Blessings that Can Become Curses
Romans 11:7-10
What a loving, patient and Gracious God we serve! He STILL stands today with out-stretched hands to an unsaved world, and He relies on us, as His Holy ONES, His SAINTS, set apart to bring the story of His Grace in Christ to others. Have you been able to stretch out YOUR hands of grace in the name of the Lord Jesus during this past week?
Remember the setting of our Romans 11:7-10 is still that verse from Romans 10:21: “But as for Israel He says, "ALL THE DAY LONG I HAVE STRETCHED OUT MY HANDS TO A DISOBEDIENT AND OBSTINATE PEOPLE." We’re going to look at a few very good and worthwhile things, in essence, BLESSINGS, which sometimes can become curses.
Then Paul says in Romans 11:7: “What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained,(that is, THEY were seeking a righteousness by works…and no one will EVER obtain righteousness by works!) but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened; (A remnant received it by faith, but the rest were covered with a thick skin, like having a callous over your heart, that can hardly be penetrated.) 8 just as it is written, "GOD GAVE THEM A SPIRIT OF STUPOR, EYES TO SEE NOT AND EARS TO HEAR NOT, DOWN TO THIS VERY DAY."
Here Paul is quoting yet another Old Testament verse from Isaiah 29:10: “The LORD has brought over you a deep sleep: He has sealed your eyes (the prophets); he has covered your heads (the seers).” It wasn’t GOD’S PROPHETS but FALSE prophets, false teachers and seers who filled the people’s ears and heads with false teachings, and Israel followed THEM and gave their allegiance to THEM instead of to God. (The heads of believers in Christ are covered with the Salvation of God in faith, according to Ephesians 6 and The ARMOUR of God.) As a result, God has blinded all but a remnant of Israel’s eyes on account of their willful disobedience and rejection of Him, and it was in God’s predetermined plan to do so, as our text says, “down to this very day”.
“God gave them” (didomai GR.) means “to grant, to give to one asking, to give over”. God gave them over to their own desires and their own teachings, and NOT doing anything to change them, they remain spiritually dead, deaf, blind and dumb.
Life and Worship
Several verses later, listen to Isaiah 29:13, where God said: “The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up ONLY of rules taught by men.” Worship is intended by God, not only to be a blessing to us, but primarily a blessing to HIM, to reflect to HIM ALL THE GLORY and HONOR that HE deserves; it’s not a human invention! Anything less than reflecting glory that is due to God and God alone in idolatry. Unacceptable Worship is that which adores us in any way, instead of a Sovereign Saving God. The question in our LIVES as well as in our worship should be: Is this pleasing to YOU, Lord or to men?
Jesus quoted a very similar text to Isaiah 29:10 &13 in John 12:38: When people would not believe in Jesus, EVEN AFTER SEEING HIS miraculous signs, their actions were fulfilling what Isaiah had written: "Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" 39 For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere: 40 "He has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn--and I would heal them." 41 Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about HIM.” A few verses later, Jesus says in verse 43: “for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.” (Jesus quoted from Isa. 53:1, 6:10)
Israel worshiped the things of man rather than God: Isaiah 29:16: “You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, "He did not make me"? Can the pot say of the potter, "He knows nothing"? God basically said, “YOUR LIVES and YOUR worship (for a follower of Christ, there really is NO difference between the two; wouldn’t you agree?) Your lives and worship have attempted to dethrone Me.
God is to be the ULTIMATE and ONLY object of your worship and of your life. (John 4:24) “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” Two acts OF God (IN SPIRIT and TRUTH) will result in life and worship TO God: You have to receive the Holy Spirit, HIS SPIRIT, and you have to receive (and believe) the truth of the Gospel, which IS justification by Christ’s Work of Grace. Then your life and worship will be acceptable…and it will not be about YOU…because it ALL points TO God. Our worship on Wednesday night, Thurs. noon and Sunday morning should be congruent with our lives. It should be like one straight line running heavenward that continually gives thanks God for ALL HIS Grace received EVERY MINUTE, not like a dotted line with large disconnects, but more like a solid line with few spaces.
A “Set” Table
Look at the Romans 11:9: “And David says, "LET THEIR TABLE BECOME A SNARE AND A TRAP, AND A STUMBLING BLOCK AND A RETRIBUTION TO THEM. 10 "LET THEIR EYES BE DARKENED TO SEE NOT, AND BEND THEIR BACKS FOREVER." (These verses are quoted from Psalm 69:22-23.)
What comes to mind when you think of a “TABLE”? A table is where you eat and enjoy fellowship and welcome guests. It’s a place where you experience protection and safety. It’s a place where you receive nourishment and vitality, and without a “set table”, you would die.
Toward the end of the Old Testament in Malachi, Israel is at a very tough time: They are not convinced of God’s Love for them, even though God had been faithful to them through their UNFAITHFULNESS to HIM. Although a remnant of them would come out of captivity, the rest of them would perish in captivity, still being captive to their own sins.
Listen to theses verses from Malachi 1:6 "But you ask, 'How have we shown contempt for your name?' 7 "You place defiled food on my altar. "But you ask, 'How have we defiled you?' "By saying that THE LORD's TABLE is contemptible. (DID YOU GET THAT?) 8 When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?" says the LORD Almighty. 9 "Now implore God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will he accept you?"--says the LORD Almighty. 10 "Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you," says the LORD Almighty, "and I will accept NO OFFERING from your hands. 11 My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among the nations," says the LORD Almighty. 12 "But you profane it by saying of the Lord's table, 'It is defiled,' and of its food, 'It is contemptible.' 13 And you say, 'What a burden!' and you sniff at it contemptuously," says the LORD Almighty. "When you bring injured, crippled or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?" says the LORD. 14 "Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. For I am a great king," says the LORD Almighty, "and my name is to be feared among the nations.”
Materialism
Israel refused to bring the perfect and acceptable offerings to God, but instead kept the best for themselves. When they had little, they complained, when they had much they kept what belonged to God. Materialism is actually important to our existence: We can’t live without the things that we see, but we materialism is definitely a blessing from God which can become a curse, and in our culture, the occurrence is even GREATER than during the time of Israel.
The material things that God gives you should lead you to an even greater realization and response to the GRACE and GOODNESS of God and the LORD JESUS. If they are don’t, then there is something terribly wrong. If the gifts are more important than the GIVER, there is something wrong: What is given BY a GLORIOUS and GRACIOUS God should be used FOR God’s Glory.
There is a drastic misunderstanding about the LAW of God: Christ fulfilled the law, He did not discard it. Where God required a tithe in the Old Testament, Christ gave EVERYTHING that He had. He had NO WORLDY possessions, but gave His LIFE. He requires that everything you have, should be at HIS DISPOSAL for HIS USE. If you have much, much is required.
Where God required that one day a week be set aside for worship in the Old Testament, setting the example HIMSELF, by creating for six days and resting the seventh. Do you realize that this is the ONLY commandment out of the TEN COMMANDMENTS from which Christians excuse themselves? We don’t excuse ourselves from any other commandment. When Jesus said that “the Son of Man is LORD over the Sabbath”, HE was saying that HE was Lord over the Sabbath, not you and I. We are to REMEMBER the Sabbath Day, and to KEEP it HOLY.
Do you know what the penalty for dishonoring the Sabbath was in the OT? DEATH. God doesn’t kill us, but gives us mercy and grace, and on the Sabbath, one day a week, a little more than a tithe of our time, God instructs us to relish in His Grace, not in leisure. The DAY of REST is to be honored because God has promised us ETERNAL rest from our OWN works by HIS GRACE. It is a HOLY DAY to celebrate OUR God as Creator, Deliverer, Redeemer, Provider and Sanctifier. We are dependent on him for EVERYTHING THAT we have in this world. The Sabbath is a gift to man so that we would not forget the Giver. It’s a day for showing mercy to others as God has shown mercy to us. Accept God’s gift of the Sabbath, by honoring His Intention, and accept His material gifts by using them for Him and His Glory, not your own, and you will guard against those blessings becoming curses.
The Sacraments
Look with me at the context of this verse (Rom. 11:9) from Psalm 69:22- 27: “May their table before them become a snare; and when they are in peace, may it become a trap (a snare). May their eyes grow dim so that they cannot see, and make their loins shake continually (niv-“their backs be bent forever). 24 Pour out Your indignation on them, and may Your burning anger overtake them. 25 May their camp be desolate; May none dwell in their tents. 26 For they have persecuted him whom You Yourself have smitten, and they tell of the pain of those whom you have wounded. 27 Add iniquity to their iniquity, And MAY THEY NOT COME into Your righteousness. 27 Charge them with crime upon crime; do not let them share in your salvation. 28 May they be blotted out of the book of life and not be listed with the righteous.”
Psalm 69 is definitely a Messianic Psalm, pointing to Jesus’ Death and suffering; Seven of the 36 verses of Psalm 69 are quoted and developed in the New Testament, but in these verses quoted in Romans 11:9, the Psalm calls upon God to bring vengeance on His enemies.
At the beginning of Romans 9, we saw Paul explaining some of the blessings and bounties with which God “set the table” for Israel: He adopted them as His special possession. He revealed His Glory to them. He made covenants with them. He gave them the law and taught them how they should approach Him in worship and how to live for Him. He gave them all His promises, sent all the prophets to proclaim the same, and THEN HE fulfilled them ALL (Jesus BROUGHT THEM TO THE FULLEST REVELATION and understanding) in JESUS’ sacrificial life and death…and then the LORD Jesus Christ arose and ascended. GOD invited Israel to the table, and they refused to eat: They refused to partake in a meal that consisted of justification by faith. They REFUSED TO BELIEVE that Jesus SAVES…and they still don’t.
In Malachi 2:1-2 God warns: "And now this admonition is for you, O priests. 2 If you do not listen, and if you do not set your heart to honor my name," says the LORD Almighty, "I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not set your heart to honor me.”
The Sacraments, just like the blessings that were put on Israel’s table, can become curses to us if we trust in THEM rather than the Lord Jesus. As a pastor, I am always concerned about people’s intentions around the sacraments. In a few weeks anyone who has never been baptized is invited to partake in that Sacrament as the outward sign of a spiritual work which God has begun in your heart. It is a SIGN that points to the Glorious Reality that the Lord Jesus has begun a work in you, and you are committing to follow Him and obey Him by HIS GRACE.
We talk about Communion, which we celebrated last week, as the Table of The Lord, or the Communion Table. It is the place where we celebrate the ULTIMATE GIFT of God’s Grace. The elements of the bread and wine point us to His Amazing Grace of the Lord Jesus in His Suffering, and not in our works. We celebrate that God has prepared a table in the presence of our enemies, and that as a result of Jesus drinking the cup of wrath, OUR CUP runs over with the gifts of His Atoning Grace and His regenerating Spirit. We’re invited to BELIEVE in HIM, and HONOR HIM: the supper at His table leads us to HIM. Celebrating the Sacraments must always point to the Savior and HIS Work, not to the sacrament itself.
Changing Bricks
We started out by talking about how God caused Israel to have hardened hearts, but Jesus came to demonstrate that God’s arms are still outstretched to receive those with calloused hearts. I am sure you have heard phrases such as “thick as a brick, heart like a stone, stone-cold hearts, but that is exactly WHY Jesus came and WHAT and WHOM He changes.
Ezekiel 36:26:”I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” (a heart that is alive and IN LOVE WITH God.) If you have failed, meet HIM at HIS TABLE of GRACE and repent, turn and trust Him. If you have never come to His Table and received His forgiveness and new life, you need to repent, and confess Him at Baptism, which is a declaration that you have received His forgiveness and Life, and promise to follow Him.
When I was growing up, at dinnertime, my mom would often ask one of us kids to help me and “set the TABLE”? We don’t have to set our own table. The Lord has completely set the table for us. He has provided everything we need for “life and godliness, through the TRUE knowledge of Him who CALLED us by His own glory and excellence.” (2 Peter 2:3) We are called to receive His grace and then respond in obedience and humility, and always with great thanks. God has accomplished what He promised and by His great power, let us be faithful in worshiping and honoring Him FOR His blessings, and that we regard His blessings as the God’s means of drawing closer to Him and His salvation.
OUTLINE
1. Worship:
• Unacceptable Worship Adores US instead of a Sovereign Saving God.
• In Spirit and Truth: Those two acts OF God will result in life and worship TO God.
(Isa. 29, 6:9, 43:8, Ex. 20 & 32, Deut 29:4, Jere 5:21, Ezek. 12:2, Eph 4:18-17, Matt.13:14, 2 Tim. 3:8, 1 Cor. 2: 12-15, John 3, 7, 19, 4:24,12:37-40, Phil. 3:3, James 4:10)
2. Materialism: What is given BY God should be used FOR God.
(Malachi 1, Ex. 20, 31:12-13, Matt. 12:8, Isa. 58:13-14, Hosea 6:6, Mark 2:27, 1 Cor. 16:2, Acts 20:7, 2 Cor 5:17; Gal. 6:15; Eph. 2:10, John 20:1)
3. The Sacraments: They must always point to the Savior and HIS Work, not to the sacrament itself.
(Ex, 2, Lev. 24:6, Mal. 2:1-2, Ezekiel 36:26, Gal 3:5, John14:15, 2 Peter 2:1-5)
