Good morning to everyone. Thank you again, Mark, for leading us. Appreciate those good hymns this morning and appropriate to the message this morning. We come really to one of, if not the most difficult chapters in the Bible. And I don't pretend to have all the answers to all of the questions or understand every jot and tittle, but there’s a tremendously important message here for us in chapter 9 and in this whole section from chapter 9 through 11 in the book of Romans. 

The message is this: God keeps his promises. It's not always the way we would like or the way we would expect, but God keeps his promises in Christ and to Israel. He's the God who cannot lie, and he will keep his word. It's by his own sovereign choice and plan and fully by his grace that God keeps his promises. And that's the main point and message of this section of scripture set in the context of the book of Romans.

It was a vital question to answer in Paul's time. He just spent eight chapters in the greatest doctrinal treatise ever written, explaining and expanding the gospel of Jesus Christ. And that's really what the book of Romans is, an expansion and explanation of the gospel. In chapter 1 verses 1 to 17, Paul gives us a summary of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and he tells us what he's going to write about.

In chapter 1:18 to chapter 3, verse 20, he explains in depth and detail the condemnation, the sinfulness of all men: the pagan, the religious man, all men. In 3:21 through chapter 5, we see the great answer to this sin problem of man: the doctrine of justification by faith expounded in amazing clarity. And in chapter 6 to 8, we see the doctrine of sanctification, the truth of who we are and what we have through faith in Jesus Christ.

Now, Paul could have gone right into chapter 12 and the explanation of these great doctrines to our lives. He lays this out in chapters 12 to 16, closing the book, giving instruction and admonition as to how we should live in light of who we are, having come to faith in Jesus. But tucked right in the midst of this are chapters 9 to 11. 

So what are they about? Why does Paul write them? What is his intent in writing? These are the questions that we must be diligent to apply as we study carefully word-by-word, verse by verse, as well as the whole of the three-chapter section, set in the broader context of the book of Romans and the whole of the scriptures, if we're going to rightly divide and understand and not be led astray in our studies. 

So this is what we will endeavor to do over the next several months in our communion services the last Sunday of the month as we see the richness and meaning of the words, the importance of the message of Paul in chapters 9 to 11. 

Let's look at our text together. Romans 9:1, Paul says, “I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises, of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is overall the eternally blessed God. Amen.” 

But it is not that the Word of God has taken no effect, for they are not all Israel who are of Israel. I've given you four points on your outline: first, the heart of Paul; second, who are Israelites; third, the promise of Christ; and fourth, God's perfect plan. 

Well, as Paul concludes his teaching on the gospel of Jesus Christ in Romans 8 with the powerful words of assurance for those who believe Jesus—that is, that God is for us, that Jesus intercedes for us, that nothing can separate us from the love of God—for those whom he justifies he also glorifies, you'll remember that context leading into this. As Paul concludes these great, tremendous words of surety of confidence in the full salvation of every man who believes in Jesus, his heart and mind turned toward his flesh and blood, his countrymen, the Jews.

This great love and desire for Israel to receive her Messiah, to turn in faith as a people, to fulfill God's creative intent for the nation, comes directly from the heart of the Savior. He expresses the same agony, the same deep mourning desire as he looks over Jerusalem days before the cross, Matthew 23:37, “Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings! But you were not willing.”

But you were not willing! That is the issue, my friends! Not that God is not willing, not that God did not elect them to salvation. It is not the will and desire of God that is the issue for the damnation of the lost man. It is his unwillingness to come to Jesus in faith. 

At the risk of getting ahead of ourselves, I find it a great irony in this chapter because many teachers make Romans 9 all about God's predetermined will for some men to be saved and others to be damned—individual salvation by election—and yet the subject of the whole section of this scripture, the entire premise, is that God chose—elected Israel, but Israel rejected her Messiah.

The whole question at hand is: Paul, you want me to believe Jesus? You want me to take God at his word, to trust his promise in Christ by faith alone? Well, what about the promises to Israel? What about the covenants? What about the adoption, the glory, the giving of the law, the service of God? What about the promises that God made unconditionally to the nation of Israel?

I think the unbelieving Jew, as well as the believing Jew, at this point would want this answer: What about the promise of a reigning Messiah on David's throne? What about the promise of the nation in the land? These were unconditional promises given to Abram in Genesis 12 and reiterated again and again to David, Abraham, Isaac, to Jacob, Israel. God chose Israel as a nation to be his witnesses to the world, to the nations, to be a city on a hill, a light to the world, to bring salvation physically in the line of Christ and as a witness showing the power and the glory of God and bringing the good news of salvation through faith in him.

God elected Israel for these very purposes, and yet what is the issue here? Israel rejected God's way. They rejected his Savior. They rejected his Son and sought to establish their own righteousness through the law. So God cut a new channel of blessing to the world, a new witness to go out into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature: the church. 

Does this mean that God is done with Israel? No! Does this mean that he will not keep his promises, his word? No! And that is precisely—hear me now!—that is precisely what these three chapters are all about. The Jews did not understand the suffering Messiah. They did not understand the gospel of grace by faith. They were seeking to establish their own righteousness through the law. They were looking for the reigning Messiah to deliver the kingdom to Israel, and they rejected him. He came to his own, and his own received him not. They crucified him.

So what does this mean for Israel, for the nation, for the promises? This is the question that Paul is going to answer in these three chapters. We see the tremendous heart of Paul in the words here. And this is the heart of God showing his great desire for the salvation of men, of his chosen people, Israel. 

We see this in chapter 10 as well. Verse 15, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. This is Isaiah. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” When Isaiah preached, Israel didn’t believe him. 

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. But I say, have they not heard? Yes, indeed! Their sound has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. But I say, did Israel not know? For Moses says, “I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation. I will move you to anger by a foolish nation.” But Isaiah is very bold and says, “I was found by those who did not seek me. I was made manifest to those who did not ask for me.” But to Israel, he says, “All day long I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.” 

All day long I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people. In chapter 9, it says with much long-suffering, God has waited even on those who reject Him. 

Let me ask you, does he stretch out his hand short of the drowning man? Does he keep his hand out of reach so that that man will perish in the waters? Does God mock the sinner, not allowing him to come to grasp his hand in faith? God desires that all men come to the knowledge of the truth, that every man comes to faith and is saved. He did not create the lake of fire for men, but for Satan and demons, according to Matthew 25:41. 

Listen to the heart of Paul in the words of our text: “I tell the truth in Christ. I am not lying! My conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart, for I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh.” 

Do you think you could say that? You have continual grief in your heart for men that aren't saved? Would you say, “I would go to hell and burn eternally in the lake of fire if someone else could be saved”? 

He says, “I tell the truth! My conscience bearing me witness! I'm not lying!” This is the heart of Paul. These are encouraging words. These are heart-wrenching words. And my friend, they are convicting words. What Paul is saying is that he himself would suffer the wrath of God for his sins in the lake of fire for only his countrymen, Israel, could fulfill their destiny, could glorify God by receiving their Messiah, Jesus, by faith.

If Israel could be saved, he was the Apostle to the Gentiles. But he longed for the Jews to believe Jesus, always to the Jews first. Wherever he went, reasoning from the scriptures, persuading men to be saved. And always, some, the remnant believed, but mostly, the Jews were hostile to him and his message of grace and to the Lord Jesus Christ, to the point that they persecuted him, beat him, whipped him, stoned him. That’s the hatred that they had for their Messiah, and it was manifest through the life of Paul. 

He bears remarks, he says, how tragic! And Paul saw this as the greatest tragedy because it was Israel whom God chose, whom he blessed so mightily with all of the things that Paul lists here. I'd like for you to turn to Acts 7 with me. We're going to read a long passage, Stephen's amazing speech recounting the history of his nation, his people, and God's blessing on them, and how this all came to fullness in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Acts 7, beginning in verse 2: “And he said, ‘Brethren and fathers, listen. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, and said to him, Get out of your country and from your relatives and come to a land that I will show you.’ Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran, and from there, when his father was dead, he moved him to this land in which you now dwell.

“And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, he promised to give it to him for a possession and to his descendants after him. But God spoke in this way: that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land, that they would bring them into bondage and oppress them 400 years, and the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will judge, said God, and after that, they shall come out and serve me in this place.

“Then he gave them the covenant of circumcision, and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs. And the patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt, but God was with him and delivered him out of all his troubles and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.

“Now famine and great trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance. But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first, and the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph's family became known to Pharaoh. Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives to him, seventy-five people.

“So Jacob went down to Egypt, and he died, he and our fathers, and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem. When the time of the promise drew near which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt until another king arose who did not know Joseph. 

“This man dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our forefathers, making them expose their babies so that they may not live. At this time, Moses was born and was well-pleasing to God, and he was brought up in his father's house for three months. But when he was set out, Pharaoh's daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son. And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and deeds.

“Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel, and seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed and struck down the Egyptian. For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. 

“And the next day he appeared to two of them as they were fighting and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brethren; why do you wrong one another?’ But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?’ Then at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he had two sons. 

“And when forty years had passed, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush in the wilderness of Mount Sinai. When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight, and as he drew near to observe, the voice of the Lord came to him, saying, ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and dared not look. 

“Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. I have surely seen the oppression of my people who are in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. And now, come, I will send you to Egypt.’ 

“This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one God sent to be a ruler and deliverer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. He brought them out after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years. 

“This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren; him you shall hear.’ This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles given to us, whom our fathers would not obey but rejected. 

“And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt, saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods to go before us. As for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and rejoiced in the work of their own hands. 

“Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘Did you offer me slaughtered animals and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? You also took up the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of your god, Remphan, images which you made to worship, and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.’ 

“Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he appointed, instructing Moses to make it according to the pattern which he had seen, which our fathers, having received it in turn, also brought Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the days of David, who found favor before God and asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob. 

“But Solomon built him a house. However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says, ‘Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool. What house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? Has my hand not made all these things?’

“Now look at what Stephen says to these Jews, Jewish leaders. ‘You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.’ 

Jesus was the fulfillment of the promise to the blessing of all nations, and the Jews killed Him, fully rejected Him. When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, it says, and they gnashed at Him with their teeth. But He, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, ‘Look, I see the heavens open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’ 

Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at Him with one accord, and they cast Him out of the city and stoned Him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then he knelt down and cried with a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not charge them with this sin.’ And when he had said this, he fell asleep.”

Amazing recounting of the history, the grace of God, the unending grace, the longsuffering—all day long reaching out His hands—and their continual rejection, the stiff-necked people. Some teach that Romans 9 is about personal election to salvation, that God chose Jacob for salvation and He damned Esau to hell. Augustine taught that, John Calvin taught that, Reformed people teach that today. And this causes a great deal of problems when you get down a few verses. 

Others teach that this is about national election. But as Spurgeon said, that only extends the problem. I believe the issue at hand is not salvation per se, especially in chapter 9, verses 6-23. Salvation is here at the beginning, at the end of the chapter—Paul's getting there—but the point of the bulk of this chapter is to answer the question concerning the promises that God made to Israel in light of the gospel of grace through faith in Christ, and what God is doing in His plan of salvation, how He brought it to pass. 

That's what this is about: God's sovereign choice, election, choosing how he would bring the promise of the Christ to pass through the nation of Israel. And he chose to do that through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, not Ishmael and Esau, even though they were physical descendants of Abraham. 

It's not the physical descendants, as the Jews thought. It's not by the law, as the Jews thought. It does not exclude the Gentiles, as the Jews thought. God brought this promise to pass through the nation of Israel to be a blessing to all nations. Salvation available to all men. And he is well able and righteous and just to bring His plans to pass according to His will and His way.

The overarching intent of the three chapters is to explain to the Jew that God is going to keep His promises to Israel, but not in the way that the religious Jew of Paul's day thought. How can the Jew be asked to believe Jesus and accept the promise of God in Him through faith alone when the question of the promises to the nation of Israel have not been resolved? I mean, is God done with Israel? Did He forsake His unconditional promises to her? These are weighty questions. 

And if the Jew believes that this is the case, then it's mighty hard to get him to accept the promise of salvation through faith in Christ because God already made promises to him and didn't keep them. Should I accept another promise from this God who doesn't keep His word? Paul's intent here is to show that the Jews did not understand the plan in Christ to bring to pass the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and that they had established their own plan and rejected the plan of God. 

The strong language about the sovereignty of God is meant to say, who are you, O man, to question God and His plan? You better get on board with His plan and believe and trust Jesus, or you will perish in the lake of fire, Jew or Gentile. And these Jews who rejected Jesus in Paul's day are perishing now in hell. 

But in this, the main message is that God did not reject them, but rather they rejected Him. And even in light of that, as we see at the end of chapter 9 and into chapter 10, even in light of that moving into chapter 11, God will still keep His promises to the nation, to ethnic Israel, for His great namesake.

So in my view, the intent of this passage in chapter 9 is not personal election, nor is it national election to salvation. The point is that God is sovereign in His plan and purpose to bring salvation to all men and the person and work of Jesus Christ through the nation of Israel, through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came.

And the reason that Israel did not see the promises of Genesis 12 fulfilled was because they did not receive the plan of God. They did not trust God and His Word, but they rejected their Messiah, seeking to establish their own righteousness through the law. My brothers and sisters, it would be a violation of God's character and nature for Him to forsake His unconditional promises to Israel or in Christ. 

But He has every right to accomplish His will in any way that He sees fit—not according to the plans or will of man—that's what John 1:12 says, isn't it? Not according to the will of man, but by His grace, by His own will, His own plan. He can bring the Messiah through Isaac or Ishmael. He can bring Him through Jacob or Esau. He can choose one and not the other; that’s His prerogative. And you have no right to question God.

That's the purpose and intent of these words, explaining to the Jew why the promises to Israel had not been fulfilled. So we see the heart of Paul; we see the heart of God for His people, Israel. And it is vital that we see that the subject throughout these three chapters is the nation: is ethnic Israel—who are Israelites, Paul says. 

In verses 1-5, it is abundantly clear that Paul is talking about Israel. Chapter 9 is a whole history of the nation of Israel and the line of promise. All of the quotes of the Old Testament scriptures in verses 25-29 are a contrast between national Israel and Gentiles. Look at verses 30 and following in chapter 9: “What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith? 

But Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone.” Does Israel here mean something other than national ethnic Israel? No! You have Israel and you have non-Israel, Gentiles. 

Chapter 10 is all about the nation, Israel, and how they have rejected God, and also how the Gentiles would receive the Christ by faith. If Israel somehow means the church in this context, and these words meaning Jew and Gentile, then these words are meaningless because there's a pile of Gentiles in the church. There's no distinction between Jew and Gentile in the church, and these chapters are all about a distinction between Jew and Gentile. 

What about chapter 11? Does Paul abandon his consistent use of the term Israel and now apply it to the church? Look at verse 1: “Has God cast away His people? For I also,” Paul writes, “am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.” Seems Paul’s still talking about national ethnic Israel. This whole point is that there's a remnant of believing Jews, even in this time. 

What about verse 11? “I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles.” Again, if Israel somehow includes the church, how does Paul here so clearly contrast Israel with Gentiles? It’d be nonsensical. Israel is Israel. No spiritualizing the text here.

This persists throughout the chapter and the entire section—through his illustrations in chapter 11 down to verse 25. Look at verse 25. Again, a clear contrast between Jew and Gentile: “For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” 

Blindness has happened in part to Israel. Is the church blind? Can the church not see? Blindness in part has happened to Israel, national ethnic Israel, until what? The fullness of the Gentiles has come in. Verse 26: “And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written, the deliverer will come out of Zion, and he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob, for this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” 

Let me ask you this: when did God make a covenant with Gentiles? God never made a covenant with Gentiles. Hebrews 8 has something to say about this: “This is my covenant with them when I would take away their sins.” With who? With Israel. When? “When the deliverer comes out of Zion and turns away ungodliness from Jacob.” 

Is Jacob the church? Romans 11:28: “Concerning the gospel, they” (who’s they? Israel) “are enemies for your sake” (who’s your? Gentiles for your sake). “But concerning the election, they are beloved for the sake of the fathers, for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” 

Oh my goodness, I can’t wait to get to those verses. You know what they’re saying? God has turned to the Gentiles in this church age in order to provoke the Jews to jealousy. These are Paul’s words. And when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, God will turn back to Israel, national ethnic Israel. 

Why? Because Israel’s so great, so amiable? No! Because of the covenant. Because of the unconditional promises made through Abraham to national ethnic Israel. And here we come back to the whole intent and point. God will keep His promises to Israel, and thus we can trust Him to keep His promises to us in Christ. 

It’s not how the Jews thought it would happen. It’s not until the Jews turn to their Messiah in faith that God will fulfill the promises. All the Jews who lived today, who lived in Paul’s day, if they didn’t believe Jesus, they’re in hell. But He will fulfill the promises for His great namesake. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 

What a promise, my friends! What a promise that if we believe God, He imputes to us His righteousness just as He did to Abraham. What a promise that through faith alone in Jesus alone, and what He accomplished on the cross, we can know that we have eternal life and that salvation is the gift of God. 

The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. He keeps His promises. In our text and in the whole of the book of Romans, we see the perfect plan of God. Our present study in chapters 9 to 11 is how Israel fits into that plan and how God will work out His will to keep His promises to Israel and to have them fulfill His original intent in choosing them, which is to be a witness to the nations, to lead men to faith in Jesus Christ. 

But the broader context of Romans is a clear explanation of God’s salvation plan for every man. Romans 3 and 4 explain this so clearly: no flesh will be justified by good works, by religious deeds. We cannot establish our own righteousness by works, by the law. But rather, the righteousness of God is manifest at the cross, and it is His very righteousness that can be imputed to my account through faith in Jesus alone. 

God set Jesus forth as a propitiation, a full satisfactory payment for the sins of all men, and His righteousness is credited to an individual when he turns to Jesus in faith, when he ceases from his work, from the law, from his own righteousness, and enters the rest of Christ: eternal rest, eternal life by faith. 

And this way and only this way, at the cross, can God remain just and be the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. My brothers and sisters, it was God’s sovereign choice and plan to use Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to bring the twelve sons, the twelve tribes of Israel, and to give to them the covenants, the law, the service, the promises, so that He might bring to pass through that nation the seed of Abraham, the sacrifice, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, the promise. 

But Israel rejected that gracious gift. And yet God’s perfect plan continues. And He is working out His salvation through time as He is longsuffering and patient, desiring that every man come to the knowledge of the truth, to faith in the Son of God, and salvation secure and eternal. 

Romans 9-11 assures us that the promises made to Israel were unconditional and do not depend on any work, any good or evil that man does. And in the fullness of time, God will keep His promises, will save Israel—national, ethnic Israel—and will bring the kingdom on earth, and Jesus will sit on David’s throne for a thousand years. And Israel will worship her Messiah, and she will lead the nations to Him just as God intended. 

Not for the sake of Israel, not for every physical descendant of Abraham, but only for those who believe in Paul’s time and our time and the time when Jesus comes again. Those who look on the one whom they pierced and receive Jesus at His coming. Because He is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, 
and circumcision is that of the heart and the spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not from men, but from God. The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and they will look on the one whom they pierced, and all Israel will be saved in that time, in that context because they will turn to Jesus in faith and receive Him as their Messiah. 

And then they will understand the cross. Then they will understand God’s righteousness manifest at the cross, Jesus’ full satisfactory sacrifice of Himself at the cross to pay for the sins of the world. That’s why we’re here this morning, my friends, to look at the cross, to know that the promise of God for our salvation is fulfilled, is finished, and it is available to any man, Jew or Gentile, who will turn to Him in faith. 

Let’s close in prayer. Father, we thank you for the promise.