Pride Killing Prophecy (Romans 11:25-32)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:03.399 Well, please remain standing, and let's turn to another portion of God's word. 2 00:00:03.480 --> 00:00:13.910 Romans Eleven, Romans Eleven, verses twenty five through thirty two. Romans 3 00:00:13.910 --> 00:00:20.070 eleven versus Verse Twenty Five. Lest you be wise in your own sight, 4 00:00:21.190 --> 00:00:27.019 I want you to understand this mystery. Brothers, a partial hardening has come 5 00:00:27.219 --> 00:00:33.460 upon Israel until the fullness of the gentiles has come in, and in this 6 00:00:33.619 --> 00:00:38.250 way all Israel will be saved. As it is written, the deliverer will 7 00:00:38.289 --> 00:00:43.170 come from Zion, he will banish on Godliness from Jacob, and this will 8 00:00:43.210 --> 00:00:48.810 be my covenant with them, when I take away their sins. As regard 9 00:00:48.929 --> 00:00:53.880 the Goss, as regards the Gospel, they are enemies of God for your 10 00:00:53.960 --> 00:01:00.159 Sake, but as regards election they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers, 11 00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:06.590 for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as 12 00:01:06.750 --> 00:01:11.230 you were at one time disobedient to God, but have now received mercy because 13 00:01:11.269 --> 00:01:17.950 of their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that, 14 00:01:18.109 --> 00:01:23.500 by the mercy shown to you, they also may now receive mercy. For 15 00:01:23.659 --> 00:01:30.579 God has consigned all to disobedience that he may have mercy and all, may 16 00:01:30.659 --> 00:01:56.680 God bless his word to us, please be seated. So, in addition 17 00:01:56.799 --> 00:02:00.870 to male and female relationships, there are other kinds of diversity in the church, 18 00:02:00.950 --> 00:02:05.310 and one of them that we've been spending a good amount of time on 19 00:02:05.549 --> 00:02:10.310 here at the and these last few chapters of Romans, are the relationships between 20 00:02:10.389 --> 00:02:19.180 the Jews and the gentiles, Jews being the original family of God, gentiles 21 00:02:19.379 --> 00:02:23.539 being those who are not part of the family of God. All these non 22 00:02:23.740 --> 00:02:29.099 Jewish people from all over the world now, as gentiles, being brought in 23 00:02:29.659 --> 00:02:35.330 to the church, grafted into God's cultivated olive tree, so we considered last 24 00:02:35.330 --> 00:02:42.370 time. And he's giving us this instruction. He's helping us to understand the 25 00:02:42.650 --> 00:02:46.759 particulars of our relationship with one another in the church, Jews and gentiles, 26 00:02:47.719 --> 00:02:53.120 for several reasons. One of them, which will spend a little more time 27 00:02:53.159 --> 00:02:57.159 on later, is given right here in the first verse, lest you be 28 00:02:57.360 --> 00:03:02.069 why, is in your own site. God doesn't want us to be conceded, 29 00:03:02.710 --> 00:03:07.270 and so he gives us this prophecy. How will we approach it? 30 00:03:08.789 --> 00:03:14.139 I think we should approach it with humility. First of all, notice he 31 00:03:14.219 --> 00:03:16.740 says, unless you be wise in your own site. The goal here is 32 00:03:16.860 --> 00:03:22.460 to humble us, and prophecy has a way of doing them. Whenever God 33 00:03:22.620 --> 00:03:27.139 reminds us of his plans for our lives, whenever he tells us about the 34 00:03:27.289 --> 00:03:30.810 future and way things will be, it's a reminder of how little in control 35 00:03:30.930 --> 00:03:36.849 we are, how much in control he is. God is good and he 36 00:03:37.250 --> 00:03:40.759 is in control of things. He's revealing these things to us and we should 37 00:03:40.759 --> 00:03:47.560 be humbled by them. But humility doesn't necessarily mean laziness or lack of interest. 38 00:03:49.080 --> 00:03:52.560 Well, it's the future, it's a prophecy. I can't know everything 39 00:03:52.599 --> 00:03:54.750 about it, so I don't care to know anything about it. That's, 40 00:03:54.789 --> 00:03:59.909 of course, a bad attitude. I at as well. God is telling 41 00:03:59.990 --> 00:04:03.990 us something for a particular purpose. He says, through his Apostle, I 42 00:04:04.310 --> 00:04:09.909 want you to understand this mystery. Well, okay, yes, sir, 43 00:04:10.219 --> 00:04:15.300 here I am. I'm ready to hear. God wants you to understand a 44 00:04:15.460 --> 00:04:19.579 mystery. A word here. This word mystery is used at various places throughout 45 00:04:19.579 --> 00:04:25.930 the net new testament to describe something that was once hidden but is now being 46 00:04:26.250 --> 00:04:30.449 revealed. Yield. God is revealing something to us. It's why we call 47 00:04:30.569 --> 00:04:38.250 the Bible revelation he is revealing something to us, he wants us to understand 48 00:04:38.290 --> 00:04:42.519 it. So that's how we approach it. With a desire to understand, 49 00:04:42.600 --> 00:04:47.120 not with laziness but with interest, if a desire to know, a desire 50 00:04:47.279 --> 00:04:54.029 to understand, but also with humility, knowing that God won't tell us everything 51 00:04:54.189 --> 00:05:00.230 that we want to know, knowing that he is in control. So what 52 00:05:00.430 --> 00:05:04.350 does God reveal here in these verses? What does he tell us in verses 53 00:05:04.470 --> 00:05:12.259 twenty five through thirty two? Well, he reveals his plans concerning the gentiles 54 00:05:12.339 --> 00:05:16.860 and the Jews, and we might sum them up this way, that God 55 00:05:17.060 --> 00:05:25.050 will one day remove the partial hardening that is currently on Israel. He will 56 00:05:25.050 --> 00:05:28.610 do that by his mercy and he will do it when the fullness of the 57 00:05:28.769 --> 00:05:34.290 gentiles come in. That's what he says. It's very clear about that too, 58 00:05:34.490 --> 00:05:41.199 that God will remove this partial hardening that is currently on Israel after the 59 00:05:41.319 --> 00:05:45.560 gentiles are brought in, and he will do this because of his mercy. 60 00:05:46.040 --> 00:05:49.000 So first I want to talk with you this morning about how we come to 61 00:05:49.069 --> 00:05:53.990 this conclusion, how we see this in the passage, and then also why 62 00:05:54.029 --> 00:05:59.230 God wants us to know us. Why is this important? Why should we 63 00:05:59.310 --> 00:06:03.189 pay attention and meditate on it and think about it. So first, how 64 00:06:03.230 --> 00:06:09.300 do we come to this conclusion? Well, the first thing we are considering 65 00:06:09.500 --> 00:06:14.740 is that this event will happen after the gentiles are brought in. I'm you 66 00:06:14.819 --> 00:06:18.129 see this. In Verse Twenty Five. He says a partial hardening has come 67 00:06:18.209 --> 00:06:27.009 upon Israel until the fullness of the gentiles has come in. This verse echoes 68 00:06:27.050 --> 00:06:30.970 what we also saw in verse eleven and Verse Fourteen of this chapter. So 69 00:06:31.209 --> 00:06:36.839 if you look at a verse eleven, we see that Paul says I asked, 70 00:06:36.920 --> 00:06:42.000 did they, meaning the Jews, stumble in order that they might fall? 71 00:06:42.839 --> 00:06:46.310 He answers that question in this way. By no means. Rather, 72 00:06:46.350 --> 00:06:51.910 through their trespass, salvation has come to the gentiles so as to make Israel 73 00:06:51.949 --> 00:06:58.750 Jealous. He continues that thought and repeats it. I should say that in 74 00:06:58.790 --> 00:07:01.259 the other reverse order. He repeats it and continues or expands on that thought. 75 00:07:01.339 --> 00:07:08.579 In verse fourteen he says he's magnifies his ministry the gentiles. Verse Fourteen, 76 00:07:08.819 --> 00:07:14.060 in order somehow to make my fellow Jews Jealous and thus save some of 77 00:07:14.100 --> 00:07:18.490 them. Paul's not just aiming that the Jews would be stirred up and wanting 78 00:07:18.689 --> 00:07:23.930 what the gentiles have in salvation, but he wants them to not merely want 79 00:07:23.970 --> 00:07:29.329 it, but to obtain it themselves. That's the goal. Israel became disobedient 80 00:07:29.730 --> 00:07:32.879 so that the gentiles would be brought in, so that Israel would be jealous 81 00:07:33.240 --> 00:07:40.040 and would be brought in as well. This is what Paul says when he 82 00:07:40.240 --> 00:07:46.629 is speaking in versus thirty and following. He says to the gentiles, for 83 00:07:46.870 --> 00:07:51.310 just as you were at one time disobedient, but now I've received mercy because 84 00:07:51.389 --> 00:07:57.310 of their disobedience. That goes back to their stumbling in order that the Jews, 85 00:07:57.389 --> 00:08:01.699 gentiles might be on be brought in. He says, so they they 86 00:08:01.980 --> 00:08:07.060 too have now been disobedient in order that mercy might be shown to you, 87 00:08:07.819 --> 00:08:13.569 that they also may receive mercy. He's setting up this chain or the domino 88 00:08:13.689 --> 00:08:18.089 effect. In other words, he's saying that here's how the plan of God 89 00:08:18.889 --> 00:08:22.449 falls out, and that's what he means by verse thirty two. This is 90 00:08:22.449 --> 00:08:26.009 all summed up there, where he says, for God has consigned all to 91 00:08:26.129 --> 00:08:33.360 disobedience that he may have mercy on all. This takes us all the way 92 00:08:33.360 --> 00:08:39.159 back to the beginning of Romans where Paul points out how both Jews and gentiles, 93 00:08:39.240 --> 00:08:43.710 because of their sin and because of the Law of God, are condemned 94 00:08:43.750 --> 00:08:48.549 by it. All are brought under disobedience and even all are given over to 95 00:08:48.590 --> 00:08:54.149 their disobedience and the sinful plat passions of their flesh. Why? So that 96 00:08:54.269 --> 00:09:01.340 God would have mercy on all of them. God wants to demonstrate His mercy, 97 00:09:01.460 --> 00:09:07.659 and for the Jews this will come in a full way after the gentiles 98 00:09:07.779 --> 00:09:11.570 come in. That's his point. It's after the gentiles come in. Now, 99 00:09:11.690 --> 00:09:15.570 before we move on, I want to just clarify a one thing. 100 00:09:16.250 --> 00:09:20.970 When Paul says the fullness of the gentiles here, we don't we shouldn't think 101 00:09:20.009 --> 00:09:26.600 of him as meaning every single gentile, as though every single person on the 102 00:09:26.639 --> 00:09:30.919 earth or every single gentile in the world, whoever was or ever will be, 103 00:09:31.639 --> 00:09:35.879 will be saved and then at that moment the Jews come in. How 104 00:09:35.919 --> 00:09:41.590 do we know that he doesn't mean that? Well, two reasons. One, 105 00:09:41.830 --> 00:09:46.350 we already know that many gentiles have not believed. We also know that 106 00:09:46.470 --> 00:09:52.509 many gentiles will not believe. Another reason is that sometimes this word in scripture, 107 00:09:52.590 --> 00:09:56.980 fullness is used in the sense of a multitude, a completeness, when 108 00:09:56.059 --> 00:10:01.500 the fullness of this thing has happened, when it reaches its big measure, 109 00:10:01.659 --> 00:10:05.700 you might say. So this happens, for example, in Genesis Forty Eight, 110 00:10:05.700 --> 00:10:13.370 nineteen. I'll read this to you. In Genesis Forty Eight, verse 111 00:10:13.450 --> 00:10:18.409 nineteen, we read. But his father refused and said I know my son, 112 00:10:18.450 --> 00:10:24.519 I know he also shall become a people, and he also shall become 113 00:10:24.919 --> 00:10:28.759 great. Nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he and his offering 114 00:10:28.840 --> 00:10:35.590 shall become a multitude of nations. This word multitude of nations literally, or 115 00:10:35.629 --> 00:10:41.429 it could literally be translated as fullness of nations. The brother will become a 116 00:10:41.590 --> 00:10:45.029 fullness of nations, not and there. He doesn't mean every single nation, 117 00:10:45.190 --> 00:10:50.100 but a great number, a multitude. A similar phrase is used in Isaiah 118 00:10:50.220 --> 00:10:54.100 thirty one or in the ESV. It's translated as a band of shepherds, 119 00:10:54.539 --> 00:11:00.220 but it just means a fullness, or it could literally be translated a fullness 120 00:11:00.620 --> 00:11:03.409 of shepherds. Anyway, you get the point. It just means multitude, 121 00:11:03.730 --> 00:11:07.009 that when the gentiles are brought in, it doesn't mean every single person, 122 00:11:07.730 --> 00:11:13.850 but a multitude, a great, great number. When that happens, then 123 00:11:13.889 --> 00:11:18.960 the Jews will turn to the Lord. You can also put it in this 124 00:11:20.120 --> 00:11:28.799 way that God will remove the partial and temporary hardening. Let's consider this part 125 00:11:28.840 --> 00:11:35.149 of the prophecy. What is the hardening that God is speaking about here? 126 00:11:35.429 --> 00:11:41.509 On the Bible, hardening is referred to as a lack of faith and obedience, 127 00:11:41.549 --> 00:11:46.070 a lack of faith and the lack of the obedience that springs from faith. 128 00:11:48.019 --> 00:11:52.419 Hardness in the heart is refusing to trust God in the salvation that he 129 00:11:52.580 --> 00:12:01.970 brings the Christ it's saying no to God when God reveals himself and mercy when 130 00:12:01.049 --> 00:12:07.330 God calls us to obedience. Let's look at a good example of this in 131 00:12:07.490 --> 00:12:11.529 Mark, chapter three, just a few verses. First five verses or six 132 00:12:11.570 --> 00:12:20.799 verses. Here we're illustrating what is a hard heart look like again. He 133 00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:26.440 entered the synagogue and a man was there with a withered hand, and they 134 00:12:26.600 --> 00:12:31.830 watched Jesus to see whether he would heal him on the sabbath. This is 135 00:12:31.950 --> 00:12:37.110 the Pharisees and other people leaders in Israel. So there's a man there in 136 00:12:37.110 --> 00:12:39.789 the synagogue with a withered hand and they watched Jesus to see whether he would 137 00:12:39.830 --> 00:12:45.340 heal them heal him on the sabbath. So that they might accuse him. 138 00:12:45.940 --> 00:12:50.700 You see, they're already their mind is preset right. They're not looking to 139 00:12:50.779 --> 00:12:54.379 see. Did He heal him, and should we give praise to God or 140 00:12:54.740 --> 00:12:58.090 should we just see what happens and judge from that point? No, they 141 00:12:58.169 --> 00:13:03.490 want to see it so that they might accuse him. And he said to 142 00:13:03.570 --> 00:13:07.370 the man with the withered hand, come here. And he said to them 143 00:13:07.490 --> 00:13:11.690 is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to 144 00:13:11.809 --> 00:13:16.159 save life or to kill? But they were silent and they looked around at 145 00:13:16.279 --> 00:13:22.360 them and he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of 146 00:13:22.519 --> 00:13:26.720 heart, and he said to the man, stretch out your hand. He 147 00:13:26.879 --> 00:13:31.750 stretched it out and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately 148 00:13:31.789 --> 00:13:37.070 held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him. This is 149 00:13:37.190 --> 00:13:43.580 what a hard heart looks like. God comes into the world with saving revelation, 150 00:13:45.580 --> 00:13:48.620 with Jesus Christ, the light shining in the darkness, and he comes 151 00:13:48.740 --> 00:13:56.370 to bring light into the world, restorate, restore broken relationships and to heal, 152 00:13:56.289 --> 00:14:01.129 to heal in our spiritual sense, to heal in a physical sense. 153 00:14:01.250 --> 00:14:05.769 This is why God became men and this is why he's here. And he 154 00:14:05.850 --> 00:14:11.600 sees this man with a withered hand and he heals his hand. Stretch out 155 00:14:11.639 --> 00:14:16.279 your hand and immediately this withered, shriveled up hand was healed. How do 156 00:14:16.360 --> 00:14:22.919 you respond to the saving, healing revelation of God? Let me tell you 157 00:14:22.200 --> 00:14:28.909 how not to respond. Don't take counsel with other people and how to destroy 158 00:14:28.350 --> 00:14:35.309 the one who brings the message. Don't go against God when God reveals His 159 00:14:35.590 --> 00:14:41.259 mercy. That's real hardness, isn't it? When God extends himself and says 160 00:14:41.299 --> 00:14:46.419 here's mercy, here's salvation, here's healing, and you say, how can 161 00:14:46.460 --> 00:14:50.980 I kill that? How can I destroy boy that? How can I accuse 162 00:14:50.220 --> 00:14:58.450 that? Well, this attitude that we see in the Pharisees and the Herodians 163 00:15:00.450 --> 00:15:03.850 is what we see with many in Israel, end among the gentiles too, 164 00:15:05.009 --> 00:15:11.000 and this hardening came on and has come on the Jews as a whole, 165 00:15:13.360 --> 00:15:18.279 not of course, every single person, but as a whole, as a 166 00:15:18.360 --> 00:15:22.870 multitude, as a fullness. Israel has been hardened and we see it in 167 00:15:22.909 --> 00:15:26.789 these kinds of actions. We see it in the crucifixion of Jesus and we 168 00:15:26.870 --> 00:15:33.110 see in the following response. What happened when God raised Jesus Christ from the 169 00:15:33.149 --> 00:15:39.500 dead. The rulers of Israel tried to bury the fact. They tried to 170 00:15:39.539 --> 00:15:48.820 suppress the evidence and the witnesses. They harmed and persecuted people who spoke about 171 00:15:48.379 --> 00:15:54.649 this good news. That's hardening, isn't it? It's hardening that is on 172 00:15:54.370 --> 00:16:02.929 the people of God. But God says it won't always be there. It's 173 00:16:03.210 --> 00:16:08.759 partial and it's temporary. It's partial partly in the fact that it's not every 174 00:16:08.840 --> 00:16:15.960 single Israelite. So going back to a Romans, you remember, back in 175 00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:19.909 the beginning of Romans, Romans Chapter Two, twenty eight and twenty nine, 176 00:16:19.950 --> 00:16:26.549 we read this. For No one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly. 177 00:16:26.269 --> 00:16:32.070 Nor is circumcision outward and physical, but a Jew is one inwardly, 178 00:16:32.470 --> 00:16:37.379 and circumcision is a matter of the heart. You see what he's saying there. 179 00:16:37.379 --> 00:16:40.940 He's saying it's possible to be a Jew but also not a Jew at 180 00:16:40.940 --> 00:16:45.980 the same time. This means that some people truly had believed, some people 181 00:16:45.139 --> 00:16:49.570 did believe. Paul himself is a perfect example of this, and he points 182 00:16:49.610 --> 00:16:53.970 to himself as a way to show that God has not rejected all Israel. 183 00:16:55.610 --> 00:16:59.970 He's pointed to David and to Abraham and other people throughout Romans to say that 184 00:17:00.090 --> 00:17:03.599 God has kept his hand on these people and all who turn in faith will 185 00:17:03.599 --> 00:17:10.279 be saved. But even though there are examples of faithfulness and of faith in 186 00:17:10.400 --> 00:17:15.789 Israel, Paul is recognizing the fact that that's not true of the vast number. 187 00:17:18.750 --> 00:17:22.349 But what is this prophecy saying? It's saying that that will not always 188 00:17:23.029 --> 00:17:30.980 be the case, that one day they will all come in here. When 189 00:17:32.059 --> 00:17:36.700 Paul says all, he means it again in this sense of fullness or multitude, 190 00:17:37.900 --> 00:17:42.579 to quote Charles Hodge from his commentary, as their rejection, although national, 191 00:17:44.410 --> 00:17:48.369 did not include the rejection of every individual, Paul being an example. 192 00:17:49.250 --> 00:17:55.410 So their restoration, though national, need not include the salvation of every single 193 00:17:55.490 --> 00:17:59.920 Jew. Does that make sense? He's saying that when they were rejected, 194 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:03.240 it wasn't as though every single person in Israel was rejected, but as a 195 00:18:03.720 --> 00:18:08.680 body, as a people, as a covenant that had been broken, the 196 00:18:08.839 --> 00:18:15.990 people were rejected. The people were hardened. So too, in their restoration, 197 00:18:17.230 --> 00:18:19.309 what should we expect? This is the question I'm trying to answer. 198 00:18:19.950 --> 00:18:25.710 What should we expect? What is God wanting us to understand. He's not 199 00:18:25.990 --> 00:18:30.339 saying that every single Jewish person in the world will be saved, just as 200 00:18:30.380 --> 00:18:33.420 he's not saying every single gentile in the world will be saved. But what 201 00:18:33.579 --> 00:18:37.740 he is saying is that when no great multitude and fullness of the gentiles come 202 00:18:37.819 --> 00:18:44.490 in, then Israel, in a great comprehensive national sense, will also come 203 00:18:44.569 --> 00:18:52.569 in, and that's amazing. That's an amazing thing to consider and to wonder 204 00:18:52.690 --> 00:19:00.279 at and to hope for and to pray for. Well, the last thing 205 00:19:00.279 --> 00:19:03.400 I want to point out as we think through what this prophecy means is that 206 00:19:03.960 --> 00:19:10.150 is the emphasis on mercy. God is saying that these things will happen, 207 00:19:10.430 --> 00:19:14.990 that after the fullness of the gentiles are brought in, then this partial and 208 00:19:15.150 --> 00:19:18.910 temper very hardness that is brought on the Jewish people will be removed and they 209 00:19:19.069 --> 00:19:25.339 too will be grafted back into the tree. They too will receive mercy. 210 00:19:26.099 --> 00:19:33.579 And that's this last point. It's by mercy that these things will be done. 211 00:19:33.619 --> 00:19:45.769 John Flavel, Puritan Writer, says writes this about delayed mercies. The 212 00:19:45.849 --> 00:19:52.329 delay of your mercies is really to your advantage. The Foolish Child would pluck 213 00:19:52.410 --> 00:19:56.880 the apple whilst it is green, but when it is ripe it drops of 214 00:19:56.960 --> 00:20:03.160 its own accord and it is more pleasant and wholesome. This is a good 215 00:20:03.279 --> 00:20:07.750 reminder about the great sovereignty of God and his perfect will, which is what 216 00:20:07.829 --> 00:20:12.470 he's revealing to us this morning. He's telling us about his plan. He's 217 00:20:12.549 --> 00:20:18.789 telling us that there's a time when the apple will be ripe, and we 218 00:20:18.990 --> 00:20:25.460 know that when it is it will be perfect and sweeter and juicy or and 219 00:20:25.579 --> 00:20:30.900 more wonderful than we could have ever imagined. It's hard when we're waiting. 220 00:20:30.579 --> 00:20:34.849 It's hard when we're in the moment and the thing that is promised does not 221 00:20:34.970 --> 00:20:38.609 yet here, to say, why is it not here? I see no 222 00:20:38.769 --> 00:20:42.970 reason why the Jews can't be saved right now, and honestly, I see 223 00:20:44.049 --> 00:20:47.569 no reason in why the Jews can't be saved right now. But I'm not 224 00:20:47.809 --> 00:20:52.400 God and neither are you, and that's why God says, lest you be 225 00:20:52.640 --> 00:20:56.680 wise in your own sight, lest you look at a green apple and said, 226 00:20:56.680 --> 00:21:00.839 yeah, green apples are the best, lest you preemptively decide to God 227 00:21:02.240 --> 00:21:06.750 when things will be and when things will not be. He reveals to us 228 00:21:06.829 --> 00:21:11.710 and he says, I'm going to reveal this mystery to you because I want 229 00:21:11.750 --> 00:21:18.779 you to trust me, I want you to praise me. Here is why 230 00:21:18.940 --> 00:21:25.579 God tells us these things about his mercy. There's many reasons, but one 231 00:21:25.619 --> 00:21:29.299 of them we read in the following verses, versus I didn't read to you 232 00:21:29.339 --> 00:21:37.369 yet. Thirty three through thirty six, when Paul considers the great and ever 233 00:21:37.609 --> 00:21:42.609 wise plan of our sovereign God, and when he considers that all of this 234 00:21:42.809 --> 00:21:51.480 is coming by His mercy, that he's taking disobedience and sinful people and wrapping 235 00:21:51.599 --> 00:21:55.519 them up in his arms, for giving their sins, washing away their sin, 236 00:21:56.039 --> 00:22:00.750 all because of this one who was rejected, Jesus Christ, a stumbling 237 00:22:00.829 --> 00:22:07.150 stone to the Jews, who became the great cornerstone of the Church in which 238 00:22:07.269 --> 00:22:12.589 belongs both Jew and gentile. When Paul takes all of this and pull it 239 00:22:12.710 --> 00:22:18.059 together, and not only that, but everything that he's been saying since chapter 240 00:22:18.259 --> 00:22:26.019 one, this is how he concludes and it's how you, you should conclude. 241 00:22:26.099 --> 00:22:34.369 To Oh the depth of the riches and the wisdom and knowledge of God, 242 00:22:36.970 --> 00:22:45.279 how unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways. Can't understand them, 243 00:22:45.559 --> 00:22:49.559 for who is come, for who has known the mind of the Lord 244 00:22:49.599 --> 00:22:56.599 or who has been his counselor who has given a gift to him that he 245 00:22:56.720 --> 00:23:03.990 might be repaid for. From him and through him and to him are all 246 00:23:03.309 --> 00:23:11.829 things. To him be the glory forever a men. When Paul considers who 247 00:23:12.019 --> 00:23:18.539 God is and what he said and how he's revealed himself in Jesus, not 248 00:23:18.819 --> 00:23:22.380 only to the Jew but also to the gentile and for them both, for 249 00:23:22.539 --> 00:23:29.410 the whole world, he doesn't say, okay, I've got it all now, 250 00:23:30.210 --> 00:23:34.529 I understand everything about you and all of your ways. He doesn't say 251 00:23:36.890 --> 00:23:38.890 you're wrong and I'm going to accuse you and I'm going to do whatever I 252 00:23:40.009 --> 00:23:45.079 can to break apart your plans, to break the bonds between the Lord and 253 00:23:45.559 --> 00:23:52.480 as anointed. No, he says, oh, the depth and the riches 254 00:23:53.319 --> 00:23:59.789 and the wisdom and the knowledge of God. It's not even a sentence, 255 00:23:59.950 --> 00:24:06.589 really, is it? He's just naming things, he's just standing in wonder. 256 00:24:07.390 --> 00:24:11.500 Oh the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God. It's 257 00:24:11.539 --> 00:24:18.259 just an exclamation, right, he's just praising God. How unsearchable are his 258 00:24:18.339 --> 00:24:23.650 judgments? How inscrutable are his ways? For from him and through him and 259 00:24:23.809 --> 00:24:30.289 to him, are all things to him be the glory forever. O Men. 260 00:24:32.609 --> 00:24:36.450 God reveals his plan to us so that we might be humbled and so 261 00:24:36.569 --> 00:24:41.680 that we might give him praise. God tells us his plan not so that 262 00:24:41.799 --> 00:24:45.839 we can stand either as Jew or gentile, over and against one another and 263 00:24:45.200 --> 00:24:49.319 sort it out, you know, but so that we all might bow together 264 00:24:49.519 --> 00:24:57.190 before the throne of grace, maybe never lose sight of God's mercy, maybe 265 00:24:57.309 --> 00:25:04.630 be humbled always by his sovereign will and plan and salvation. Let's pray and 266 00:25:04.750 --> 00:25:07.740 as that God would make these things so in our hearts.