Trust God to Save.

Steve Gentry

[0:01] Alright, go ahead and have a seat. [0:02] Welcome to Village Church. [0:03] If this is your first time here, my name is Steve. [0:06] I’m one of the pastors here at Village Church and as always I’m thankful and grateful to [0:10] see each and every one of you. [0:12] If you have your Bibles, go ahead and open them up to Romans chapter 11.

[0:15] We’re going to be starting in verse 1 this morning. [0:19] But what we’re going to be transitioning into from Romans chapter 10 is clearly Romans [0:26] chapter 11. [0:26] But when we begin to get to this section in Romans, I think we begin to kind of tire [0:33] out on the information because what Romans 1 through Romans 11 are full of is the information [0:40] side of the story of Christianity.

[0:43] So in these 11 chapters what’s happening is that God is informing us through the apostle [0:48] Paul of what faith in Jesus is all about, what went wrong, how God has worked to redeem, [0:55] and how we come to faith through Jesus and then God continues to work redemption into [1:00] and out of our lives. [1:02] And then when we get into chapter 12 what’s going to happen is it’s going to transition [1:06] from what is Christianity to the how of following Jesus, what all the one and others of the

[1:12] Bible are all about. [1:13] How do we live out this faith in Jesus? [1:16] But once we get to chapter 11, what kind of tends to happen is that we wade into some [1:21] really deep waters. [1:23] We’ve gone through this whole issue of the sovereignty of God in chapter 9 and then [1:27] he picked back up and he’s like, okay, now because of this we are the beautiful feet

[1:32] that take the information of the message of Jesus to a world that needs to hear it because [1:37] they are going to believe when we preach the gospel. [1:41] And then we get to chapter 11 and he starts talking a lot about Israel and we don’t necessarily [1:45] understand it and our response is sometimes tempted to be, well, I don’t get it, but God [1:51] will sort it out. [1:52] So let’s just move on to chapter 12 and start talking about our part of living as sacrifices

[1:56] who are loving one another, helping one another, seeking one another, that kind of stuff. [2:01] But what I hope that we can see over the next few weeks is that chapter 11 is not something [2:06] for us to gloss over before we get to chapter 12. [2:10] Instead, what chapter 11 does is that it works into our lives and shows us that without this [2:17] record of what God has done and how he has actually been faithful to his people, he’s [2:24] not rejected his people, but he’s working through Jesus to gather his people.

[2:29] Without that, we’ve really got a truncated gospel. [2:32] We’ve got a less full gospel. [2:35] We’ve got a gospel that has holes in it. [2:37] But what he’s doing through chapter 11 is showing us that that message that we are sent [2:43] with in chapter 10, it’s a trustworthy message. [2:48] And that’s the goal of Romans 11.

[2:50] It’s meant to fill us with a trust in the gospel so that when we are questioned on [2:56] God’s faithfulness to his promises, when we are questioned as to whether or not God can [3:01] be trustworthy, we can answer with a resounding yes because of what the groundwork that Paul [3:08] lays in chapter 11 before he goes on to chapter 12. [3:13] God works through chapters like this to build confidence in his triumphant mission, to let [3:20] us know there’s no question as to whether or not God will succeed in his mission.

[3:25] He has worked all through history in the scriptures, through the record of God’s action and through [3:31] the trustworthiness to his promises. [3:33] God has worked so that we can have confidence that his mission will always be triumphant. [3:40] And when you have that type of vision and you go out into the world with this good news [3:47] that chapter 10 presented us with a mission for, then we can proclaim the excellencies [3:54] of God, we can proclaim the trustworthiness of God, and actually have answers as to why

[4:01] we believe these things. God will build a people through faith in Jesus Christ and [4:09] this is how he is working. [4:13] And so I want to pick up in Romans chapter 11 verse 1 and read what Paul has to say. [4:18] He says, I ask then, has God rejected his people? [4:24] And so he’s jumping off of the end of chapter 10 where he’s talked about the difference [4:28] in relationship with the Jews and the Gentiles and how through the beautiful feet, God is

[4:33] now moving into a different era of his covenant in which the gospel, the good news of Jesus, [4:39] is going to the Gentiles. And so he assumes that Jewish believers and unbelievers alike [4:44] are going to ask a very obvious question. Does that mean that God is done with the nation [4:51] of Israel? [4:52] And look at his response. By no means. And so all throughout Romans, if you’ve been [4:58] with us all along or if you spend any time reading that letter, what you’re going to

[5:02] see is Paul asks these rhetorical questions, then he immediately answers them with no. [5:08] And a really strong form of no in the Greek, it’s terms actually meganoito and it’s the [5:13] strongest negation that you can use in that language and what it actually means is, is [5:18] not even a blip on the radar of truth. You couldn’t be more wrong if you tried is what [5:24] Paul’s trying to say. God has not rejected his people is what he’s saying. He says, [5:31] for I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin.

[5:37] God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the scripture says of [5:45] Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? He says, Lord, they have killed your prophets. [5:51] They have demolished your altars and I alone am left and they seek my life. [5:59] What I want to do is I want to lay my cards on the table. [6:03] And I want to go ahead and just be upfront that as we go through Romans chapter 11, [6:07] if you’ve spent a lot of time in church, if you’ve spent a lot of time dealing with the

[6:14] relationship between Israel and the church, you know, the political side, Israel and the nation, [6:19] you’ve dealt with Israel, I may over the next few weeks seek to change your mind about a couple of [6:26] things. I may through the scriptures kind of show you a different viewpoint and as we do that, [6:34] I’m going to ask that you track with me, that you don’t just kind of walk off in a huff because [6:38] I’ve said something that’s different than anything that you’ve ever heard, but instead that you track [6:42] with me, you go with me and you kind of trust me. If I’ve built any trust equity in our relationship,

[6:46] I’m going to cash in some of those chips right now and I’m going to say, hey, wait with me the [6:50] next couple of weeks. Let’s actually see where we go as we work towards the section in Romans 11 [6:55] where God gives this amazing promise through the apostle Paul where he says all Israel will be [7:01] saved. And so what we’re going to do is we’re actually doing the groundwork now so that we [7:07] can understand what that text means. And so don’t get turned off by the fact that I’m going to talk [7:12] about Israel a lot, number one. And then number two, if you really like talking about Israel a

[7:17] lot, don’t get too turned off by what I actually say about the nation of Israel. Okay? And so let’s [7:23] wade into these waters, these deep waters of doctrine and let’s understand how it actually [7:30] reassures, builds, and fortifies our faith in Jesus Christ. But number one this morning, [7:37] what I want to see from verses one through three is that God will not reject anyone who has faith [7:43] in Jesus. God will not reject anyone who has faith in Jesus. And so he’s building upon what he’s [7:48] already done in chapter 10 and he’s reassuring those who are curious about Israel, those who

[7:53] are worried about Israel and those who are actually a part of Israel, he’s reassuring them [7:57] that God will not reject anyone who has faith in Jesus, that all who come to faith will be saved. [8:06] And so what Paul’s going to do from verse one through verse 11 is he’s going to assume two [8:10] reactions to everything that he’s said from chapter nine until now. The first reaction is [8:16] that there is a temptation to question God’s election. And our response to this thought that [8:23] he’s given us in chapter nine is that if God has sovereignly elected all who will be saved,

[8:29] if it is God who chooses, then what’s the point of my involvement? And he answered this actually [8:35] in chapter 10 and he continues here with the second question and that is what is going to [8:43] happen with Israel? Has God rejected his people? And so what he’s saying is okay, so you’ve set [8:49] this stage, the apostle Paul, where God has now moved from just focusing on Israel to all nations. [8:58] And so has God done that at the exclusion of Israel? I mean, if you read the book of Acts, [9:04] there’s a portion towards the end where Paul’s preaching in Jerusalem and the people of Jerusalem

[9:08] by and large reject the good news of Jesus Christ and Paul literally looks at the crowd and he says, [9:14] done with you, I’m moving on to the Gentiles. And so we may be tempted to say, aha, see right there, [9:20] God has rejected the nation of Israel. And that’s specifically what Paul’s going to deal with right [9:26] here in the first part. He asks the question, has God rejected Israel? And he says no. You see, [9:34] this question comes from a misunderstanding of God’s mission to save. And basically what this [9:40] question assumes is that since God hadn’t reserved salvation for Israel alone,

[9:47] then they questioned everything. How could he include other nations? If those other nations [9:53] are included, does that have to mean that Israel is excluded? And Paul’s resounding answer is no. [10:02] What needs to be understood is that Jesus is the center of God’s plan and Israel isn’t.

[10:09] If Paul is setting up an explanation of this gospel message that Jesus came first and proclaimed [10:18] in the gospel accounts that he is seeking to save for himself a people of all nations, [10:27] is Israel a nation? Especially at this time they were. They were a people. And so what Paul’s [10:35] saying is by all nations, Jesus literally meant all nations. So if Israel were to be rejected, [10:46] then that promise of all nations would not be true. Therefore, it is impossible that God has [10:51] rejected the nation of Israel. And he uses himself as the example of what this means.

[10:58] He says, I’m Paul. I am a Israelite. I am a descendant of Abraham. I am a member of the [11:06] tribe of Benjamin. So Paul’s tracing his heritage with Israel. And he’s saying, [11:12] if God has rejected Israel, he’s rejected me. And since God hasn’t rejected me, [11:17] he hasn’t rejected Israel. Elsewhere in the book of Philippians, Paul actually goes further and he [11:21] says, I’m a Hebrew of the Hebrews. I’m a Pharisee of the Pharisees. To the law, you look at my life. [11:26] I’m basically blameless to the law. Paul’s saying, I am a Jew. And so how has Paul been saved?

[11:34] Paul proves his point by showing that because God has saved him through faith in Jesus, [11:41] then Israel hasn’t been rejected. So what does Israel need to do?

[11:47] Faith in Jesus. God’s plan for Israel’s faith is no different than God’s plan for your faith. [11:56] All who come to faith in Jesus will be saved. So Israel must also come to faith in Jesus to [12:06] be saved. In 1 Samuel chapter 12 verse 22, God makes a promise through the prophet and he says, [12:12] for the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the [12:18] Lord to make you a people for himself. And what you’re going to see throughout all of the [12:23] scripture is that he reiterates this promise time and time again, that God is making a promise to

[12:28] Israel. He’s going to keep Israel. Then Israel falls into sin. He redeems them back up. Israel [12:35] rejects God, goes worships other false gods. He rises them back up through repentance.

[12:42] But don’t miss the message that we see overarchingly throughout the Old Testament. [12:47] In Deuteronomy chapter 8, God makes this promise to the nation of Israel. He says, [12:52] I’m going now because they’re standing on the brink of the promised land. You know, [12:56] the whole Charlton Heston movie where they go, they get the Ten Commandments. They’re walking [12:59] through the wilderness. They’re going to the promised land. Well, now they’re on the brink [13:02] of the promised land in Deuteronomy chapter 8. And God says, hey, you’re going to go in there.

[13:06] You’re going to plant seeds in the fields. And guess what? Produce is going to grow. You’re [13:11] going to have great harvests. You’re going to have so many cows that people are never going to say, [13:16] where is the meat for dinner? There’s always going to be meat on your tables. You’re going [13:19] to be plenteous. You’re going to have great houses. And he says, when you go in there, [13:24] you’re going to be tempted to say, look at what my hands have made. God said, don’t do that [13:30] because I’m the one that’s giving you the increase. God is the one that brought them

[13:34] into the promised land. God is the one that has multiplied them greatly. So he says, you’re [13:38] going to sin against me. You’re going to lose my favor. But he also then in a lesser known section [13:43] of Deuteronomy in Deuteronomy chapter 11, he looks to the nation of Israel and he says, [13:47] as you go into this land, you need to obey my statutes. You need to stay faithful to my [13:52] covenant. Don’t forget what I did to Egypt. Don’t forget that when those armies were chasing you [13:57] down, that I made the floods fall right on top of their heads and I took out an entire army to

[14:01] get you here. Don’t forget what I did to the sons of Eliab when I killed all of them because their [14:06] army rose up against you. Don’t forget what I did to the Midianites. Don’t forget what I did [14:09] to the Amalekites. Don’t forget what I did to the Amorites. Don’t forget that anyone who stands in [14:15] front of my promises, I will lay judgment on their heads. And then he points to Israel and he says, [14:22] you stay faithful to my covenant and my statutes or my judgment will fall on you as well. [14:34] Friends, that testament of God in Deuteronomy 8 and Deuteronomy 11 have never changed.

[14:42] They still stand. God’s covenant of salvation, God’s way of redeeming for himself a people and [14:53] not forsaking his people is a covenant that has been fulfilled, sealed for all time through Jesus [15:00] Christ. Therefore, to reject the Messiah is to reject God. Therefore, Israel must come to faith [15:11] in Jesus Christ. And that was Paul’s point. Paul said, I’ve come to faith in Jesus. God has redeemed [15:18] me. Paul wanted them to comprehend that it is a sin to reject God and not the other way around. [15:26] God had not rejected Israel. Israel had rejected God. But then Paul, pretty good guy here, pretty

[15:34] smart. Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he can pen a phrase. He understands the plight [15:39] that’s going to put someone in where they say, is all lost. And note how he goes forward here [15:46] and where he says, do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah? He says, how he appeals [15:54] to God against Israel. Lord, they have killed your prophets. They have demolished your altars. I alone [15:59] am left and they seek my life. He said, when you see the disobedience of Israel, you’re going to [16:05] be discouraged, especially if you are a person in Israel. And so he reminds them of a story of

[16:10] history, a record of history from 1 Kings chapter 19, where the prophet Elijah was in a dark period [16:17] in Israel. And he’s looking around and everyone’s disobeying God. Everyone seems to be forsaking, [16:24] worshiping God to go worship Baal and chase after false gods. And Elijah gets to the end of his [16:30] hour and he says, God, everyone has forsaken you.

[16:37] And in that moment, Paul reminds the reader in the book of Romans of the promise of God. Look [16:43] back at the beginning of verse 2. He says, God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. [16:53] That term foreknew should remind us of what he already said in Romans chapter 8 verse 29, [16:59] where Paul writes for those whom he foreknew, God also predestined to be conformed to the image [17:07] of his son and order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. Paul is reminding the reader [17:15] that God is saving people even in the dark times. God is at work saving and he saves at this point

[17:25] through faith in the gospel. Therefore, if you have faith in the gospel, then God has foreknown [17:31] you and will save you. Did you know that there has never been a time from when sin entered the world [17:43] through Adam and Eve to right now where God hasn’t been at work saving?

[17:50] There has never been a period of time. There has never been a part of history where God has just [17:57] ceased to save for an entire generation, where God has ceased to work in the lives of people, [18:04] where God has been unfaithful to his promises. The scriptures actually tell us not only has God [18:09] always worked to save in every moment of history, not only is he right now working to save in every [18:15] moment of history, but God will until the kingdom is instituted at the end of the book of Revelation [18:21] that he will always be at work saving. Look at what verse four says. He moves on and he looks at

[18:30] Elijah and he says, but what was God’s response to Elijah? Paul always gives these questions and he’s [18:38] dealing with a group that knows the scriptures. He’s dealing with a group that knows the history. [18:43] He’s dealing with a group that knows the book of first Kings, many of them by heart. And so Paul [18:48] doesn’t go to them and say, I’ve got all the answers. Paul goes to them and says, what does [18:52] the scripture say? And they know what the scripture says. They know that God turns to the prophet Elijah [18:58] in that moment. And he says, Elijah, I have kept for myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee

[19:08] to bail. And that’s just counting the men. It’s not counting their families, wives, children.

[19:15] Paul looks to Elijah and says, Elijah, who do you think you are? [19:19] I have a little different perspective than you have. In the split second after Elijah asks, [19:26] God just numbers. He says, there’s 7,000 right there. And that was just in a split second. [19:32] Do you need their addresses? Do you want to go talk to them? You are not alone. I am at work [19:37] saving as God’s point to the prophet Elijah. He says, don’t be dismayed because there are going [19:44] to be times in your life when things don’t go the way that you think they should. Where things go

[19:51] left when you thought they were going to go right. Where you had one plan and that plan gets not just [19:59] off track. The bridge gets blown up and you’re diving directly into the water. You’re like, [20:06] I’m going into the abyss. God has not been faithful to me. And in the moment of pain and [20:13] the moment of rejection and the moment where the whole culture seems to be going straight to hell, [20:19] God looks to us and he says, do you think you’re alone? Have you not heard my promises? [20:25] There are 7,000 who have not bowed the knee to bail. So God’s point over and over is to come

[20:32] in and reassure that he is on a mission to save because number two, God always has a people he [20:38] will save. Always. In every culture, in every moment, in every time in history, there’s always [20:45] a people that God is saving. God will always be faithful to save. And starting in verse five now, [20:54] so he said there’s 7,000 who have not bowed the knee to bail. He says, so too at the present time, [20:59] there’s a remnant chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works. [21:08] Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace. God has always been on a mission to save and God has

[21:15] always been successful in his mission. Do not miss that. But in that, he shows that there is a [21:24] remnant that has been saved. God doesn’t go to the prophet Elijah in 1 Kings 19 and say, Elijah, [21:30] don’t worry, they’re all saved. They were born in Israel, right? Well, their birth certificate [21:36] chosen by God right there. Doesn’t matter what happens in their life. Doesn’t matter where they [21:40] have faith in me. Nope, none of that matters. No. What he tells Elijah is exactly what he said through [21:48] Paul in Romans chapter 9. In Romans 9, 6, he said, but it is not as though the word of God has

[21:54] failed. I love that promise because God’s word never fails. He says, for not all who are descended [22:00] from Israel belong to Israel. And so what he’s telling to Elijah in 1 Kings 19 and what Paul [22:08] is telling to the Israelites, excuse me, to the Jews in Romans chapter 11 is this reality that [22:13] there is a spiritual Israel within Israel. There’s always a people that God is at work saving. Is [22:22] he going to save all? No, he didn’t promise to save all of them. He promised to make for himself [22:28] a people for his own possession. And he points to Elijah and he says, 7,000 of them belong to me.

[22:33] The rest of them are calling themselves Israel, but they’re not true Israel. True Israel are those [22:39] who have not forgotten my statutes. They’ve not forgotten who it was that blessed them. [22:43] And they’ve not forgotten whom it was that God worked through to bring to the promised land. [22:47] That is true Israel, but not all who are of Israel are of Israel.

[22:54] The reality is, is that that covenant of salvation, just as in the Old Testament, [23:00] there was only a remnant within the nation of Israel who trusted God, so it is with Christ. [23:06] Friends, there’s always a spiritual church within the physical church. Always, always.

[23:17] You know, being here

[23:22] isn’t going to save you. Sitting in this service, you can come here on Sunday morning, [23:30] come here a little bit later for Elam’s worship service, come here tonight, [23:34] eat your dinner in the auditorium, go up to the youth room, eat dessert up there, [23:38] come down here, make yourself a palette, sleep on it, go out in the car when you get cold, [23:43] because I’m not turning the heater on because that’s expensive, go sit in the parking lot for [23:47] a while, turn the engine on, get hot, and you say, thank God I’m part of the physical church. That’s

[24:04] into the spiritual church, but this also can help you in times of great discouragement. [24:11] I mean, I don’t know if this is going to shock some of you, but there are times [24:14] when being in the church can be a little bit discouraging.

[24:19] There are times when things don’t go your way. There are times when things don’t go my way. [24:23] There are times when people hurt my feelings. There are times when people hurt your feelings. [24:27] There are times when pain comes into play. There’s drama all around. Trust me, there’s drama enough [24:32] for all of us. I wish there wasn’t, but there is. And there are times when you are tempted to say, [24:39] I give up on God because of his people. I give up on God because none of these people can possibly [24:46] represent God. And in that moment, just as God looks at Elijah and he says, I got 7,000 that haven’t

[24:53] bowed the knee to Baal, he looks to us and he says, oh, you’re going to give up on my people? [24:58] Well, I’ve got 50 right there that belong to me. I’ve got 50 over here that belong to me. [25:03] Do not give up on my promise because God is the one that made it and God can be trustworthy. [25:09] And you are not in a church because of a church. You are in a church because of a faithful God who [25:14] saves through his son, Jesus. That’s his point. He says walking in the room is not what’s going [25:22] to help you with God. Trusting God is what’s going to help you with God. If you get discouraged

[25:29] about the status of the church, number one, you’re not alone. But number two, remember [25:36] that there is a spiritual church within the physical church. And the guarantee of that [25:43] rests on God’s grace. Trust it. Don’t allow the problem that Israel had become your problem. [25:53] Most of the problem that people have with God’s sovereignly saving is because it takes salvation [25:59] out of your hands and actually entrusts it to God. See, the problem Israel had is they [26:05] weren’t comfortable with God taking the authority to save out of their hands. They only wanted to

[26:10] offer salvation to people that they thought deserved it. They said, we’re not letting [26:15] just anyone in here. God, you don’t really know what’s going on in the world. We know what’s [26:20] going on in the world. Can you imagine the audacity to say that to God? But the reality is [26:27] is what the apostle Paul’s saying in this section is he’s saying that Israel’s issue was is they [26:32] weren’t comfortable with God being the authority of salvation. They wanted to be the authority of [26:38] salvation. And so every moment that we struggle with accepting that there is a God who sovereignly

[26:46] works to save and questioning everything about that and saying, well, I don’t feel comfortable [26:51] with a God that would really do that. No, what you don’t feel comfortable with is that God would do [26:55] something a different way than you would do it. What you don’t feel comfortable with is that God [27:01] wants to be the authority of salvation and you can’t be the authority of salvation. That’s what [27:05] you are uncomfortable with. You are uncomfortable that God would have the audacity to think that he [27:09] is smarter and more trustworthy with salvation than you are. You think you’ve got more figured

[27:14] out than God’s got figured out. The reality is that if it weren’t for grace and it was in your hand, [27:22] we would all be condemned. Many within Israel wanted control just as some of you do. And this [27:27] is Paul’s warning. In Romans chapter four, verse four, Paul likens this salvation to earning your [27:33] due. He says in chapter four, to remind you now to the one who works, his wages are not counted [27:40] as a gift, but as his due. If God developed that as the system, our due would be hell. [27:48] By his grace though, he saves those who don’t deserve it. That is every single one of us.

[27:55] Friends, grace needs to be grace. Paul points to grace as making it completely dependent upon God [28:03] for all of the work and thankfully that is salvation. Thankfully, God has taken salvation [28:12] out of the hands of Israel, but it was never in the hands of Israel to begin with. [28:17] Israel didn’t show up on sign up day and they were just the ones that were smart enough to [28:22] show up and sign up to be God’s people. And God looks around and says, what in the world? [28:26] Where are the Midianites? I really thought they were sharp. Well, Israel, you were sharp enough

[28:32] to choose me. Therefore, I choose you. No, Abraham’s in his tent worshiping false gods and God shows [28:38] up and says, they ain’t God. I am. Abraham didn’t deserve it. It was an act of grace. It was an [28:45] act of sovereign grace. And then God moves through his people to bring Jesus into the world to [28:51] fulfill his covenant. And then God looks to Israel and he says, good news, just as I have moved in [28:56] you, I will sovereignly move throughout the whole world. And Israel says, wait a second, [29:01] that means I’m not the special one. God says, well, you never were. God is the special one.

[29:11] Israel was never the centerpiece of God’s plan, nor were they meant to be the centerpiece of God’s [29:16] plan. God alone has reserved that seat for himself. God alone is the point. Jesus, God incarnate, [29:24] has come to the world and came into Israel itself to point them to. He says, it’s not about you.

[29:32] It’s about God and God’s mission to save for himself a people. But do you understand that [29:39] this enables us to preach the gospel with a bold confidence? Many people may look to sovereignty [29:48] and say, oh my goodness, I think that that is an enemy of evangelism. Why in the world would I go [29:52] tell people if God has already chosen them? My point is, is that you go tell them because you [29:58] believe that God has already chosen people. That takes 100% of the burden off of me. [30:04] That means I can simply be faithful and trust God with the results. This is a reason to even

[30:11] more boldly trust the gospel and more boldly tell others of the gospel. And a retort that often comes [30:19] is a great question, and it’s a question that I completely understand. It’s the question of, [30:25] what about my family members? Friend, I want you to understand that this is good news for your family. [30:30] That means that the pressure is off of you to be eloquent enough or manipulative enough. Sovereignty [30:37] of God is such good news that it means I don’t have to be a used car salesman for Jesus. [30:44] The gospel is not something I’m shucking and jiving and hoping to convince you that you need

[30:47] to get in this car today. It’s not something that I have to trick you with something up here [30:52] just so that maybe I’ll have the audience down here for the gospel of Jesus Christ. [30:56] I don’t have to bring these great prizes in to draw you in for a raffle, or maybe you’ll [31:00] win your real God a brand new car or something. And then at the end of the night, I get to trick [31:05] you because I really brought you here to give you the good news of Jesus. No, I can just go, [31:09] give you the good news of Jesus, and trust, you know what? God’s going to work through it.

[31:14] That’s what Paul means when he writes in a letter to the Corinthians, chapter 3, verses 7 through 9. [31:20] He says, neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything but only God who gives the growth. [31:26] See, we struggle with that. You say, wait a second, I deserve credit. [31:33] If I’m faithful to preach the gospel, I want to be something.

[31:38] Friend, then you don’t understand that you’re a sinner. If you were something, [31:45] then it would negate salvation as a whole. Did you sin yesterday? Yes. If you had to think about it [31:54] for a second, you sinned in that moment. Trust me, when you got up this morning before your feet [32:01] hit the ground, you had a bad motive for something. All of us are sinners, and it needs to be a burden [32:11] reliever for us to say, salvation’s not in my hands. I don’t have to be witty enough. I don’t [32:17] have to be smart enough. I don’t have to be eloquent enough. I can just be true to the message of the

[32:22] gospel, and God is going to use it. He says in verse 8 of 1 Corinthians 3, he says, he who plants [32:28] and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. There’s a reward [32:34] than that reward is faith, but he says, for we are God’s fellow workers, you are God’s field, [32:38] God’s building. Who’s the centerpiece of that whole thing? God. Who’s the author of salvation? God. [32:45] Who’s God? God. Let him be God. We plant and water with our words and our deeds for the gospel. [32:55] We are the beautiful feet that take the good news, and we are sent out to preach with it,

[33:00] but it is God that grows faith in others that produces salvation. This is an amazing promise [33:07] that we need to proclaim that God always has a people he will save.

[33:17] Do you know that everywhere that you are and all of the people that are around you, [33:23] it is safe to assume that God wants to save some of them through your witness? [33:29] I believe that, that wherever you work, God has you there specifically so that you can live his

[33:44] life. I believe that God has sent you there to be his witness for his gospel. [33:52] So when you go to work, you can assume, you know what? God wants to save some of these [33:56] people through my testimony. I believe that my children are going to be saved. I believe that [34:02] because of who their father is, and you say, here we go, prideful preacher, [34:06] thinks he’s going to do it right where we’ve all done it wrong. That’s not what I’m saying. [34:10] I believe that since I am a follower of Jesus, then my, that God has given me my children so

[34:18] that I can preach the gospel to them, and God has put them in my house, and they’re going to [34:22] hear the gospel, therefore there’s a pretty good chance that God wants to save them. You should [34:26] believe that about every single person that God puts in your path, that God has put that person [34:33] in your path for the specific purpose that you can tell them the good news of Jesus Christ. [34:39] When we do not believe that about our lives and believe that about ourselves, [34:43] we believe that we have taken salvation away from God, and it’s up to us who gets to hear about it.

[34:50] Are you good enough to hear the gospel from me? No, they’re not good enough, and that’s the point. [34:56] And neither are you. But God has given us a glorious gospel for us to take out into this world. [35:03] But number three this morning, God has always worked to bring people to faith in Him. Look in [35:09] verse seven, we’re going to tread into some deep water. He says, what then? I love when Paul makes [35:14] a point, and he has the audacity to do what we would call rude, and he says, what? He says, [35:20] what then? And then he doesn’t give them a second to answer, he just continues. He says, Israel

[35:24] failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened. As it is [35:31] written, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see, ears that would not hear, [35:37] down to this very day. And you say, that doesn’t sound very good. Well, it’s going to sound worse [35:40] in a second. And David says, let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block, [35:47] and a retribution for them. Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend [35:54] their backs forever. God’s people said, no, just kidding. And then it’s like, man, it’s sounding

[36:01] rough. But then verse 11, he says, so I ask, did they stumble in order that they may fall? [36:11] By no means. No. He says, rather, through their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles, [36:19] so as to make Israel jealous. So we get to this part of the Scriptures, and we’re struggling. [36:26] Why? Because he uses that language that we’re very uncomfortable with, that the elect have obtained [36:32] it, and the rest were hardened. We’re like, what in the world, that term hardened, I am struggling [36:37] with that. What we have to understand about this whole thing is that first, we have to allow God

[36:42] to be God. We must come to God, and we must seek him on his terms. Ultimately, this is about [36:50] trusting God. Do you trust God enough to allow salvation to be his and be faithful in what he [36:57] has told you to do with it? Verse 7 there puts it plainly, that there are many people who will be [37:05] saved, and there are some people who will not be saved. You see, this is not something that we need [37:11] to go to Scripture to even understand. This is a natural revelation. There are people who come to [37:18] faith in Jesus, and there are other people who do not come to faith in Jesus. This is not something

[37:24] that you would argue with me about. It’s clear as day. There are people who have faith. There are not [37:29] people who have faith. There are people who accept Jesus. There are people who deny Jesus. This is a [37:35] natural revelation of the way faith works in people. But our struggle is, is when we look into the [37:41] Gospels, and we say, and now it’s saying that God plays a part in that. How in the world is that [37:49] supposed to encourage me to live the mission of Jesus? Because of Jesus, though, I trust it [37:59] through faith. Every bit of it. Those who are elect and those whose hearts are hardened is done

[38:06] for God’s mission to move forward and for Him to have glory. You see, because He’s wanting us to [38:12] learn a lesson through the nation of Israel. Israel tried to conform God to their image so that [38:17] He was more palpable to them, so that they understood Him more, so that He was more like them. [38:23] And that’s what we’re trying to do when we struggle to deal with His beautiful sovereignty. [38:28] But Israel failed. Romans 9.31 reminds us and points out that they pursued God under their own [38:35] terms, but you can’t do that because you aren’t righteous. It says, but Israel pursued a law that

[38:41] would lead to righteousness, but they did not succeed in reaching that law. Friend, we must [38:49] live as those taking salvation to people rather than reserving it for ourselves because Israel [38:54] tried it and failed. How is it possible, though, that hearts being hardened furthers God’s mission? [39:01] That’s why I didn’t stop with verse 10.

[39:05] Because if we got verse, if all we do is finish at verse 10, then it’s like, why are we even here? [39:09] God’s got this, let’s go home. No, that’s why verse 11 is so important. The stumbling of Israel was so [39:18] that the Gentiles would be saved. No, it’s specifically what he says. He says, so I ask, [39:23] did Israel stumble in order that they might fall? So he’s saying, is the whole point in the Old [39:31] Testament of God rising these people up and saying, you’re the chosen people, you’re my people, [39:36] was their whole point so that in the end they would be condemned?

[39:43] What does Paul say? He uses the strongest negation available in the language. He says, no, [39:50] that’s not possible. That’s never God’s purpose. That’s not God’s point. He says, instead, rather, [39:58] through their trespass, through their sin, salvation has come to the Gentiles.

[40:07] Because Israel stumbled, they killed Jesus. In killing Jesus, he took your penalty onto the

[40:29] Gentiles. He says, you know how that happened? Because God hardened Israel to get Jesus. [40:34] But then note what he says. I love the way that verse 11 ends. I mean, it’s like, [40:39] he’s laying down four aces, man. It’s like the highest thing. He says, [40:45] so as to make Israel jealous. I love this because what he’s done is he’s made this cycle of [40:51] salvation between Israel and the Gentiles. And he says, Israel stumbled so that the Gentiles [40:56] could get saved. And I’ve saved the Gentiles so that Israel will look at the Gentiles and say,

[41:01] wait a second, I want that. And then the Gentiles have a message of how they can have it. [41:09] And trust Jesus, he’ll save you. God has always, always, always been working to save, [41:25] and he’s still working to save. Friend, the reality of our lives is that God is working in [41:36] single thing in this world for his mission to save through Jesus. So that salvation will go into [41:44] more and more lives. Everything. That’s why 2 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 14 is so important [41:51] to Village Church. It says, but thanks be to God who in Christ always leads us in triumphal

[41:59] procession and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. That is the [42:07] vision for your life that you go and you are the testimony of what Jesus can do. But how can you [42:14] do it boldly? How can you do it with confidence? Because you know and you trust that it is a [42:21] triumphant mission that God is always successful at. Through Jesus, God says, go and tell. [42:31] That means salvation is not limited to Israel. Salvation is not limited to Village Church. [42:37] Salvation is not limited to me. I have a mission to live and it will be a success. Israel didn’t

[42:45] want to be pushed to take salvation to others. May that never be true of Village Church. [42:54] Friends, we have developed a great community of discipleship, but the danger is always there to [43:01] become stagnant and want to reserve God’s work for here. We must realize that every work of God [43:09] is to pull us into his people, is to pull us into his church, the body of Christ, [43:16] is to pull us and make us into a community to be involved in people’s lives as witnesses for Jesus. [43:24] And he makes that community, pulls us in so that we can disciple one another, so that we can then be

[43:29] pushed out by the community, to go out into the community, to bring other people in to experience [43:37] that life-changing redemption. That is evangelism. That is the mission of Jesus. We must organize [43:46] our lives around going in life for the purpose of making disciples. All of this is to further [43:53] explain the validity of Jesus’ call for us to go and make disciples of all nations. So what am I [44:07] about? I’m about Jesus. I’m about his mission. I’m about Jesus and his mission to save others. [44:14] Friend, is that your mission when you go to work? Is that your mission on the sports field?

[44:21] Is that your mission in your hobbies? Is that your mission in your family? Is that your mission [44:28] with your friends? Is that your mission when you go out into the world? Is that your mission every [44:35] single moment of every day? Friend, we need to go into all of these areas more than we are going [44:43] right now, and we need to do it for the mission of Jesus. Too often we grow the mindset and we [44:50] refuse to live in the tension between being pulled in and pushed out. And we say, well, I guess the [44:55] answer is that we need to retreat from all of those spaces. How will they know if we do not tell

[45:06] them? And how will we tell them if we’re not sent? Beautiful are the feet that carry the good news [45:12] of Jesus Christ. Friend, we need to go into every area of culture, but we need to do it for purposes [45:20] other than ourselves. I need to go to work with a purpose that is greater than me earning a paycheck. [45:25] Trust me, the paycheck’s a nice little side thing, but the greater purpose is that I am there as a [45:31] light for Jesus Christ because someone at work needs to come to faith in him.

[45:39] I need to be a good father. I need to be the best father so that my children can come to [45:44] faith in Jesus Christ. I need to be a good husband. I need the best husband so that my wife [45:48] can come to faith. She already has, but so that your wife can come to faith and so that I can help [45:53] her grow in her faith in Jesus. I need to be the good neighbor that helps my neighbors with all [45:58] they do so that I can be a witness for Jesus Christ. Friend, we need to be comfortable and [46:03] we need to build an identity that everywhere we go in this world, we are going as a witness of

[46:09] gospel of Jesus Christ. Friend, do you want to reach people for Jesus?

[46:20] Do you look at God’s sovereignty and get angry? Are you offended by God?

[46:28] Friend, maybe that’s evidence that there’s parts of your life that are being hardened to God.

[46:34] If you want to know if you’re following Jesus, check your heart. [46:38] Do you trust him? You can trust Jesus. The reality is that all of us at one time or another [46:46] were hardened to the gospel of Jesus. There was a time when every one of us didn’t know Jesus, [46:54] but God broke through and gave us the gift of faith in Jesus Christ and now we know him.

[47:01] We should not be as Israel was that wanted to reserve it for ourselves, but instead we should [47:06] be as Jesus is on a mission to save more and more people. Your trust in him is revealed in [47:17] your response to his mission in your life. You know, as the band comes up,

[47:25] communion, which is something that we do every single Sunday here at Village Church, [47:29] is about believing that there is more to life than me. It’s about believing that this life [47:37] is bigger than me, that there’s something going on that’s greater than me. And specifically what [47:42] that is, is Jesus. And he wants to work through us. He wants to work for us. He wants to work [47:49] in us for the specific purpose of me having a relationship with God. And then through my [47:55] relationship with God, others get to have a relationship with God. And every single Sunday,

[48:01] we reflect on communion. And what that is, is that is a celebration of what Jesus did for us. [48:08] The fact that we were lost, we were condemned under the wrath of God. And rather than just [48:13] pouring it out on us and condemning us forever, God loved us to the extent that he sent his son [48:19] to die for me and you. And in Jesus’ death, the bread represents the broken body of Jesus. The cup [48:29] represents his shed blood. And he says, as you eat and as you drink, reflect on the death of Christ.

[48:39] Eating the bread, drinking the cup, it means that you believe that Jesus is in you. You believe that [48:46] Jesus died for you. You believe that Jesus is for you and the cross proves it, that God saves you. [48:53] And he’s not going to pour his wrath on you. And then as you walk away from this table, what that [48:59] represents is that you have a new life because of the resurrection. And if you believe, go out into [49:06] this world and tell others. There’s tables in the front, there’s tables in the back. If you believe, come.