gives.

695
00:28:54,330 --> 00:28:55,130
And there's more.

696
00:28:55,130 --> 00:28:58,000
And we'll come back to these
later on at another study.

697
00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:01,040
But essentially, the whole
challenge for us in this passage

698
00:29:01,040 --> 00:29:03,680
is to, number one, understand
that there's hope for the loss.

699
00:29:03,680 --> 00:29:05,080
We should never give up on them.

700
00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:08,200
And number two, we should
never get so prideful in our salvation

701
00:29:08,360 --> 00:29:10,640
that we get to a place where
we think that it's something that

702
00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:13,120
we've earned, that we think
that it's something that we can keep

703
00:29:13,120 --> 00:29:13,560
earning.

704
00:29:13,960 --> 00:29:16,720
I heard someone recently say
that, you know, you've got to keep

705
00:29:16,720 --> 00:29:19,720
up a certain standard in your
life to keep being saved.

706
00:29:20,120 --> 00:29:21,800
And I'm like, there's no way.

707
00:29:22,450 --> 00:29:24,210
Because none of us could keep
that standard up.

708
00:29:24,370 --> 00:29:29,050
None of us could keep up that
sense of holiness that we need for

709
00:29:29,050 --> 00:29:29,650
salvation.

710
00:29:29,890 --> 00:29:32,290
Because if, you know, I lose
things all the time.

711
00:29:32,450 --> 00:29:33,010
Okay?

712
00:29:33,730 --> 00:29:34,370
I was.

713
00:29:34,610 --> 00:29:37,810
A while ago, I was in denial
that I lost things.

714
00:29:38,930 --> 00:29:43,370
I just would always blame it
on my kids or my dog or I never would

715
00:29:43,370 --> 00:29:44,090
blame it on my wife.

716
00:29:44,090 --> 00:29:45,410
That would never be smart.

717
00:29:47,090 --> 00:29:48,170
But I would lose things.

718
00:29:48,170 --> 00:29:49,730
And I'd say, I can't figure
this out.

719
00:29:49,730 --> 00:29:51,890
So then I came to a place you
go through different stages.

720
00:29:51,970 --> 00:29:53,410
It was in the denial stage.

721
00:29:54,170 --> 00:29:56,130
And then I went to the stage
of, like, acceptance.

722
00:29:56,130 --> 00:29:58,410
And then so I went out and I
bought these things.

723
00:29:58,410 --> 00:29:59,770
Some of you might know what
they're called.

724
00:29:59,850 --> 00:30:02,130
They're called tiles or, like, little.

725
00:30:02,130 --> 00:30:04,970
They're like little tags that
you put on everything that you have.

726
00:30:05,050 --> 00:30:07,090
And then all I got to do is
it'll track where it is.

727
00:30:07,090 --> 00:30:09,770
And then I can just set on my
phone and say, go, okay.

728
00:30:10,810 --> 00:30:12,290
So I have that on everything now.

729
00:30:12,290 --> 00:30:12,730
Okay?

730
00:30:12,970 --> 00:30:14,010
So I'm always around the house.

731
00:30:14,010 --> 00:30:16,570
Every time I leave the house,
I push my little button, and my keys

732
00:30:16,570 --> 00:30:19,170
are going off in one room, and
my wallet's in the other room and

733
00:30:19,170 --> 00:30:19,850
all my other stuff.

734
00:30:19,850 --> 00:30:23,990
And so if I could lose it,
then I would, because of my inadequacies

735
00:30:23,990 --> 00:30:28,110
and because of my hindrances,
because of my selfishness.

736
00:30:28,510 --> 00:30:29,030
I'm not.

737
00:30:29,030 --> 00:30:30,030
I'm not the.

738
00:30:30,430 --> 00:30:31,910
The one who knows all.

739
00:30:31,910 --> 00:30:35,510
And so we use that as an
analogy, and it's a silly, funny

740
00:30:35,510 --> 00:30:36,030
analogy.

741
00:30:36,030 --> 00:30:38,870
But at the end of the day, we
all understand that the salvation

742
00:30:38,870 --> 00:30:40,350
that we have is nothing that
we've earned.

743
00:30:40,430 --> 00:30:43,070
The salvation that we have
found in Christ is because of what

744
00:30:43,070 --> 00:30:44,030
he has done for us.

745
00:30:44,110 --> 00:30:50,610
So he says, boast not against
the branches, lest the Gentiles think

746
00:30:50,610 --> 00:30:55,050
the Gentile Christians think
that they're superior to the Jews.

747
00:30:55,050 --> 00:30:56,890
Because, because Paul says,
you know, don't think that you're

748
00:30:56,890 --> 00:30:59,330
better than them, because
that's actually what can happen.

749
00:30:59,490 --> 00:31:01,690
Like, we can look at the Jews
and say, you know what?

750
00:31:01,690 --> 00:31:04,370
They, they rejected Jesus, so
we're better than them.

751
00:31:04,610 --> 00:31:08,690
He says, lest you think that
you're better than them.

752
00:31:09,410 --> 00:31:13,650
Paul reminds us that it's the
root that supports the branches,

753
00:31:13,650 --> 00:31:14,610
not the other way around.

754
00:31:15,070 --> 00:31:15,470
Not, not.

755
00:31:15,470 --> 00:31:17,150
Not the branches supporting
the root.

756
00:31:17,950 --> 00:31:20,630
And, and that's a whole other
passage that we could go to is John

757
00:31:20,630 --> 00:31:20,990
15.

758
00:31:20,990 --> 00:31:24,110
Because there's times in our
life where we think that we're supporting

759
00:31:24,110 --> 00:31:27,430
the Lord, that, that, that we
think we're the ones that are carrying

760
00:31:27,430 --> 00:31:30,150
the message, that we think
that we're the ones that are securing

761
00:31:30,150 --> 00:31:30,830
our salvation.

762
00:31:31,070 --> 00:31:33,990
But really, if we're the
branches, we're reliant upon the

763
00:31:33,990 --> 00:31:34,430
roots.

764
00:31:34,750 --> 00:31:37,830
Now, in this specific context,
most commentators would believe that

765
00:31:37,830 --> 00:31:40,630
Paul is actually saying that
Jesus came through the nation of

766
00:31:40,630 --> 00:31:41,070
Israel.

767
00:31:41,070 --> 00:31:42,270
So we're reliant on them.

768
00:31:42,270 --> 00:31:43,550
We're never better than them.

769
00:31:43,900 --> 00:31:45,700
They're not better than us,
and we're not better than them.

770
00:31:45,700 --> 00:31:48,300
But we have to understand
where the source of all of this was.

771
00:31:48,620 --> 00:31:50,980
But I think the greater
picture that all of us can take with

772
00:31:50,980 --> 00:31:54,500
us as he's talking here about
not boasting against the other branches

773
00:31:54,500 --> 00:31:54,940
is this.

774
00:31:55,020 --> 00:31:57,380
I can't look at another
Christian and say, well, I'm better

775
00:31:57,380 --> 00:32:01,100
than them because I worship
better, or I'm more faithful than

776
00:32:01,100 --> 00:32:01,420
them.

777
00:32:01,980 --> 00:32:04,300
You know, I think that's a lot
of times where, like, I. I always

778
00:32:04,300 --> 00:32:07,500
tell people I'm a recovering
Pharisee, okay?

779
00:32:07,500 --> 00:32:09,420
I'm working on it every single
day of my life.

780
00:32:10,660 --> 00:32:13,100
But there's been times in my
life where I've often looked at another

781
00:32:13,100 --> 00:32:15,020
Christian who doesn't worship
the same way as me.

782
00:32:15,020 --> 00:32:15,420
And I've.

783
00:32:15,420 --> 00:32:16,140
I've said, you know what?

784
00:32:16,140 --> 00:32:18,020
I understand God better.

785
00:32:18,020 --> 00:32:19,380
Okay, confession time.

786
00:32:19,460 --> 00:32:22,540
I understand God better than
them because I'm worshiping the right

787
00:32:22,540 --> 00:32:23,620
way, my way.

788
00:32:24,500 --> 00:32:27,060
But what we have to understand
is that in and of itself is based

789
00:32:27,060 --> 00:32:27,620
in pride.

790
00:32:28,020 --> 00:32:31,020
Because I'm saying I'm better,
because I worship better, because

791
00:32:31,020 --> 00:32:32,180
I know the better way.

792
00:32:32,500 --> 00:32:37,220
Now, I may or may not be
aligned with Scripture in that, but

793
00:32:37,220 --> 00:32:38,300
what I will say is this.

794
00:32:38,540 --> 00:32:42,420
He's warning us not to have
that sense of pride and arrogance

795
00:32:42,420 --> 00:32:46,220
and piety above other
Christians because you know what

796
00:32:46,220 --> 00:32:46,940
they could do?

797
00:32:47,420 --> 00:32:49,740
They probably could turn
around and do the same thing to us.

798
00:32:50,380 --> 00:32:52,540
Well, they're not worshiping
the way that we're worshiping.

799
00:32:52,700 --> 00:32:55,660
And so then it gets down to
the well, who's right, who's wrong?

800
00:32:55,740 --> 00:33:00,020
Well, we know that Scripture
is always right, but oftentimes we

801
00:33:00,020 --> 00:33:03,300
are divided and judging other
Christians on things that are not

802
00:33:03,300 --> 00:33:03,820
biblical.

803
00:33:05,240 --> 00:33:08,320
It's one thing if another
church is preaching complete heresy,

804
00:33:08,320 --> 00:33:10,440
then of course we separate
ourselves from them.

805
00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:12,920
Of course we warn others about that.

806
00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:16,000
But in this case, we need to
be very careful that we don't come

807
00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:17,360
into it with a sense of pride.

808
00:33:17,360 --> 00:33:19,880
I want you to go with me to
Philippians chapter two.

809
00:33:21,080 --> 00:33:25,840
Philippians chapter two is the
defining passage of Scripture that

810
00:33:25,840 --> 00:33:31,170
speaks of us being humble in
our presentation to others, humble

811
00:33:31,170 --> 00:33:32,410
in our reaction to others.

812
00:33:32,730 --> 00:33:34,530
And then it gives us the why
behind it.

813
00:33:34,530 --> 00:33:38,010
The why behind it is because
of the example of Jesus Christ.

814
00:33:38,890 --> 00:33:42,450
If anybody had a sense to be
above others and think that they

815
00:33:42,450 --> 00:33:45,370
had a right to be prideful, it
was Jesus.

816
00:33:45,370 --> 00:33:48,490
But it says in Philippians
chapter two, if there be therefore

817
00:33:48,490 --> 00:33:50,090
any consolation in Christ.

818
00:33:50,250 --> 00:33:52,450
He's actually asking
rhetorical questions here because

819
00:33:52,450 --> 00:33:53,850
we know there's consolation in Christ.

820
00:33:54,090 --> 00:33:56,410
He says, if any comfort of
love, well, we know there's comfort

821
00:33:56,410 --> 00:33:56,810
in love.

822
00:33:57,100 --> 00:33:59,340
If any fellowship with the
Spirit, we know that there's fellowship

823
00:33:59,340 --> 00:33:59,940
of the Spirit.

824
00:33:59,940 --> 00:34:04,780
If any bowels and mercies will
fill ye my joy, that ye be like minded

825
00:34:05,180 --> 00:34:08,220
having the same love, being of
one accord and of one mind.

826
00:34:08,540 --> 00:34:11,740
There's no way that we can
have one accord in one mind and live

827
00:34:11,740 --> 00:34:12,300
in pride.

828
00:34:12,859 --> 00:34:17,060
He says, let nothing be done
through strife or vain glory, but

829
00:34:17,060 --> 00:34:18,460
in lowliness of mind.

830
00:34:18,460 --> 00:34:20,380
Let each esteem other better
than themselves.

831
00:34:20,700 --> 00:34:24,220
Let not every man look not
every man on his own things, but

832
00:34:24,220 --> 00:34:26,100
every man also on the things
of others.

833
00:34:26,100 --> 00:34:29,180
Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus.

834
00:34:29,740 --> 00:34:34,300
So the warning In Romans
chapter 11 at the end of this passage

835
00:34:34,300 --> 00:34:38,620
here, at least in verse number
18, is a reminder to us to not allow

836
00:34:38,620 --> 00:34:42,620
ourselves to get to a place
where we're so prideful, where we're

837
00:34:42,620 --> 00:34:45,020
so stuck up, that we think
it's something that we've earned

838
00:34:45,020 --> 00:34:48,220
and that other people were
better than them because we're the

839
00:34:48,220 --> 00:34:49,180
ones who have believed.

840
00:34:49,670 --> 00:34:51,310
No, it's just those people are different.

841
00:34:51,310 --> 00:34:54,430
Those people might still need
Jesus and we need to get busy about

842
00:34:54,430 --> 00:34:54,790
that.

843
00:34:55,030 --> 00:34:55,750
Verse 19.

844
00:34:55,750 --> 00:34:58,590
He says, Thou will say, then
the branches were broken off, that

845
00:34:58,590 --> 00:34:59,590
I might be grafted in.

846
00:34:59,590 --> 00:35:02,990
Meaning, look at me like I'm
better than the nation of Israel

847
00:35:02,990 --> 00:35:04,310
because they missed their chance.

848
00:35:04,790 --> 00:35:06,830
Look at me, I'm the one that's
been grafted in.

849
00:35:06,830 --> 00:35:10,990
And then he says in verse 20,
well, because of unbelief, they were

850
00:35:10,990 --> 00:35:13,830
broken off and thou standest
by faith.

851
00:35:13,830 --> 00:35:15,590
Be not high minded, but fear.

852
00:35:15,590 --> 00:35:18,900
Meaning, don't get to that
place where you think, well, I'm

853
00:35:18,900 --> 00:35:22,180
better than them because they
were the ones that didn't believe.

854
00:35:22,180 --> 00:35:26,380
He says the reason why they
were judged, as it says there is

855
00:35:26,380 --> 00:35:28,300
verse number 20, it was unbelief.

856
00:35:28,540 --> 00:35:32,419
And the pride that we can come
up into our lives, can rear its ugly

857
00:35:32,419 --> 00:35:34,740
head up in our lives, can lead
us to a place of unbelief.

858
00:35:34,740 --> 00:35:37,860
And he says, they were broken
off and thou standest by faith.

859
00:35:37,860 --> 00:35:40,380
He says, the only reason that
you have what you have is by faith

860
00:35:40,380 --> 00:35:42,540
in the Lord, not because of
your good works.

861
00:35:43,040 --> 00:35:44,240
Be not high minded.

862
00:35:44,320 --> 00:35:44,680
Don't.

863
00:35:44,680 --> 00:35:47,000
Don't get to a place where
you're high minded in your pride

864
00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:49,200
that you're better and that
you're superior.

865
00:35:49,200 --> 00:35:51,760
He says, because you have to
go back to that place where you're

866
00:35:51,760 --> 00:35:56,360
tapping in every single day to
that reliance on the Lord.

867
00:35:56,360 --> 00:35:57,360
He says, but fear.

868
00:35:57,840 --> 00:36:03,080
For if God spared not the
natural branches, meaning the original

869
00:36:03,080 --> 00:36:08,280
natural branches of God, judge
them, take heed, lest he also spare

870
00:36:08,280 --> 00:36:08,880
not thee.

871
00:36:10,000 --> 00:36:12,520
Meaning if we get to such a
place of pride in our lives that

872
00:36:12,520 --> 00:36:16,160
God will judge, that we have
to be so, so careful.

873
00:36:17,280 --> 00:36:21,520
And so, number one, we should
have a heart for the hope of Paul,

874
00:36:21,920 --> 00:36:24,600
the heart of the hope of the
Lord, that there will be people that

875
00:36:24,600 --> 00:36:27,040
are in rebellion that will
come to salvation.

876
00:36:27,040 --> 00:36:30,480
But then number two, we should
also have a sense of humility in

877
00:36:30,480 --> 00:36:30,800
this.

878
00:36:31,760 --> 00:36:36,010
Because if I come to people
and say, okay, you need to get saved,

879
00:36:36,330 --> 00:36:37,770
here's all of your problems in
your life.

880
00:36:37,770 --> 00:36:39,050
I'm perfect, you're not.

881
00:36:39,370 --> 00:36:43,410
So you got to be like me and
you got to act like me, you got to

882
00:36:43,410 --> 00:36:45,970
talk like me, you got to be
exactly the way that I expect you

883
00:36:45,970 --> 00:36:47,290
to be, then you can be saved.

884
00:36:47,370 --> 00:36:49,690
That's a misunderstanding of
what the Bible says.

885
00:36:50,329 --> 00:36:51,450
That's how I've been there.

886
00:36:51,450 --> 00:36:51,890
I've Been there.

887
00:36:51,890 --> 00:36:55,290
I've wanted people to talk
like me, act like me, be exactly

888
00:36:55,290 --> 00:36:56,730
the way that I feel
comfortable with.

889
00:36:56,730 --> 00:36:58,010
And then you're a good Christian.

890
00:36:58,410 --> 00:37:00,730
The truth is that we have to
go back to what Scripture says.

891
00:37:01,330 --> 00:37:03,730
What does scripture say brings
someone to salvation?

892
00:37:04,290 --> 00:37:06,690
Well, following all the rules
of Middletown Baptist Church.

893
00:37:06,690 --> 00:37:09,810
No, what brings people to
salvation is faith in Jesus Christ.

894
00:37:10,370 --> 00:37:14,690
Then there's discipleship,
then there's preferences, then there's

895
00:37:14,690 --> 00:37:16,930
all these other things that we
work out within the Christian life.

896
00:37:16,930 --> 00:37:20,050
But he says, don't be so high
minded, don't be so hottie, don't

897
00:37:20,050 --> 00:37:22,810
be so prideful that you get to
the place in your life where you

898
00:37:22,810 --> 00:37:25,250
think that nobody else is on
your standard.

899
00:37:27,100 --> 00:37:30,660
There are many people that are
within the church, and I've been

900
00:37:30,660 --> 00:37:34,980
one of these that might get to
a place where, you know what?

901
00:37:34,980 --> 00:37:37,100
I think that I'm so
comfortable in my faith that I don't

902
00:37:37,100 --> 00:37:38,500
even need to think about it anymore.

903
00:37:38,500 --> 00:37:39,980
I don't need to have fear.

904
00:37:39,980 --> 00:37:42,740
I don't need to have the
righteous respect for the Lord.

905
00:37:42,740 --> 00:37:45,420
I can kind of just do my own
thing and just be resting in the

906
00:37:45,420 --> 00:37:46,140
grace of God.

907
00:37:46,140 --> 00:37:48,300
But Paul's addressed that in
Romans, chapter six.

908
00:37:48,300 --> 00:37:50,140
We shouldn't just abuse the
grace of God.

909
00:37:50,140 --> 00:37:54,550
He says, don't live in Pride,
verse number 20, but live in fear.

910
00:37:54,550 --> 00:37:56,270
Proper fear, proper respect.

911
00:37:56,270 --> 00:37:58,830
That God could cut us off if
he wanted to.

912
00:37:59,470 --> 00:38:00,270
He doesn't.

913
00:38:00,590 --> 00:38:02,670
But we're thankful for the
fact that he has that grace.

914
00:38:02,670 --> 00:38:05,630
He says there would be a time
where the Gentile church could get

915
00:38:05,630 --> 00:38:07,390
to a place where there's
judgment there.

916
00:38:08,269 --> 00:38:10,630
And we're going to talk more
about that as we come along in the,

917
00:38:10,630 --> 00:38:13,350
the restoration of, of the
nation of Israel and some of those

918
00:38:13,350 --> 00:38:16,070
other things with God's
covenant to Israel, that he stayed

919
00:38:16,070 --> 00:38:16,510
faithful.

920
00:38:16,590 --> 00:38:19,670
But there's a lot of people
that will look at Romans chapter

921
00:38:19,670 --> 00:38:22,090
11 and say, well, he's not
talking about the nation of Israel.

922
00:38:22,090 --> 00:38:23,290
He's talking about spiritual Israel.

923
00:38:23,290 --> 00:38:24,770
He's talking about all those
that are saved.

924
00:38:25,410 --> 00:38:28,570
Well, you can't really
honestly look at this passage of

925
00:38:28,570 --> 00:38:31,170
scripture and say that you,
you see that there's a distinction

926
00:38:31,330 --> 00:38:34,930
between those that are saved
and those that are spiritually in

927
00:38:34,930 --> 00:38:36,450
the family of God.

928
00:38:36,529 --> 00:38:40,010
And then there is a specific
difference here with the nation of

929
00:38:40,010 --> 00:38:42,130
Israel, the, the ethnic Israel.

930
00:38:42,130 --> 00:38:43,810
And we see that there's a plan
for that.

931
00:38:44,130 --> 00:38:47,770
And as much as we can look at
it and do mental gymnastics, we see

932
00:38:47,770 --> 00:38:49,050
that there is a division here.

933
00:38:49,050 --> 00:38:51,870
And we have to recognize that,
we have to come to grips with that.

934
00:38:51,870 --> 00:38:55,270
And we have to see at the rest
of this passage how God speaks to

935
00:38:55,510 --> 00:38:59,470
the future of the nation of
Israel and how that always just brings

936
00:38:59,470 --> 00:39:00,790
back glory to the Lord.

937
00:39:01,910 --> 00:39:03,790
Now we have to be very careful
with this.

938
00:39:03,790 --> 00:39:06,950
We don't just look at a
situation and say, well, just because

939
00:39:06,950 --> 00:39:10,710
someone says that they are a
certain way, that they are that way.

940
00:39:10,790 --> 00:39:12,030
Didn't Paul just address that?

941
00:39:12,030 --> 00:39:14,310
He says, not all that say
they're of the nation of Israel are

942
00:39:14,310 --> 00:39:15,350
of the nation of Israel.

943
00:39:15,750 --> 00:39:18,730
So there's individuals who
will claim a certain thing but not

944
00:39:18,730 --> 00:39:19,490
live in faith.

945
00:39:19,490 --> 00:39:20,610
What's the distinction here?

946
00:39:20,610 --> 00:39:23,850
Paul never says that the
reason why people are saved is because

947
00:39:23,850 --> 00:39:24,890
they're from a nation.

948
00:39:25,450 --> 00:39:27,130
That, that, that was never the case.

949
00:39:27,370 --> 00:39:30,010
The reason why people are
saved is because they say they're

950
00:39:30,010 --> 00:39:30,970
from a certain bloodline.

951
00:39:30,970 --> 00:39:31,850
That's never the case.

952
00:39:32,090 --> 00:39:35,010
The reason why people are
saved is because of Jesus Christ,

953
00:39:35,010 --> 00:39:36,090
faith in Jesus Christ.

954
00:39:36,170 --> 00:39:37,490
So he even mentions that there.

955
00:39:37,490 --> 00:39:40,490
He says, even the remnant of
the nation of Israel, who is the

956
00:39:40,490 --> 00:39:43,330
true nation of Israel, the
only way that they can find blessings

957
00:39:43,330 --> 00:39:45,630
and hope in a future is
through Jesus Christ.

958
00:39:45,630 --> 00:39:49,870
And so the plan for the
Gentile Church, the plan for the

959
00:39:49,870 --> 00:39:53,790
nation of Israel, the plan for
the restoration, the plan for all

960
00:39:53,790 --> 00:39:56,270
of the future is still through Jesus.

961
00:39:56,270 --> 00:39:59,910
It's never through a
government, it's never through a

962
00:39:59,910 --> 00:40:01,830
bloodline, it's always through Jesus.

963
00:40:01,990 --> 00:40:05,230
And so God has a plan for
certain people, but ultimately the

964
00:40:05,230 --> 00:40:06,550
plan runs through Jesus Christ.

965
00:40:06,550 --> 00:40:09,830
And so that's God's covenant
plan with all of us, is that there's

966
00:40:09,830 --> 00:40:12,940
this hope in Jesus Christ from
the very beginning, from the book

967
00:40:12,940 --> 00:40:16,340
of Genesis, there's a red
scarlet thread through scripture

968
00:40:16,340 --> 00:40:17,940
and it points to Jesus Christ.

969
00:40:18,100 --> 00:40:19,860
It was never because of the sacrifices.

970
00:40:19,940 --> 00:40:21,380
It was never because of a nation.

971
00:40:21,540 --> 00:40:22,860
It was never because of anything.

972
00:40:22,860 --> 00:40:26,700
It was because of the hope and
faith in the Lord and his Word and

973
00:40:26,700 --> 00:40:27,780
having hope in that.

974
00:40:28,100 --> 00:40:30,260
So if you look at someone
today and you say, well, you know

975
00:40:30,260 --> 00:40:30,500
what?

976
00:40:31,300 --> 00:40:32,660
I don't think they'll ever be saved.

977
00:40:32,660 --> 00:40:35,220
They're blinded, they're deaf.

978
00:40:36,500 --> 00:40:37,980
That's not our decision to make.

979
00:40:37,980 --> 00:40:40,980
Our decision to make is to
preach the gospel, to obey the Lord.

980
00:40:41,170 --> 00:40:44,290
Are we willing and obedient to
preach the gospel message to those

981
00:40:44,450 --> 00:40:48,210
that are not easy to preach to?

982
00:40:49,090 --> 00:40:51,810
Are we willing to preach the
gospel message to those that are

983
00:40:51,970 --> 00:40:54,810
stiff arming the gospel, that
are pushing the gospel away, that

984
00:40:54,810 --> 00:40:56,050
are rejecting the gospel?

985
00:40:57,089 --> 00:40:59,730
Are we willing to have enough
compassion for our family, friends,

986
00:40:59,730 --> 00:41:02,370
loved one, our country, that
we will preach the gospel and preach.

987
00:41:02,370 --> 00:41:05,010
That's, that's the only way to salvation.

988
00:41:05,010 --> 00:41:06,530
That's the only way to hope.

989
00:41:06,880 --> 00:41:09,840
That's the only way to find
themselves from a place of death

990
00:41:09,840 --> 00:41:12,720
to life as Paul mentions here
in this passage.

991
00:41:13,280 --> 00:41:17,680
I think to do that, I think to
have the heart of Paul here, to desire

992
00:41:17,840 --> 00:41:20,960
that the non elect to become
the elect through faith and through

993
00:41:20,960 --> 00:41:23,840
grace is by having a heart of humility.

994
00:41:25,600 --> 00:41:28,120
There's so many people today
that claim to be Christians, but

995
00:41:28,120 --> 00:41:32,040
because of their pride they
aren't acting the way that God has

996
00:41:32,040 --> 00:41:32,640
called us to act.

997
00:41:32,640 --> 00:41:36,650
When it comes to being a
Christian, we can't properly preach

998
00:41:36,650 --> 00:41:37,450
the gospel.

999
00:41:37,690 --> 00:41:40,730
We cannot properly display the
love of God.

1000
00:41:40,730 --> 00:41:44,410
We cannot properly be the, the
light to a dark world.

1001
00:41:44,410 --> 00:41:49,490
If we're living in a spirit of
pride, there's no reason for us to

1002
00:41:49,490 --> 00:41:49,850
boast.

1003
00:41:51,050 --> 00:41:53,450
Well, you know, some people
say, well I boast because I'm part

1004
00:41:53,450 --> 00:41:54,810
of a political affiliation.

1005
00:41:54,890 --> 00:41:58,290
I, I, I boast because I have a
role at the church.

1006
00:41:58,290 --> 00:42:01,130
I boast because, look I, I
don't do those things that those

1007
00:42:01,130 --> 00:42:02,010
people do over there.

1008
00:42:02,270 --> 00:42:06,910
I boast because I, I'm, I'm a
good old time traditional Christian.

1009
00:42:07,870 --> 00:42:11,270
Does the Bible ever say any of
those reasons are the reasons why

1010
00:42:11,270 --> 00:42:11,950
we should boast?

1011
00:42:11,950 --> 00:42:13,950
There's one reason why we
should boast.

1012
00:42:14,430 --> 00:42:17,230
Paul says, I boast in one
thing, that's Jesus Christ.

1013
00:42:17,870 --> 00:42:22,070
I never look at myself and
say, well I'm better because I did

1014
00:42:22,070 --> 00:42:22,430
this.

1015
00:42:23,070 --> 00:42:26,150
The only reason I have hope in
Jesus Christ is because of his grace

1016
00:42:26,150 --> 00:42:26,670
for me.

1017
00:42:26,910 --> 00:42:29,550
So therefore that brings me
back to a place of complete humility.

1018
00:42:31,330 --> 00:42:34,290
You know, if I've earned
something then I can not of works

1019
00:42:34,290 --> 00:42:35,610
lest any man should boast.

1020
00:42:35,610 --> 00:42:38,210
Meaning if I earned anything,
I could boast in that.

1021
00:42:38,690 --> 00:42:41,810
Look at me, look, I'm more,
I'm more saved than you because I've

1022
00:42:41,810 --> 00:42:43,090
read my Bible more times.

1023
00:42:43,410 --> 00:42:47,450
I'm more saved than you
because I, I, I am, you know, in,

1024
00:42:47,450 --> 00:42:50,290
involved in 16 ministries and
you're only involved in 14.

1025
00:42:50,370 --> 00:42:53,570
So I'm better than you, I'm
more saved than you, you say.

1026
00:42:53,570 --> 00:42:55,370
Well Pastor, are you preaching
against reading our Bibles?

1027
00:42:55,370 --> 00:42:57,400
No, we should read our Bibles, obviously.

1028
00:42:57,640 --> 00:42:58,800
Should you serve in ministry?

1029
00:42:58,800 --> 00:42:59,240
Of course.

1030
00:42:59,560 --> 00:43:03,240
But if that brings me to a
place of pride that I'm better than

1031
00:43:03,240 --> 00:43:05,360
somebody else, I'm never going
to have a heart of compassion for

1032
00:43:05,360 --> 00:43:05,640
them.

1033
00:43:05,720 --> 00:43:07,720
I'm always going to be
superior to them.

1034
00:43:07,880 --> 00:43:09,440
And that's what Paul's warning
us against.

1035
00:43:09,440 --> 00:43:12,799
Never get to a place where
we're so much better in our minds

1036
00:43:12,799 --> 00:43:15,520
than somebody else that we're
not willing to preach the gospel

1037
00:43:15,520 --> 00:43:19,880
to them and to lead them to a
place of what we came to in our life,

1038
00:43:19,880 --> 00:43:21,480
that even place before the cross.

1039
00:43:22,770 --> 00:43:25,650
All of us are lost when we
stand in the holiness of God.

1040
00:43:25,810 --> 00:43:28,770
I'm just going to tell you
that before we came to Christ, none

1041
00:43:28,770 --> 00:43:32,690
of us were any closer to God
than anybody else that's in the world

1042
00:43:32,690 --> 00:43:33,250
in their sin.

1043
00:43:33,250 --> 00:43:35,650
So, for example, I've used
this example before, and I'm going

1044
00:43:35,650 --> 00:43:37,330
to use it again because it's a
good picture.

1045
00:43:37,330 --> 00:43:38,649
I could go to the.

1046
00:43:38,649 --> 00:43:42,250
The Grand Canyon and I could
run, and I could tell you guys, I

1047
00:43:42,250 --> 00:43:42,890
jump really far.

1048
00:43:42,890 --> 00:43:44,370
You know, I've been really
training a lot.

1049
00:43:44,610 --> 00:43:47,490
And I jumped and I jumped
maybe 10ft and I fell to the.

1050
00:43:47,980 --> 00:43:48,660
To the ground.

1051
00:43:48,660 --> 00:43:50,100
And that would not be good for me.

1052
00:43:50,100 --> 00:43:52,540
It would not be a good story
for me, but it would end in the same

1053
00:43:52,540 --> 00:43:54,900
thing as any of us would be doing.

1054
00:43:54,900 --> 00:43:57,580
But then, let's say there's
like a world record long jumper comes

1055
00:43:57,980 --> 00:44:00,580
and he was like, well, I can
jump like 40ft.

1056
00:44:00,580 --> 00:44:00,940
Okay?

1057
00:44:00,940 --> 00:44:04,860
I'm the world record jumper,
but the gap is still a thousand feet.

1058
00:44:05,580 --> 00:44:10,260
Okay, that person might jump
farther than me, but still find themselves

1059
00:44:10,260 --> 00:44:11,660
in the same end.

1060
00:44:12,380 --> 00:44:15,140
Because the Bible says that
there's a gap that we cannot jump.

1061
00:44:15,140 --> 00:44:15,660
There's a.

1062
00:44:15,930 --> 00:44:17,450
A divide that we cannot reach.

1063
00:44:18,490 --> 00:44:21,570
And the only thing that can
save us from that inevitable fall

1064
00:44:21,570 --> 00:44:24,090
to the pit is Jesus Christ
lifting us up.

1065
00:44:24,090 --> 00:44:25,050
Now, does he change us?

1066
00:44:25,050 --> 00:44:25,450
Yes.

1067
00:44:26,490 --> 00:44:28,890
This is not a message to say
that those people that are living

1068
00:44:28,890 --> 00:44:31,969
in sin, we just look at them
and say, well, just get saved and

1069
00:44:31,969 --> 00:44:32,970
keep doing what you're doing.

1070
00:44:32,970 --> 00:44:34,250
God loves you anyway.

1071
00:44:34,730 --> 00:44:38,490
No, this is a message about
preaching Jesus and Jesus changing

1072
00:44:38,490 --> 00:44:38,810
them.

1073
00:44:39,210 --> 00:44:40,650
Jesus can change a heart.

1074
00:44:40,810 --> 00:44:42,730
The Holy Spirit transforms lives.

1075
00:44:43,150 --> 00:44:44,270
I don't transform lives.

1076
00:44:45,550 --> 00:44:48,590
If I transform lives, my
children would be completely obedient

1077
00:44:48,670 --> 00:44:50,430
every situation, at all times.

1078
00:44:50,590 --> 00:44:51,070
All right?

1079
00:44:52,750 --> 00:44:53,830
Some of you might think they are.

1080
00:44:53,830 --> 00:44:54,230
They're not.

1081
00:44:54,230 --> 00:44:54,750
Okay?

1082
00:44:55,550 --> 00:44:57,590
My children are not obedient
100 of the time.

1083
00:44:57,590 --> 00:44:59,150
Now, we want that percentage
to go up.

1084
00:44:59,230 --> 00:44:59,950
That's our goal.

1085
00:44:59,950 --> 00:45:01,950
Our ultimate goal is a hundred percent.

1086
00:45:02,750 --> 00:45:04,510
But I cannot transform a life.

1087
00:45:04,510 --> 00:45:05,550
I cannot get in.

1088
00:45:05,550 --> 00:45:06,270
I want to.

1089
00:45:06,270 --> 00:45:09,400
I cannot get into the mind and
the heart of my child and force them

1090
00:45:09,400 --> 00:45:11,600
to be obedient constantly.

1091
00:45:12,160 --> 00:45:14,440
Because you can say, well,
Pastor, you're just not being strong

1092
00:45:14,440 --> 00:45:15,120
enough with them.

1093
00:45:15,360 --> 00:45:16,960
You need to be a little bit
more strong with them.

1094
00:45:17,040 --> 00:45:18,560
You need to give a lot more restrictions.

1095
00:45:19,360 --> 00:45:19,720
You.

1096
00:45:19,720 --> 00:45:21,120
You need to ground them a lot more.

1097
00:45:21,120 --> 00:45:22,400
Okay, that's all fine.

1098
00:45:22,400 --> 00:45:23,520
And Danny, you could do that.

1099
00:45:23,920 --> 00:45:25,520
But how many of you.

1100
00:45:25,520 --> 00:45:26,040
Be honest.

1101
00:45:26,040 --> 00:45:27,720
How many of you ever got
disciplined in your life?

1102
00:45:27,720 --> 00:45:31,160
And you were doing the action
that your parents or whoever told

1103
00:45:31,160 --> 00:45:34,160
you to do, but in your heart,
your heart was not obedient?

1104
00:45:34,730 --> 00:45:37,130
I can sit here all day and
force my children to do whatever

1105
00:45:37,130 --> 00:45:40,210
I want them to do, but at the
same time, that doesn't change their

1106
00:45:40,210 --> 00:45:40,570
heart.

1107
00:45:42,250 --> 00:45:43,370
Same thing within the church.

1108
00:45:43,450 --> 00:45:45,450
I can create rule after rule.

1109
00:45:45,450 --> 00:45:49,970
I can create 613rules and say,
follow every single one of these

1110
00:45:49,970 --> 00:45:50,330
rules.

1111
00:45:50,570 --> 00:45:51,650
Make sure you don't eat this.

1112
00:45:51,650 --> 00:45:52,610
Make sure you don't go here.

1113
00:45:52,610 --> 00:45:54,090
Make sure you don't do this on
this day.

1114
00:45:54,170 --> 00:45:57,250
I could give you, you know,
and we laugh at that, but then we

1115
00:45:57,250 --> 00:45:59,890
have, like, the Baptist613
rules, okay, that we're.

1116
00:45:59,890 --> 00:46:00,730
That we're looking at.

1117
00:46:01,560 --> 00:46:04,200
And I'm not saying rules are
bad, but I'm saying rules don't save.

1118
00:46:04,200 --> 00:46:05,560
Rules don't change our hearts.

1119
00:46:05,880 --> 00:46:09,400
What changes the heart of man,
what changes the individual from

1120
00:46:09,400 --> 00:46:12,520
a life of rebellion to a life
of obedience, is the Holy Spirit

1121
00:46:12,520 --> 00:46:16,160
coming in and changing our
heart, giving us new passion, a new

1122
00:46:16,160 --> 00:46:16,680
desire.

1123
00:46:16,840 --> 00:46:17,640
I love this song.

1124
00:46:17,640 --> 00:46:19,240
It says, turn your eyes upon Jesus.

1125
00:46:19,240 --> 00:46:22,320
Look full in his wonderful
face, and the things of earth will

1126
00:46:22,320 --> 00:46:24,840
go strangely dim in the light
of his glory and grace.

1127
00:46:25,560 --> 00:46:28,500
There's a lot of times people
will say this, you got to stop doing

1128
00:46:28,500 --> 00:46:28,860
that.

1129
00:46:29,660 --> 00:46:30,300
Stop it.

1130
00:46:30,780 --> 00:46:31,700
Just don't do it.

1131
00:46:31,700 --> 00:46:33,820
And we talk about it all the
time, don't do it, don't do it, don't

1132
00:46:33,820 --> 00:46:34,020
do it.

1133
00:46:34,020 --> 00:46:35,940
You know what happens when we
have someone thinking about something

1134
00:46:35,940 --> 00:46:37,140
all the time to not do it?

1135
00:46:37,140 --> 00:46:38,260
That's all they're thinking
about doing.

1136
00:46:38,260 --> 00:46:39,580
And inevitably they'll do it.

1137
00:46:40,060 --> 00:46:42,660
It's like telling my kid,
okay, I never fails.

1138
00:46:42,660 --> 00:46:44,500
Okay, they're going to try to
teach you how to ride a bike.

1139
00:46:44,500 --> 00:46:45,340
Don't hit that tree.

1140
00:46:45,740 --> 00:46:46,940
Don't hit that tree right there.

1141
00:46:46,940 --> 00:46:48,060
Whatever you do, don't hit
that tree.

1142
00:46:48,060 --> 00:46:50,380
You know what my kid's looking
at the whole time is the tree.

1143
00:46:50,540 --> 00:46:52,260
And what you're looking at is
what you drive to.

1144
00:46:52,260 --> 00:46:53,260
And they go right to the tree.

1145
00:46:53,900 --> 00:46:54,500
That's what we're doing.

1146
00:46:54,500 --> 00:46:57,500
Sometimes with church, we're
not necessarily telling them, put

1147
00:46:57,500 --> 00:46:58,580
off and put on.

1148
00:46:58,580 --> 00:46:59,700
We're saying, just put off.

1149
00:46:59,700 --> 00:47:01,100
Stop doing all these bad things.

1150
00:47:01,260 --> 00:47:02,860
And all we can think about is
the bad things.

1151
00:47:02,860 --> 00:47:05,900
But what the Bible actually
says is that to not do those bad

1152
00:47:05,900 --> 00:47:08,180
things, we should replace it
with the good things that God has

1153
00:47:08,180 --> 00:47:08,940
called us to do.

1154
00:47:09,020 --> 00:47:10,460
Put off and put on.

1155
00:47:10,700 --> 00:47:14,140
Put our focus on the good so
that we don't want the bad anymore.

1156
00:47:14,140 --> 00:47:16,220
And the only way that it can
happen is through preaching of the

1157
00:47:16,220 --> 00:47:17,180
Gospel of Jesus Christ.

1158
00:47:17,260 --> 00:47:19,690
And that will never come
through a sense of pride.

1159
00:47:19,690 --> 00:47:21,330
That will always come through
a sense of humility.

1160
00:47:21,810 --> 00:47:24,090
And so what I want you to
think about two words here in this

1161
00:47:24,090 --> 00:47:24,410
passage.

1162
00:47:24,410 --> 00:47:27,530
And then we're going to
conclude, number one, there's hope

1163
00:47:27,530 --> 00:47:31,410
for the lost, not after they die.

1164
00:47:31,410 --> 00:47:34,170
The Bible says it's appointed
unto man to die and after that the

1165
00:47:34,170 --> 00:47:34,690
judgment.

1166
00:47:35,090 --> 00:47:37,890
So I'm not saying that there's
a secondary hope after this life.

1167
00:47:38,210 --> 00:47:40,850
But if there is someone who is
lost today, there is still hope for

1168
00:47:40,850 --> 00:47:41,010
them.

1169
00:47:41,010 --> 00:47:42,290
And the hope is in Jesus Christ.

1170
00:47:42,290 --> 00:47:43,530
And we have to get busy about that.

1171
00:47:43,530 --> 00:47:44,170
That's what Paul says.

1172
00:47:44,170 --> 00:47:47,610
He says these people are not
the elect, but there's hope for them.

1173
00:47:48,410 --> 00:47:49,450
He says that I might.

1174
00:47:49,450 --> 00:47:50,050
That, that, that.

1175
00:47:50,050 --> 00:47:53,410
That some might come to Christ
then he says, and might save some

1176
00:47:53,410 --> 00:47:55,770
of them that are on the path
to destruction.

1177
00:47:55,930 --> 00:47:56,730
So there's hope.

1178
00:47:56,810 --> 00:48:02,730
But to preach that hope, we
must be living and proclaiming with

1179
00:48:02,730 --> 00:48:04,370
a spirit of humility, as Paul says.

1180
00:48:04,370 --> 00:48:07,370
He reminds the Gentile church
be aware of this.

1181
00:48:08,650 --> 00:48:13,240
He reminds those Jews that are
in Rome at the time that were Christians,

1182
00:48:13,240 --> 00:48:14,320
to be aware of this.

1183
00:48:14,400 --> 00:48:16,680
So this is not just a warning
for just the Gentiles.

1184
00:48:16,680 --> 00:48:18,280
It's not just a warning just
for the Jews.

1185
00:48:18,280 --> 00:48:22,480
It's a warning for all of us
to not live in a spirit of pride,

1186
00:48:22,880 --> 00:48:24,440
but to come to a place of humility.

1187
00:48:24,440 --> 00:48:26,760
To understand that it's only
through Jesus Christ that we have

1188
00:48:26,760 --> 00:48:27,520
what we have.

1189
00:48:28,000 --> 00:48:30,080
Yet not I, but Christ in me.

1190
00:48:31,200 --> 00:48:32,640
I am what I am through Christ.

1191
00:48:34,720 --> 00:48:36,400
Paul says, I am crucified with Christ.

1192
00:48:36,400 --> 00:48:37,280
Nevertheless, I live.

1193
00:48:37,840 --> 00:48:38,880
Yet not I, but Christ.

1194
00:48:39,920 --> 00:48:41,800
And so I want you to think
about that here this week.

1195
00:48:41,800 --> 00:48:46,360
How can we die to ourselves so
that Christ can be seen through our

1196
00:48:46,360 --> 00:48:46,640
life?

1197
00:48:47,680 --> 00:48:48,160
Pride.

1198
00:48:48,160 --> 00:48:48,680
What's that?

1199
00:48:48,680 --> 00:48:50,440
You guys have heard this
before, Maybe you haven't.

1200
00:48:50,440 --> 00:48:51,760
What's at the center of pride?

1201
00:48:52,800 --> 00:48:53,760
The letter I.

1202
00:48:54,240 --> 00:48:54,640
Me.

1203
00:48:55,120 --> 00:48:56,960
P R, I, D, E. Pride.

1204
00:48:58,800 --> 00:49:02,000
We have to understand that we
are not the center of the universe.

1205
00:49:02,640 --> 00:49:05,520
We have to understand that I'm
not the center of my Christian experience.

1206
00:49:07,120 --> 00:49:08,160
Jesus is the focus.

1207
00:49:09,360 --> 00:49:10,600
Jesus is the center.

1208
00:49:10,600 --> 00:49:12,000
Jesus is the cornerstone.

1209
00:49:12,480 --> 00:49:15,880
And so may we be the ones that
preach that message to the lost and

1210
00:49:15,880 --> 00:49:17,440
dying and that are in this world.

1211
00:49:18,000 --> 00:49:20,680
May we have that sense of
humility to know that we would be

1212
00:49:20,680 --> 00:49:23,920
in that place if it wasn't for
people that preach the gospel message

1213
00:49:23,920 --> 00:49:27,160
to us and that Jesus came for
us and gave us everlasting life through

1214
00:49:27,160 --> 00:49:27,760
his grace.

1215
00:49:28,800 --> 00:49:32,720
When I start living that way,
we start living with a sense of gratitude.

1216
00:49:33,080 --> 00:49:36,160
And in that sense of
gratitude, we have a sense of fruitfulness

1217
00:49:36,160 --> 00:49:37,960
and we have a sense of desire.

1218
00:49:38,120 --> 00:49:40,680
And we have that passion to
serve Him.

1219
00:49:41,560 --> 00:49:44,640
If we go back to that spirit
of pride, we have a passion to serve

1220
00:49:44,640 --> 00:49:45,080
ourselves.

1221
00:49:45,640 --> 00:49:47,320
We have a passion to take the credit.

1222
00:49:48,120 --> 00:49:50,360
May we never take the credit
for the work that God is doing.

1223
00:49:50,360 --> 00:49:53,320
May we never take the credit
for salvations that are around us.

1224
00:49:53,320 --> 00:49:56,800
May we always present that as
the gift of grace that Jesus Christ

1225
00:49:56,800 --> 00:49:57,720
extends to us.

1226
00:49:58,850 --> 00:50:02,770
So here this morning, two
words, hope and humility.

1227
00:50:03,570 --> 00:50:04,770
We have hope in Jesus.

1228
00:50:04,850 --> 00:50:06,610
Those that are lost have hope
in Jesus.

1229
00:50:07,650 --> 00:50:10,370
But it's only through humility.

1230
00:50:11,090 --> 00:50:14,850
Our hope is in the humility
that we can find in Christ.

1231
00:50:15,410 --> 00:50:19,210
The unsaved person's hope is
humility that they can find in Jesus

1232
00:50:19,210 --> 00:50:19,570
Christ.

1233
00:50:19,890 --> 00:50:23,210
And we all come to the cross
casting our care upon him because

1234
00:50:23,210 --> 00:50:24,050
he cares for us.

1235
00:50:25,160 --> 00:50:27,040
I'm going to ask if you're
able to to stand with me, every head

1236
00:50:27,040 --> 00:50:29,240
bowed, every head closed, as
the music plays here this morning,

1237
00:50:29,800 --> 00:50:32,640
we're going to have a time of invitation.

1238
00:50:32,640 --> 00:50:38,080
And I want to invite you to
respond to that message of hope,

1239
00:50:38,080 --> 00:50:39,320
that message of humility.

1240
00:50:41,000 --> 00:50:44,000
Is there someone that you're
dealing with in your life that you're

1241
00:50:44,000 --> 00:50:47,400
actively praying for now that
you're tempted to, or maybe even

1242
00:50:47,400 --> 00:50:50,560
at some point have given up on
when it comes to seeing them come

1243
00:50:50,560 --> 00:50:52,890
to Jesus or come back to Jesus?

1244
00:50:54,010 --> 00:50:55,250
Keep at it.

1245
00:50:55,250 --> 00:50:56,210
Keep praying.

1246
00:50:56,210 --> 00:50:56,970
There's hope.

1247
00:50:58,090 --> 00:50:58,890
There's hope.

1248
00:51:00,330 --> 00:51:04,050
But secondly, maybe that
spirit of pride has seeped in.

1249
00:51:04,050 --> 00:51:07,770
Maybe not so brightly that
that's all you can think about, that's

1250
00:51:07,770 --> 00:51:08,530
all you talk about.

1251
00:51:08,530 --> 00:51:12,130
But you know in your heart of
hearts that that pride has reared

1252
00:51:12,130 --> 00:51:12,650
itself.

1253
00:51:13,610 --> 00:51:16,650
May we not be proud in
anything outside of what Jesus Christ

1254
00:51:16,650 --> 00:51:17,530
has done for us.

1255
00:51:18,860 --> 00:51:19,900
He is our answer.

1256
00:51:19,900 --> 00:51:20,780
He is our hope.

1257
00:51:20,860 --> 00:51:21,900
He is our everything.

1258
00:51:22,060 --> 00:51:25,340
Every good gift and every
perfect gift comes down from Him.

1259
00:51:25,900 --> 00:51:28,020
May we never take credit for
anything in our life.

1260
00:51:28,020 --> 00:51:29,340
May it all go to Him.

1261
00:51:30,060 --> 00:51:30,860
So here this morning.

1262
00:51:30,860 --> 00:51:32,740
Maybe that's something that
God has been challenging you with

1263
00:51:32,740 --> 00:51:34,059
here in this service.

1264
00:51:34,380 --> 00:51:36,420
Lord, I pray that you be in
this time of invitation, working

1265
00:51:36,420 --> 00:51:37,100
hearts and lives.

1266
00:51:37,340 --> 00:51:39,620
If there's someone here who
does not know you as Savior, may

1267
00:51:39,620 --> 00:51:43,710
they come forward today and
trust in you or through faith to

1268
00:51:43,710 --> 00:51:44,950
receive the gift of grace.

1269
00:51:45,510 --> 00:51:48,390
If there is someone who's
saved here today, but maybe losing

1270
00:51:48,390 --> 00:51:52,230
hope in a loved one to come to
salvation, or possibly losing the

1271
00:51:52,230 --> 00:51:55,670
hope of someone that has
walked away.

1272
00:51:56,390 --> 00:51:58,630
Maybe today can be the day of
renewal in that hope.

1273
00:51:58,630 --> 00:52:01,670
But also, Lord, if there's any
sense of pride that's been seeping

1274
00:52:01,670 --> 00:52:03,590
into our lives, may we die to
that today.

1275
00:52:04,390 --> 00:52:06,990
May we give ourselves over to
you and understand that everything

1276
00:52:06,990 --> 00:52:08,390
that we have is because of you.

1277
00:52:08,960 --> 00:52:11,200
So Lord, I pray that you be in
this time of invitation work in hearts

1278
00:52:11,200 --> 00:52:11,520
and lives.

1279
00:52:11,600 --> 00:52:13,160
We ask all these things in
Jesus name.

1280
00:52:13,160 --> 00:52:13,600
Amen.

1281
00:52:13,600 --> 00:52:16,640
As the music plays some's
already come follow as the Lord leads

1282
00:52:16,640 --> 00:52:17,280
here this morning.

1283
00:54:07,880 --> 00:54:10,360
Thank you again for listening
to the Middletown Baptist Church

1284
00:54:10,360 --> 00:54:11,000
podcast.

1285
00:54:11,240 --> 00:54:13,560
I hope that this sermon has
been a blessing for you.

1286
00:54:14,200 --> 00:54:16,400
If you would like to find out
more information about our church

1287
00:54:16,400 --> 00:54:20,030
or this sermon, you can find
us at middletownbaptistchurch.org

1288
00:54:20,270 --> 00:54:22,830
or find us on Facebook or YouTube.

1289
00:54:23,630 --> 00:54:28,510
You can also email me directly
at Josh Massaro, Middletown BaptistChurch.com

1290
00:54:28,990 --> 00:54:30,670
if you've enjoyed this podcast.

1291
00:54:30,910 --> 00:54:35,310
Please subscribe and follow
along for future podcasts and updates.

1292
00:54:35,950 --> 00:54:36,910
Thank you so much.

1293
00:54:37,150 --> 00:54:37,870
God Bless.

1294
00:54:38,110 --> 00:54:39,390
Have a wonderful day.