Romans chapter 9, verse 1 to 29.
I speak the truth in Christ.
I am not lying.
My conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit.
! I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.
For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people,
those of my own race, the people of Israel.
Theirs is the adoption to sonship.
Theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law,
the temple worship, and the promises.
Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah,
who is God all over, forever praised. Amen.
It is not as though God's word has failed.
For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.
Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children.
On the contrary, it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.
In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God's children,
but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring.
For this was how the promise was stated.
At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.
Not only that, but Rebecca's children were conceived at the same time by our father Isaac.
Yet, before the twins were born, or had done anything good or bad,
in order that God's purpose in election might stand,
not by works, but by him who calls,
she was told,
the older will serve the younger.
Just as it is written,
Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.
What then shall we say?
Is God unjust?
Not at all.
For he says to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.
It does not, therefore,
depend on human desire or effort,
but on God's mercy.
For scripture says to Pharaoh,
I raised you up for this very purpose,
that I might display my power in you,
and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.
Therefore,
God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy,
and he hardens whom he wants to harden.
One of you will say to me,
then why does God still blame us?
For who is able to resist his will?
But who are you,
a human being,
to talk back to God?
Shall what is formed say to the one who formed us,
and formed it?
Why did you make me like this?
Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay,
some pottery for special purposes,
and some for common use?
What if God,
although choosing to show his wrath,
and make his power known,
bore with great patience,
the objects of his wrath,
prepared for destruction?
What if he did this,
to make the riches of his glory known,
to the objects of his mercy,
whom he prepared in advance for glory?
Even us,
whom he also called,
not only from the Jews,
but also from the Gentiles.
As he says in Hosea,
I will call them my people,
who are not my people,
and I will call her my loved one,
who is not my loved one.
And,
in the very place where it was said to them,
you are not my people,
there they will be called children of God,
of the living God.
Isaiah cries out concerning Israel,
though the number of Israelites,
be like the sand by the sea,
only the remnant will be saved.
For the Lord will carry out,
his sentence on earth,
with speed and finality.
It is just as Isaiah said previously,
unless the Lord Almighty,
had left us descendants,
we would have been like Sodom,
we would have been like Gomorrah.
Thanks so much, Jamal,
for reading for us.
Let's pray,
as we come to God's word.
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father,
we are so very conscious,
of our need of your help this morning.
Certainly I am.
Lord,
we long to listen,
to what you say in your word.
We don't want to come here,
and just leave the same as we walked in.
We want to engage with you,
we want to hear from you,
we want you to be at work by your spirit.
And none of those things can be done,
because we deserve them,
or achieve them,
or because of our own great skill,
whatever that might be.
But Lord,
we need you.
We need you to work by your spirit,
for your glory's sake.
So be at work,
we ask,
as your word is open.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
It's going to help you this morning,
especially if you're here,
for the very first time,
to know that we have been working our way through,
the New Testament book of Romans.
We've been doing that,
because our conviction as a church,
is that the Bible is God's book.
That is,
we believe that it is written by people.
So this was written by Paul,
and you can see his fingerprints in it,
his kind of use of language,
and his personality come through.
But behind that stands God,
by his spirit,
who is the author of the book.
These are his words.
Now,
I start there,
and it's worth remembering that,
because we've been through Romans chapter 8,
in the last few weeks.
And Romans 8 is one of the most comforting passages,
in the whole of the New Testament.
And now we come to Romans 9,
and that is one of the most challenging chapters,
in the New Testament.
But what I have just said about God's word,
is no more or less true,
of Romans 9,
than it was of Romans 8.
Just because you enjoy something,
doesn't necessarily make it more God's word,
than something that you find challenging,
or difficult.
And the particular challenge,
I think,
of Romans 9,
is that it gives us,
essentially,
a very difficult answer,
to a question,
that we are all asking this morning.
It's a painful question,
and a difficult answer.
And so I want to urge you this morning,
to have your Bible open.
I know I pretty much say that every week,
but this week,
please,
have your Bible open.
If it's on your phone,
and you can trust yourself,
not to check your emails,
right?
I can't do that.
As soon as my phone is open,
and I'm checking my emails,
or something.
So,
if you can,
if you can have it on your phone,
and not do that,
then do that.
But if you want a physical Bible,
there should be one near you,
and have Romans 9.
Because I want you to see,
more than anything,
is that,
what I am saying this morning,
is coming from this passage,
in the Bible,
and not from my head.
So let's start,
with a question,
that we're probably not asking,
right?
A question,
that we're probably not asking.
You might,
and you might not,
remember that,
right at the very beginning,
of the letter to the Romans,
Paul says,
in Romans chapter 1,
verse 16,
for I am not ashamed of the gospel,
because it's the power of God,
that brings salvation,
to everyone who believes.
First for the Jew,
then to the Gentile,
right?
And then he spent,
eight chapters,
if you like,
articulating the gospel,
the message of good news,
that is the power of God,
to save.
And now,
in chapters 9 to 11,
he's returning,
to the next idea,
which is,
well,
what about the Jews first?
What about the Jews first?
So chapter 9,
it is not,
everything he's got to say,
about the gospel,
in the Jewish nation,
but it is the start of it.
And he's going to,
articulate this more,
in chapters 9,
10,
and 11,
to everyone who believes,
first to the Jew,
then to the Gentile.
Now,
his reason for returning to this,
should be obvious to us,
right?
The church in Rome,
and actually,
Paul's ministry in general,
has been dominated,
by preaching to Gentiles,
and not Jews.
So he knows,
like,
theologically,
from reading the Old Testament,
and from understanding God's word,
he understands,
that the gospel is first,
for the Jews,
but in his experience,
it has been the Gentiles,
who've responded to the gospel,
and it's them,
to whom he's writing.
And that brings a sadness to him,
the lack of responsiveness,
of the Jewish people,
to the gospel.
And so he says,
chapter 9,
verse 1,
look down at it,
I speak the truth in Christ.
I'm not lying.
My conscience confirms it,
through the Holy Spirit.
I have great sorrow,
and unceasing anguish,
in my heart.
But don't miss,
the layers,
that he's building up here.
It's like a,
it's like a kind of,
first century highlighter pen,
before highlighter pens existed.
He goes,
listen,
this is the truth.
I affirm this is the truth.
It's the truth in Christ.
I'm not lying.
My conscience tells me I'm not lying.
The Holy Spirit tells me I'm not lying.
I have great sorrow,
and unceasing anguish.
Listen how he continues.
It gets more serious.
Verse 3,
Now,
the word race there,
is a really unhelpful translation of a Greek word.
As far as I can tell,
the NIV is pretty much the only translation that uses it.
The word is better,
sort of,
kinsman,
or kindred.
And that's really,
in one sense,
because there is only one race in the Bible.
That is the human race.
God made us all the same in Adam and Eve.
But also,
it's because Paul's affinity is not with a race category,
as we might understand it now.
It's not really even just with a national identity,
the people of Israel.
Rather,
it's not national pride or racism.
It's really a concern of who they are in the plan of God.
Verse 4 will explain it to you.
He then goes on to say this,
doesn't he?
What belongs to the Israelites in the plan of God?
Well,
there is the adoption to sonship.
They are called the sons of God.
Theirs is the divine glory,
the covenant promises of the Old Testament,
the receiving of the law,
the temple worship,
and the promises.
Theirs are the patriarchs,
and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah,
who is God over all,
forever praised.
Amen.
See,
the issue,
it's not racism.
It's not national pride.
Paul is wrestling with the fact that despite the Israelites being given all of those things,
still,
they are hard and cold to the gospel.
And Paul is heartbroken,
and he wants to know why.
Why?
Now,
I said at the start,
that's probably a question that you're not asking,
right?
I think it's probably,
we are so used,
I think,
to Jews not believing in Jesus,
that we don't feel the strangeness of it in the way that Paul does here.
But I hope you can see that it leads to a question that you are asking this morning.
It's a question we're all asking.
And that is,
why are some people saved,
and others not?
Why is the gospel,
the power of God for salvation,
for some,
and not for all?
You know,
we share Paul's pain,
don't we,
for his kinsmen,
when we,
we think about the people that we love,
who don't believe the gospel.
But we,
we wonder,
or maybe even sitting here this morning,
wondering,
why are some members of my family in this room with me,
and others not?
Why is it that some people,
walking off the street,
come to faith in Jesus Christ,
almost straight away,
and others hear about Jesus all their lives.
They go to Sunday school,
they go to church,
they go to youth group,
and they never respond.
And we can feel about the question,
just like Paul does in verse three,
wishing even that we might swap places with our loved ones,
our friends,
and our family who don't know the Lord.
Wishing that if it was possible,
that we would be cut off,
that they might be included in him.
Paul knows,
and we know it doesn't work like that.
But still the question hangs.
Why has being around the church
been of so little eternal benefit to so many?
Why have so many people seen the glory of God?
They might even have sort of sensed it
in a room like this,
but now they've walked away.
They have no interest.
Why are there people who know their Bibles,
but still don't believe it?
Why are there people who are Christian in name,
but not really in practice?
That's the bigger question,
isn't it,
that Paul raises
and is dealing with
in these chapters to come.
And so then the rest of chapter nine
is really a difficult answer
that we won't fully understand.
It's not really a great headline,
is it,
for the next section of my sermon,
but let's pick this up in verse six
and let me show you
that this is a difficult answer
and we won't fully understand it.
But we're going to walk through these verses
and see how Paul deals with the question.
Again,
eyes on the Bible.
This is God in his word.
This is not Steve's ideas,
right?
This is what God says.
Firstly,
notice he says,
it has always been like this,
right?
Step one,
always been like this.
If you look at verse six,
he says that right from the very start,
not every ethnic Israelite
was a child of the promise.
He says,
there's always been a distinction,
which this means cannot be a failure
of God's word
because God's word has never
meant that every single individual Israelite
without exception would be saved.
The selective salvation is,
if you like,
a feature of the covenant,
not a bug in it.
So of Abraham's children,
verse seven,
it was only the son of Sarah,
Isaac,
verse nine,
that was of the promise.
Then of Isaac's children
from his wife,
Rebecca,
the twins,
Esau and Jacob,
only,
verse 12,
Jacob,
who surprisingly is the younger,
not Esau the older,
he is saved.
So this distinction is,
that's causing Paul such pain
in chapter nine,
verse one,
which causes us pain
as we see it in our families,
in our community,
this distinction between those who are saved
and those who are lost,
that distinction,
says Paul,
has always been there
from the very beginning of the Bible.
And it doesn't matter who your parents are.
It doesn't matter how close
your connection with the promises
were,
it doesn't matter how much
you knew of the Bible.
You know,
Ishmael was Abraham's son.
Esau was Isaac's son.
But both were lost.
Perhaps you could put it this way,
God has never in the Bible
been what you might call
a universalist.
In other words,
God has never saved everyone
without exception.
There has always been
inclusion and exclusion
from the promises of God.
If you're here this morning
and your expectation is,
do you know what?
Probably in the end,
God will save everybody.
It will be all right.
God will just save everybody
in the end.
Hell is probably an empty place.
You know,
like the sort of hollow threats
of parents.
It's probably what God's like.
Listen,
that is not the God of the Bible.
That is not the God of the Bible.
The Bible is littered
with people who hear
and never believe
and are lost as a result.
People who have access
to the eternal promises of God
but never benefit from them.
Look down at verse 27.
Paul is picking up that idea
from Isaiah.
Though the number of Israelites
be like the sand by the sea,
only a remnant,
a part will be saved.
That's step one.
It's always been like this.
Second step,
step two,
God chooses those he saves
and those he doesn't.
Look at verse 11,
talking about Rebecca's twin boys.
Yet before the twins were born,
all had done anything good or bad
in order that God's purpose
in election might stand,
not by works,
but by him who calls,
she was told,
the older will serve the younger.
Just as it is written,
Jacob I loved,
but Esau I hated.
Here it is then,
outside of anything
that Esau or Jacob did,
before they had done
anything good or bad,
because they'd not yet been born,
right?
God declared that Jacob
would go ahead of Esau,
that Jacob would be loved
and saved,
and Esau would be hated
and lost.
This is God's purpose
in election,
as Paul puts it.
Literally,
this is God's say-so.
Salvation belongs to him.
And it's not that God
sort of foresaw
that Jacob would do some good,
you know,
some salvation-deserving stuff.
So outside of time,
God decides,
I'm going to save Jacob
because he's a kind of
salvation-deserving
kind of person,
and I'm not going to save Esau.
No, it says before,
doesn't it?
Before anything
that they'd done.
And not just in,
not just before
kind of chronologically,
but before logically
as well,
outside of,
disconnected from
anything good or bad
done by Jacob or Esau,
God chose to save Jacob
and not to save Esau.
Now, I know these are
difficult things, right?
It's why I want you
to keep looking at your Bible.
It's worth pointing out to you
that Romans 9
is not out on a limb
in Bible terms, is it?
Paul himself
is just expounding
the Old Testament for you.
Paul didn't write,
Jacob I loved,
Esau I hated.
God said that to Malachi
and he wrote it down.
Paul didn't write
the story of the Exodus
where consistently
we're told that God
hardens Pharaoh's heart
so that he will not
let the people go.
What Paul says
is also just in line
with what Jesus says.
In John chapter 6
Jesus says,
all those that the Father
gives to me
will come to me.
Notice what he says.
Jesus doesn't say
all those who decide
to come
the Father will give.
He doesn't say that.
Rather he says
all those the Father gives
those are the ones
that will come to me
he says.
Jesus said of his disciples
in John 13
that he knew
those he had chosen
before adding
that Judas
would betray him
because despite
being around him
and dipping his bread
with him
still he was not
chosen
as one of
Jesus' people.
The other apostles
also carry on
that teaching
say the apostle Peter
in 1 Peter 2
calls the church
a chosen people
a royal priesthood
and the person
they're doing
the choosing
is not us.
It's not that
we have chosen
to be God's people
rather that God
has chosen us
to be his people.
Paul is just
echoing that Bible
theme from the beginning
to the end
that we looked at
with the children.
Salvation belongs
to our God.
in verse 16
he underlines
the implication
of it all.
Verse 16
so
it does not
therefore depend
on human desire
or effort
but on
God's
mercy.
In other words
it's not that
good people
or hard working
people
or people
who do the right
thing are saved
and others lost
rather it's about
God's mercy
and not human effort.
People are saved
because of something
that is true
about God
not something
that's true
about them
or me
or you.
Now
it's worth knowing
that this is not
the only thing
that Paul says
about those
who are saved.
Over the page
in chapter 10
he will tell people
that they need to hear
about Jesus
and believe in him.
In chapter 10
which we're going to
look at next week
he says that
everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord
will be saved.
He then says
in chapter 11
that large numbers
of Jewish people
will be saved
as Gentiles
hold out the gospel
to them.
But he starts
not in contradiction
to any of that
but rather to go ahead
of all of that
he starts here
saying listen
first
you must understand
this is about
God's mercy
not about anything else.
And he reminds us
verse 15
and verse 18
repeat exactly
the same line.
He has mercy
on whom he
wants to have mercy
and he hardens
whom he
wants to harden.
Now that's not
because people
go to him
looking for mercy
and some are
turned away
but knowing
that people
who come to him
for mercy
are those
who have been
mercifully called
by God himself.
So here we are
so far
this is the
difficult answer
to the painful
question.
Number one
belief and unbelief
has always been a thing
it's always been like this.
Step two
behind all that
stands the sovereign
plan of God
who chooses
to show mercy
to whom he wills.
He chooses
to save those
he wants
and those
he doesn't.
There's another
step to make
because in verse 19
Paul anticipates
the obvious objection
look down at verse 19
one of you
will say to me
then why does
God still blame us
for who is able
to resist his will?
This is surely
what any thinking
person
who is tracking
Paul's argument
is asking now
right?
Wait Paul
if you are saying
that behind
belief and unbelief
ultimately lies
the sovereign
choice of God
in showing
mercy and hardening
how can anybody
then be held
responsible for
unbelief?
If the reason
that they don't
believe the gospel
is ultimately
because God
made them
not believe
then surely
it's not their fault.
Listen this is
so important
right?
If you are not
at this point
asking this question
two things are possible
right?
One you've zoned out
and you're checking
your emails on your phone
like I said you might be
at the beginning
in which case
come back
or two is you just
not really understood
what's been said
because if you are
thinking
and knowing
what Paul has said
this is the important
question isn't it?
How can God
be sovereign
over belief
and unbelief
and people
still yet
be held
responsible
for their actions
whether they
believe or not?
These two things
seem to us
to be a contradiction
to one another.
How can they
both be true?
Either surely
God does choose
and people are
therefore not
responsible
or people are
responsible
and God does
not choose
but surely
these two things
cannot be true
at the same time.
Which one
is it going to be?
Well look down
at verse 20
because Paul gives you
the answer
you're not going
to like it
but this is the answer.
Who are you?
A human being
to talk back to God.
Shall what is formed
say to the one
who formed it
why did you make me
like this?
Does not the potter
have the right
to make out
of the same lump
of clay
some pottery
for special purposes
and some for common use?
This is the mind
blowing answer.
The mind blowing
answer is listen
that is the obvious
question you're right.
but you cannot
tell God
what he is
and isn't allowed
to do.
You cannot
say to God
you are not
allowed to retain
your sovereignty
in a world
of human freedom.
In other words
while human freedom
and responsibility
are true
and we'll see
more of that
next week
still they are
not true
in a way
that compromises
God's freedom.
God
is
free.
That's the answer
isn't it?
And you are not
allowed to tell him
that he is not
free.
And more than that
we need to be
careful don't we?
Because you and I
are not in a position
to lecture God
about what he is
or isn't allowed
to do.
He is the potter
and we are the clay.
In this world
the world
that God
has made
the world
that God
will hold
to account
the lives
that he has
given us
which we will
one day
stand before him
he is the one
who is allowed
to dictate the terms
not you or I.
Because in this world
it's not just
human freedom
that matters
but it's divine
freedom
because step three
is God
is free
to do
as he wills.
God must be free.
Now we need
to be careful here
because there is
more to notice
in these verses.
I want you to see
I don't think
verse 20
is meant to be
angry
or confrontational.
Paul is not
waving a stick
at you
saying
how dare
you ask
that question.
That's not
the tone here.
His point
is not that
asking the question
is necessarily
rude and objectionable.
Rather his point
is something like this.
When it comes
to the issue
of divine sovereignty
and human responsibility
the idea
that God
chooses those
whom he will save
and everyone
who calls
on the name
of the Lord
will be saved.
When it comes
to understanding
how those two
things hold together
the question is
who do you think
you are
as a mere
human being
to expect
to understand
that?
Do you think
you can understand
God?
Do you?
Do you think
that you can ask
God
listen God
tell me
because this is
a trouble to me.
Listen
you must
explain to me
God
please
because I
don't understand
you must
explain to me
how it can be
true that you
are sovereign
and still
hold people
responsible.
Do you expect
God
to explain
that to you
in a way
that you
can understand?
Do you?
Of course
he couldn't.
Not because
God doesn't
know
but because
he doesn't
have to
explain it
but even
if he did
you wouldn't
understand it.
Now I realise
that's probably
not the answer
that you were
maybe looking for.
You're perhaps
hoping for more
that maybe
Paul might
land an answer
that would
end the debate
that's rumbled
on in churches
for centuries.
Churches are
full of
churches that
emphasise God's
sovereignty
at the expense
of human
responsibility
and you have
other churches
which are all
about human
responsibility
and swerve
away from the
idea that the
Lord is sovereign
but Paul says
no you need
to live in the
tension because
both are true
but you cannot
understand them
because you're
a mere human
being
I'm a mere
human being.
There's one
last step
let's rehearse
the steps
right?
Belief and
unbelief has
always been a
thing.
God chooses
those he
says and
those he
doesn't
and then
next God
is free
to do
as he
wills
but there
is a
fourth
step
God does
all this
so that
God will
be seen
as glorious.
This is
where this
section ends
verse 22
look down
at it
what if
God
this is
Paul's
suggestion
and answer
what if
God
although
choosing
to show
his wrath
and make
his power
known
or with
great
patience
the objects
of his
wrath
prepared
for destruction
what if
he did
this to
make the
riches
of his
glory
known
to the
objects
of his
mercy
whom he
prepared
in advance
for glory
even us
whom he
also called
not only
from the
Jews
but also
from the
Gentiles
here
Paul's
point
now
is
essentially
to move
on
and to
say
what is
true
of a
God
like
this
what am
I to
think
of a
God
who
saves
and holds
to
account
what is
true
if
God
sovereignly
raises
up those
who will
experience
mercy
and
sovereignly
raises
up those
who will
experience
his
judgment
what is
true
of a
God
who is
able
to do
all of
that
God
is
glorious
says
Paul
and
notice
how
he's
glorious
verse
23
by
making
known
his
glory
to
those
prepared
in
advance
for
his
glory
I'm
going to
slow down
here
so that
we get
this
look at
verse
22
again
notice
that
God's
decision
to
allow
unbelief
to
persist
in
his
world
his
patience
with
the
objects
of
his
wrath
or
his
judgment
is
his
patience
there
is
for
the
purpose
of
showing
glory
to
those
who
will
be
saved
this
is
so
important
okay
God
allows
unbelief
to persist
in his
world
not because
he is
weak
not because
he's
not in
control
of it
but so
that
he
might
save
and
that
those
he
saves
might
know
what
it
is
they've
been
saved
from
the
order
there
is
the
important
thing
God
doesn't
allow
mercy
to
exist
in
order
for
him
to
provide
an
opportunity
for
judgment
instead
he
provides
patience
in
judgment
in
order
to
prioritize
mercy
use
Paul's
example
of
Pharaoh
right
God
did
not
save
the
Israelites
from
Egypt
so
that
he
could
judge
Pharaoh
rather
he
patiently
waited
to
punish
Pharaoh
so
that
he
might
save
Israel
salvation
was
and
is
God's
priority
not
judgment
and
the
Israelites
will
look
over
the
bodies
of
the
Egyptians
bobbing
up and
down
in
the
Red
Sea
and
they
are
to
think
that
should
have
been
me
but
God
showed
me
mercy
Jesus
tells
a
parable
in
Matthew
13
of
weeds
and
wheat
where
the
kingdom
of
God
is
compared
to
a
field
that
has
been
planted
with
wheat
and
then
someone
an
enemy
goes
and
plants
weeds
in
the
field
and
the
servants
say
shall
we
pull
up
the
weeds
and
the
farmer
says
no
don't
do
that
because
you
might
pull
up
the
wheat
with
the
weeds
by
accident
and
we
really
don't
want
that
because
what
we're
really
about
is
harvest
harvesting
wheat
no
instead
wait
until
the
harvest
and
then
we'll
separate
them
and
we'll
bundle
the
weeds
to
burn
and
the
wheat
to
go
in
the
barn
and
so
it
is
here
God's
sovereignty
over
belief
and
unbelief
means
that
he
can
patiently
wait
to
show
mercy
prioritizing
showing
his glory
in
saving
his people
even
to us
who don't
belong
the old
testament
promises
because we
were never
part of
the jewish
nation
we are
the
gentiles
and so
we can
say
can't
we
that
because
of
God's
great
patience
he
has
time
to
include
even
us
so
as
verse
25
puts
it
as
he
says
in
Hosea
I
will
call
them
my
people
who
are
not
my
people
and
I
will
call
her
my
loved
one
who
is
not
my
loved
one
and
in
the
very
place
where
it
said
to
them
you
are
not
my
people
there
they
will
be
called
children
of
the
living
God
it's
you
and
me
you
!
you're
a
Christian
this
morning
let me
just ask
as we
close
what are
we
to do
with
all
of
this
we
are
surrounded
aren't
we
like
Paul
by
the
heartbreaking
!
reality
of
unbelief
people
that we
love
care
about
deeply
see
no
need
to
trust
in
the
Lord
Jesus
Christ
or
follow
him
or
turn
from
their
sin
it's
not
ignorance
they
know
their
Bibles
they've
attended
church
we've
shared
the
gospel
with
them
they
just
don't
think
it's
important
they
just
don't
care
and
yet
we
know
because
the
Bible
is
so
clear
that
judgment
stands
before
us
all
what
are
we
to
think
what
are
we
to
do
well
we
are
to
see
that
while
we
don't
really
understand
God
is
still
in
charge
and
God
knows
what
he's
doing
even
if
we
don't
know
and
yes
we
know
because
we
kind
of
come
to
chapter
10
we
should
keep
sharing
the
gospel
people
don't
carry
labels
do
they
we
don't
know
who
God
has
chosen
only
God
knows
that
and
so
we
share
the
gospel
but
we
also
pray
why
pray
why
do
you
pray
for
your
friends
and
family
who
don't
know
the
Lord
to
come
and
trust
in
him
you
pray
because
you
know
that
salvation
belongs
to
God
and
that
he
has
the
power
to
save
that's
what
Romans
9
has
been
telling
you
but
let
me
just
finish
with
a
plea
if
I
can
perhaps
you're
here
this
morning
and
you're
not
a
Christian
I'm
so
glad
you're
here
with
us
this
morning
maybe
you've
thought
wow
this
is
a bit
heavier
than
I
thought
church
would
be
but
let
me
say
it's
really
good
you're
here
I
wonder
that
perhaps
you
thought
when
you
came
into
I'd
really
love
you
to
find
out
more
about
this
Christian
thing
come
along
to
church
it'd
be
great
that's
a
really
good
way
of
finding
out
more
and
then
you've
listened
to
Romans
9
you
thought
oh
my
goodness
well
what
if
God
hasn't
chosen
me
what
was
the
point
of
me
investigating
Christianity
if
God
hasn't
chosen
me
why
am
I
even
here
well
let
me
say
to
you
if
there
is
a
desire
from
you
to
know
God
and
to
seek
after
him
if
you
find
in
your
heart
that
there
is
a
desire
to
turn
from
your
sin
and
to
live
for
him
a
desire
to
hear
his
word
and
follow
Jesus
what
you
really
must
understand
and
it's
really
good
that
you're
here
because
you
need
to
know
this
right
at
the
very
beginning
you
need
to
understand
you
have
that
desire
not
because
you're
a
good
person
not
because
you've
thought
it
out
but
because
God
has
put
it
there
that's
why
that
thought
is
there
what
is
happening
this
morning
you
thought
you
were
coming
to
investigate
Christianity
right
actually
what is
happening
as you
feel like
that
in your
heart
is
God
is
calling
you
that's
what's
happening
you know
in this
world
that God
has
made
that
he
rules
sovereignly
with all
his
power
and
his
might
you
don't
look
for
him
he
looks
for
you
and
he
calls
you
by
name
and
he
says
come
follow
me
you're
mine
from
before
the
foundation
of
the
world
I
knew
you
and
I
loved
you
that
desire
you
have
in
your
heart
to
know
me
to
trust
me
to
turn
from
your
sin
I
put
it
there
that
you
might
come
and
follow
me
so let
me
say
to
you
this
morning
if
you're
not
a
Christian
and
you
know
in
your
heart
that
God
is
calling
you
to
follow
him
please
don't
resist
in
fact
it
is
impossible
to
resist
that
because
salvation
belongs
to
God
let's
pray
maybe
just
take
a
few
minutes
of
quiet
to
pray
we've
dealt
with
some
heavy
things
let's
take
a
moment
just
to
seek
the
Lord
and
to
pray
in
our
hearts
heavenly
father
we
find
passages
like
this
in
the
bible
to
be
deeply
humbling
we
maybe
perhaps
thought
that
we're
Christians
because
we
worked
something
out
or
we're
better
than
other
people
but
we
find
here
that
we're
Christians
that
we
believe
and
trust
in
you
because
you
have
shown
us
mercy
oh
how
kind
how
loving
how
gracious
how
undeserving
we
are
and
how
deserving
you
are
of
praise
and
glory
and
how
we
thank
you
Lord
that
you
have
been
patient
in
history
choosing
not
yet
to
bring
the
judgment
that
you
have
promised
in
order
that
you
might
save
the
full
number
of
your
people
thank
you
that
you've
waited
another
day
so
that
people
here
in
this
room
can
hear
your
voice
calling
out
to
them
to
come
and
follow
you
Lord
how
we
pray
that
they
would
hear
your
voice
and
respond
and
how
we
pray
that
you
might
hold
us
and
keep
us
until
the
day
that
we
see
you
face
to
face
in
Jesus
name
we
pray
Amen!