Lesson 44b

We had sort of just started into Lesson 44 and it's verses of Chapter 9. Oops, didn't want to do that. Did you hear that? Did you hear the talk? It talks to my hearing aids. Donna said it went off last week when I was up there. If the phone rings, it just comes in here. It doesn't come to the phone. Weird. So don't get old. You know what? I absolutely understand that.

So anyway, we're dealing with The last part of chapter 9 which which is quite a few verses, but I want to read them so that we Hopefully can stay on point starting in verse 22 What if God although willing to demonstrate his wrath? And to make his power known endured with much patience the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction And he did so to make known the riches of his glory upon the vessels of mercy and which he prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom he also called, not from among the Jews only, but also from among the Gentiles. As he says also in Hosea, I will call those who were not my people, my people, and her who was not beloved, beloved. And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, you are not my people there they shall be called sons of the living God Isaiah cries out concerning Israel though the number of the sons of Israel be like the sands of the sea it is the remnant that will be saved for the Lord will execute his word on the earth thoroughly and quickly and just as Isaiah foretold unless the Lord of Sodom had left to us a posterity, we would have become like Sodom and would have resembled Gomorrah. What shall we say then?

That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith. But Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works, they stumbled over the stumbling stone. Just as it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, and he who believes in him will not be disappointed.

So, the first question has to do with, we started in last week, verse 22 and 23, and in those two verses, In 22, it talks about vessels of wrath prepared for destruction. And in 23, it talks about the vessels of mercy, which he prepared beforehand. And the question was, is there a difference in these two statements? So, okay, if you say yes, or you say no, you have to explain. Okay, yes. Why? Why are they different? Well, one was... that's in the past for destruction. And now, in the present or the future, it's an eternal thing.

So the ones fitted for destruction would be the ones that are talking about and focusing on the final results of their being fitted The ones that are previously prepared is a more general statement, but they're prepared in advance. So, before prepared, well before, that word before is not in verse 22, you notice that? What do you think the word fitted means? Fitted? Prepared for? What's that? Prepared for? Prepared for, who did the fitting?

Do you think God absolutely fitted vessels for destruction? Or did they fit themselves? You have to start with the premise, like Romans 3 talks about, that none seek after God, no, not one. No one deserves righteousness, no one deserves. So because of that, does God say, okay, the whole human race and Adam is fitted for destruction? Is that a true statement? except for you? Are they fitted for destruction? What do you think? Well, just take all the sons of Adam, which is every human being born on the planet. Are they fitted for destruction as members of the Adamic family? What do you think?

I think they are. And they don't have to, God doesn't have to urge them to be fitted, they do it all on their own because of who they are and what the source of their life is. But he says in verse 23, the vessels of mercy are previously prepared for glory. How about those guys? What happens to them? I'm going to quote some verses to you and see what you think about them.

In Psalm 58.3, the wicked are estranged from the womb. They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.

Proverbs 16.4, Jehovah has made everything for its own end, yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

1 Peter 2.8, they stumble at the word, being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed. Ezekiel 3 20 again when a righteous man does turn from his righteousness and commit iniquity and I lay a stumbling block before him he shall die in his sin and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered.

That's really tough. And then Ezekiel 20 because they had not executed my ordinances, but they rejected my statutes. I gave them statutes that were not good, and ordinances wherein they should not live." So, those are pretty terrible, aren't they? I mean, they state things that separate, people are separated from God, and it's like this, there's no mercy there, okay?

But you can't say that God is the author of evil. Can you? No. And he doesn't tempt any man to sin. He would have all men be saved and come to this knowledge of the truth. That's his attitude. And as I've said a lot in the study of Genesis, I really see where God is always trying to figure out a way to bless and be merciful to the people who have turned away from him.

So when God speaks in verse 23 of the vessels of mercy, it is that one said that he before prepared them to glory, that is, for entering into his own glory, Romans 5.2. And that they will be the means of making known through eternity to come the riches of his glory. That's what Newell says. Again, what's the question? The question is, can God just arbitrarily pick somebody? Can He do that? Does He do that? What gives Him the right to do that? In the last class we talked a lot about God's sovereignty and man's will. free will.

I think you have to come to the conclusion, the Romans 3 conclusion, is that none seek after God, not a single one. Not a single one. You have to start there. And God wishes that none should perish, but unless He acts, everybody does. Do you agree with that? Unless He Everyone goes to hell.

You know, everybody talks about the fairness of God. If fairness was his only quality, forget the fact that he's holy, righteous, and good, and he's loving. Let's just say he's fair. How much chance have you got at salvation? You've got zero chance. Because in fairness, everybody is condemned.

So in this verse, could you say that God did both of these things? Hard question, right? Because if you're like me, you know, you have friends that aren't believers and you think, oh, they're good people. Oh, really? How good are they? Are they righteous people? That's a different question. They might be really good based on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but they're not righteous. And God can use a good person who's not righteous for his purposes.

Yeah. So can you say that God prepared the vessels of wrath for destruction? Sure you can say that. Isn't that what he's going to do? Can you also say that the vessels of mercy were prepared beforehand for glory? Sure you can. So how do you answer the question? If your mind works like my mind, where does your mind go? Well, that's not fair. He can't do both. Why can't he? Why can't he do both? Well, he made a provision through his son. He made all the provisions for you to be a vessel of mercy, right?

But like Miles Stanford used to say, when you're walking down the road to heaven, and you come up to the gate, there's a big sign over the arch that says, whosoever will may come. But when you walk through the gate and look at the back of it, the back of the sign says, chosen from the foundations of eternity. Now how do you reconcile those two?

It's interesting, because we talk about identity a lot, right? Your identity, the one you were born with, let's just call it your ID, you got it in your wallet, you were born with an ID that said prepared as a destruction. And that was a fair statement of your identity. It sure was. I deserved it. But then, through an exchange, you received a new identity. It wasn't necessarily an exchange, but through death and resurrection, you were given a new identity. And that identity is in Christ.

So everything that is beforehand and true of you now was true of Him in eternity. already, right? That's right. The fact that when we turn around and we see that sign, it's not that we see our old identity, flip it over on the back and say, oh, you were actually prepared for mercy. Everything that is true of us now is because of who we are in Him. That's the only way to reconcile all of those statements about our eternal position. It's because of where we're placed, not because of what we did or we accomplished. Now yes, we did have the opportunity to utilize faith, and we were given that. But there's no merit in that, right? It's still all His merit. Yeah, it's interesting that when you come to that paradigm point in your life, if you're saved later in life like I was, it really gets very clear to this is kind of the shift. This is going to change everything.

I remember sitting there on that guy's couch thinking, if I go for what he's selling, I'm going to die. Isn't that a crazy thought? I'm not a believer, but I'm sitting there thinking, I'm going to die. And there's this invisible shield in front of me like a piece of glass, and I've got to get to the other side. And the only way to get there is to die. I had no idea why that thought was in my mind, and it scared me. But that's really what was going to happen, and I didn't know until later.

But the wooing was there. Now, then the question is, well, are these vessels that are fitted for destruction, did God woo them? Yeah, He did. Yeah, He did. And he pursues them to the very end, so that when the books are open and we get to the end of the Great White Throne Judgment, there will be no discussion about unfairness or anything like that. The vessels that are fitted for destruction will want destruction. They want it, because the choice at that point is You get to stand in front of the glorified Christ for all eternity, this brightness that you can't fathom, or you get to leave His presence and go over here where it's dark. They're going to choose this every time, because to be in the light is so offensive to them that going to hell is a better option in their mind.

You see that? Treasure up for themselves. That's right. And they treasure it up and they build it up. So we find out in the end of the day that God does both of these things and He's perfectly fair in doing them both. And He's perfectly righteous in doing them both. And He says, look, you know, the number one thing is that I wish that none would perish, not a single one. That's when my desire is, but because I gave you free will, you have to believe. That's the ticket in. You have to believe if you want salvation. And that's why, by the way, that's why I gave you a will. So you could do that. You know? Okay? Now, verse 24 and 25.

Even us, whom he also called, not from among the Jews only, but from among the Gentiles, as he says in Hosea, I will call those who were not my people, my people, and her who was not beloved, beloved. Who are the people that Paul's talking about here? What's he saying? Well, first of all, It's not only going to come from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles. That's a big surprise to the Jews, obviously. Think of Peter in Cornelius' house when that event happens. Does he intend to? Yes. So who are the people?

Now, I want you to use your Jewish mind for a minute. In your Jewish mind, it's all about the nation. It's not about individuals. It's about the nation. So he's writing here in 9, 10, and 11, focusing on Jews. So listen to how he couches it. I will call those who are not my people. When he says my people, what's he talking about? A nation. I'll call them who are my people, my people. This thought just went through my mind. My peeps. I was channeling my inner fiddler on the roof when you were asking me that. And her who was not beloved, beloved. Who are these hers that were not beloved that are now beloved? Believers. Believers. Now are you going to think corporately about them? I don't think so. I think you do here, though. I think you do here.

Think about who he's writing to now. He wants the Jewish people to understand, from a corporate standpoint, you were my people. But now I've got a new thing going. You who weren't my people, which are Gentiles, the nation Gentile nation, are now my people. and they are now my beloved. So what do you think?

He Paul brings them forward to show that it is consonant with what we know of God's dealings to receive as his people those who were formerly not his people. that this may now take place with regard to the Gentiles as it was announced to happen with regard to Israel. And even more, that Israel in this, as in so many other things, was the prophetic mirror of which God foreshadowed, on a small scale, His future dealings with mankind. So think about that statement, because that's a really important one. starting with abraham isaac and jacob and jacob who's israel he forms a nation and they're his people and he's going to focus only on them what he's really done is he's taken his horizon and gone to all people now he can say everybody is now my people and i'm going to focus on all of them you got that? Expanded translation, I will call those who are not my people, my people, and those not my beloved, beloved. And it shall come to be that in the place where it was said to them, not my people are you, there shall be called the sons of the living God. Notice the change in the identity.

How do you get to be a son of the living God? Or a better question, what are the characteristics of a son of the living God? What's that? An adult son of the living God. What is the characteristics of that individual? He's in Christ. Which means he's not in Adam. Positional identity. He's in Christ. So what does he possess that makes him a son? How come Lem is your son? Well, he wasn't adopted. He's just blood. He's a blood son. What are you as a son of the Most High God? You're a son of the Living God. You have everything from Him. And everything that He is, His son is, you are.

You see that? So, that's why the identification truths are so critical to believers to understand that everything that you were in Adam, from your identity standpoint in Christ, is not true of you anymore. Everything that is true of the Lord Jesus is now who you are.

That's your position. Now you may not live and act like that, but your identity is no longer with Adam. None. No matter how hard you try to make it. Put a little holy water on that Adam, make him act like a good Christian. You're not from them anymore. You see that? And that's why God can call you. It isn't just a title. We're legitimate, organic offsprings of the God of the universe. We're from His line. You see that?

And this is much greater than Adam being created by God in His image and likeness. Because once he sinned, that image went away. but now you're positioned in Christ so he can easily call you an adult son of the living God because that's who you are and that's who you will be what an oxymoron term for all eternity that's who you are right now that's who you are right now that's who you are right now right now right now right now and it will never change We operate under grace, not under law. Totally under grace. These sons live only in grace. They only live in grace. They don't live in law. We can't live in law. We can't. Because it's no longer available to us. Oh, that's too bad. Yeah, I feel bad about that. You know what's interesting about that?

If Ephesians 1 is correct, that I've been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus, if that's a true statement, why would I ever go back to a law? What could I ever do to add to that pile? Nothing. I've got it all. The only reason you go back is because either you're ignorant of what's true of you and who you are and what you have, or you think, oh, there's got to be more, which is the satanic That's how he got Eve. Isn't that what he said? He said, look, God's not giving you the whole story here. He's holding some things back.

And if you'll do this, you get more. Gee, Reformed theology says exactly the same thing. If you do this, you get more. More of what? More grace. Oh yeah, more grace. We're actually the Righteousness of God in Christ. That's cool if you figured that out. Do you understand what that really means? Say it.

It says in 2 Corinthians 5.21 that we are the Righteousness of God in Christ. Yeah. Why is that Righteousness of God thing? What is that?

No, not imputed. It's not imputed. Because if it was imputed, think of it. Imputation means that God is here, and you're over there, and God's going to take His righteousness and take it over to you. That isn't what He did. He took you and put you in Christ. You see that? That's not imputation. That's identification. You see that?

And so in Christ you have everything that He is. He has a righteousness that's unique to Him as the Son of God. That's what you have. And you don't get one 440 billionth of it. You get it all. So our standing before a holy God is exactly what Christ's is.

It isn't some law-based thing where I've achieved a righteousness in myself, or a degree at some point, and God says, OK, you're righteous. Let's say you could keep the whole law. Every tittle of it, everything. And then you go to God and say, Hey, you know, he's going to say you're righteous in yourself, brother. But you're not righteous in my son. Yeah. Okay.

Next question. Who is the remnant of Israel? Would you say that there are those that God has chosen to preserve throughout time, like the ones who came out of the exiles, Judah and Israel, and the destruction of Jerusalem, and then even at the end, there will be a remnant preserved? Is there a remnant right now? Yes. Where are they?

You're a believing Jew, so here's a problem you have with that. Let's say, I'm going to pick on you, let's say your last name is Goldstein and you're Jewish. You go to temple every Friday, I mean Saturday, sorry. And you, someone introduces you to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, you believe it, and you get saved. Are you still a Jew?

No. You're not. You know why? Because Jewishness is earthly. A son of God is heavenly. Even the location where you're from changes. Now, between the resurrection of Christ, or let's make it easy, from the day of Pentecost to today, are there righteous Jews who are not in Christ?

Not by God's standard. Oh, gee. Whose standard would we measure it by? Well, they're measuring by law. Understand what I'm questioning now, what I'm asking now. If you're going to allow for a remnant, a remnant would be a Jew who's a man of faith. Right? So a Jew who's a man of faith today, let's say his faith is in the law, or his faith is in, I don't know, whatever it is, whatever his synagogue teaches. Is he righteous before God? No, he's not. So what is this remnant? Didn't the remnant just get set aside in this time of grace? Hard question, isn't it? Because you can't say there is a Jewish remnant operational today that are strictly Jewish.

You can't say that. because the Bible doesn't teach that, number one. But Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, though the number of the sons of Israel be like the sand of the sea. That was the promise made to Abraham, right? And Isaac and Jacob. It is the remnant that will be saved. It's talking about the great tribulation, the remnant that comes out of that. For the Lord will execute his word on the earth thoroughly and quickly. So what has he just done? He's jumped forward. You're right. He jumped forward to once the body of Christ is raptured out of here, now what have you got on the earth? Who represents God on the earth now? The Jews. Well, there aren't those many then. There may only be one to start with.

That remnant, people, what makes you a member of the remnant if you were Jewish and left here after the rapture? How do you get to be part of this remnant? Saved by grace. Saved by grace, but what do you have to do? Believe. You have to be a man of faith, or a woman of faith. Faith in what? The subject now is still the same. Who is this man, the Lord Jesus? That's where the faith has to be focused. Who is He? Is He the Son of God? Did He die on the cross for your sins? Was He buried and resurrected? That's what you have to believe to be a member of the remnant. You can believe in all the other Jewish things, but that one thing is where the faith is. Because there's no other name given by which you'll be saved. None. See that?

So you become a part of the remnant. What are you thinking? I'm thinking. This is millennium. What's that? We're talking about the millennium. Yeah, we are. So, we're talking about a specific point in time where we're no longer present, right? That's right. And those that believe during that point in time of the Jewish nation are what are referred to as the remnant. The remnant. Why are they necessary? Well, that's a good point.

Is the remnant and the body of Christ the same? Do they just come into the body of Christ as the remnant? No, they don't. Because at the rapture, the church leaves. The church is complete now. The body of Christ is complete. So if you become a member of the remnant, what are you? A Jewish believer. You're a believer. like an Old Testament believer. And you're going to be a kingdom, you are a kingdom saint. And what did they believe at that point? That in the second, when Christ comes, the second time to get us?

It's interesting because, you know, not that I'm astute on this, but when the rapture happens, you know, let's say it happens on a Tuesday. That's because we have Bible study on Tuesday. By Friday, it won't be in the news anymore. Because they don't want you to know that all of these people have left.

Who are they? You talked about Old Testament saints who believed what God had revealed to them. And they are going to be saved. Yes, they are. There's no question. You were talking in the Old Testament about the remnants. Many, many references to the remnants. That's right. you're differentiating between, you're saying that there can't be that remnant and believers in the church age. It has to all be one entity. I'm saying that the Old Testament remnant up to the time of the crucifixion of Christ, or I would say Pentecost, up to that time and then starting with the rapture going forward, that Jewish remnant are the same people. They're saved righteous people. They are counted righteous because of their faith. It does not give them membership into the body of Christ. They are not sons, but they are members of the remnant. They are the believing Jews.

Believing what? Believing what God has revealed. Well, by the time the rapture happens, the issue will be who is Christ. because it won't be something that's a revelation that's coming, it's a revelation that's already here. See that? I mean, the Bible's complete. We don't start writing again at the rapture. It's complete. And the Jews that understand and believe who the Lord Jesus is, they become a member of the remnant.

Now, who are they? In eternity, they're going to be what I would call kingdom saints. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will be part of that group. And so will Lot. And so will Adam. And so will all of the Jews that believe in the tribulation. So this remnant starts right after the rapture. It goes through the tribulation. I think so. And then after the tribulation when Jesus comes a second time, to be a remnant through the morning. Well, you know, it's really interesting here. At the very end of verse 29, it says, "...unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left to us a posterity, we would have become like Sodom and would have resembled Gomorrah."

What's he talking about there? He's talking about annihilation. He's talking about destruction at the end of the seven-year period. If God doesn't stop then, there won't be anybody left alive. We can't grasp what that three and a half years is going to be like around here. All of the infrastructure that we're aware of will not be here. Your cell phone won't work.

And with the bowls of wrath being revealed from heaven towards the earth, people will be under rocks, ducking from all of that and still shaking their fist at God. but there will be a remnant of Jewish people, and this is my own thought, 144,000 of them right at the end, that's how many there will be. All the rest of them could be dead for all I know, because how many human beings are going to be alive when Christ comes back to rule and reign? There are not going to be many. Not so many. Not so many. So the believing, the remnant, So they're going to believe after the rapture then? Yes. They'll come to know, to their faith, after the rapture? Yes. Okay. It's time to get a time frame.

And so what's going to happen then is that God's going to, the earth is going to get released from its vanity, Israel will be opened up, the whole thing of it that God promised them, 300,000 square miles, And 144,000 Jews will enter in and run Israel. And the Lord Jesus will be enthroned in Jerusalem. Physically He'll be there. And we'll be on the earth ruling and reigning with Him. Donna's just hoping she doesn't get Arvada. But the earth will blossom You know? With a very short time, it will be the way it was originally designed to be when God created it. It will have everything that a man needs to function. Because when Adam was put in the garden, he had everything he needed to live. Everything.

Will there be a new heaven and a new earth? Not yet. Oh, wow. Not yet. It will be fixed up. The curse will be lifted. The curse on the existing earth will be lifted for a thousand years and Christ will rule, be a theocratic kingdom and because we are His, you know, one with Him wherever He is, we are and we'll be ruling and reigning with Him.

I have my own theory about what we'll do in terms of, you know, you won't get to play golf, trust me. So that's what I think is going to happen and I do think that You know, you read about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. It wasn't just those two towns, it was an entire valley. And there was nothing left. And that's what is in the tribulation, that's where the earth is heading in this process. And so if God doesn't pull the plug, it isn't long after that that everybody dies. I mean, imagine the whole population of the earth diminishes by, what is it, 80% in three years, three and a half years?

Wow. Okay. So how did the Gentiles receive righteousness? How did they do it? Verse 30 says, what are we going to say then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness, isn't that interesting? They didn't pursue it. What does that mean that they didn't pursue it? In other words, they weren't under a law system hustling down the road trying to make it happen.

Attained, attained, key word, they got it. It came to them, righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith. So the Gentiles got to be righteous because they just received, they didn't pursue Do you see the difference there? It's huge. Because today, Reformed Christianity pursues. They pursue because they think they have to do something more to be more righteous and more pleasing to God.

So you guys that live under grace, you're a bunch of lazy bums. The interesting thing about living under grace is the Apostle Paul is the poster child. He wore out his body just by living under grace. Think about it. You have a resurrected, glorified, heavenly-based life in you in a dead, dying body. How long is a body going to be able to stand up to that? It can't. So Paul the Apostle is the perfect example of what a Christian's life should be like. You know, there's no retirement, no weekends, no none of that.

We're rocking all the time. Willingly and just loving everything we're doing. So from one shipwreck to the next. Yeah, that's right. Because you're serving. Like Roger said in Galatians a couple weeks ago, our job is to serve and love. That's our whole job. And you don't get Thursday off. It goes 24-7. serve in love. That's what we do. That's what this new life does. Isn't that what God does? That's exactly what He does. Well, gee, we're His sons. Maybe we do the same thing. Kind of cool.

And none of that effort merits anything for salvation? No, because you already have it. Right. And everything that you're called to do as a believer is beyond your capacity in yourself to do. Can't do it. So where does that leave you? Dependent. I'll do the best I can. Let's close. Father, how we thank you for your grace towards us. And we thank you that you're constantly teaching us to grow in the knowledge and grace of the Lord Jesus. And we pray in his name. Amen.