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Alright, we're here in Romans chapter 9, and it's been a while since we've been in the book of Romans, and we kind of took a break with anniversaries and the holidays and everything like that, but we're going to start every week going back through the book of Romans. And we kind of left off after chapter 8, not really because it's halfway through the book, but because chapters 9 through 11 are like a parenthetical chapters, kind of like a parentheses in the book of Romans, meaning that if you took chapters 9 through 11 out, you'd still have a congruent thought that would make perfect sense. So it's really in chapters 9 through 11, kind of highlighting something a little bit different. Now these are chapters that Calvinists and Zionists love. So a lot of verses they're going to take out of context. And so I'm kind of giving you that introduction to help you understand that these chapters are sort of set aside from some of the other chapters. Now point number one, I want you to realize this, we want to see Paul's love for the Israelites. Notice what he says in verse 1, I say the truth in Christ, I lie not. Now notice he says, I'm telling you the truth, I'm not lying. Why is it that he kind of restates the same thing? Why does he say I'm not lying? Because he's about to say something that seems so crazy, so outrageous that it's hard to believe. And he's saying, I'm just letting you know, I'm not lying about this, okay? My conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost. So he's saying my conscience is showing that I'm telling the truth. I'm not lying about what I'm about to say, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. So in verse 2, I have a lot of sadness in my heart. That's not the shocking statement that he's about to make, okay? What he's talking about is in verse 3, for I could wish that myself were cursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh. What he's saying in verse 3 is this, I love the Israelites so much that I would be willing to go to hell in order to spare them. I could wish that myself were cursed from Christ for my brethren. Now you can understand why he says, I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, right? Because if one of you came to me and said, hey, I would be willing to go to hell for these Catholics to get them saved, I'd be like, I don't believe you, right? I mean, it's so crazy that he would actually have this thought and yet this is verified by the Bible. This is actually what he felt. He would have been willing to go to hell in order to get some people saved. That's incredible, right? Now obviously we understand and Paul understood that we have eternal life, but he's saying I would be willing to give up my salvation for other people to get saved. Now I'll be honest, I don't have that much love in my heart and that's why I'm probably never going to be Paul the apostle and probably why none of us will, right? But that is how Paul the apostle actually felt about his kinsmen according to the flesh, not the kinsmen according to the spirit, the kinsmen according to the flesh. Go to Galatians chapter one, Galatians one. I want to prove to you that a curse from Christ, what we're talking about is basically being willing to go to hell on behalf of his brethren. Galatians chapter one, Galatians chapter one, and in Galatians chapter one, the book of Galatians to the church of Galatia, the church of Galatia, they allowed false teachers to come in and just kind of confuse them about the basics, the foundations of salvation. Imagine if for whatever reason I was no longer able to preach and we just invited these hardcore Calvinist repentance of sins people up here and they're just preaching this work salvation. Well eventually some people would get a little bit confused. I don't care who you are, if you listen to false teachers all the time, slowly that will have an effect on you in a bad way. Many of you have been saved for a long time, but you were at churches that were preaching a false gospel and then maybe in your mind you started to say, well, you know, it's by grace through faith, but maybe if you're really saved, there's going to be some works, right? You were starting to get confused on the basics of salvation. Why? Because you had a snake behind the pulpit. You had some false prophet teaching a false gospel behind the pulpit and it does start to make you a little bit confused. Look, don't just have this attitude, hey, I'll just listen to whatever sort of preaching out there. I'll go to YouTube and it doesn't matter whether they're Protestant, Catholic, you know, Christian, whatever, Pentecostal, I'll just kind of listen to everything just to hear what they believe and I can just, I'm smart enough to know what's true and what's not. Yeah, you're going to slowly start to get misled. You're going to hear certain statements in the sermons and you don't understand the context and they're just taking stuff out of context. They're lying. Look, be very careful where you get your source of knowledge. That's why reading the Bible for yourself is absolutely the best source of knowledge that you can get. Because, look, I might make a mistake. The Bible doesn't make mistakes, okay? Galatians 1 verse 6, I marvel that you're so soon removed from him that calls you into the grace of Christ onto another gospel, which is not another, but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. So Paul's saying, you know what, I'm confused. I don't understand how you heard the gospel and you're allowing false teachers to lead you into another gospel and to believe false things. Verse 8, but though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel on you than that which we have preached on you, let him be accursed. So he's saying in verse 8, even if an angel from heaven preaches another gospel, don't take heed to it. Now isn't it funny that so many religions started because an angel from heaven preached to somebody on earth and he got a brand new religion, right? I mean that's the start of Islam. It's like there's their religion, just an angel from heaven. There's Mormonism, right? There's churches that I'm not going to say publicly, right? There's also, I've mentioned Zoroastrianism before, the prophet Zoroaster or Zarahustra, that's how they started the ancient Persian religion because an angel, I mean this guy's in the wilderness and first like the devil's speaking to him, right? And he's getting into this argument and he's going crazy and then an angel of God speaks to him and that's how their religion started. Man, it seems like the Bible says stuff specifically for a reason because there's so many, I mean there's, good night, there's people here that heard an angel after they got in a fight or whatever and lost and all of a sudden it's like, wow, they got, look, it's like if an angel from heaven talks to you, you know, you might want to check whether or not you're, right? But look, you don't take heed to it because we have the word of God. Whatever the word of God says is true and look, by the way, this is why I don't really listen to people's personal testimonies about stuff. I've heard people say things like this, well, you know, I know all those verses you're saying, but I know you can lose your salvation because I know someone who did. It's like, well, I don't care what you know or what you said or your testimony, right? They say, well, I knew someone who loved Christ and then he stopped loving Christ. Well, that's not salvation, number one. Loving Christ is not salvation. Believing on Christ is salvation. But look, everybody believes in Jesus Christ. That doesn't mean that they're saved, right? I don't care what someone's personal testimony, well, I know that this is true. I know that speaking in tongues is biblical because I've spoke, I know someone who spoke in tongues, right? Look, you know, I've literally, I heard a Catholic tell me that one time in the US. They're like, well, I know speaking in tongues is biblical because I know someone who did it. It's like, well, I'm sure you do know someone who did it, right? But that's a whole other sermon, okay? Look, personal testimonies, you can't trust them. And what Paul says is if someone's preaching a false gospel, just pray for them and love them and care about them. Is that what it says? It says, let them be accursed. What are we talking about? We're saying that if there is an active person who's preaching or someone who's like some sort of evangelizer going out and spreading a false gospel, let that person go to hell. Let them be accursed. Now look, we're not talking about your neighbor that's Catholic. Of course, pray for that person. Love that person. We're talking about the Catholic priest. There's a difference, okay? There are people that are just unsaved, normal people in every religion in the world that are capable of getting saved that would listen and would get saved. But you know, the leaders of false religions, let them be accursed. Let them go to hell. But they're Baptist. Hey, if they're Baptist, right? If they're so-called Baptist but they're preaching a false gospel, let them be accursed more than anyone. You say, why? It's close to the truth and yet it's completely different. Everybody at this church knows a Catholic priest is a phony, but there are certain Baptist preachers that will be kind of in between on this stuff and then sometimes we want to give them a pass because, well, they're kind of like us. That's worse. If they're not saved, they're a devil. Look, mark my words, if the person behind the pulpit is not saved, they're a devil. It's one or the other. You say, well, they say some good things. Look, on the way back from Pampanga, we were listening to a preacher and you know what? He said some right things, Baptist preacher. He said a lot of right things and some things where if it was somebody else preaching, I would have said, amen, that's good preaching. He was dynamic. And then he said, that's why you must repent of your sins. Well, that just destroyed the entire sermon. I mean, he said a lot of good things. I mean, it was a sermon about why we should go soul winning. He said some good things. You say, Brother Stuckey, who was it? Ask me after the service, I'll tell you. I'll tell you who it was. Verse nine. As we said before, so say now again, if any man preach any other gospel on you than that you have received, let him be accursed. If anybody preaches a gospel, anybody, and you know what that means also is let's say there's somebody who you like to listen to. You love this preacher or whatever, and it turns out he's a devil. Let that person be accursed. But man, I listened to him for years and I liked him and I learned so many things. Yeah, he's good at parroting things from other men of God. But once you find out he's a devil, quit listening to him, right? Let him be accursed. He's saying, let them go to hell. Okay, why? Because that false prophet is deceiving a multitude of people. Okay, go back to Romans nine. What Paul's saying in Romans nine is this. I am willing to be accursed for my kinsmen according to the flesh, for them to be saved. That's a strong statement. That's not something that I would say that I feel on the inside. But Paul said, I tell you the truth. I lie not. I'm not lying about this. And it's in the word of God. It's not just something somebody said. It's verified by the word of God. This is how he actually felt. He would have been willing to die and go to hell for the sake of unsaved Israelites. Now you need to understand something when we talk about people that are the chosen people of God. There's a lot of different opinions on what this stuff means and there's a lot of different statements people might make. And you have to kind of verify the terms that people are talking about. Now when we say that in the Old Testament that God's people were the nation of Israel and that lineage, you know, that is a true statement as long as you define it correctly and help people understand. What that is not saying and what this does not mean is this. It doesn't mean that everybody who had that flesh, that bloodline was saved. Not at all. Right? In fact, most I'm sure were unsaved. Just because you had a bloodline, that never got you salvation during any time period. Right? Whether Old Testament or New Testament, just because your dad was Abraham, that wouldn't make you saved. Okay? Salvation has always been an individual thing. Individual salvation, it's always been an individual thing from Old Testament, from the times of Genesis to the end, Revelation. I mean Cain and Abel were brothers. One's in heaven, one's in hell. Right? It's always been an individual thing. And also, all around the world, there have always been people saved. There are people saved all over the world. You say, Brother Stuckey, in North Korea, yes, there are saved people in North Korea. The Word of God has gone to all parts of this world and there are some saved people everywhere. Now obviously some parts of the world have more saved people, but I want you to realize in the Old Testament, guess what? Yes, there were heathen nations. The Assyrians were very heathen, but there were still saved people mixed in that country. So by saying that they were God's chosen people in the Old Testament, we're not saying all were saved and we're not saying everybody else was lost. That's not true. But what we see in the Bible is this, and we've seen this in other parts of Romans, how they were given the priesthood and the oracles of God. What advantage then hath the Jew? Well they had a lot of advantages. They had the prophets of God. They had the oracles of God. They had the Word of God. Now that doesn't mean that everybody's saved though just because they have the Word of God. Look, there will be people that grow up in this church and never get saved and end up in hell. There will be kids that get born in this church, they grow up, and they never end up getting saved. Just because you're at this church doesn't mean that you're automatically saved. And look, just because somebody out there isn't part of our church, and maybe they even do go to a heathen church that doesn't teach much, then it doesn't mean that they're automatically lost either. It's never been that way. When we're saying that they were God's chosen people in the Old Testament, God used this nation, He poured out His blessings, He poured out the Word of God, and we're going to see in this sermon why He used them. But that was not an everlasting covenant with them. They were expected to obey what God said, and here's the thing, they stopped obeying what God said. And God said, I'm done with you. I'm not using you. Romans 9, verse 4, who are Israelites, to whom pertaineth the adoption and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the law and the service of God and the promises. See the Israelites, they had all of these things given to them. The covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, this was poured out to that group of people, to this nation, to this location. Now Paul said in verse 4, Israelites. Now go to Romans 11, Romans 11, Romans 11. See one thing you need to understand, and we've talked about this in our series through Hosea, is that eventually these 12 tribes, they separate, right? You have the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. Judah was comprised of Judah and Benjamin, and then the northern kingdom was comprised of all the other 10 tribes, okay? Paul was of the lineage of the southern kingdom of Judah. He was of the lineage of Benjamin. He had Benjamite blood running through him. And he says this in Romans 11, verse 1, I say then, hath God cast away his people? Now Paul makes a statement. He's asking this question, did God cast away his people? And the reason why he's asking this question is because chapters 9 and 10 make it very clear that, you know what? In terms of them being used as a people, as a nation, yeah, they're done. But then he also says, God forbid, why? Because in terms of individual salvation, it doesn't mean that they all are going to go to hell because God says, I'm done with you as a nation. So he's saying, God forbid, God didn't cast them away for I also am an Israelite. He's saying, no, God didn't cast them away because there's some people that believed on Jesus. Now the ones that didn't, though, that's the reason why he's saying this. The ones that didn't believe, yeah, you know what, they're going to go to hell. He that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on them. Brother Stocky, why don't you invite any rabbis to come up here and preach? They're not saved. Why would I invite some unsaved rabbi that denies Jesus Christ and hates Jesus, why would I invite them to preach? And yet in some Baptist churches, you've got, you know, these hardcore Jews that get up and it's like, well, what in the world, right? It's crazy. He says, God hath not cast away his people, God forbid, for I also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. He was of that southern kingdom of Judah. So when Paul's saying he has this love for Israel, what is he referring to? Well, he's not referring to just the southern kingdom of Judah. He's referring to all 12 tribes before they went bad, before there was a separation. This is kind of a strong statement because that southern kingdom of Judah and that northern kingdom of Israel fought all the time, right? But Paul says, I have a love for the people that God had chosen. He gave them the word of God. I want to see those 12 tribes. I want to see their lineage get saved. And yet at the time of Paul the Apostle, those 12 tribes were at the point where they almost ceased to exist. And in today's world, they don't exist. Go up to a Jew and ask them, hey, which tribe are you from? They don't know. It's done. Genealogies don't matter now because he gave them specific land if they were obedient to what God said. Here's the thing, though. They rebelled against it. They already went into captivity, my friend. Israel went into captivity to Assyria and Judah went in captivity to Babylon. Okay, now go back to Romans nine, Romans nine, Romans nine, Romans chapter nine. Look, I will say this that because I don't run into a whole lot of Jews here, I've actually never run into a Jew that I've given the gospel to or tried to here, but I've never met a group of people because in the US you do run into Jews from time to time when you're going soul winning. I have never met a religion that is so angry and vicious against the gospel. I mean, they mock you. They laugh at you. They hate Jesus. Now are there exceptions? Of course, there are always exceptions. But if I had to pick one religion, one religion that hated what we believe and hated Jesus Christ, it would be the Jews. No question about it. Now here's the thing. That should not be shocking to us because in the Talmud, in their book, in their holy scriptures, right? One of their holy scriptures, the Talmud, they blaspheme Jesus Christ. They teach that Jesus Christ was a sorcerer. They teach that Jesus Christ is the son of Pantera because his mom hoard around on her husband. That's what they teach in the Jewish scriptures. So they believe that, you know, Jesus was from the son of Pantera, not Joseph, right? They obviously don't believe the virgin birth and, you know, they blaspheme Jesus Christ. They say Jesus Christ will spend forever boiling in hot excrement, right? That's what they teach about Jesus Christ. And you know what? According to Jews, you can see that they are vicious against the gospel. They hate Jesus Christ. They mock Jesus Christ. Romans nine, verse five, whose are the fathers and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is overall God blessed forever. Amen. Right? So whose are the fathers going back to Abraham, Moses. We're going to look at Moses here later, but keep your finger in Romans nine. Go to Matthew 21. Matthew 21, Matthew chapter 21. And look, the truth is that some people can get the wrong idea. That's why Paul says, you know, God didn't cast away his people, because the thing is you see that as a nation, they're rejected and they can have this attitude that, well, they cannot even get saved. And the reason why some people develop this attitude is because, as I said, the Jews will mock what you believe. Whenever you run into them at the door, they make fun of you. They mock you. They criticize. I've never seen a humble Jew at the door that listened to the gospel, and I've run into a lot of them. I'm sure they're out there. I've heard stories from people that say they got a Jew saved. I've never seen it in action though. Look, I've seen somebody saved from like every cult under the sun. Not of the Jews though. Not yet. Hopefully one day I will see it. And look, it's possible. That's why we can't get the wrong idea and feel like, oh, because they're so vicious against the gospel, that means they all go to hell. No, there's going to be some that end up believing. There are some that just are born into it, but they have a tender heart. They hear the gospel. They get saved one day. Okay. But I want to show you this parable in Matthew 21. And I think this parable is very easy to understand, but let's see what it says in verse 33. Hear another parable. There is a certain householder which planted a vineyard and hedged it round about and dig to winepress in it and build a tower and let it out to husbandmen and went into a far country. Now in this parable, you're going to see that this is true. Okay. But in this parable in Matthew 21, the householder is basically God the father. That's the picture. God the father. Okay. Now the husband men are referring to the Jews, the nation of Israel. Okay. The nation of Israel, those 12 tribes that had the covenants that had the word of God. So basically the Bible is saying this, that this householder leaves this vineyard with these people in charge, which is representing the nation of Israel. Okay. Verse 34. And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husband men. They might receive the fruits of it. So he's saying there's a time when the husband men are supposed to, since they're in charge, they're supposed to get the fruit. And look, the nation of Israel, they were supposed to win souls to the Lord. They were supposed to be the ones that preached the gospel to the ends of the world that brought forth the fruit. Well, servants are coming to the husband men looking for the fruit. What ends up happening to these servants? And the husband men took his servants and beat one and killed another and stoned another. You say, who are these servants? Well, these servants are referring to Jeremiah, Isaiah, all the prophets of God in the Old Testament. And isn't it true that they had prophets in their own country preaching the word of God and they got mad about it? They got angry about it. Some of them they beat, some they threw in jail, some were killed. I mean, when you read the New Testament, I mean, isn't it true it's the Jews that are killing all of the preachers of God? I mean, throughout, it's not the Romans, right? I mean, it's like everyone wants to blame the Romans. It's like, well, you learn that from a history book, right? Because when you're reading the Bible, it's the Jews that really hate the message of salvation. And it says they beat one and killed another and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first, and they did unto them likewise. But last of all, he sent unto them his son, saying, they will reverence my son. They will respect my son. Okay, who's the son referring to? God, the son. Now I want you to understand, this is a parable. You need to be very careful with forming your doctrine from parable. But I will say this. What he's saying is I am going to send my son, indicating that before his son was sent, his son was already a son. What is that indicating? Before Jesus Christ came here on earth, he was the son of God. He's eternally the son of God. And that's another sermon, and I'll preach on that. But look, he was already a son before he was sent, okay? And that's what the Bible teaches. It's consistent. Jesus is eternally the son of God, and he will always be the son of God, okay? They will reverence my son. But when the husband men saw the son, they said among themselves, this is the heir. Come let us kill him and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him and cast him out of the vineyard and slew him. So basically Jesus is prophesying about how you're gonna kill me. Last person to be sent was the son. Now what's interesting is that in the Bible sometimes God will preach against a nation and will use a preacher to do this. And it seems like they have no chance and yet they still do turn to God. For example, Nineveh. Nineveh was told you're gonna be destroyed. They turned back to God. God said, you know what, I'm gonna repent. I'm gonna change my course of action, and I'm gonna give you a chance. Now when you're reading this parable, I believe this. Even though the Jews have been told they're rejected and we're reading through it in Hosea, I do believe that if they had reverenced the son, if the son came and they believed on him, you know what? It would have changed. But the last one sent was God the son, and what did they do? They killed him. It's like, that's the point of no return, my friend. And obviously God knew this was gonna happen. Obviously the son was sent, and it was prophesied, and they knew that he was gonna be killed, and Jesus is preaching about this. But he's saying last person sent was the son. They didn't reverence the son. They killed the son, right? They will reverence my son. They caught him, and they cast him out of the vineyard and slew him. Verse 40, when the Lord therefore the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? Now how would you feel if you owned a vineyard? Let's say I left my son, Zephaniah, in charge of a vineyard I owned, and then I left it to people, and then they killed Zeph. What do you think I would do to those people? Oh, I forgive you for murdering my son. What would you do if you had a son, and you left him in charge of something, right? And then all of a sudden, you had people that worked for you, and then they murdered your son. How would you react to that? How do you think God's gonna react to that? I mean, use common sense, right? They murdered Jesus Christ. They killed him. They say unto him, he will miserably destroy those wicked men, of course, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen. Of course, you're gonna hire new workers. Man, if somebody works for you, they work on your farm, they murder your son, oh, it's okay, I'll still let you work for me. Of course, you're gonna find new people to work for you, right? I mean, common sense. And he says, he will let out those vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons. Indicating they weren't rendering or producing the fruit. Verse 42, Jesus saith unto them, did ye never read in the scriptures the stone which the builders rejected? The same has become the head of the corner. This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes. You say, Brother Stuckey, that's your opinion. That's your opinion on this parable. You're making an assumption of who God the Father is, who God the Son is, who the servants are. This is your opinion, but I think it means something else. Well, number one, I'm curious what you think it means, cuz this actually makes perfect sense and lines up. But point number two, I understand you've been in Baptist churches, and hey, this is day three, right? Matthew 21 should be in your Bible reading today, shouldn't it? I mean, hopefully, you read this this morning, and you said, you know what? I'm not just gonna listen to whatever other preachers say, I'm gonna read it with my own eyes. And look, if you read this this morning, you know what you're gonna find? Well, let's look at verse 43 and find out who this is about. Therefore say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation, bring forth the fruits thereof. Now, I believe that means Israel's been rejected, and God says, I'm done with you. And obviously, we know about the heavenly nation during the end times. And in our modern time, God uses the local New Testament church. Amen. We are to bring forth fruit. This is what he is using. Verse 44, and whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken. But on whomsoever shall fall, it will grind him to powder. And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them. You got these unbelieving Jews, and they're like, man, I think he's preaching against me. You got saved Baptists, and then they read this. It's like, that's not about the Jews. They're still God's chosen people. It's like you're saved with the spirit of God inside of you. And he told you what, I mean, unsaved people heard this. It's like, man, I think he's preaching against us. And then you got saved people today, and then they don't get what it's talking about. It's like, how do you not get this? Unsaved people were there. It's like, he's speaking against us. Yeah, you're right. Jesus was speaking against you. Why? Because you killed servant after servant and beat them and imprisoned them. And last of all, you're gonna kill me too. And what's funny is they can't even control their emotion. And you know what, they want to fulfill this. Look at verse 46. But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude because they took him for a profit. Now when it says they wanted to lay hands on him, they don't want to shake his hand, right? They want to grab him, imprison him, lie about him, and kill him. That's what they want to do. It's so obvious, this is referring to that the Jews have been rejected. The nation of Israel is done. There's no argument. That's what this is about. And look, the whole chapter, it talks about this in other ways as well with parables, it's clear the nation of Israel has been rejected. I mean, aren't the Jews God's chosen people? Well, number one, a Jew means you're from Judah, the southern kingdom of Judah. So sometimes we get these terms a little bit off, okay? There's the northern and the southern kingdom. But no, the Jews are not God's chosen people when they reject Jesus Christ. He says right here, you're rejected. Now with individual salvation, that was always an individual thing. So saying that they were God's chosen people, we're not saying all of them were saved and everybody else was lost. We're saying this is the group of people God used. And here's the thing, in the Old Testament, if you wanted to serve God, you really had to link up physically with God's people. Because they had the priesthood, because they had the service of God. You really had to relocate, and what you find is God is very much for immigration when you're reading the Old Testament. It's like link up with God's people, join us, and become as us, okay? Now in the New Testament, I do think you should link up with God's people, but if you've got a local church, there you go. There's your local church, you're linked up with God's people. You don't have to move to another country if you've got a local church that's on board with the things of God. Now turn back in your Bible to Romans chapter nine, Romans nine, Romans nine. Point number one, we saw the love for the Israelites that Paul had. The kinsmen according to the flesh, even though that they rejected Jesus Christ. Point number two, we saw that they were given the keys of the kingdom. They were handed it. We're gonna give you all the prophets. I'm gonna give you the oracles of God. I'm gonna give you the service of God. Everything was handed to them. Unfortunately, they blew it. Point number three, we're gonna see that according to the Bible, they are the children of promise. We're gonna talk about what that means. Romans nine verse six. Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect, for they are not all Israel which are of Israel. Okay, now I'm gonna take a little bit of time to explain verse six. Because as much as I'm preaching against the Zionists, the Calvinists, you know what, they love these chapters as well. Okay, the false teachers, they love Romans nine through 11. Calvinists, dispensationalists, Zionists, they love this, right? Well, Calvinists, they don't, when it comes to the TULIP, Calvinists believe all those five points, but they're kind of embarrassed about some of those points. They don't want to admit that they believe it's a limited atonement. Cuz it sounds bad to just say, I don't believe Jesus died for everybody. Now, they don't believe Jesus died for everybody. But that sounds bad, because everybody believes Jesus died for everyone, right? He died for the sins of the whole world. Well, I mean, the world means the elect. Okay, no, he died for the sins of the whole world. That's what it says in 1 John 2, 2, right? They don't like to say limited atonement, cuz it sounds bad to say, well, you know, Jesus Christ, it's limited to those that he died for. That sounds bad, it does sound bad. They don't like the term irresistible grace, you know? They didn't necessarily come up with those letters for TULIP. It's just kind of what was said, and they don't deny it cuz they believe that. But there's other terms they like better, cuz it makes their false doctrine sound a little bit better. So what they're gonna say is this, well, the grace, it's not that it's a limited atonement. It's not that it's irresistible, it's effectual. Well, that sounds cute. It's effectual. See, we just believe that God's grace has an effect. We believe the blood of Jesus has an effect. You don't believe God's blood. You don't believe the blood of Jesus always has an effect. But we believe it's effectual. It sounds really good. What you're saying is that you don't believe Jesus died for everyone. See, what they believe is this, that everybody that Jesus died for goes to heaven. It's effectual. Everyone he died for is gonna go to heaven. Well, what I believe is that he died for everybody, and not everybody that Jesus died for goes to heaven. Now, what's funny about this is they say, well, we believe in effectual grace. We believe the atonement is effectual, okay? And what they're saying is that everybody that Jesus died for goes to heaven. Well, what does the Bible say in Romans 9, verse 6? Because they use a term, and it's like, did you check that word in the Bible? Cuz Romans 9, verse 6, not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. So we're talking about having an effect, being effectual. For they are not all Israel which are of Israel. What he's saying is this. Hey, the word of God has taken effect because some got saved, not all. See, they say it's effectual because everybody Jesus died for goes to heaven. Well, according to Romans 9, verse 6, it's effectual because some got saved. That's called having an effect. Because when we go soul winning today, some will believe and some won't. And guess what? When we come back to praise the Lord for 20 salvations today, that's an effect. It's effectual. And see, the word of God says it's effectual when some believe it. Why? Cuz throughout the Bible, God promises that some will accept and some will reject. And look, that's having an effect. So look, if you're cross-referencing effectual grace, well that's not what it means according to the Bible. It has an effect when some people get it. But not all, because God always promised, some will believe and some will reject. Verse 7, neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children. So just because you have that lineage, that bloodline doesn't make you a child of God. But in Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God. But the children of the promise are counted for the seed. Now look, I don't even know how they interpret verse 8. I think they just try to avoid verses that are really clear, cuz it says the children of the flesh are not the children of God. It's like, what makes you a child of God? Did you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? But as many as received, and here's the thing. In the Old Testament, there were people that were part of the chosen people that were not children of God, because it's always been by believing on Jesus Christ. And there was people living in Nineveh that were children of God, whereas there's people with Israel that were not children of God, okay? Now they're the children of promise. Their nation was given this promise in the covenants, but they had to individually believe on Jesus as well in order to go to heaven, okay? Now turn to Galatians 3, Galatians 3, Galatians 3. What you're seeing in Romans 9 is two things are being kind of intersected. He talks, and he talks about the individual's salvation of people when he's saying he has this love for the Israelites. And the reason why is because he's saying as a people, by and large, they have been rejected. They no longer have the promises of God like they had. They no longer have the covenants. And he's addressing individual salvation, but he's also addressing them being rejected as a whole, okay? We need to understand that, to understand this. Galatians 3, verse 15. Brethren, I speak after the manner of men, though it be but a man's covenant. Yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth or addeth thereto. Now in verse 15, what it's saying is this. If you make an agreement with someone, right, like if me and Brother June had an agreement about something, I'd say, hey, I'm gonna buy some tires for such and such price. And we shake on it and everything. It's like when men make a covenant, I can't come back 20 minutes later and say, you know what, I decided I'm gonna buy it for this price instead. And he can't change it either. Once you give your word, it's binding. Now I understand in today's world, people lie and change their mind. But your word's supposed to be binding. Even if it's just a man's covenant, you ought to honor your word. You don't add to or disannul what's been agreed upon, okay? Verse 16, now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not and decedes as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ. Now Abraham came before the Jews, right? I mean, the Jews don't even come until good night, way later in the Bible. But the nation of Israel, the 12 tribes, guess what? Abraham was before Jacob, right? And look, Abraham, I understand that it's not that far away in terms of chapters. But realize, the book of Genesis covers like half of human history, right? So much time's going by, Abraham is way before Jacob, right? And a good bit of time before Jacob, okay? And so I want you to realize, and look, this is true all the way before that. I mean, even if you go back to Abel, it's by faith, right? And so I want you to see this here. In verse 16, he says, as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was 430 years after, cannot disannul that it should make the promise of none effect. What he's saying is that when the law came, that doesn't disannul the promise of the one seed through Christ, right? To Abraham going through Christ. So when God made this covenant with Abraham, once the law comes in the book of Exodus, it doesn't mean what God said in Genesis is done away. He said to Abraham, it's through your seed, and it's a spiritual promise, because it's through Christ, okay? The law doesn't disannul what was said from hundreds of years before, okay? Now go to Romans nine, Romans nine, Romans chapter nine. Romans chapter nine. Look, when it comes to the Israelites or the Jews or whatever you want to call them or whatever, in terms of their salvation, it's an individual thing. They've got to change their mind about what they believe and believe on Jesus Christ, and it has always been like that. They have been rejected as a nation, right? There's nothing special about Israel today. In fact, if you want to look at areas that are ungodly, right? I mean, if you're trying to look at areas of this world that are really ungodly to visit, Israel's near the top of the list. In fact, I mean, a lot of countries that start with I are near the top of the list, right? And it's just like, yeah, be careful about those I's if you're going on vacation, all right? But Israel's wicked. I mean, they reject God. They embrace the LGBT. They mock Jesus Christ. They reject the things. They're responsible for so much bloodshed around the world. I mean, this is always what happens. Israel starts a war, and then they blame the other side, and America takes Israel's back. And then they just blow up the people that are fighting Israel. I mean, it's true. And look, I want you to realize, we live in a very pro-Israel country. I've looked at charts online in terms of the most pro-Israel countries, and the charts I've seen are this. The US is always number one, India is always number two, and then the Philippines is usually number three. We are a very, very, very pro-Israel country. Now, America is a super pro-Israel country, right? They're the ones with all the ammunition and guns and all the money to help Israel in all these wars. We are a very pro-Israel country. And look, I would imagine that the Baptist churches here are probably ridiculously pro-Israel because it's a pro-Israel country. And it sounds good when the country's pro-Israel as a preacher to be pro-Israel as well. We're number three on lists I've seen. The US, India, and Israel, or not Israel, the Philippines are the three most pro-Israel countries from lists that I have seen. Obviously, that can vary a little bit in how they determine it, but we are a very pro-Israel country. And what are you gonna see? Well, you're gonna see the preachers of those countries just embrace Israel because that's what's popular. Well, that's not what the Bible says. Salvation has always been an individual thing. Now, Romans 9 verse 9, for this is the word of promise. Romans 9 verse 9, for this is the word of promise. At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son, okay? Sarah shall have a son, referring to Isaac, okay? What's gonna take place is he's gonna give two examples to drive home what he's been talking about. And people misunderstand these examples. You have to understand the context of what's been said. He's been telling us the nation of Israel has been rejected. Now, he does touch on individual salvation. The main context, though, is the nation of Israel has been rejected, okay? He's gonna give two examples. First example is with Esau and Jacob, Romans 9 verse 10. And not only this, but when Rebekah also had conceived by one, even by her father Isaac, for the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God, according to election, might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. Now, Calvinists love this verse. They say, well, from the womb, God just determined, I love that baby, and I hate that baby, right? This one's going to heaven, and this one's going to hell. But what we're gonna see is the context is with the nation as a whole. We're not talking about an individual salvation here, okay? Verse 12, it was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger. And the elder is Esau, the elder shall serve the younger. Now, I want to ask you this question. Where in the Bible do you ever see Esau serving Jacob? Individually, as brothers, when does Esau ever serve Jacob, right? Nowhere. It's not in the Bible. You say, well, why does it say the elder shall serve the younger if it's not in the Bible? Because it's not referring to the individual people. It's not referring to Esau and Jacob as people. It's referring to the nations that would come forth from them, and I will prove that to you. Cuz verse 13, as it is written, it says as it is written, tying together from verse 12, and he's saying, I'm gonna verify you the elder shall serve the younger as it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Now here's the thing, where is that written? Because when the Bible's saying as it is written, it's telling you, I want you to look at this and see where it's written, and then you're gonna understand what I'm talking about. Well, it's written in Malachi chapter one. Go to Malachi chapter one. Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Now look, I understand and I've preached sermons about the reprobate doctrine and how there could be certain people that God hates and everything. And look, I understand that. But when it's saying Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated, that has nothing to do with the individual people, okay? Has nothing to do with the individual people. Malachi one verse one. Last book of the Old Testament, Malachi chapter one. The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. Now look, this is a long time after Jacob's done, right? After Jacob's gone, but Jacob was renamed Israel, okay? The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. I have loved you, saith the Lord, yet ye say, now notice, yet ye say. Ye is not one person, ye is plural in the Bible. We're not talking about Jacob individually. Yet ye say, plural, yet ye say, wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother, saith the Lord? Yet I love Jacob and I hated Esau, notice this, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness. Notice how he says I laid his mountains and his heritage waste, okay? Referring to the Edomites that came from Esau. He's saying I destroyed his mountains and his heritage. Verse four, whereas Edom saith, now Edom is not referring to Esau. It's the lineage from Esau. You say, how do you know that? Cuz it says we, whereas Edom saith we, plural, are impoverished. Not I am impoverished, we are impoverished. We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places. So God's saying, I'm gonna destroy the lineage of Esau, the Edomites. I'm gonna lay his mountains and his heritage, his offspring, right, his heritage waste. And then Edom says, hey, we're gonna rebuild this thing. Well, this is what God says. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, they shall build, but I will throw down. And they shall call them the border of wickedness and the people against whom the Lord hath indignation forever. And God says this group of Edomites is so wicked, I'm gonna destroy them. And when people look at it, they're gonna say, man, God really hates them. Cuz he does. That's not the individual though. That's the offspring that came from Esau as time went by. The Edomites became wicked and the Israelites became righteous. They served God. Why is it that God chose Jacob and not Esau? Was it because of how much they weighed at birth? Was it because of how dark their skin was at birth or their hair color? And look, people literally, they have all kinds of doctrines on the Edomites. Like white people are called the Edomites by the black Hebrew Israelites. Now this is nothing to a skin color. It has to do with the fact that God knew the Edomites would be wicked and would reject the word of God. Whereas the lineage from Jacob would actually follow the things of God. So why is it God chose Israel to begin with? Because they were actually the ones that were actually gonna follow what God said. And he said, I'm gonna use you, cuz you're gonna hear the word of God. And your offspring, the heritage, is gonna follow the things of God. So I'm gonna use you because you're more righteous. Well, here's the thing. Once they stop being righteous, and this is what Malachi's about. We went through it verse by verse, but Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, shows completely how they're rejected like many of the minor prophets. Like Hosea, like Malachi. They were chosen because God knew ahead of time they will actually adhere to what the Bible says, to the word of God. Whereas the Edomites will not. But he's using that as an example at the beginning of the book saying, hey, remember why I first chose you? Because you were actually righteous and they weren't. And he's telling them that because of the fact they're no longer righteous. And just like I made the Edomites destroyed, and people would say, man, God hates them. He's basically telling me, you know what, the same's gonna happen to you if you don't straighten up. That's what's happening throughout the minor prophets, right? Go back to Romans 9, Romans 9, Romans 9. You say, well, why did God hate Esau from the womb? Well, in context, as it is written, it's referring to the lineage. It's referring to the heritage. He's not saying, man, I just hated that baby from the womb, right? It's just like, I mean, that's not God's nature to just hate somebody when they have not done good or evil. No, God's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance, not repentance of sins. But all should change their mind and believe on Jesus Christ. Not willing that any should perish. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, as we read this morning in Titus 2, all men, okay? The reason why he's saying, I hate Esau is because he knew that the lineage would be wicked. Verse 14, what shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. We can't blame God for being unrighteous because he chooses to reject people that became wicked. That is God's choice of how he operates. And God says, I'm gonna use these people cuz they're gonna obey. When they stopped obeying, God said, I'm done with you. Because he never gave an everlasting covenant, okay? First example was Esau and Jacob. The second example is Moses and Pharaoh, okay? Realize once again, the context is not really the individual person. Pharaoh is Egypt, the leader of Egypt, and Moses is the leader of the Hebrews. So once again, he's saying, we got these two groups of people. And look, the Egyptians prevented God's people from doing the work of the Lord. They prevented it. And that's eventually, once they cried out, why God led them out of there, okay? They were disobedient to what God said. So verse number 15, for he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So he's saying, I'm gonna choose who I'm gonna be merciful to and who I'm gonna have compassion towards. Verse 16, so then it is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy, right? Obviously, it's up to God who he's gonna be merciful towards. And he chose to be merciful to the Hebrews and not to the Egyptians. Now let me say this, I do believe that Pharaoh at some point became a reprobate. But that's not the context of Romans 9 because they're representing the nation. It's not an individual thing. That's not the main context from Romans 9 verse 1 to what we're talking about. Cuz we just talked about Jacob and Esau not referring to the people themselves. I don't know whether Esau was saved or not. The Bible doesn't specifically say, but it's referring to the nations that would come from them. And so in the next example with Moses and Pharaoh, he's also referring to the nations, not the individual person, okay? Verse 17, for the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. And see, the Bible says here, Pharaoh was gonna reject the word of God, and this person was in this position. And because he rejected letting them leave, and they were vicious against the Hebrews, God's name was declared throughout all the earth. This is not saying that God decided, well, when Pharaoh was born, I'm gonna raise thee up from being a baby to make you this wicked person. And then I'm gonna use you being, no, no, no. I mean, he was the one who was in charge of Egypt. And whether he was a reprobate at the beginning or became one is basically irrelevant. But it's not saying I raised thee up from when you were born for this specific purpose. Now, yes, God knew that Pharaoh would reject the word of God. But what I'm trying to tell you is the context is with the nation as a whole. Egypt was wicked, and the Hebrews were the ones that were righteous, okay? Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he hath mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. God was merciful to the Hebrews, right? He gave two examples, he said Esau and Jacob. I mean, Paul's mentioning this, he's saying I want you to remember the reason why they were chosen to begin with is because they were not wicked like Esau. And the reason why Pharaoh was rejected is because Egypt was wicked. And he's saying that because of the fact that's what happened to the nation of Israel. There's no question at this point in time, they're wicked. There's a reason why God rejected them. Because being God's chosen people in terms of a nation was based on the fact that you're doing what God told you to do. And you are bringing forth the fruits in their season. Look, they weren't soul winning in the minor prophets. They had rejected the word of God, and so God says I've rejected you. I'm not gonna use you as a people. This is not individual salvation as Calvinists try to make it out to be, all right, it's salvation has always been an individual thing. It's not God just determining, well, I'm gonna send you to hell from when you're a baby. No, it's always been free will of us believing on Jesus Christ. But the Zionists also love these chapters, but if you look at the context, he's saying you were rejected because you're just like Esau. You're just like Pharaoh. You're just like the Edomites. You're just like the Egyptians. You rejected the word of God, and now I've rejected you. And look, it pains Paul because he's saying these are my kinsmen, according to the flesh. I have a love for them. I have a care for them. I would be willing to be a curse from Christ for some of these people to be saved. Because he knew, and he's saying they've been rejected. Just like God has rejected other nations before, God chose to use the Israelites, but then they got rejected as well because they became wicked. He said, brother, what about 70 years ago or whatever year where Israel became a nation? It's a fraud. It's a joke. They hate God over there. And look, I'll give you a homework assignment if you want it. You can go to YouTube and you can hear people doing interviews about Jesus Christ, the people in Israel. They hate Jesus. They blaspheme him. And that's unique when it comes to religions, because name to me another religion that hates Jesus Christ. I mean, the Muslims don't hate Jesus. They don't believe in him, but they don't hate him. The Hindus don't hate Jesus. The Buddhists don't hate, I mean, the Hindus and the Buddhists say that he was over in India between the age of 12 to 30, and he was a Hindu priest and a Buddhist priest or whatever. I mean, they don't hate him, right? They don't believe in him, but they don't hate him. The Jews hate Jesus Christ. And they were rejected. Look, the Bible is the one that says that they killed Jesus. And look, they said it themselves. They said, let his blood be upon us and upon our children. So should we have an Israeli flag back here? Should we invite some rabbi up here to preach a sermon? Should we just praise him? I mean, we ought to give all of our money. I mean, all of our tithes. You say, Brother Second, where do our tithes go? They go to Israel, right? Amen, right? I mean, they should go to Israel, right? We got to choose God's people. We got to love God's people. Look, they stopped being God's people a long time ago. They hate Jesus Christ. Let's go to the word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and getting to see what you have to say in Romans Chapter 9, God, and help us to understand our Bibles and know our Bibles. I know many of us have heard a lot of false teachings from various false teachers and people that have perverted the word of God. Help us to individually read our Bibles so we know what the Bible says. And we know it not because Brother Stuckey said it, not because Pastor Mena said it, not because some man said it. But because this is what the Bible says. Help us to know our Bibles and to read our Bibles. Help us to love you. We ask you to bless our time at fellowship and also soul winning later today. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.