WEBVTT

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 Father, we always need your Holy Spirit, every second of every day, but sometimes, Father,

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 we think we can just go on our own steam.

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 So, Father, we thank you so much for hard words like Romans 9 that remind us and open

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 our eyes to how we need your Holy Spirit to come into our lives, to lead us and guide

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 us into all truth, to inwardly free us, to reveal our hearts to ourselves in the context

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 of your existence and your reality and your power and your great love for us.

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 Father, thank you for Jesus and his death upon the cross.

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 Thank you, Father, that he is your power for salvation for all who believe.

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 And thank you, Father, that as we put our faith and trust in you, in your Son, Jesus, that

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 you make us vessels of mercy built for your glory.

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 And so, Father, we ask that your Holy Spirit would move in our lives, in our minds, in

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 our wills, in our hearts very deeply to draw us closer to you this morning.

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 And this we ask in Jesus' name.

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 Amen.

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 Please be seated.

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 So, quite a text.

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 I'm going to say just, first of all, it's interesting and hopefully, you know, because I only use an

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 outline when I preach.

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 Sometimes I forget what I'm going to say in the sermon.

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 Or I get it out of order, out of place.

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 But the very, very first crisis of faith that almost made me stop being a Christian was connected

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 to a question that this text deals with.

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 I had become a Christian and given my life to Jesus in November.

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 And it would have been the spring of the following, like the following, you know, about six months

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 later, in conversation.

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 I was in the context of evangelizing.

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 I got into a conversation with two men who really pressed in on me a certain couple of

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 objections about the Christian faith that all involved whether or not I had free will

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 and whether things were determined.

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 And it rocked me.

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 It was the first time in my young Christian life.

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 I doubted whether, in fact, I had a severe doubt, season of doubt as to whether or not

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 the Christian faith was true.

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 And I wondered if I had to walk away from it.

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 And those same questions of free will and determinism are touched on in this text.

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 And I'll return to that in a moment.

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 But some of the issues which this text touches upon are perennial issues that worry us and

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 that people who think deeply about things try to think deeply about things which this text

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 touches on, do we have free will?

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 Like that's not just a Christian question.

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 It's a human question.

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 And it's a human question because there, in fact, most systems of thought deny,

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 when you look at them very, the way most, I don't want to insult people,

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 but most Canadians don't have a system of thought.

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 I mean, that's just a fact, right?

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 And that's fine, you know?

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 But most systems of thought, when you press into them, lead you to the conclusion that

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 there's no free will.

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 And yet at the same time, what every person thinks about, at least at some times, is that

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 the deep human desire for freedom.

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 There is a deep, persistent human desire for freedom.

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 And it's funny because we maybe don't think of this, but we want freedom in the context

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 of some order.

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 And there's other things that we want about that freedom, but there's this deep human

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 longing for freedom, which is why we sometimes wonder and worry about whether we have free

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 will.

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 It's the same thing that goes on in our culture right now, where many people are very concerned

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 about the huge economic and other types of climate forces which seem to want to overwhelm

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 human beings and take away their freedom and take away their liberty.

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 And it's because we have this deep desire for freedom and liberty that texts like this that we just read

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 sound a bit scary and frightening.

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 So we're going to look at it.

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 And just one more thing.

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 I should have said this first.

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 Just ask those of you who, well, actually, it doesn't matter if this is your church home,

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 and I'd ask your prayers for me this coming Wednesday evening.

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 Our ministry at the university church on Wednesday, they're going through the book of Colossians.

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 And when Daniel first told me about this, I knew that in Colossians there was a very,

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 very another text of terror.

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 Slaves obey your masters.

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 Wives submit to your husbands.

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 Which on the University of Ottawa campus, of course, those are completely non-controversial

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 statements.

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 And as just as they are in Canada.

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 So I volunteered to preach on it.

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 And now the hour of truth has come.

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 That will be this Wednesday evening.

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 I will, in the ground floor of the university center with who knows who passing by, I will

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 look at the book of Colossians and what the Bible teaches on those topics.

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 And I would deeply desire your prayers for me.

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 That I will do it in a way that is true to the Bible and honors and glorifies God.

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 So I ask your prayers for it.

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 Now let's look at this question here.

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 So turn to Romans because that's where Laurie just read.

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 And before we read chapter 9 verses 1 and following, we're going to just go back to what happens

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 just before chapter 9 to sort of set the stage.

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 Because Paul doesn't jump into the problem of free will and determinism first.

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 He starts with something else.

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 Last week we looked at predestination.

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 And so Paul's already getting people used to this idea.

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 And in fact, in an odd way, Paul talks about this whole issue.

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 But in a way that at first we don't realize that there's something about God's sovereignty

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 at work because we like the basic promises.

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 And it's one of the greatest passages in the Bible.

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 It's a passage that's well worth us memorizing.

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 And we're having on a mirror or something so we can meditate upon it regularly.

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 And chapter 8 verse 31 goes like this.

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 Christ Jesus is the one who died.

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 More than that, who was raised.

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 Who is at the right hand of God.

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 Who indeed is interceding for us.

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 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

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 Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

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 As it is written, for your sake we are being killed all the day long.

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 We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.

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 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

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 For I am sure that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers nor things present nor things to come

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 nor powers nor height nor depth nor anything else in all creation

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 will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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 What a text.

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 What a text.

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 And it's hard for many people not to read that text and have their spirits lifted.

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 But there's two types of things that also go on with this text.

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 The first is, your spirits are lifted and then you go home and you get a bit bored

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 and then you waste three hours looking at pornography.

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 Or you go home and you start working on your income tax

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 and you cheat on all the numbers to give yourselves a better return.

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 And then later on in the evening it strikes you what you've done

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 and you start to doubt the text.

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 And that God actually means it.

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 Or that he can actually do it.

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 The other thing that happens with a text like this

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 is that some of us, when we sit listening to the text,

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 we put our arms back like this and say,

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 Oh yeah.

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 Oh yeah.

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 You know, everybody else is getting all excited

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 but we're like a hard rock on a stream

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 and the water is just flowing over us.

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 It's not doing anything to us.

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 And inwardly, we say,

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 Oh yeah, that's not true.

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 If that was true, what about Israel?

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 What about all those promises that God made to Israel?

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 God made all those promises to Israel

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 and none of those things have come true.

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 Gotcha.

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 Gotcha.

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 And so Paul,

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 who he's been around the block a few times

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 in evangelism and conversations.

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 He's been a Christian for 20 some odd years

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 and he's been an evangelist to Jewish people, to pagans.

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 He's been all over the Roman Empire.

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 And so he knows that there's these types of objections

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 that go on.

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 Both those good-hearted people

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 who've now had a,

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 or maybe it's not,

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 or have had maybe a financial crisis

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 or a health crisis

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 and now we start to doubt Romans 8.

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 Or all along we just sort of sit there

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 and think,

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 No, no, no.

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 I know a few things about the Bible.

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 I've heard you preach a few times

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 and I know that that's just not true.

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 Look at Israel.

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 It didn't happen.

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 So Paul,

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 in chapters 9, 10, and 11 of Romans,

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 he's going to deal with a series of objections,

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 both about free will and determinism

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 because there's a large part of Greek philosophy

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 believed in fate,

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 that there was no such thing as free will.

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 And there was another school of Greek philosophy

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 that just believed in fundamentally randomness.

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 Some of you might have heard the saying,

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 You can't step into the same river twice.

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 That was said by a Greek philosopher prior to this.

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 And so Paul's aware of that.

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 And so he's aware of that

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 there's a series of objections.

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 He's going to deal with it 9, 10, and 11.

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 And so we're starting to look at these objections today.

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 And so let's look now at what Paul actually says.

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 Let's just read the first five verses.

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 So mindful of these things that go on in our mind,

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 of doubting that what God has just said in Romans 8 is true,

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 what Jesus has accomplished on the cross is true,

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 that the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives is true.

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 And we have these doubts.

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 So what does Paul go to?

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 He goes like this.

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 I am speaking the truth in Christ.

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 I am not lying.

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 My conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit

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 that I have great sorrow

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 and unceasing anguish in my heart.

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 For I could wish that I myself were accursed

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 and cut off from Christ

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 for the sake of my brothers and sisters,

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 my kin according to the flesh.

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 They are Israelites,

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 and to them belong the adoption,

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 the glory, the covenants,

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 the giving of the law,

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 the worship, and the promises.

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 To them belong the patriarchs.

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 And from their race,

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 according to the flesh,

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 is the Christ,

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 who is God over all,

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 blessed forever.

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 Amen.

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 Amen.

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 So now this is a very, very curious move on his part

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 for two reasons.

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 The first thing is that we see

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 that this is not,

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 what Paul is about to talk about now

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 isn't just a dry intellectual matter.

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 You know,

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 it's not like there's a couple of physicists

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 arguing over quantum mechanics

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 or something like that,

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 although I've been told

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 they can get very heated

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 over some things like that,

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 you know,

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 but, you know,

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 the rest of us would look at it and say,

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 why are you getting heated

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 over something like that,

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 right?

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 But this isn't a dry academic question.

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 For Paul,

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 this is a deeply emotional question.

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 He's deeply emotionally involved in it.

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 It breaks his heart

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 that so many people,

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 like him,

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 Jewish,

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 and like he was

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 before he became a Christian,

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 devout Jews,

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 have rejected Jesus.

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 It breaks his heart.

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 It's not a merely intellectual exercise.

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 It's not just playing games with words.

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 And the second thing,

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 which is very interesting,

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 and as we'll start to see in his answer,

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 he does something which we human beings

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 often don't do.

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 Often,

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 under the pressure of our emotions

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 and our breaking heart,

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 our broken heart,

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 we change our theology.

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 And in a sense,

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 we act as if God is clay

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 and we're the potter.

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 And I'm going to return to this idea,

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 and we can change God

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 so that our heart is broken less.

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 But Paul is not going to do this.

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 In fact,

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 he's going to double down on the issue.

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 Because I think actually,

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 and this is the conclusion I've come

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 after wrestling with this text all week,

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 is that everything in Romans 9 is true.

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 And to deny parts of Romans 9

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 only actually lead you

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 into other trouble,

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 problems,

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 which we just haven't thought about,

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 which are actually far worse.

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 But the main thing here

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 is to see that it breaks Paul's heart.

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 So how is he going to now start

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 to try to address this question?

00:13:38.980 --> 00:13:39.379
 Okay,

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 you said all these wonderful things

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 about how nothing can separate us

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 from the love of God.

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 What about Israel?

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 Isn't that an example

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 against what you're saying?

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 Some of you over the last couple of weeks

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 have asked me,

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 what about friends of ours

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 who were Christians

00:13:53.139 --> 00:13:54.320
 or seem to have been Christians,

00:13:54.420 --> 00:13:55.320
 but now are living a life

00:13:55.320 --> 00:13:56.639
 completely far from God?

00:13:57.000 --> 00:13:58.279
 I'm not going to talk about that question.

00:13:58.399 --> 00:14:00.259
 Paul talks about that in chapter 11.

00:14:00.600 --> 00:14:01.779
 So in two weeks' time,

00:14:02.139 --> 00:14:03.160
 I'll talk about that.

00:14:03.159 --> 00:14:04.219
 But for now,

00:14:04.659 --> 00:14:05.500
 Paul is asking,

00:14:05.659 --> 00:14:06.299
 what about Israel?

00:14:06.439 --> 00:14:07.860
 Has God kept his word or not?

00:14:08.059 --> 00:14:09.459
 Well, let's look and see what he says.

00:14:09.879 --> 00:14:12.039
 Romans 6, 9, 6 to 13.

00:14:12.959 --> 00:14:13.240
 And this,

00:14:13.600 --> 00:14:14.100
 in some ways,

00:14:14.179 --> 00:14:15.100
 Romans 9, 6,

00:14:15.179 --> 00:14:15.919
 it's the key,

00:14:16.719 --> 00:14:18.000
 but you realize

00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:19.299
 that when he starts to prove it

00:14:19.299 --> 00:14:20.059
 from the Bible,

00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:22.059
 it opens up cans of worms.

00:14:23.519 --> 00:14:25.319
 But Romans 9, 6 is the key.

00:14:25.860 --> 00:14:26.299
 But,

00:14:26.679 --> 00:14:28.240
 it is not as though

00:14:28.240 --> 00:14:29.639
 the word of God has failed.

00:14:29.639 --> 00:14:33.559
 For not all who are descended from Israel

00:14:33.559 --> 00:14:34.799
 belong to Israel.

00:14:36.600 --> 00:14:37.980
 Just pause a second.

00:14:38.779 --> 00:14:39.980
 A few years ago,

00:14:40.100 --> 00:14:41.279
 when I was in a debate

00:14:41.279 --> 00:14:44.439
 around a controversial moral issue,

00:14:45.299 --> 00:14:48.620
 and part of that controversial moral issue

00:14:48.620 --> 00:14:50.080
 was that,

00:14:50.199 --> 00:14:53.700
 was text in the Old Testament,

00:14:53.840 --> 00:14:54.899
 mainly New Testament text,

00:14:54.980 --> 00:14:56.220
 but Old Testament text.

00:14:56.220 --> 00:14:57.360
 And so,

00:14:57.420 --> 00:14:59.620
 a person who was arguing against me

00:14:59.620 --> 00:15:00.960
 tried to argue

00:15:00.960 --> 00:15:02.420
 that in my own personal life,

00:15:02.519 --> 00:15:03.500
 I hadn't kept

00:15:03.500 --> 00:15:04.899
 all of the commandments

00:15:04.899 --> 00:15:05.980
 around being a priest

00:15:05.980 --> 00:15:07.080
 in the Old Testament.

00:15:08.120 --> 00:15:09.759
 And they thought they'd got me.

00:15:10.759 --> 00:15:12.120
 And I began my answer

00:15:12.120 --> 00:15:12.560
 by saying,

00:15:12.639 --> 00:15:13.300
 I'm not a priest.

00:15:14.899 --> 00:15:15.300
 Which,

00:15:15.420 --> 00:15:15.860
 at the time,

00:15:15.940 --> 00:15:17.480
 in that Anglican congregation,

00:15:17.700 --> 00:15:18.259
 shocked them.

00:15:19.220 --> 00:15:19.480
 And I,

00:15:19.600 --> 00:15:20.680
 and then I went on to explain

00:15:20.680 --> 00:15:21.639
 that I'm a presbyter,

00:15:21.700 --> 00:15:22.279
 not a priest.

00:15:22.399 --> 00:15:23.639
 And those Old Testament things

00:15:23.639 --> 00:15:24.399
 don't apply to me.

00:15:24.399 --> 00:15:25.399
 It's just a matter of looking

00:15:25.399 --> 00:15:27.179
 at the Bible more closely.

00:15:27.879 --> 00:15:29.419
 So what Paul is going to say here,

00:15:29.539 --> 00:15:30.720
 he makes his general statement,

00:15:30.840 --> 00:15:31.579
 but it is not as though

00:15:31.579 --> 00:15:32.799
 the word of God has failed.

00:15:33.559 --> 00:15:35.539
 For not all who are descended from Israel

00:15:35.539 --> 00:15:36.439
 belong to Israel.

00:15:37.019 --> 00:15:38.299
 And now Paul's going to prove it

00:15:38.299 --> 00:15:38.939
 from the Bible.

00:15:40.179 --> 00:15:41.039
 He's going to prove

00:15:41.039 --> 00:15:41.879
 that this is what

00:15:41.879 --> 00:15:43.600
 the Old Testament actually says.

00:15:43.679 --> 00:15:44.740
 That just because,

00:15:45.419 --> 00:15:46.179
 biologically,

00:15:46.419 --> 00:15:48.840
 you can trace yourself back to Abraham,

00:15:49.100 --> 00:15:49.860
 or biologically,

00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:51.639
 you can trace yourself back to Isaac,

00:15:51.639 --> 00:15:52.840
 or biologically,

00:15:52.980 --> 00:15:55.039
 you can trace yourself back to Jacob,

00:15:55.439 --> 00:15:56.220
 and so therefore,

00:15:56.379 --> 00:15:57.159
 you were Jewish.

00:15:58.620 --> 00:15:59.019
 Well,

00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:01.080
 it is not as though

00:16:01.080 --> 00:16:02.279
 the word of God has failed,

00:16:02.399 --> 00:16:03.559
 for not all who are descended

00:16:03.559 --> 00:16:04.159
 from Israel

00:16:04.159 --> 00:16:05.039
 belong to Israel.

00:16:05.199 --> 00:16:05.699
 Verse 7,

00:16:06.240 --> 00:16:08.080
 and not all are children of Abraham

00:16:08.080 --> 00:16:09.720
 because they are his offspring.

00:16:10.799 --> 00:16:11.039
 But,

00:16:11.759 --> 00:16:12.779
 here he quotes the Bible,

00:16:13.419 --> 00:16:14.319
 through Isaac

00:16:14.319 --> 00:16:15.939
 shall your offspring be named.

00:16:16.919 --> 00:16:17.600
 Then he says,

00:16:17.939 --> 00:16:18.419
 verse 8,

00:16:18.419 --> 00:16:19.699
 this means that it is not

00:16:19.699 --> 00:16:20.979
 the children of the flesh,

00:16:21.639 --> 00:16:22.219
 in other words,

00:16:22.319 --> 00:16:23.139
 mere biology,

00:16:23.860 --> 00:16:25.099
 who are the children of God,

00:16:25.319 --> 00:16:27.139
 but the children of the promise

00:16:27.139 --> 00:16:28.979
 are counted as offspring,

00:16:29.240 --> 00:16:30.079
 God's promise.

00:16:31.099 --> 00:16:31.779
 Verse 9,

00:16:31.899 --> 00:16:33.939
 for this is what the promise said.

00:16:34.699 --> 00:16:35.479
 And now he's going to quote

00:16:35.479 --> 00:16:36.219
 the Bible again.

00:16:36.919 --> 00:16:38.219
 About this time next year

00:16:38.219 --> 00:16:39.159
 I will return,

00:16:39.519 --> 00:16:41.159
 and Sarah shall have a son.

00:16:41.240 --> 00:16:42.240
 Just a bit of an aside.

00:16:42.839 --> 00:16:45.240
 He takes the narrative part of Genesis

00:16:45.240 --> 00:16:46.599
 as if God is speaking.

00:16:46.600 --> 00:16:48.659
 Just a little aside.

00:16:48.800 --> 00:16:49.920
 It's all the way through this

00:16:49.920 --> 00:16:52.159
 is how the Bible understands itself

00:16:52.159 --> 00:16:53.340
 is it's God speaking.

00:16:53.620 --> 00:16:54.460
 It's his words.

00:16:55.960 --> 00:16:57.040
 And that verse 10,

00:16:57.120 --> 00:16:57.740
 and not only so,

00:16:57.820 --> 00:16:58.759
 but also when Rebecca

00:16:58.759 --> 00:16:59.860
 had conceived children

00:16:59.860 --> 00:17:00.960
 by one man,

00:17:01.360 --> 00:17:02.560
 our forefather Isaac,

00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:04.740
 though they were not yet born

00:17:04.740 --> 00:17:06.099
 and had done nothing

00:17:06.099 --> 00:17:07.420
 either good or bad,

00:17:08.120 --> 00:17:10.120
 in order that God's purpose

00:17:10.120 --> 00:17:12.099
 of election might continue,

00:17:12.579 --> 00:17:14.420
 not because of works,

00:17:14.420 --> 00:17:17.279
 but because of him who calls.

00:17:17.820 --> 00:17:18.779
 She was told,

00:17:19.000 --> 00:17:20.060
 now we quote the Bible,

00:17:20.680 --> 00:17:22.180
 the older will serve the younger.

00:17:22.779 --> 00:17:23.660
 As it is written,

00:17:24.080 --> 00:17:25.240
 he quotes the Bible again,

00:17:25.779 --> 00:17:26.600
 Jacob I loved,

00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:27.940
 but Esau I hated.

00:17:29.200 --> 00:17:31.259
 Now, not to get carried away with it,

00:17:32.620 --> 00:17:34.000
 Esau I hated,

00:17:34.200 --> 00:17:35.860
 it's called a Semitism.

00:17:36.420 --> 00:17:38.120
 I probably didn't say that word right.

00:17:38.519 --> 00:17:39.800
 It's a figure of speech

00:17:39.799 --> 00:17:41.559
 when translated literally

00:17:41.559 --> 00:17:43.799
 sounds really, really weird

00:17:43.799 --> 00:17:45.359
 and even hateful,

00:17:45.440 --> 00:17:48.859
 but it's just a figure of speech

00:17:48.859 --> 00:17:50.559
 back from the time

00:17:50.559 --> 00:17:51.480
 that the Bible was written,

00:17:51.940 --> 00:17:53.500
 and it means rejected,

00:17:53.960 --> 00:17:55.059
 not chosen.

00:17:56.299 --> 00:17:57.419
 You think about it,

00:17:57.779 --> 00:17:59.099
 sometimes in movies

00:17:59.099 --> 00:18:00.339
 they have like a computer

00:18:00.339 --> 00:18:01.960
 or a robot or an alien

00:18:01.960 --> 00:18:04.019
 who spends time with human beings,

00:18:04.180 --> 00:18:05.639
 and the robot or the alien

00:18:05.639 --> 00:18:06.759
 is always getting confused

00:18:06.759 --> 00:18:07.940
 by figures of speech.

00:18:07.940 --> 00:18:09.539
 You know, like when you say

00:18:09.539 --> 00:18:11.500
 the person's a few bricks shy of a load

00:18:11.500 --> 00:18:13.340
 or a person has a screw loose

00:18:13.340 --> 00:18:14.080
 or something like that,

00:18:14.100 --> 00:18:14.940
 and then they'll have the robot

00:18:14.940 --> 00:18:16.140
 look in the person's head

00:18:16.140 --> 00:18:17.279
 to see where the screw is

00:18:17.279 --> 00:18:17.740
 that he can,

00:18:18.299 --> 00:18:19.299
 or she or it can,

00:18:19.380 --> 00:18:19.860
 you know, straighten.

00:18:20.440 --> 00:18:22.180
 It's a figure of speech,

00:18:22.380 --> 00:18:24.880
 but it means completely rejected.

00:18:25.160 --> 00:18:26.000
 That's what hated means,

00:18:26.059 --> 00:18:27.000
 completely rejected.

00:18:28.039 --> 00:18:31.200
 Now, it's a little bit of,

00:18:32.080 --> 00:18:34.279
 it's still a bit of a text of terror.

00:18:34.420 --> 00:18:35.799
 It brings up this idea

00:18:35.799 --> 00:18:38.960
 that you have Isaac and Ishmael,

00:18:39.639 --> 00:18:41.139
 and God chooses Isaac,

00:18:41.279 --> 00:18:42.159
 but not Ishmael,

00:18:42.259 --> 00:18:44.839
 and then you have Isaac's twin boys,

00:18:45.700 --> 00:18:49.079
 and God chooses not Esau,

00:18:49.139 --> 00:18:50.119
 one of the twin boys,

00:18:50.339 --> 00:18:52.519
 in fact, the natural leader

00:18:52.519 --> 00:18:54.980
 by the natural culture,

00:18:55.099 --> 00:18:56.460
 the natural order of things.

00:18:56.599 --> 00:18:57.419
 God doesn't go along

00:18:57.419 --> 00:18:59.200
 with the natural order of things.

00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:01.960
 In a sense,

00:19:02.140 --> 00:19:02.980
 what God does is

00:19:02.980 --> 00:19:07.080
 he deconstructs natural order.

00:19:07.940 --> 00:19:11.460
 He deconstructs cultural expectations

00:19:11.460 --> 00:19:12.799
 of how things should work.

00:19:13.840 --> 00:19:15.039
 He, in a sense,

00:19:15.440 --> 00:19:18.360
 demythologizes the myths

00:19:18.360 --> 00:19:20.019
 and the gods of our culture

00:19:20.019 --> 00:19:21.799
 about how things should work,

00:19:22.279 --> 00:19:24.500
 and he chooses the younger one,

00:19:24.740 --> 00:19:25.000
 Jacob,

00:19:25.360 --> 00:19:26.340
 over the older one,

00:19:26.339 --> 00:19:27.459
 the natural one,

00:19:27.720 --> 00:19:28.639
 the reasonable one,

00:19:28.939 --> 00:19:30.039
 the logical one,

00:19:30.359 --> 00:19:31.459
 the obvious one,

00:19:31.779 --> 00:19:32.919
 the cultural one.

00:19:33.659 --> 00:19:35.579
 He doesn't choose that.

00:19:35.720 --> 00:19:37.079
 He chooses the youngest.

00:19:37.279 --> 00:19:38.519
 But in both cases,

00:19:38.639 --> 00:19:39.259
 they're chosen

00:19:39.259 --> 00:19:40.879
 while they're in the womb.

00:19:42.139 --> 00:19:42.720
 Why?

00:19:44.079 --> 00:19:44.659
 Election.

00:19:44.660 --> 00:19:47.120
 He calls them out.

00:19:47.600 --> 00:19:48.600
 Election is a,

00:19:49.300 --> 00:19:50.480
 what it basically means

00:19:50.480 --> 00:19:52.000
 is it would be as if,

00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:54.060
 I don't know,

00:19:54.120 --> 00:19:55.840
 let's say some terrorists

00:19:55.840 --> 00:19:58.720
 have surrounded this building,

00:19:59.000 --> 00:20:00.259
 and there's a bomb,

00:20:00.340 --> 00:20:01.259
 and we're all going to die.

00:20:02.140 --> 00:20:04.040
 And then the police say,

00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:04.759
 outside,

00:20:05.060 --> 00:20:06.180
 as a matter of good faith,

00:20:06.259 --> 00:20:07.640
 could you release four people?

00:20:08.380 --> 00:20:09.740
 And they call out,

00:20:09.860 --> 00:20:11.519
 you, you, you, you.

00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:12.660
 Off you go.

00:20:13.140 --> 00:20:13.779
 The rest stay here

00:20:13.779 --> 00:20:14.779
 to be bombed and die.

00:20:15.759 --> 00:20:17.000
 Election means called out,

00:20:17.099 --> 00:20:17.879
 chosen out.

00:20:18.119 --> 00:20:18.899
 That's what it means.

00:20:21.220 --> 00:20:22.259
 So on one hand,

00:20:22.299 --> 00:20:22.539
 you say,

00:20:22.639 --> 00:20:23.359
 okay, you know,

00:20:23.920 --> 00:20:24.759
 oh, Paul,

00:20:24.980 --> 00:20:25.879
 this is where we as Canadians,

00:20:25.899 --> 00:20:26.579
 let's just be honest,

00:20:26.660 --> 00:20:27.500
 for a second as Canadians,

00:20:27.500 --> 00:20:28.000
 you would say,

00:20:28.819 --> 00:20:30.500
 Paul,

00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:32.559
 why didn't you just stop

00:20:32.559 --> 00:20:33.579
 at verse six?

00:20:35.480 --> 00:20:35.839
 Like,

00:20:35.899 --> 00:20:36.899
 if you had just stopped

00:20:36.899 --> 00:20:37.700
 at verse six

00:20:37.700 --> 00:20:38.480
 when it just said,

00:20:38.539 --> 00:20:39.139
 but it's not as though

00:20:39.139 --> 00:20:39.740
 the word of God

00:20:39.740 --> 00:20:40.599
 had failed for not all

00:20:40.599 --> 00:20:41.519
 who are descended from Israel

00:20:41.519 --> 00:20:42.220
 belong to Israel,

00:20:42.319 --> 00:20:42.639
 say, okay,

00:20:42.640 --> 00:20:44.120
 good enough for me.

00:20:44.640 --> 00:20:45.820
 But now you go ahead

00:20:45.820 --> 00:20:46.380
 and tell us

00:20:46.380 --> 00:20:47.240
 and try to bring out

00:20:47.240 --> 00:20:48.000
 in the story

00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:48.920
 what's going on

00:20:48.920 --> 00:20:49.880
 with Isaac,

00:20:50.480 --> 00:20:51.300
 the election

00:20:51.300 --> 00:20:52.560
 called out.

00:20:55.040 --> 00:20:56.680
 You've just made it worse.

00:20:58.240 --> 00:20:59.500
 You've just made it worse.

00:20:59.800 --> 00:20:59.980
 You know,

00:20:59.980 --> 00:21:00.300
 it's very,

00:21:00.400 --> 00:21:00.940
 very interesting.

00:21:01.100 --> 00:21:01.700
 In some ways,

00:21:01.800 --> 00:21:03.000
 all of the book of Romans

00:21:03.000 --> 00:21:05.780
 is an extended meditation

00:21:05.780 --> 00:21:06.660
 from a verse

00:21:06.660 --> 00:21:07.160
 in the book

00:21:07.160 --> 00:21:08.000
 of Habakkuk.

00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:10.039
 We'll look at Romans

00:21:10.039 --> 00:21:11.299
 1, 16 to 17

00:21:11.299 --> 00:21:11.799
 in a moment,

00:21:11.880 --> 00:21:12.400
 but when it says,

00:21:12.500 --> 00:21:13.299
 the righteous shall live

00:21:13.299 --> 00:21:13.779
 by faith,

00:21:13.779 --> 00:21:14.319
 that's a quote

00:21:14.319 --> 00:21:15.380
 from the book of Habakkuk.

00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:16.680
 And in Habakkuk,

00:21:16.799 --> 00:21:18.160
 it's the same type of thing.

00:21:18.619 --> 00:21:19.660
 Habakkuk is complaining

00:21:19.660 --> 00:21:21.240
 to God about what's going on,

00:21:21.519 --> 00:21:22.700
 about all of the evil

00:21:22.700 --> 00:21:23.920
 that's going on in Israel

00:21:23.920 --> 00:21:24.740
 and why doesn't God

00:21:24.740 --> 00:21:25.759
 do something about it?

00:21:25.839 --> 00:21:26.480
 And God says,

00:21:26.599 --> 00:21:27.299
 good news for you,

00:21:27.339 --> 00:21:27.819
 Habakkuk.

00:21:27.920 --> 00:21:29.779
 I've answered your prayers.

00:21:30.240 --> 00:21:30.980
 I'm going to have,

00:21:31.220 --> 00:21:32.059
 I think it's Assyria,

00:21:32.140 --> 00:21:33.180
 I'm going to have Assyria

00:21:33.180 --> 00:21:34.720
 invade and punish you guys.

00:21:35.200 --> 00:21:36.039
 And Habakkuk goes,

00:21:36.380 --> 00:21:37.140
 whoa, God,

00:21:37.200 --> 00:21:37.779
 one second,

00:21:37.880 --> 00:21:38.660
 you can't do that.

00:21:38.819 --> 00:21:40.140
 That's the wrong answer.

00:21:40.519 --> 00:21:40.740
 Like,

00:21:40.920 --> 00:21:41.480
 and why on earth

00:21:41.480 --> 00:21:42.000
 would you do that?

00:21:42.059 --> 00:21:43.259
 God, Assyria is worse

00:21:43.259 --> 00:21:43.960
 than Israel.

00:21:45.100 --> 00:21:45.299
 Okay,

00:21:45.299 --> 00:21:46.259
 so it's the same type of thing

00:21:46.259 --> 00:21:47.079
 that's going on here

00:21:47.079 --> 00:21:49.660
 that Paul gives an answer

00:21:49.660 --> 00:21:50.259
 and if we're honest,

00:21:50.339 --> 00:21:50.539
 we go,

00:21:50.660 --> 00:21:51.600
 whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

00:21:51.720 --> 00:21:51.940
 Okay,

00:21:52.440 --> 00:21:52.759
 can we,

00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:54.220
 I wish we could now replay,

00:21:54.360 --> 00:21:55.240
 just rewind that

00:21:55.240 --> 00:21:55.819
 because you've actually

00:21:55.819 --> 00:21:56.819
 seemed to have made it worse,

00:21:56.839 --> 00:21:57.319
 not better.

00:21:58.319 --> 00:21:59.019
 Here's the thing

00:21:59.019 --> 00:22:00.059
 for us to understand.

00:22:00.620 --> 00:22:00.839
 Andrew,

00:22:00.900 --> 00:22:01.539
 if you could put up

00:22:01.539 --> 00:22:03.940
 the first slide.

00:22:04.720 --> 00:22:07.579
 we are a chosen people,

00:22:07.660 --> 00:22:09.039
 not a choice people.

00:22:11.940 --> 00:22:12.339
 This,

00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:14.319
 if you don't understand

00:22:14.319 --> 00:22:15.220
 this idea,

00:22:15.319 --> 00:22:16.400
 then nothing in this text

00:22:16.400 --> 00:22:17.339
 is going to make sense,

00:22:17.400 --> 00:22:18.279
 but it's what the text

00:22:18.279 --> 00:22:18.740
 is saying.

00:22:19.539 --> 00:22:20.460
 It's still a very

00:22:20.460 --> 00:22:21.779
 frightening text to us

00:22:21.779 --> 00:22:23.000
 because it makes us feel

00:22:23.000 --> 00:22:24.839
 completely and utterly naked.

00:22:25.779 --> 00:22:26.380
 But you know how

00:22:26.380 --> 00:22:27.500
 choice means,

00:22:27.740 --> 00:22:28.019
 you know,

00:22:28.200 --> 00:22:29.200
 you see these things,

00:22:29.360 --> 00:22:29.720
 you know,

00:22:29.759 --> 00:22:30.700
 in the food sections,

00:22:30.839 --> 00:22:31.519
 they talk about it

00:22:31.519 --> 00:22:31.880
 all the time.

00:22:31.940 --> 00:22:32.319
 If you ever read

00:22:32.319 --> 00:22:32.980
 the food section,

00:22:32.980 --> 00:22:33.500
 the citizen,

00:22:33.620 --> 00:22:34.099
 they'll talk about

00:22:34.099 --> 00:22:35.000
 in these real hipster,

00:22:35.440 --> 00:22:36.440
 high-end restaurant

00:22:36.440 --> 00:22:37.180
 type places,

00:22:37.339 --> 00:22:37.599
 how,

00:22:38.099 --> 00:22:38.599
 you know,

00:22:38.720 --> 00:22:39.779
 or you see it in movies,

00:22:39.920 --> 00:22:41.000
 they go down to the market,

00:22:41.160 --> 00:22:41.880
 they don't just sort of

00:22:41.880 --> 00:22:42.660
 pick the cheapest

00:22:42.660 --> 00:22:44.380
 10 fish they can find,

00:22:44.740 --> 00:22:45.779
 but they pick the

00:22:45.779 --> 00:22:47.380
 choice fish

00:22:47.380 --> 00:22:49.240
 and the choice vegetables

00:22:49.240 --> 00:22:50.220
 because the person

00:22:50.220 --> 00:22:50.799
 who goes down

00:22:50.799 --> 00:22:51.519
 is an expert

00:22:51.519 --> 00:22:52.860
 at recognizing

00:22:52.860 --> 00:22:55.339
 the choice bits of meat

00:22:55.339 --> 00:22:56.620
 and the choice herbs

00:22:56.620 --> 00:22:57.740
 and the choice fish

00:22:57.740 --> 00:22:58.900
 and the choice vegetables,

00:22:58.900 --> 00:23:00.060
 and because of their

00:23:00.060 --> 00:23:01.160
 expertise and skill,

00:23:01.280 --> 00:23:02.120
 they identify

00:23:02.120 --> 00:23:03.040
 what is choice

00:23:03.040 --> 00:23:04.280
 and then they bring it

00:23:04.280 --> 00:23:05.060
 back to cook

00:23:05.060 --> 00:23:06.040
 for discerning people

00:23:06.040 --> 00:23:06.660
 like us.

00:23:07.759 --> 00:23:07.960
 Well,

00:23:08.019 --> 00:23:08.960
 I go to McDonald's

00:23:08.960 --> 00:23:09.420
 so it wouldn't be

00:23:09.420 --> 00:23:10.400
 for people like me,

00:23:10.500 --> 00:23:10.620
 but,

00:23:11.060 --> 00:23:13.560
 and so it's very,

00:23:13.960 --> 00:23:15.080
 what the Bible

00:23:15.080 --> 00:23:15.560
 is going to,

00:23:15.600 --> 00:23:16.400
 what Paul is going

00:23:16.400 --> 00:23:16.940
 to try to have

00:23:16.940 --> 00:23:18.280
 completely and utterly

00:23:18.280 --> 00:23:19.900
 removed from our mind

00:23:19.900 --> 00:23:22.440
 and from our spirit

00:23:22.440 --> 00:23:24.480
 is any sense

00:23:24.480 --> 00:23:26.420
 that I am choice.

00:23:26.420 --> 00:23:29.240
 there's something

00:23:29.240 --> 00:23:29.759
 about me

00:23:29.759 --> 00:23:31.160
 just a little bit special.

00:23:33.019 --> 00:23:33.519
 You know,

00:23:33.560 --> 00:23:34.160
 maybe it's because

00:23:34.160 --> 00:23:34.920
 of my background

00:23:34.920 --> 00:23:35.560
 and upbringing

00:23:35.560 --> 00:23:36.840
 or maybe it's because,

00:23:36.980 --> 00:23:37.259
 I don't know,

00:23:37.300 --> 00:23:37.660
 have you heard

00:23:37.660 --> 00:23:38.820
 how I can harmonize

00:23:38.820 --> 00:23:39.440
 when they're singing

00:23:39.440 --> 00:23:40.200
 up front or

00:23:40.200 --> 00:23:40.920
 have you heard

00:23:40.920 --> 00:23:41.900
 how I can pray

00:23:41.900 --> 00:23:42.480
 or have you heard

00:23:42.480 --> 00:23:43.539
 how I can preach

00:23:43.539 --> 00:23:44.000
 or have you heard

00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:45.060
 how I can lead

00:23:45.060 --> 00:23:45.980
 or have you heard

00:23:45.980 --> 00:23:46.940
 how I can parent

00:23:46.940 --> 00:23:47.640
 my children

00:23:47.640 --> 00:23:48.320
 or have you heard

00:23:48.320 --> 00:23:51.200
 how it's deeply

00:23:51.200 --> 00:23:52.140
 within us

00:23:52.140 --> 00:23:53.500
 to start to desire

00:23:53.500 --> 00:23:54.660
 that we are choice

00:23:54.660 --> 00:23:56.500
 and the Bible

00:23:56.500 --> 00:23:56.900
 is not going

00:23:56.900 --> 00:23:57.700
 to ever explain

00:23:57.700 --> 00:23:58.080
 to us,

00:23:58.600 --> 00:23:59.380
 it's going to say

00:23:59.380 --> 00:24:00.400
 that it's not random,

00:24:00.700 --> 00:24:01.360
 it's going to say

00:24:01.360 --> 00:24:02.160
 that it wasn't as if

00:24:02.160 --> 00:24:03.100
 God just was going,

00:24:04.060 --> 00:24:04.500
 okay,

00:24:04.700 --> 00:24:05.560
 baby's being born,

00:24:05.700 --> 00:24:06.580
 baby's being born,

00:24:06.800 --> 00:24:07.200
 yeah,

00:24:07.720 --> 00:24:09.300
 another baby being born,

00:24:09.580 --> 00:24:09.759
 you know,

00:24:09.840 --> 00:24:10.640
 eenie, meenie,

00:24:10.740 --> 00:24:11.480
 miney, moe,

00:24:11.540 --> 00:24:12.080
 catch a tiger,

00:24:12.140 --> 00:24:12.279
 okay,

00:24:12.340 --> 00:24:13.040
 pick that one,

00:24:13.420 --> 00:24:14.019
 catch a tiger

00:24:14.019 --> 00:24:14.779
 by the toe,

00:24:14.980 --> 00:24:16.340
 pick that one.

00:24:17.040 --> 00:24:17.580
 It's not,

00:24:17.960 --> 00:24:18.800
 he's not saying

00:24:18.800 --> 00:24:19.600
 it's random.

00:24:21.900 --> 00:24:23.080
 At the end of the day

00:24:23.079 --> 00:24:25.220
 and the purposes of God,

00:24:26.220 --> 00:24:27.059
 nothing about

00:24:27.059 --> 00:24:28.619
 why you or I

00:24:28.619 --> 00:24:29.319
 were chosen

00:24:29.319 --> 00:24:31.619
 is revealed.

00:24:33.139 --> 00:24:34.460
 But what God

00:24:34.460 --> 00:24:35.299
 wants us to know

00:24:35.299 --> 00:24:36.659
 is it's not because

00:24:36.659 --> 00:24:37.899
 I'm choice.

00:24:41.179 --> 00:24:42.240
 It's not because

00:24:42.240 --> 00:24:42.919
 I'm choice.

00:24:44.259 --> 00:24:44.740
 Now,

00:24:44.899 --> 00:24:45.539
 this at first

00:24:45.539 --> 00:24:46.119
 is very,

00:24:46.220 --> 00:24:46.419
 very,

00:24:46.519 --> 00:24:46.759
 very,

00:24:46.839 --> 00:24:47.099
 very,

00:24:47.159 --> 00:24:47.939
 very frightening.

00:24:48.159 --> 00:24:49.399
 If it wasn't for the gospel,

00:24:49.500 --> 00:24:50.819
 it would be deeply frightening

00:24:50.819 --> 00:24:52.000
 because,

00:24:52.159 --> 00:24:52.539
 you see,

00:24:52.659 --> 00:24:53.240
 at the heart

00:24:53.240 --> 00:24:54.119
 of all religion

00:24:54.119 --> 00:24:54.980
 and spirituality

00:24:54.980 --> 00:24:56.939
 is an attempt

00:24:56.939 --> 00:24:57.939
 to be choice,

00:24:58.740 --> 00:24:59.439
 an attempt

00:24:59.439 --> 00:25:00.639
 to put God

00:25:00.639 --> 00:25:01.619
 in some type

00:25:01.619 --> 00:25:02.740
 of an obligation

00:25:02.740 --> 00:25:03.679
 or lock

00:25:03.679 --> 00:25:05.039
 to do things for us

00:25:05.039 --> 00:25:06.200
 because we are choice.

00:25:06.339 --> 00:25:07.220
 I am choice.

00:25:07.539 --> 00:25:08.500
 Why am I choice?

00:25:08.819 --> 00:25:09.059
 Well,

00:25:09.159 --> 00:25:10.720
 I prayed the sinner's prayer.

00:25:11.000 --> 00:25:12.099
 I've learned how to speak

00:25:12.099 --> 00:25:12.579
 in tongues.

00:25:12.839 --> 00:25:13.639
 I can recite

00:25:13.639 --> 00:25:14.859
 the Apostles' Creed.

00:25:15.079 --> 00:25:16.039
 I go to church.

00:25:16.200 --> 00:25:16.919
 I tithe.

00:25:17.299 --> 00:25:17.759
 Therefore,

00:25:18.179 --> 00:25:19.460
 you have some obligation

00:25:19.460 --> 00:25:20.079
 to me.

00:25:20.140 --> 00:25:21.140
 I've done something

00:25:21.140 --> 00:25:21.720
 to contribute

00:25:21.720 --> 00:25:22.720
 to this relationship

00:25:22.720 --> 00:25:23.559
 and you have some

00:25:23.559 --> 00:25:24.720
 obligations to me.

00:25:25.460 --> 00:25:26.100
 And the Bible

00:25:26.100 --> 00:25:27.400
 wants us to completely

00:25:27.400 --> 00:25:28.840
 and utterly lose

00:25:28.840 --> 00:25:30.299
 any sense of that,

00:25:30.700 --> 00:25:31.559
 that there's nothing

00:25:31.559 --> 00:25:32.480
 at all about me

00:25:32.480 --> 00:25:33.880
 ever being choice,

00:25:34.079 --> 00:25:35.259
 that it's all about

00:25:35.259 --> 00:25:36.720
 God doing what

00:25:36.720 --> 00:25:38.039
 I cannot do

00:25:38.039 --> 00:25:39.620
 and what you cannot do,

00:25:39.759 --> 00:25:41.079
 which is to make us

00:25:41.079 --> 00:25:42.400
 right with him.

00:25:42.779 --> 00:25:44.480
 He does it all

00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:45.900
 with nothing left over.

00:25:46.900 --> 00:25:46.980
 And,

00:25:47.019 --> 00:25:47.360
 you know,

00:25:47.380 --> 00:25:48.120
 on one hand,

00:25:48.119 --> 00:25:51.579
 we feel terribly naked

00:25:51.579 --> 00:25:52.279
 if there's not

00:25:52.279 --> 00:25:53.159
 something choice

00:25:53.159 --> 00:25:53.679
 about us

00:25:53.679 --> 00:25:54.519
 or not something

00:25:54.519 --> 00:25:55.079
 that we can do

00:25:55.079 --> 00:25:56.339
 that would make us choice.

00:25:56.639 --> 00:25:57.759
 But at the same time

00:25:57.759 --> 00:25:58.619
 that we feel naked

00:25:58.619 --> 00:25:59.139
 about it,

00:25:59.500 --> 00:26:00.319
 we don't want

00:26:00.319 --> 00:26:00.959
 to acknowledge

00:26:00.959 --> 00:26:02.819
 how much religion

00:26:02.819 --> 00:26:03.699
 and spirituality

00:26:03.699 --> 00:26:05.679
 makes us anxious

00:26:05.679 --> 00:26:08.739
 and makes us false

00:26:08.739 --> 00:26:11.279
 and makes us hurtful

00:26:11.279 --> 00:26:12.119
 and spiteful

00:26:12.119 --> 00:26:12.579
 and arrogant

00:26:12.579 --> 00:26:13.479
 towards others

00:26:13.479 --> 00:26:14.719
 because that's always

00:26:14.719 --> 00:26:15.399
 what religion

00:26:15.399 --> 00:26:16.639
 and spirituality does.

00:26:16.640 --> 00:26:17.680
 and it doesn't matter

00:26:17.680 --> 00:26:18.700
 if your spirituality

00:26:18.700 --> 00:26:20.800
 is Anglican spirituality

00:26:20.800 --> 00:26:22.520
 or green spirituality

00:26:22.520 --> 00:26:23.960
 or left-wing spirituality

00:26:23.960 --> 00:26:25.360
 or right-wing spirituality,

00:26:25.360 --> 00:26:26.500
 it makes you

00:26:26.500 --> 00:26:27.880
 and me hard-hearted

00:26:27.880 --> 00:26:29.880
 and it makes us insecure

00:26:29.880 --> 00:26:33.759
 because what happens

00:26:33.759 --> 00:26:34.720
 if I fail?

00:26:35.380 --> 00:26:37.420
 I thought I was choice,

00:26:37.759 --> 00:26:38.980
 but I just wasted

00:26:38.980 --> 00:26:39.840
 three hours

00:26:39.840 --> 00:26:40.980
 looking at pornography.

00:26:40.980 --> 00:26:42.819
 I just cheated

00:26:42.819 --> 00:26:44.160
 on my income tax.

00:26:45.880 --> 00:26:47.360
 I just went out

00:26:47.360 --> 00:26:48.220
 and I had a next,

00:26:48.339 --> 00:26:48.480
 you know,

00:26:48.519 --> 00:26:49.319
 just half a glass

00:26:49.319 --> 00:26:50.200
 of wine too much

00:26:50.200 --> 00:26:51.319
 and I spent the whole time

00:26:51.319 --> 00:26:52.259
 slandering everybody

00:26:52.259 --> 00:26:52.839
 I knew

00:26:52.839 --> 00:26:54.740
 and putting everybody down.

00:26:54.819 --> 00:26:55.940
 I can't be choice.

00:26:57.599 --> 00:26:58.099
 And religion

00:26:58.099 --> 00:26:58.779
 and spirituality

00:26:58.779 --> 00:27:00.559
 makes us profoundly

00:27:00.559 --> 00:27:02.019
 insecure

00:27:02.019 --> 00:27:03.740
 because we have to maintain

00:27:03.740 --> 00:27:05.299
 that type of choiceness

00:27:05.299 --> 00:27:06.539
 and because nobody

00:27:06.539 --> 00:27:07.360
 can maintain

00:27:07.360 --> 00:27:08.299
 being choice,

00:27:08.640 --> 00:27:09.720
 we become arrogant

00:27:09.720 --> 00:27:11.559
 and we put up

00:27:11.559 --> 00:27:12.380
 these barriers

00:27:12.380 --> 00:27:13.339
 in front of us

00:27:13.339 --> 00:27:13.839
 and around

00:27:13.839 --> 00:27:14.920
 to keep us from people

00:27:14.920 --> 00:27:16.720
 and we do things

00:27:16.720 --> 00:27:17.740
 to put people down

00:27:17.740 --> 00:27:18.299
 and look down

00:27:18.299 --> 00:27:19.500
 our noses at them

00:27:19.500 --> 00:27:20.420
 and so it either

00:27:20.420 --> 00:27:21.100
 creates a type

00:27:21.100 --> 00:27:21.960
 of insecurity

00:27:21.960 --> 00:27:23.640
 or it creates arrogance

00:27:23.640 --> 00:27:24.620
 and pride

00:27:24.620 --> 00:27:25.960
 which comes from insecurity.

00:27:27.660 --> 00:27:28.839
 The Bible wants

00:27:28.839 --> 00:27:29.700
 to deliver you

00:27:29.700 --> 00:27:31.480
 from pride

00:27:31.480 --> 00:27:32.220
 and arrogance

00:27:32.220 --> 00:27:34.160
 and from insecurity

00:27:34.160 --> 00:27:35.019
 and from religion

00:27:35.019 --> 00:27:35.819
 and spirituality

00:27:35.819 --> 00:27:38.220
 and from being irreligious

00:27:38.220 --> 00:27:39.079
 and unspiritual.

00:27:39.079 --> 00:27:40.099
 He wants to deliver you

00:27:40.099 --> 00:27:40.639
 from this.

00:27:42.779 --> 00:27:44.000
 God calls.

00:27:44.659 --> 00:27:47.099
 I am not choice.

00:27:48.439 --> 00:27:50.039
 I'm chosen by God.

00:27:54.460 --> 00:27:55.500
 Here's the next thing.

00:27:55.740 --> 00:27:56.299
 Andrew, if you could put

00:27:56.299 --> 00:27:56.899
 up the next point.

00:27:58.740 --> 00:28:01.279
 I freely call out to God

00:28:01.279 --> 00:28:04.759
 he who first called me.

00:28:04.759 --> 00:28:08.700
 I freely call out to God

00:28:08.700 --> 00:28:13.039
 he who first called me.

00:28:14.799 --> 00:28:16.960
 Now, it's in Romans 10.

00:28:17.059 --> 00:28:17.920
 Next week's sermon.

00:28:18.019 --> 00:28:18.759
 This week's sermon

00:28:18.759 --> 00:28:20.000
 is going to really emphasize

00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:23.379
 this aspect of God's calling me

00:28:23.379 --> 00:28:25.539
 and making it look like,

00:28:25.859 --> 00:28:27.039
 and not making it look like,

00:28:27.099 --> 00:28:28.759
 really bringing us to this sense

00:28:28.759 --> 00:28:29.779
 that God calls

00:28:29.779 --> 00:28:31.400
 every human being first

00:28:31.400 --> 00:28:33.519
 with no exception.

00:28:35.920 --> 00:28:36.160
 And yet,

00:28:36.299 --> 00:28:38.059
 somehow God's call to me

00:28:38.059 --> 00:28:39.319
 enables within me

00:28:39.319 --> 00:28:40.259
 a type of freedom

00:28:40.259 --> 00:28:41.559
 for me to call out to him.

00:28:41.680 --> 00:28:42.700
 Romans 10 is going to talk

00:28:42.700 --> 00:28:43.359
 more about this

00:28:43.359 --> 00:28:44.720
 human side

00:28:44.720 --> 00:28:46.059
 of human responsibility.

00:28:47.099 --> 00:28:47.980
 That's next week.

00:28:48.220 --> 00:28:49.700
 Romans 9 is emphasizing

00:28:49.700 --> 00:28:51.079
 he calls me first.

00:28:52.220 --> 00:28:53.660
 He calls you first.

00:28:53.660 --> 00:28:56.100
 You know,

00:28:56.220 --> 00:28:57.519
 1 John chapter 4,

00:28:57.700 --> 00:28:58.400
 this is love.

00:28:58.640 --> 00:29:00.019
 Not that we love God,

00:29:00.120 --> 00:29:02.080
 but that he loved us

00:29:02.080 --> 00:29:04.100
 and sent his son

00:29:04.100 --> 00:29:05.720
 as an atoning sacrifice

00:29:05.720 --> 00:29:06.360
 for our sins.

00:29:06.940 --> 00:29:09.080
 It's a deep biblical message.

00:29:09.220 --> 00:29:10.279
 He calls first.

00:29:12.040 --> 00:29:14.200
 I freely call out to God

00:29:14.200 --> 00:29:16.740
 he who first called me.

00:29:17.940 --> 00:29:19.240
 The Bible holds

00:29:19.240 --> 00:29:20.540
 these two things together.

00:29:20.539 --> 00:29:22.779
 that God is completely

00:29:22.779 --> 00:29:24.119
 and utterly sovereign

00:29:24.119 --> 00:29:26.579
 and that we have

00:29:26.579 --> 00:29:28.339
 significant freedom.

00:29:29.920 --> 00:29:31.399
 And that God wants us

00:29:31.399 --> 00:29:32.039
 to be free.

00:29:34.000 --> 00:29:35.000
 In a sense,

00:29:35.359 --> 00:29:36.359
 only the Bible,

00:29:36.579 --> 00:29:37.220
 when you read it,

00:29:37.359 --> 00:29:38.460
 only the gospel,

00:29:38.859 --> 00:29:39.759
 only Jesus,

00:29:40.119 --> 00:29:40.940
 and understanding

00:29:40.940 --> 00:29:42.519
 that he died upon the cross,

00:29:42.579 --> 00:29:43.980
 that he is the power of God

00:29:43.980 --> 00:29:44.779
 for salvation,

00:29:45.579 --> 00:29:47.019
 only this teaching

00:29:47.019 --> 00:29:48.059
 is the answer

00:29:48.059 --> 00:29:49.079
 to our longings

00:29:49.079 --> 00:29:49.639
 and yearnings

00:29:49.639 --> 00:29:50.379
 to be free.

00:29:50.539 --> 00:29:53.319
 And the more

00:29:53.319 --> 00:29:54.720
 we become of God's,

00:29:54.759 --> 00:29:55.940
 the freer we become.

00:29:56.920 --> 00:29:58.500
 The more we bow

00:29:58.500 --> 00:29:59.819
 to Jesus

00:29:59.819 --> 00:30:01.579
 through grace,

00:30:01.980 --> 00:30:03.039
 the taller we are.

00:30:05.299 --> 00:30:07.240
 The more we let ourselves

00:30:07.240 --> 00:30:09.399
 be carried in his arms,

00:30:09.799 --> 00:30:12.619
 the stronger we are.

00:30:14.500 --> 00:30:16.220
 The more we surrender

00:30:16.220 --> 00:30:17.799
 to the Holy Spirit,

00:30:18.099 --> 00:30:20.399
 the freer we are.

00:30:20.539 --> 00:30:41.500
 The more we hecho

00:30:41.859 --> 00:30:42.200
 before we beam

00:30:42.460 --> 00:30:43.819
 the more we amen

00:30:43.819 --> 00:30:44.000
 the more now

00:30:44.000 --> 00:30:45.759
 and the more we leave it.

00:30:45.759 --> 00:30:51.839
 that question for us. Paul anticipates it. Let's look at what he says. Verse 14. What shall we say

00:30:51.839 --> 00:31:02.039
 then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means. For he says to Moses, now he quotes the

00:31:02.039 --> 00:31:07.980
 Bible, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.

00:31:08.559 --> 00:31:14.680
 One second. Once again, okay, let's just be honest Canadians for a second, okay? Don't we wish as

00:31:14.680 --> 00:31:21.860
 honest Canadians he just stopped with verse 14? Come on, don't get off all your pious stuff, okay?

00:31:22.799 --> 00:31:29.700
 Honest Canadians said, okay, just answer 14. No. Okay. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, don't say that. Oh, no.

00:31:31.779 --> 00:31:35.759
 For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I

00:31:35.759 --> 00:31:46.160
 have compassion, and inwardly we groan. So then, verse 16, it depends not on human will or exertion,

00:31:46.240 --> 00:31:53.079
 but on God who has mercy. For the scripture says to Pharaoh, for this very purpose I have raised you up

00:31:53.079 --> 00:31:57.879
 that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.

00:31:58.640 --> 00:32:03.660
 So then, he has mercy on whom ever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

00:32:03.660 --> 00:32:12.220
 And most of us wish he'd just stopped with verse 14, if you're honest. But we should be glad that he

00:32:12.220 --> 00:32:16.000
 goes beyond. Here's the first thing, if you could put up the next point.

00:32:17.400 --> 00:32:25.000
 No one is owed eternal communion with the living God. Everyone deserves eternal separation from the

00:32:25.000 --> 00:32:45.900
 living God. That's what the Bible teaches. In other words, that's partly why Paul is saying the actual,

00:32:45.900 --> 00:32:54.360
 absolute last thing that God is, is unjust. The issue here isn't whether God is unjust, but whether or not

00:32:54.360 --> 00:33:06.800
 God will show mercy. Because God is completely and unfailingly just. And as part of God's justice,

00:33:06.799 --> 00:33:15.799
 well, people who don't want to be in communion with God, at the end of the day, he says to them,

00:33:17.359 --> 00:33:22.659
 thy will be done. And if you think about it for a second, let's just think about some of the

00:33:22.659 --> 00:33:27.799
 objections to this. If you think about it for now, and let's say all of a sudden God promoted you to be

00:33:27.799 --> 00:33:35.700
 his coach. And so you coach God to have mercy on all. And so you get to, and you go around and you go

00:33:35.700 --> 00:33:41.180
 to all of the mosques in the city. And you go to all of the places where people are doing yoga right

00:33:41.180 --> 00:33:47.559
 now. And you go to all the coffee shops right now. And then later on tonight, you go to all the bars.

00:33:47.799 --> 00:33:55.359
 And you tell them, good news, I'm coaching God. Every one of you is now in full communion with God.

00:33:55.359 --> 00:33:59.139
 It's going to kick in at midnight tonight. And I've worked it out for you.

00:34:01.879 --> 00:34:07.259
 How do you think that would go? Do you think they'd all come up and say, oh, thank you so much?

00:34:07.299 --> 00:34:11.420
 Do you think all the people in the bar would come up and say, oh, thank you so much that you forced

00:34:11.420 --> 00:34:16.799
 me to be in communion with God? Do you think all the people in the mosque would come? Oh, thank you so

00:34:16.799 --> 00:34:22.739
 much that I'm not going to be with Allah and Muhammad, his prophet. I'm so glad. No. What do you think

00:34:22.739 --> 00:34:28.459
 would happen? Like, how's that plan going to work? It's not going to work at all, is it?

00:34:30.799 --> 00:34:40.559
 They don't want it. They don't want it. It violates our freedom. It violates our longings and our

00:34:40.559 --> 00:34:47.079
 yearnings. But some of you might say, okay, well, George, what about the hardening part? Like,

00:34:47.079 --> 00:34:55.420
 couldn't, like, what does that mean? Next point, please. Everything in my being saved comes from

00:34:55.420 --> 00:35:03.279
 God. Everything in my heart, in my hardening comes from me. You can see this in the text,

00:35:03.340 --> 00:35:07.960
 and we're going to see it in a moment where Paul even doubles down even more with this potter and

00:35:07.960 --> 00:35:13.519
 clay text. That, like, see, this is the thing about, remember his anguish at the beginning of the story,

00:35:13.519 --> 00:35:18.619
 but rather than allowing his, here, in a sense, what Paul is doing, and we don't recognize it,

00:35:18.759 --> 00:35:24.380
 what we see here, Martin Lloyd-Jones has this fantastic phrase in the book of Romans, we see

00:35:24.380 --> 00:35:34.800
 logic on fire. Logic on fire. His broken heart, rather than making him want to try to be like a

00:35:34.800 --> 00:35:40.980
 potter and making God like the clay and change God, it makes him plunge into God and to realize even more

00:35:40.980 --> 00:35:46.039
 fully the greatness of the gospel and the greatness of what it is that God has done for us and is doing

00:35:46.039 --> 00:35:53.340
 for us in the person of his Son. And we see here that in this text, when it talks about the hardening,

00:35:53.400 --> 00:36:00.559
 we'll see it again in a few moments, that everything in my being saved comes from God,

00:36:00.760 --> 00:36:09.320
 but everything in my hardening comes from me. It's an asymmetric relationship. Sorry, I had to throw in

00:36:09.320 --> 00:36:13.559
 one big word because, you know, I went to university and got a master's degree and all that, but

00:36:13.559 --> 00:36:22.559
 that's how it works. If you go to the going deeper in the bulletin, I give you the text from Exodus that

00:36:22.559 --> 00:36:30.440
 shows that thing in the story of Pharaoh and God in the book of Exodus and Moses. And that's what Paul

00:36:30.440 --> 00:36:36.460
 is going to say at, we'll see it with the potter and the clay, that God prepares the clay for glory,

00:36:36.460 --> 00:36:41.699
 but that the clay that's being made for destruction isn't prepared by God.

00:36:43.440 --> 00:36:48.480
 In a sense, the world, the flesh, and the devil, me and my buddies do it to myself.

00:36:51.639 --> 00:36:56.760
 Could you put up the scripture text that we've been looking at every week, Romans 1? Could you

00:36:56.760 --> 00:37:02.679
 guys say this with me? Remember, those of you who haven't been here before, that Romans 1, 16 to 17,

00:37:02.679 --> 00:37:07.739
 which concludes the quote from Habakkuk at the end, it sort of summarizes the entire book. And let's

00:37:07.739 --> 00:37:15.039
 read it together. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation

00:37:15.039 --> 00:37:22.099
 to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in the gospel, the righteousness

00:37:22.099 --> 00:37:28.659
 of God is revealed from faith to faith. As it is written, the righteous shall live by faith.

00:37:28.659 --> 00:37:31.960
 You see the importance of I am not ashamed of the gospel?

00:37:33.719 --> 00:37:40.039
 If Paul is going to make clear to us that the heart of the gospel is a power of God for salvation,

00:37:40.460 --> 00:37:46.559
 not a power of God for salvation to those who are choice, therefore it's sort of a bit on me as well,

00:37:46.699 --> 00:37:53.319
 actually. But to really understand that being made right with God is going to involve God.

00:37:53.320 --> 00:37:57.720
 When it says the righteousness of God, there's a double meaning there. It means that God is going

00:37:57.720 --> 00:38:02.039
 to act in a right way. God has to act in a way which is completely and utterly just.

00:38:02.700 --> 00:38:07.100
 But God is going to act in something. He's going to go not only, he's going to be just and never stop

00:38:07.100 --> 00:38:13.940
 being just, but he's going to be merciful as well. And he, while being right, will do something to make

00:38:13.940 --> 00:38:22.120
 us right with him. And he is going to do it all. He is going to do it completely and utterly. He is going

00:38:22.119 --> 00:38:28.679
 to foreknow. He is going to predestine. He is going to call. He is going to make right. He is going to

00:38:28.679 --> 00:38:34.239
 glorify. He is going to do it all. And as we start to understand what he is going to do it all means,

00:38:34.480 --> 00:38:39.940
 that it means that I am not choice but chosen. Then once we start to realize the consequences of

00:38:39.940 --> 00:38:47.299
 that, we start to be ashamed of the gospel because it doesn't sound Canadian. It won't play well.

00:38:47.300 --> 00:38:54.019
 It won't play well in the graduate seminars at the university, in the director's offices,

00:38:54.019 --> 00:38:59.519
 in the federal government, in the coffee shops, in the hipster restaurants, and even just your

00:38:59.519 --> 00:39:04.860
 local Tim Hortons, wherever, or even the homeless shelter maybe where you can just get a cup of

00:39:04.860 --> 00:39:12.500
 coffee for free. And we end up wanting to be ashamed. But Paul wants us to understand that when it says

00:39:12.500 --> 00:39:20.320
 it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, he means the power of God for salvation

00:39:20.320 --> 00:39:26.440
 with nothing left over, nothing excluded. It's all God.

00:39:28.719 --> 00:39:35.880
 You see how once this grips you, it completely deconstructs and demythologizes religion and

00:39:35.880 --> 00:39:44.280
 spirituality. That once this grips us, there is the possibility to, in a sense, to start to lose our

00:39:44.280 --> 00:39:51.059
 profound sense of insecurity that our favor with God depends upon our religious performance or

00:39:51.059 --> 00:39:59.039
 religious emotions or our religious feelings. Or in terms of how good we are at raising our kids or

00:39:59.039 --> 00:40:04.019
 how good we are at relationships or how good we are at making money or how healthy we are or how good

00:40:04.019 --> 00:40:09.440
 looking we are or how people think about us or whether we get a PhD or any of those other things

00:40:09.440 --> 00:40:19.739
 which make us profoundly insecure, that as this grips us, as this grips us, I am chosen, not choice.

00:40:20.119 --> 00:40:26.900
 It is God's power of salvation that is going to be at work in me, not my works, not my actions,

00:40:26.900 --> 00:40:36.940
 not anything. It profoundly starts to maybe make us relax, to give us the courage to look at things

00:40:36.940 --> 00:40:42.639
 in the past that have deeply wounded us or things that we've done that are deeply evil. It can start

00:40:42.639 --> 00:40:48.200
 to actually relax us and to say, what is it within me that drives me to look at pornography? What is it

00:40:48.200 --> 00:40:54.579
 within me that drives me to want to, in my speech, constantly put people down? What is it within me that

00:40:54.579 --> 00:41:01.579
 drives me to want me to have the most expensive consumer gifts? Why is it that I feel this huge

00:41:01.579 --> 00:41:11.980
 compulsion to buy yet another pair of $150, $300, $500 sunglasses? Why do I need seven pairs of $500

00:41:11.980 --> 00:41:18.079
 sunglasses? I don't have that, by the way. I'm just trying to think of something that some of you might

00:41:18.079 --> 00:41:26.000
 struggle with. Literally, that's not my issue, expensive sunglasses. But I understand why some

00:41:26.000 --> 00:41:33.360
 people are driven to it. But some of you might say, okay, George, just one more thing about the

00:41:33.360 --> 00:41:37.059
 problem. You know what? I'm just going to have to go over time today. So I'm just going to have to go

00:41:37.059 --> 00:41:43.739
 over time. I think I just have to go over time. That's life. What about the problem of mercy?

00:41:43.739 --> 00:41:49.379
 Remember, what does it say here? I will have mercy on whom I have mercy. He has mercy on whomever he

00:41:49.379 --> 00:41:55.000
 wills and hardens whomever he wills. I've already explained the hardened mercy. Here's this subtle way

00:41:55.000 --> 00:42:00.299
 that we want to make an obligation on God. Imagine for a moment, imagine that we're in the United States,

00:42:00.359 --> 00:42:07.839
 we're all Americans, and President Obama is just about to leave office because fill in the blank

00:42:07.839 --> 00:42:13.559
 has just won the president and he or she is about to become president next day. And many

00:42:13.559 --> 00:42:18.099
 presidents do this just before he leaves. He puts a whole pile of presidential pardons in.

00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:26.559
 And one of the people who he's given a presidential pardon to is a bleepity, bleepity, bleepity, bleep

00:42:26.559 --> 00:42:32.779
 guy who ripped you off and ruined you financially. Bleepity, bleepity, bleep. Fill in the blank.

00:42:34.039 --> 00:42:38.559
 Now, would you say, oh, isn't that so fantastic that President Obama showed mercy and left that

00:42:38.559 --> 00:42:43.380
 creepy, bleepity, bleepity guy off the hook so he doesn't have to bleeply, bleeply pay for what he did?

00:42:43.559 --> 00:42:45.179
 That is not what you would feel.

00:42:50.840 --> 00:42:56.980
 But it would be very, very different if after, if you heard about a story where somebody, and you hear about these things,

00:42:57.079 --> 00:43:02.559
 you hear about, you know, you heard about the gunman who killed all those school kids in an Amish community,

00:43:02.679 --> 00:43:07.699
 and how the Amish community forgave the fellow and urged a lesser sentence.

00:43:07.699 --> 00:43:13.679
 Doesn't it make a big difference if the victims are the ones who show mercy?

00:43:14.339 --> 00:43:15.839
 Because they've freely done it.

00:43:17.859 --> 00:43:23.399
 You wouldn't feel the same way if you found it afterwards that the Amish people only did it because Donald Trump

00:43:23.399 --> 00:43:30.439
 gave them $15 million if they would say they'd shown mercy, and you wouldn't think it was the same way.

00:43:30.440 --> 00:43:31.480
 It has to be free.

00:43:34.220 --> 00:43:37.800
 Mercy has to be freely given by the one who's been wronged.

00:43:39.000 --> 00:43:41.400
 And God is ultimately wronged by our sin.

00:43:42.800 --> 00:43:46.240
 And if God is compelled to show mercy to everybody,

00:43:46.860 --> 00:43:48.440
 well, first of all, some of us won't want mercy.

00:43:48.559 --> 00:43:53.480
 Go back to that earlier analogy about how do you feel about if you went to all the bars and the mosques and stuff,

00:43:53.480 --> 00:43:57.119
 and just all the Tim Hortons, how would they feel?

00:43:58.679 --> 00:44:00.780
 But God freely shows mercy.

00:44:01.119 --> 00:44:02.539
 Let's try to wrap this up.

00:44:02.820 --> 00:44:04.079
 What about the potter and the clay?

00:44:05.260 --> 00:44:06.460
 Are we puppets?

00:44:07.400 --> 00:44:08.880
 Has God made us puppets?

00:44:09.460 --> 00:44:12.519
 And does God, when he uses this analogy of the potter and the clay,

00:44:12.599 --> 00:44:16.059
 is he doing it just to shut me up and shut you up?

00:44:16.539 --> 00:44:17.320
 Let's read it.

00:44:17.320 --> 00:44:19.400
 It goes at verse 19.

00:44:19.400 --> 00:44:23.800
 You will say to me then, why does he still find fault?

00:44:24.320 --> 00:44:25.700
 For who can resist his will?

00:44:26.760 --> 00:44:29.240
 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God?

00:44:29.980 --> 00:44:34.240
 Well, what does molded say to its molder, why have you made me like this?

00:44:34.980 --> 00:44:39.500
 Has the potter no right over the clay to make out of the same lump

00:44:39.500 --> 00:44:43.260
 one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?

00:44:43.740 --> 00:44:48.860
 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power,

00:44:49.400 --> 00:44:53.700
 has endured with much patience, vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?

00:44:54.320 --> 00:44:58.440
 Notice, he doesn't say that he's, the Greek is very, very clear,

00:44:58.539 --> 00:45:01.460
 and even the English, doesn't say here that God prepared it for destruction.

00:45:02.780 --> 00:45:03.800
 That's not there.

00:45:06.660 --> 00:45:10.500
 There are some Christians who believe in something called double predestination,

00:45:10.680 --> 00:45:12.340
 and I think the Bible doesn't teach that.

00:45:13.700 --> 00:45:14.820
 I think it's wrong.

00:45:16.820 --> 00:45:18.599
 It doesn't say here that God does it.

00:45:19.720 --> 00:45:20.559
 Verse 23,

00:45:20.700 --> 00:45:24.139
 In order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy,

00:45:24.260 --> 00:45:29.980
 which he has prepared beforehand for glory,

00:45:30.480 --> 00:45:33.139
 even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only,

00:45:33.240 --> 00:45:34.480
 but also from the Gentiles.

00:45:34.539 --> 00:45:35.460
 And we'll just pause here.

00:45:36.300 --> 00:45:38.119
 Now here, just trying to wrap it up,

00:45:38.480 --> 00:45:41.180
 let's be honest about one of the things that drives us

00:45:41.180 --> 00:45:43.800
 in this entire problem with the text.

00:45:43.800 --> 00:45:47.120
 Because the Bible, as I've said time and time again,

00:45:47.180 --> 00:45:49.480
 the Bible helps us to see our hearts,

00:45:50.019 --> 00:45:51.420
 to be honest about our hearts,

00:45:51.420 --> 00:45:54.840
 without cynicism or romanticism in the context of the living God.

00:45:55.320 --> 00:45:57.400
 So what is it, partially at root,

00:45:57.480 --> 00:45:59.900
 that we have a problem with this entire text?

00:46:00.260 --> 00:46:01.760
 If you could put up the next point, Rebecca.

00:46:01.760 --> 00:46:06.800
 Rebecca, I believe that I am the potter and God is the clay.

00:46:08.120 --> 00:46:11.580
 But God's grace calls me into the real world,

00:46:12.080 --> 00:46:15.460
 where God is the potter and I am the clay.

00:46:15.460 --> 00:46:20.599
 This is a profoundly countercultural thought.

00:46:22.659 --> 00:46:27.440
 Most psychology wants to teach us that,

00:46:27.639 --> 00:46:29.420
 I mean, you know, there's whole systems of thought,

00:46:29.619 --> 00:46:32.619
 that God is just a concept that we manipulate,

00:46:32.840 --> 00:46:35.039
 or the powerful manipulate, or the weak manipulate.

00:46:36.199 --> 00:46:38.579
 It's in Nietzsche's thought, it was in Freud,

00:46:38.720 --> 00:46:41.320
 it was in behaviorism, it's in Marxism,

00:46:41.320 --> 00:46:46.059
 it's in basically most contemporary mainline churches' religion,

00:46:46.300 --> 00:46:49.400
 is that God is like a clay and we're the potter,

00:46:49.460 --> 00:46:52.140
 and we can manipulate these images and we can do whatever it is.

00:46:52.500 --> 00:46:53.960
 In the Anglican Church of Canada,

00:46:54.480 --> 00:46:57.120
 when it talks in the Book of Alternative Services,

00:46:57.680 --> 00:47:00.960
 in 1985 it describes, what is it that says the Bible,

00:47:01.400 --> 00:47:05.800
 is a repository of our symbols

00:47:05.800 --> 00:47:09.160
 that we use to talk about God.

00:47:11.320 --> 00:47:13.519
 And it says to something deep within us

00:47:13.519 --> 00:47:15.160
 that we want God to be the clay,

00:47:15.280 --> 00:47:16.760
 because you know what, I'm the potter.

00:47:19.780 --> 00:47:22.740
 I believe that I am the potter and God is the clay,

00:47:22.860 --> 00:47:25.820
 but God's grace calls me into the real world,

00:47:26.820 --> 00:47:30.240
 where God is the potter and I am the clay.

00:47:31.180 --> 00:47:31.880
 Next point.

00:47:35.019 --> 00:47:37.900
 Remember I said that my early crisis of faith

00:47:37.900 --> 00:47:40.620
 was around the whole problem of free will and determinism,

00:47:40.619 --> 00:47:43.079
 and one of the things that I eventually came to,

00:47:43.139 --> 00:47:44.519
 I didn't go to this text,

00:47:45.440 --> 00:47:47.440
 but I came to understand that first of all,

00:47:47.480 --> 00:47:49.319
 the guys who were challenging me,

00:47:49.400 --> 00:47:50.920
 that they weren't being intellectually honest.

00:47:51.059 --> 00:47:53.079
 It's an important thing for those of you

00:47:53.079 --> 00:47:54.679
 who are engaged in evangelism,

00:47:54.759 --> 00:47:57.719
 is that whatever objection a person has to the Christian faith,

00:47:58.259 --> 00:48:00.519
 that objection isn't just an objection to the Christian faith,

00:48:00.579 --> 00:48:02.460
 it's a problem for all philosophy.

00:48:02.460 --> 00:48:08.559
 And when I put the thing back on them,

00:48:09.280 --> 00:48:11.240
 they just got grumpy with me,

00:48:11.699 --> 00:48:13.800
 and they called me names.

00:48:14.740 --> 00:48:16.460
 But the fact of the matter is,

00:48:16.480 --> 00:48:19.119
 is that their argument that everything has a cause and effect,

00:48:19.280 --> 00:48:21.240
 and whatever I think I have about free will

00:48:21.240 --> 00:48:22.599
 is just a matter of cause and effect,

00:48:22.679 --> 00:48:24.920
 I said, well, that counts for your thought too.

00:48:25.000 --> 00:48:26.720
 Why are you exempt from that?

00:48:26.719 --> 00:48:28.839
 That's when they started calling me names,

00:48:29.379 --> 00:48:30.799
 telling me they were smarter than me and all that,

00:48:30.899 --> 00:48:32.579
 but they just all meant as they didn't have an answer.

00:48:33.539 --> 00:48:36.219
 But I started to realize this truth.

00:48:37.219 --> 00:48:40.379
 Only the loving, all-powerful, and sovereign God

00:48:40.379 --> 00:48:43.939
 can be the ground and guarantor of human freedom

00:48:43.939 --> 00:48:45.659
 in an ordered creation.

00:48:45.819 --> 00:48:46.739
 I know it's a big thought.

00:48:47.219 --> 00:48:48.819
 I just, those of you who are in university,

00:48:48.959 --> 00:48:50.919
 or those of you who are struggling with intellectual things,

00:48:51.359 --> 00:48:53.879
 this is a deep part of the Christian worldview.

00:48:53.880 --> 00:48:56.260
 It's why it is that it's within the Christian worldview

00:48:56.260 --> 00:48:57.579
 that science developed.

00:48:58.660 --> 00:49:00.160
 It's why it is that in the Christian,

00:49:00.420 --> 00:49:01.900
 it's only the Christian world,

00:49:02.039 --> 00:49:03.800
 every other system of thought

00:49:03.800 --> 00:49:06.039
 is going to lead you to a sense

00:49:06.039 --> 00:49:08.820
 that you must be determined and you have no free will.

00:49:09.840 --> 00:49:11.880
 And it's only in the Bible that we understand

00:49:12.420 --> 00:49:15.820
 that there are lots of things that overwhelm our free will,

00:49:15.900 --> 00:49:18.039
 that we have viruses, there's Alzheimer's,

00:49:18.079 --> 00:49:19.340
 there's things that cause dementia.

00:49:19.800 --> 00:49:20.880
 There are huge forces,

00:49:21.579 --> 00:49:23.300
 and the Bible doesn't say that we have free will

00:49:23.300 --> 00:49:24.400
 and every single thing,

00:49:24.740 --> 00:49:26.480
 but it says we have significant free will

00:49:26.480 --> 00:49:27.960
 and that God made us for freedom.

00:49:28.080 --> 00:49:29.440
 He made us for love.

00:49:30.500 --> 00:49:32.460
 That in fact, at the heart of the Christian faith

00:49:32.460 --> 00:49:33.880
 is that from all eternity,

00:49:33.980 --> 00:49:35.260
 the Father has loved the Son

00:49:35.260 --> 00:49:36.580
 and the Son has loved the Father.

00:49:36.920 --> 00:49:39.060
 And that out of love of the Father from the Son

00:49:39.060 --> 00:49:40.160
 and the Son from the Father,

00:49:40.280 --> 00:49:42.360
 that out of that abundance of love,

00:49:42.720 --> 00:49:44.840
 that all creation came into being.

00:49:45.140 --> 00:49:46.920
 And that even when the creation fell,

00:49:47.120 --> 00:49:48.920
 out of the abundance of love,

00:49:48.920 --> 00:49:51.880
 a complete, self-sufficient, unending,

00:49:52.079 --> 00:49:54.720
 eternal, unstopping, unfailingly love,

00:49:55.079 --> 00:49:56.139
 that out of this,

00:49:56.380 --> 00:49:58.400
 that the Son willingly set aside

00:49:58.400 --> 00:50:00.559
 his glory and honor and divine prerogatives

00:50:00.559 --> 00:50:02.280
 and came to live amongst us

00:50:02.280 --> 00:50:04.200
 so that he could do for us

00:50:04.200 --> 00:50:06.019
 what we could not do for ourselves

00:50:06.019 --> 00:50:08.539
 when we decided that we would be like God

00:50:08.539 --> 00:50:10.380
 and therefore bent ourselves

00:50:10.380 --> 00:50:12.659
 and became addicted to the desire

00:50:12.659 --> 00:50:13.920
 to be like God

00:50:13.920 --> 00:50:16.119
 and to see God as the clay

00:50:16.119 --> 00:50:17.960
 and us as the potter.

00:50:18.539 --> 00:50:20.480
 And we who could not save ourselves

00:50:20.480 --> 00:50:21.539
 or help ourselves,

00:50:21.980 --> 00:50:24.200
 Jesus came and died upon the cross,

00:50:24.320 --> 00:50:25.980
 taking upon himself

00:50:25.980 --> 00:50:30.039
 our desire to be eternally separate from God.

00:50:30.159 --> 00:50:32.059
 And he took all of that upon himself

00:50:32.059 --> 00:50:33.059
 and he offered us

00:50:33.059 --> 00:50:34.820
 when we put our faith and trust in him,

00:50:35.139 --> 00:50:36.340
 a faith and trust in him

00:50:36.340 --> 00:50:38.700
 that comes because God first called me

00:50:38.700 --> 00:50:41.280
 and there's nothing choice about me,

00:50:41.400 --> 00:50:42.860
 but God called me

00:50:42.860 --> 00:50:45.200
 and I put my faith and trust in Jesus

00:50:45.200 --> 00:50:46.940
 and he is the one

00:50:46.940 --> 00:50:49.120
 who makes me right with himself

00:50:49.120 --> 00:50:53.019
 and I now no longer am a vessel for destruction,

00:50:53.019 --> 00:50:54.720
 which is what I want,

00:50:55.099 --> 00:50:57.440
 but when I put my faith and trust in Jesus,

00:50:57.840 --> 00:50:59.480
 calling out to God for mercy

00:50:59.480 --> 00:51:01.240
 to do what only he can do,

00:51:01.640 --> 00:51:05.800
 he makes me a vessel of mercy

00:51:05.800 --> 00:51:07.800
 to reflect his glory.

00:51:07.800 --> 00:51:13.220
 Only the loving,

00:51:13.400 --> 00:51:14.140
 all-powerful,

00:51:14.200 --> 00:51:15.100
 and sovereign God

00:51:15.100 --> 00:51:15.920
 can be the ground

00:51:15.920 --> 00:51:17.640
 and guarantor of human freedom

00:51:17.640 --> 00:51:19.600
 in an ordered creation.

00:51:20.700 --> 00:51:21.680
 Just seven and eight,

00:51:21.740 --> 00:51:22.560
 we'll do them really quick.

00:51:23.320 --> 00:51:23.640
 Seven,

00:51:25.100 --> 00:51:27.080
 this isn't to shut us up.

00:51:27.800 --> 00:51:29.000
 The potter and the clay thing,

00:51:29.060 --> 00:51:30.519
 that's not to shut you and me up.

00:51:33.300 --> 00:51:34.560
 Remember I said that it's,

00:51:34.660 --> 00:51:34.820
 you know,

00:51:34.880 --> 00:51:36.080
 earlier on that God's grace

00:51:36.080 --> 00:51:37.539
 calls me into the real world?

00:51:38.380 --> 00:51:40.760
 God's word silences my boasting

00:51:40.760 --> 00:51:44.360
 so he can have a conversation with me.

00:51:46.860 --> 00:51:47.300
 You know,

00:51:47.340 --> 00:51:49.100
 some of you have maybe gone to a supper meeting

00:51:49.100 --> 00:51:49.519
 or something,

00:51:49.620 --> 00:51:50.580
 you sat beside somebody,

00:51:50.660 --> 00:51:51.560
 all they do is boast.

00:51:52.500 --> 00:51:54.680
 Like how many of you like going to Facebook pages

00:51:54.680 --> 00:51:55.760
 where all they ever do

00:51:55.760 --> 00:51:57.560
 is talk about how wonderful their kids are

00:51:57.560 --> 00:51:58.880
 and how they're always successful

00:51:58.880 --> 00:52:00.120
 and they're always winning awards

00:52:00.120 --> 00:52:01.840
 and they're going from strength to strength?

00:52:01.900 --> 00:52:02.519
 How many of you say,

00:52:02.620 --> 00:52:03.840
 I want to check that page out

00:52:03.840 --> 00:52:05.140
 because they boast all the time?

00:52:05.139 --> 00:52:07.460
 I love going to that.

00:52:08.319 --> 00:52:08.679
 Okay?

00:52:09.500 --> 00:52:10.519
 Nobody does that.

00:52:12.159 --> 00:52:13.699
 God's silence is our boasting

00:52:13.699 --> 00:52:15.500
 so we can have an honest conversation

00:52:15.500 --> 00:52:16.019
 with us,

00:52:16.259 --> 00:52:17.059
 our need for mercy.

00:52:18.119 --> 00:52:18.900
 The final point,

00:52:18.900 --> 00:52:21.280
 by grace alone,

00:52:21.360 --> 00:52:22.260
 through faith alone,

00:52:22.460 --> 00:52:23.920
 in Christ crucified alone,

00:52:24.460 --> 00:52:27.240
 God has made me into a vessel of mercy

00:52:27.240 --> 00:52:28.740
 prepared for his glory.

00:52:28.739 --> 00:52:32.319
 By grace alone,

00:52:32.319 --> 00:52:33.219
 through faith alone,

00:52:33.219 --> 00:52:33.239
 through faith alone,

00:52:33.339 --> 00:52:34.939
 in Christ crucified alone,

00:52:35.179 --> 00:52:37.379
 God has made me into a vessel of mercy

00:52:37.379 --> 00:52:38.599
 prepared for his glory.

00:52:39.279 --> 00:52:40.619
 Listen to what it says again.

00:52:41.359 --> 00:52:42.419
 In order to make known

00:52:42.419 --> 00:52:43.500
 the riches of his glory

00:52:43.500 --> 00:52:44.699
 for vessels of mercy,

00:52:44.959 --> 00:52:46.559
 which he has prepared beforehand

00:52:46.559 --> 00:52:48.000
 for glory.

00:52:49.619 --> 00:52:50.139
 Friend,

00:52:50.979 --> 00:52:52.379
 some of you might say,

00:52:52.500 --> 00:52:54.000
 God would never call me.

00:52:54.159 --> 00:52:54.979
 He's called you.

00:52:54.980 --> 00:52:57.380
 God could never do anything

00:52:57.380 --> 00:52:58.559
 out of my terrible,

00:52:58.780 --> 00:52:59.940
 crappy lump of clay.

00:53:00.940 --> 00:53:02.219
 He can do anything.

00:53:02.980 --> 00:53:04.460
 I don't care how God,

00:53:05.219 --> 00:53:07.260
 no matter how terrible you think you are

00:53:07.260 --> 00:53:08.059
 as a bunch of clay,

00:53:08.179 --> 00:53:09.679
 even if you think you're old,

00:53:10.280 --> 00:53:10.800
 wrinkled,

00:53:11.219 --> 00:53:11.699
 cracked,

00:53:12.139 --> 00:53:12.639
 broken,

00:53:13.079 --> 00:53:13.659
 disgusted,

00:53:13.820 --> 00:53:14.980
 whatever it is.

00:53:15.240 --> 00:53:16.679
 This is the wonderful thing

00:53:16.679 --> 00:53:17.639
 about the text.

00:53:18.179 --> 00:53:20.300
 God can take any lump of clay

00:53:20.300 --> 00:53:22.300
 and make it into a vessel

00:53:22.300 --> 00:53:23.800
 of mercy for his glory.

00:53:24.980 --> 00:53:26.380
 It doesn't matter

00:53:26.380 --> 00:53:27.960
 if you're 90 years old

00:53:27.960 --> 00:53:29.539
 or if you're a young person.

00:53:29.659 --> 00:53:30.240
 It doesn't matter

00:53:30.240 --> 00:53:31.719
 what your IQ is

00:53:31.719 --> 00:53:33.119
 or what your income is

00:53:33.119 --> 00:53:34.840
 or your educational attainments.

00:53:35.280 --> 00:53:36.800
 God can make you

00:53:36.800 --> 00:53:38.420
 into a vessel of mercy

00:53:38.420 --> 00:53:39.159
 for his glory.

00:53:39.460 --> 00:53:40.639
 He's calling you.

00:53:40.920 --> 00:53:42.059
 He does not tell you

00:53:42.059 --> 00:53:43.300
 these things in this text

00:53:43.300 --> 00:53:44.539
 to shut you up,

00:53:44.659 --> 00:53:45.400
 but to say,

00:53:45.860 --> 00:53:47.019
 Lord, have mercy.

00:53:48.119 --> 00:53:49.320
 You are the potter.

00:53:49.539 --> 00:53:50.699
 I am the clay.

00:53:50.699 --> 00:53:54.239
 I call out to you.

00:53:54.659 --> 00:53:55.899
 Make me a vessel of mercy

00:53:55.899 --> 00:53:56.639
 for your glory.

00:53:57.859 --> 00:53:58.639
 Please stand.

00:53:58.639 --> 00:54:14.019
 Father,

00:54:14.219 --> 00:54:15.960
 you know how deeply addicted

00:54:15.960 --> 00:54:17.139
 we are to believing

00:54:17.139 --> 00:54:18.279
 that we are the potter

00:54:18.279 --> 00:54:19.039
 and you are the clay.

00:54:20.079 --> 00:54:20.559
 Father,

00:54:20.699 --> 00:54:21.940
 you know that that's something

00:54:21.940 --> 00:54:23.059
 deep within us.

00:54:23.319 --> 00:54:24.420
 We thank and praise you,

00:54:24.579 --> 00:54:24.779
 Father,

00:54:24.839 --> 00:54:26.239
 that you have redeemed us

00:54:26.239 --> 00:54:27.299
 in Jesus,

00:54:28.019 --> 00:54:29.099
 even though we still

00:54:29.099 --> 00:54:30.259
 struggle with this.

00:54:30.939 --> 00:54:31.219
 Father,

00:54:31.279 --> 00:54:32.039
 we ask that you help us

00:54:32.039 --> 00:54:33.199
 to struggle with it more.

00:54:34.019 --> 00:54:34.819
 Help us, Father,

00:54:34.979 --> 00:54:36.659
 to be able to repent

00:54:36.659 --> 00:54:38.359
 at an ever deeper level

00:54:38.359 --> 00:54:40.379
 of this attitude

00:54:40.379 --> 00:54:41.819
 of our heart and our mind

00:54:41.819 --> 00:54:42.739
 that you are clay

00:54:42.739 --> 00:54:43.759
 and we are potter.

00:54:44.299 --> 00:54:44.619
 Father,

00:54:44.719 --> 00:54:45.919
 may your Holy Spirit

00:54:45.919 --> 00:54:47.479
 bring us ever deeper

00:54:47.479 --> 00:54:48.259
 into Jesus

00:54:48.259 --> 00:54:49.799
 in the mystery of redemption,

00:54:50.000 --> 00:54:50.779
 the mystery of what

00:54:50.779 --> 00:54:51.819
 you accomplished for us

00:54:51.819 --> 00:54:52.599
 on the cross,

00:54:52.839 --> 00:54:55.199
 that we might let go

00:54:55.199 --> 00:54:56.159
 and relax

00:54:56.159 --> 00:54:57.019
 and understand

00:54:57.019 --> 00:54:58.219
 that you are the potter

00:54:58.219 --> 00:54:59.000
 and we are the clay.

00:54:59.119 --> 00:55:00.259
 And we thank and praise you,

00:55:00.500 --> 00:55:00.599
 Father,

00:55:00.679 --> 00:55:01.719
 that you call us.

00:55:02.239 --> 00:55:03.239
 We thank and praise you,

00:55:03.339 --> 00:55:03.519
 Father,

00:55:03.559 --> 00:55:04.639
 that when you call us,

00:55:04.719 --> 00:55:05.420
 you make us right

00:55:05.420 --> 00:55:06.099
 with yourself

00:55:06.099 --> 00:55:08.239
 and that you are at work

00:55:08.239 --> 00:55:08.920
 within us

00:55:08.920 --> 00:55:09.899
 in the circumstances

00:55:09.899 --> 00:55:11.000
 of our lives

00:55:11.000 --> 00:55:12.519
 to make us

00:55:12.519 --> 00:55:14.019
 ever more plainly

00:55:14.019 --> 00:55:15.179
 and ever more clearly

00:55:15.179 --> 00:55:16.920
 into all eternity

00:55:16.920 --> 00:55:18.779
 a vessel of mercy

00:55:18.779 --> 00:55:20.719
 prepared for glory.

00:55:21.599 --> 00:55:21.839
 Father,

00:55:21.920 --> 00:55:22.539
 we thank you

00:55:22.539 --> 00:55:23.179
 for this great

00:55:23.179 --> 00:55:24.259
 and precious promise

00:55:24.260 --> 00:55:26.420
 and make us

00:55:26.420 --> 00:55:27.560
 disciples of Jesus

00:55:27.560 --> 00:55:29.160
 gripped by this gospel

00:55:29.160 --> 00:55:30.200
 living for your glory.

00:55:30.200 --> 00:55:30.980
 And we ask this

00:55:30.980 --> 00:55:31.820
 in Jesus' name.

00:55:32.300 --> 00:55:32.640
 Amen.

00:55:32.640 --> 00:55:32.740
 Amen.

00:55:32.739 --> 00:56:02.719
 Thank you.