A Surprise or a Plan?
(Romans 9:22-33)
1, I heard about a pastor after he would preach a man would say to him, “Pastor, that was a warm message today.” or the man would say, “Pastor, that was a warm sermon” or he would sometimes say, “I appreciate those warm words.” One day the preacher caught him and said, “You’re always talking about the “warm” sermon and the “warm” message what do you mean by that word “warm”? The guy said, “Well, look it up. It means “not so hot!”
[source: David Dykes, Sermoncentral.com].
2. Romans 9 may seem like a theologian’s dream and a layman’s nightmare. But it is important in all ways – including some practical lessons that help us cope with life.
3. Romans 9 is actually about change. It shows us how God’s plan changes, yet stays the same. How God takes the familiar and gives it a new twist. And how, ultimately, God will keep all His promises and is in control of what appears to be a failure on His part.
Main Idea: The church began as a Messianic Jewish movement, but became a trans-cultural Messianic movement. How can we explain this?
I. God Was Not SURPRISED at the Changing Composition of the Church (22-24).
Many in the early church believed that the sufferings of early believers was the Tribulation, and that when Christianity was declared the state religion, that was the millennium. But when Rome was conquered by the pagan hoards, they didn’t know how to interpret that.
The problem was that they had made wrong assumptions.
When Jewish believers saw more and more gentiles coming into the church – and fewer Jews believing – they didn’t know what to do with that. They assumed that God’s plan for the Messiah to reign over an exalted Israel would not be interrupted. But it was.
Acts 3:18-21, “But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.”
A. Vessels prepared beforehand must refer to individuals, not NATIONS.
1. The Roman church had a large number of believing Jews.
2. Most gentiles rejected Christ; a smaller percentage believed, but so many.
3. So it is not Jewish congregations to gentile congregations, but a mixture within the congregations, because vessels are individual.
B. God prepared vessels of MERCY, but vessels of wrath may have prepared THEMSELVES.
• Preterition vs. double election
• Yet God is patient with them; so, we need to be patient with the lost, some of whom will prove one day to be vessels of mercy… you aren’t saved because born elect…
• We need to view lost people, not as the enemy, but as victims of the fall.
• God does this to glorify Himself. The grace shown to the vessels of mercy sparkle more brightly against the backdrop of the vessels of wrath, the text implies.
C. The previous concepts funnel us into realizing that the composition of the church toward more GENTILES is God’s agenda, not a failure of the Gospel.
D. The church at Rome had been predominantly Jewish; the Jewish believers were forced to leave Rome, and when they returned, the church was populated by GENTILES.
• Part of the background for the last few chapters, about observing Jewish holidays.
Application: The church’s composition is constantly changing. Most Christians used to be in Europe and the Americas. Now there are more believers in the “non-west.” The flavor of the church is changing, some things for the better, some for the worse. We cannot assume.
II. The PRINCIPLES Behind this Plan Surface from the Old Testament (25-29, Hosea 2:23, 1:10, Isaiah 1: 9, 10:22).
It is important to prove that what God is doing in the church now is consistent with Who He is, as He is described in the First Testament.
A. This MIDRASH on Hosea demonstrates God can move the SPOTLIGHT.
1. God has not dismantled His plans for Israel.
2. He has, however, delayed them until the end times.
B. The concept of a Jewish faithful REMNANT is also well established.
1. Unlike Sodom and Gomorrah, without survivors except for the foreigner Lot and his daughters, Israel would have some that survived.
2. F.F. Bruce puts it this way, “But if only a remnant will survive, at least a remnant will survive, and constitute the hope of restoration.”
3. Tony Garland explains: “The elect remnant of Jewish believers are the true Israel, the Israel of God whom Paul distinguished from the mass of unbelieving Jews in Rom. 9:6 . The national aspects of the OT promises made to Israel (e.g., promised land, throne of David, restoration of Jerusalem) are preserved in the believing Jewish remnant according to God's election ( Rom. 11:5 ) .
C. The idea of GENTILES being connected to God’s people is also clear.
1. The mixed multitude that went with the Hebrews out of Egypt.
2. The many prophesies that predict the gentiles coming to the light (e.g, Is. 25).
3. Paul will elaborate later on the mystery that the gentiles are equal in Christ.
4. The reason the church is called an Old Testament mystery is because it is only vaguely hinted at in the Old Testament, and understood better in retrospect.
Application: The principles here remind us that God has been preparing history, and our tiny part in it, to head toward the direction He ultimately wills. God is in control. None of us like change for the worse, but sometimes God even uses that to accomplish His ends.
III. The Human Responsibility Side: Most of the Jews MISSED the Boat Because They Sought Self-Justification (30-33).
A. Many devout Jews missed salvation because they were trying to MERIT God’s grace.
B. Many gentiles came to Jesus DESPITE their sinful backgrounds.
C. The example of Mary and MARTHA illustrate the concept (see Luke 10:38-42).
1. Martha was busy working, so, on that occasion, she missed Jesus. Mary, on the other hand, sat at Jesus’ feet.
2. The publican and the sinner represent another illustration of this.
3. The example of Mary and Martha.
4. Torah observance cannot bring eternal life because the best of us fails to obey completely.
D. They STUMBLED over Jesus Christ. Have you? (33)
1. Quoted from Isaiah 28:14-16.
2. A prediction of Israel’s rejection of Messiah
3. Picture: A rock construction workers curse as they trip over it. God turns the tables by making it the most prominent material – the corner stone.
CONCLUSION
1. Change can be hard to accept, even if it is within God’s plan.
2. To the Jewish believers, it was a letdown that most of their countrymen did not accept Jesus. To the gentile believers, it was exciting that God gave them equal status.
3. Our country, our families, and the church is changing. Some of those changes are for the better, some the worse. But God can bring good out of bad things, so even bad changes can be used for his glory. He is always in control, but His ends are ultimate, not always evident now.
