You can turn with me this morning to Romans 9. So if that's a little bit of a surprise, maybe you're expecting the Old Testament again, we're going to take a brief detour from our Testify series and turn to Romans 9, that well-known chapter in the greatest of letters that Paul wrote. So Romans 9 is where we're going to be looking. It's going to be a brief break from the Testify series, but it's not necessarily an abrupt one. I think it has some relation to what we've been going over, and we've got a reason why we're going to take this break, and I think that'll become clear as we go this morning.
But the message we're going to do is really stemming from a growing conviction, a growing conviction that I feel personally that I know Dave has had for some time, but especially I think a growing conviction that has been stirring in the hearts of more and more people at Providence. And so, part of our job as pastors is to be sensitive to those things and to pray and consider if the Lord sometimes has quick detours off of a sermon series just to respond to something that it seems like He's doing in our midst. And I think He's doing something. I think we're going to see that in connection with our text this morning. I think this message hits really closely to the mission of what we want our church to be about. What we want to be one of the primary things to define us. To make disciples to the glory of God.
So, as we jump into the text, we'll see that. But before we go there, I want you to hear this message with the Gospel squarely in view. And now you're kind of thinking, well, aren't we supposed to do that every Sunday? Isn't that kind of how we're always supposed to approach? Yes, you are. But sometimes you hear a message, and when I say that this is a message coming from a place of conviction, I want to extend that conviction of God's Word to all of us this morning. And sometimes when we feel convicted, it can also lead to feeling condemnation. And that's not what we're meant to feel as believers.
And so here, the conviction of this text, the conviction of the pastors of Providence and of a growing number of people of Providence in the message this morning, but resist the temptation to go down a path of feeling guilty or condemned by ways in which your life might not square with where the text is at. I know in preparing the message, there are places where I'm falling short of what we see in this passage. And so I want to let that settle on my heart. I want to press in. I want the Spirit to do His work. But I don't want to wallow in condemnation. That's not what God has for us in Christ.
It was one of the helpful pieces about Lydia sharing the word this morning that she felt the Spirit had kind of pressed upon her on her. To feel that conviction and then to turn to Nehemiah 9 and see the need and availability of repentance and to recognize God is merciful and gracious. Israel didn't despair when they saw how they fell short of God's Word. They turned and they repented. So let that be our desire this morning and what we're aiming at, okay?
With that, let's turn to Romans 9. We're going to look at the first part of the passage. So Romans 9:1-8. Starting in verse 1, Paul says this: I am speaking the truth in Christ. I am not lying. My conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers. My kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the Law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race according to the flesh is the Christ who is God over all. Blessed forever. Amen. The Word of the Lord. May He write its truth upon our hearts.
6 · Signals a shift from text reading to exposition by acknowledging the congregation's likely preconceptions about Romans 9
Now, if you're honest this morning, as soon as you heard me say, turn your Bibles to Romans 9, there were things flashing through your mind probably, right?
7 · Acknowledges Romans 9's reputation as a theologically charged chapter that provokes strong reactions
Romans 9 is one of those chapters that can kind of get the blood pumping. It's one of those places as soon as you hear it, a lot of people know what it is.
8 · Uses familiar biblical landmarks to illustrate how Romans 9 functions as a culturally iconic passage in the Christian imagination
When somebody throws up Matthew 5-7, in your head you think, Sermon on the Mount. Beattitudes. You hear Psalm 23 and you think of the valley of the shadow of death. Isaiah 53 and you think of the suffering servant and the picture of what Christ will do to redeem His people. Romans 9 is one of those chapters. What's going on here?
9 · Humorously acknowledges one subset of the congregation's likely enthusiasm for the doctrinal depth of Romans 9
Some of you heard Romans 9 and you got a little excited. Oh, we are going to get some deep doctrine today, baby! It is going to be like steak and potatoes? We're in Romans 9! That's probably how I would respond. Yes!
10 · Acknowledges another subset's experience of Romans 9 as confusing and intimidating, validating their struggle and creating empathy
Some of you maybe hear it and think, this is one of those chapters I've always kind of avoided. I don't really know what to do with it. I'm not really sure. It kind of leaves me thinking I'm just all spun out and I can't make heads or tails of what's going on. I love Romans 8 and then I hit Romans 9-11 and I'm all of a sudden just like in a fog.
11 · Surfaces the doctrinal themes most commonly associated with Romans 9—election, predestination, Jacob and Esau, Pharaoh—to establish the congregation's existing mental map of the chapter
Well, we're probably somewhat familiar with Paul's arguments. If you think of Romans 9, you tend to think of God's moving and electing, right? You think of predestination. That's the word that typically gets tagged with the chapter. There's that story of Jacob and Esau, the twins, right? And God's choosing of Jacob. Even though they're twins and there's no difference, neither of them has done right or wrong, selects Jacob. We recall the example of Pharaoh in the Exodus and God hardening Pharaoh's heart.
12 · Uses a personal anecdote about his own theological formation to validate the congregation's association of Romans 9 with election and to establish common ground
I think back to when I was in college and I first started really wrestling with this idea of predestination. When I was wrestling with it and I went to figure out what does God say about this, the place I went to was this chapter. It was Romans 9. It's where I went to wrestle and make heads or tails of it. You might have done something similar. Working through that doctrine. The chapter gives a very clear argument and explanation for God's purposes in election.
13 · Poses a diagnostic question to surface the congregation's (and his own) tendency to skip the opening verses of Romans 9 in favor of the doctrinal exposition
Here's my question: I've gone to Romans 9 a lot in my Christian life. There's a lot there to work through. But have you been a little bit like me in the tendency to open to Romans 9 more often than not, sort of skipping and skimming over those first 5 verses to get what seems like the real meat, to get to the part where Paul really starts to lay out his arguments.
14 · Asserts the central thesis: the opening verses of Romans 9 are not preamble but a critical example of how believers should respond to the doctrine of election
Well, if you've ever done this, and I know that I have on multiple occasions, you've missed something incredibly important. An example in the Scriptures for how we're supposed to live in light of incredible doctrinal truths. That's what we see at the beginning. Paul's inspired words are going to lead to this incredible declaration of God's sovereign choice, but it starts in a place that most of us wouldn't expect. He starts in a spot that's kind of like, wait a second, where are you going here?
15 · Identifies the rhetorical structure of Romans 9: Paul's exposition on election is prefaced by his burden for the lost, not by abstract theological argumentation
His great exposition on election begins and is prefaced by his love for the lost. By his love for his Israelite brothers and sisters who do not know the Christ. Paul prefaces this chapter by revealing, he says, a genuine burden for the people of Israel.
16 · Draws attention to the unusual rhetorical intensity of Paul's opening statement, signaling its weight and sincerity
Notice how he puts it. He says, "I'm speaking the truth in Christ. I'm not lying." My conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit. Now that's a unique way for Paul to put something in the Scriptures, right?
17 · Uses sarcasm to underscore the absurdity of treating Paul's statement as necessary for truthfulness, thereby heightening the significance of his emphatic language
Oh, that's good to know, Paul, because you know, there was that section in Romans 7 where it really kind of seemed like you were just fibbing us. I didn't think you were really being serious. It just kind of seemed like hyperbole and sarcasm.
18 · Establishes the theological foundation for the weight of Paul's statement: Scripture is inerrant and infallible, so Paul's emphatic language signals something deeper than mere rhetoric
We obviously don't think Paul writes that way. We know Scripture is breathed out by God. It's inerrant. It's infallible. But here Paul goes out of his way to say, I am speaking the truth in Christ. I'm not lying. My conscience, if you could see in my heart, it would bear witness to the truthfulness of the words that I'm about to write. It means what's going to come after this isn't just some sort of reverent rhetoric. He's not just going to speak some Christianese.
19 · Illustrates the concept of empty Christian rhetoric ("Christianese") with a relatable example from congregational life
You know what that is? It's like you interact with somebody on a Sunday morning, and it's probably not even malicious in intent, They share something and say, "I'll be praying for that. I'll pray for that." And then 20 seconds later it is like, pfft, out of your head, never to return again. You know, the Christianese of the little phrases you know you're supposed to say and so you throw them out there.
20 · Concludes the exposition of Paul's opening by asserting its function: to signal the authenticity and depth of Paul's burden for Israel
Paul puts this in the text to plant a red flag and say, "I most certainly am not doing anything of the sort right here. I mean this from the core of my being." He's revealing a genuine burden.
21 · Pivots from Paul's rhetorical method to the content of his burden
So what's he being so honest about?
22 · Expounds the content of Paul's burden: great sorrow and unceasing anguish over Israel's unbelief
Well, if you keep reading, he says that he has great sorrow, unceasing anguish in his heart. Is deeply concerned with the plight of his kinsmen. He's concerned with the state of affairs of his extended family when he looks around at Israel.
23 · Contextualizes Paul's burden by recalling his apostolic calling to the Gentiles, highlighting the surprising nature of his concern for Israel
Remember what Paul's calling was? Paul's the apostle, the missionary to the Gentiles. Peter is kind of given the call, hey, you're going to go and bring God's Word to the Jews and to God's people, but Paul, you're going to be set apart to go out outside of Israel to bring the Gospel to these pagan people who have no association with the covenants and no connection with Abraham. You're going to bring the Gospel out to the Gentiles.
24 · Anticipates and dismisses a potential misreading of Paul's burden as vocational wanderlust or dissatisfaction with his calling
So when you keep that in mind, it kind of makes it interesting that Paul is saying he has this burden for the people that he's technically not primarily called to. It's an interesting thing. And the thing about it is too, You know, sometimes you hear something like that and whether it's in ministry or in work, it's like, you know, this is what your calling is or what you've been set aside, set apart to do, but it's not going so great. And so you kind of look over at somebody else's job or somebody else's calling and you think, "Oh man, they've got it better. That's really kind of what I want to do." And so there's that greener pastures, the wanderlust. "If I was doing that, it'd be way better." That's not going on with Paul either.
25 · Establishes that Paul's ministry to the Gentiles is fruitful and successful, making his burden for Israel even more striking
He's bearing fruit. He's going out into the Roman world and the cities he's taking the Gospel to, the Gentiles are coming to faith. Churches are being established. The lost are being saved. This isn't some, like, man, if I was just reaching out to the Jewish people and not the Gentiles, I'd be a bigger deal. That's not going on. Not at all. He's being fruitful in his ministry. But he still has a burden. He has a burden for his people that just won't go away.
26 · Contrasts Paul's burden with a superficial or self-serving desire for family members to believe, emphasizing the depth of his anguish
In fact, his heart doesn't just long for their faith. It's not just like, man, it would be great if my family were Christians. It would be great if my fourth cousin Joshua my 10th cousin on my mother's side, Ruth. If they believed in the Messiah, that'd be nice, man. It would make family reunions a lot easier. You know, we could stop celebrating Hanukkah and we could celebrate Christmas. They weren't celebrating Christmas yet, but you get the point. That's not what is going on here.
27 · Expounds the intensity and constancy of Paul's burden, culminating in his shocking statement of willingness to be accursed for Israel's sake
He says, I don't just sort of have a desire to see them. He's broken that Israel has rejected her Messiah. Notice the language: "Great sorrow and unceasing anguish." In other words, Paul is saying, "I have a constant burden." This isn't like watching an episode of Oprah and there's some thing on orphans and you feel conviction for like a whole 15 minutes after the episode finishes and then you have to go eat dinner and life keeps going on, so it just kind of out of sight, out of mind. That's not the kind of burden Paul feels here. It's a burden that lays heavy on his heart daily, hourly. Again and again he returns to the burden that his people Israel have rejected their Messiah. They don't know Jesus. And that leads to the climax of Paul's boldness in this section. Now read v. 3. He says, "All that being the case, I'm not lying. I'm telling the truth. I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh."
28 · Expounds the severity of Paul's statement by connecting it to Moses's prayer in Exodus, establishing a biblical-theological pattern of self-sacrificial intercession
I could wish that I myself were accursed. You could literally translate that: I would wish that I would be damned. I wish that I lived separated from Christ. I wish that I lived under the just wrath of God. If you've read Romans, Paul knows what he's saying. Paul understands fully The weight of those words. But it's even more than that. You can kind of read "wish" and think, what's he really saying there? That word "wish" is actually, literally could be translated to "pray." I pray. I almost ask God that I could be cut off if they could know Jesus. It's actually similar to the prayer of Moses in Exodus. He goes up and receives the Law. Remember, he comes down. And you have the golden calf and his heart is broken. And he knows what the people have done. This guy has been on the mountain in front of the glory and holiness of God. He has felt every fiber of his being tremble before the majesty of this God. He knows how holy God is. And then he goes down and just sees this flagrant idolatry. And it crushes him. And Moses goes back up before God and it says he prays. He wishes, he prays that he could be cursed in place of the people. It's the same idea. The same incredible statement Paul is making here.
29 · Cites John Chrysostom to underscore the shocking nature of Paul's statement, given his declaration of inseparability from Christ in Romans 8
This is what John Chrysostom, an early church pastor, he's known as the Golden-Tongued One, he was a famous preacher in the early church. This is what he says about this passage, making a connection between this and what's just come before it in Romans 8. What do you mean, Paul? Cut off from Christ? From your Beloved? From Him from whom neither kingdom nor hell could separate you? Or things seen or things understood or any other such things? Do you now pray to be accursed and cut off from Him?
30 · Connects Paul's statement in Romans 9 to his testimony in Philippians, showing that his willingness to be cut off from Christ is even more stunning given his life-defining union with Christ
You think back to the passage in Philippians. Philippians 3:7-11. What does Paul say there? I have suffered the loss of everything. I've suffered the loss of material possessions. I've suffered the loss of relationships. I've suffered the loss of my reputation. I've suffered the loss of my position within my culture and my people. I've suffered the loss of everything that really mattered. Why? For the sake of Christ. Because at the start of Philippians 1:21, he says, "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." His whole life, for Paul, is defined by his union with Christ. It's the only thing that matters. And here in Romans 9 he says, "I wish that you could do the impossible, God. That you could separate me from the Messiah. That they would be saved."
31 · Pivots from exposition to application by posing diagnostic questions about the congregation's response to Paul's compassion
What does that do for us? What do we kind of think as we consider that? Are we moved by Paul's compassion, his longing for Israel?
32 · Applies Paul's example by posing a direct question to the congregation: does Paul's brokenheartedness for the lost describe them?
Well, I want to ask a hard question. This is where I want you to be convicted, not condemned. Think very honestly before you answer to yourself. Does that, a mourning, a brokenheartedness for the lost, does that describe us? Providence Community Church, its pastors, its care group leaders, husbands and wives, teens, children. Does that describe us?
33 · Models pastoral vulnerability by confessing his own prior neglect of the opening verses, reinforcing the need for the congregation to reckon with Paul's burden
When we hear these words of Paul, what goes through our mind? Well, if I'm honest, I confess that for the longest time I read Romans 9 and I just breezed right past this part of the text. And I was missing a key piece. All that meat and potatoes I love later in the chapter starts with Paul longing, tearfully crying out for the salvation of people who don't know Jesus.
34 · Reframes the diagnostic question in personal, concrete terms: does the pastor weep over lost neighbors?
So, I'll ask the question again, maybe a little bit differently. When I read this and wrestled through it, when the Spirit pressed against me with God's Word, I had to ask the question: Do I weep over my lost neighbors? Does my heart break when I interact with people bound for destruction?
35 · Illustrates the pastor's own failure to mourn over the lost through a personal anecdote about Brandon, a talkative gym acquaintance
I think of Brandon, a guy who I interact with at the gym. He's a talker. He loves to talk. And when I'm at the gym, I am not a talker. I am there to get my workout in. The breaks should only be so long because you want this workout to be hard and you want it to be painful. I don't have a whole lot of time. It's going to accomplish its purpose. And so when Brandon comes up to talk to me, my impulse is just to kind of give him every nonverbal that I possibly can just to be like, okay, that was our 50-second snippet of niceties. Time to be done. I'm walking back over to the dumbbells now. Brandon's not a believer. He doesn't know Christ. But more often than not, I can't really be troubled to be concerned with that. Here's a guy who's going out of his way every time I see him at the gym to engage me relationally, and I'm just kind of more concerned with, man, I gotta pick the kids up from the childcare in a little bit, and I don't want them to be annoyed I left them there too long. I gotta get the kids home for supper. I really wanna get this workout in.
36 · Applies the diagnostic question to the specific case of Brandon, pressing the personal nature of the conviction
So I read this text and I ask myself, do you weep over Brandon? Do I mourn over the fact that he lives separated from Christ?
37 · Connects Paul's burden to Jesus's weeping over Jerusalem, establishing a christological pattern of mourning over the lost
Jesus mourned over these things. In Luke 19, it says he stands over Jerusalem on a hill and he weeps over the impending destruction of the city. Now, keep in mind what's going on here. The city's going to be destroyed because they don't believe in Him, because they've rejected Him. And He knows they're also going to put Him to death. If there's anybody that can sit up there and think, "They are going to get what they deserve. I don't care," it would be Jesus. And He sits and He looks upon Jerusalem. And like Paul, His heart is broken.
38 · Extends the application to everyday contexts—coworkers, family, neighbors—and confesses the pastor's own failure to sustain this burden
Is that how we interact with coworkers, with extended family over Thanksgiving, with the people in our neighborhood? If you're like me, it doesn't describe me as often as it should. I can go entire weeks without really considering the lost people around me.
39 · Pivots from diagnosis to analysis, setting up the next major section of the sermon: identifying obstacles to Paul-like compassion
So that begs the question I want to consider: Why doesn't my heart break like Paul's? Why don't our hearts break in that way? What keeps us from mourning over the lost around us?
40 · Reiterates the pastoral concern from the introduction: the goal is conviction leading to repentance, not guilt leading to despair
Now, this sermon is going to be an epic failure if all we accomplish in the next 20 minutes is just a whole bunch of guilt heaped on your shoulders. Because guilt is a horrible motivator. So I don't want you to sit here as we walk through and try and figure out, "Why don't I mourn?" to just kind of sink lower and lower and leave, go home, "What'd you think about the sermon?" "Well, I feel really crappy now." That's not what it's supposed to do! It's supposed to stir up conviction. We're supposed to come to God's Word and look into it like a mirror and see ourselves and say, do I match up with what it's describing? That's what the Spirit wants to do. He wants to see us see conviction and bring our life into step with it. But not to be crushed under condemnation.
41 · Identifies the first obstacle to mourning over the lost: a judgmental attitude toward unbelievers in their sin rather than compassionate sorrow
So, let's look at some reasons why my heart and our hearts might not be broken in the way they could be and should be. First, I think it has to start probably with our attitude towards unbelievers. And in particular, how we regard unbelievers in their sin. Here's a barometer of how you consider your lost neighbors, the lost people you interact with in your life. When you see someone living in sin, whatever that sin category is that they're living in, contrary to God's Word, contrary to what you think is a significant way to live in holiness. What's your first response? Is your first response to look at them with judgment? Seeing their sin, their lack of affection for Christ? Or do you look at them with compassion? And with sorrow. Put another way, when you see someone who's lost, whose heart is still darkened, does your heart break or does your heart condemn?
42 · Describes the us/them mentality that fosters condemnation rather than compassion, where believers see the lost as deserving of judgment and to be avoided
If we're not careful, we can really easily develop a sort of us/them mentality. Us, there's the Christians, there's the believers that they look the right way and they live in the right place and they vote for the right people and they do all these things right. But more than even that, they just love God and so they're not living out sin. And so that means they're one of us. And then there's all those people to be avoided at all costs. Because if you come into contact with them, who knows what could happen? If that's how we consider them and treat them, there is a sense in which we don't have compassion for them, we have just condemnation. They're on the road to you-know-where and they deserve it. Brush it off. Let's go eat dinner.
43 · Contextualizes Romans 9 within Paul's correction of anti-Judaism among Gentile believers, showing Paul's rejection of us/them thinking
Paul is reacting here in Romans 9 to a growing anti-Judaism in the church. You've got all these Gentiles that he's been fruitful in bringing in, right? And now they're kind of looking out and saying, pfft, these Jews, they rejected Jesus. Good riddance. They're getting the condemnation they deserve. And Paul says, no, that's not how we regard them. Jews versus Gentiles. Don't have this Christian versus non-Christian mentality. Do you forget the grace you've received?
44 · Cites Paul's olive tree metaphor to underscore the grace-based nature of the Gentiles' inclusion and warn against arrogance
He's going to go on here and say, hey, you wild olive branches. You get grafted into a tree that's not your heritage. You don't think God can easily just clip you off?
45 · Anticipates a potential objection: Paul's compassion is natural because the Jews are his people
Now, you can think of this and think, well, yeah, of course Paul feels that way. They're his people.
46 · Refutes the objection by detailing the persecution Paul suffered at the hands of the very people he mourns for, making his compassion even more stunning
Do you remember what these people have done to Paul? In Philippians when he says, "I've suffered the loss of all things for the sake of Christ," it's not just like, well, there's some kind of speed bumps along the way and some minor things that have unfortunately happened to him. His people, the Jewish people, the leaders of the Jewish people, have made Paul public enemy number one. They've beaten this guy. They've chased him out of cities. At one point, they stone him and leave him for dead. He has to flee let down out of baskets over city walls because of the way they're pursuing him.
47 · Applies the refutation by preempting excuses for failing to mourn over obnoxious or hostile lost people
So don't let yourself off the hook by just thinking, well, yeah, of course Paul cares about these people. He's close to them. That guy at work is obnoxious. How am I supposed to enjoy interacting with him or have any sort of burden for him? That guy across the street, he hates Christians. He thinks I'm judgmental and intolerant. He despises everything about me. Why should I have any compassion for him?
48 · Restates the thesis: Paul's compassion is stunning because it extends to those who persecute him
But when we look at Paul, We see a guy wishing he could be cut off from Christ for the sake of people who want him dead. That's amazing!
49 · Identifies the source of Paul's compassion: not guilt, but meditation on Christ's work on his behalf
And it doesn't happen because he wallows in guilt all night. It happens because he considers all that Christ has done for him.
50 · Illustrates the tragedy of Israel's unbelief by describing Jews weeping at the Wailing Wall with their backs to Calvary, where their Messiah was crucified
Think back to last week. Remember? The sermon about the true temple and the nature of the temple. We talked about the Wailing Wall in the introduction. Remember the Wailing Wall is that wall in Jerusalem. It's the last vestige of the temple that Herod built. And really, it's not even part of the temple itself. It's just a wall that was part of the outer courtyard of the temple. And these people come and they wail and they stick little prayers in the wall and they just come and rend their garments as they stand at the wall. You want to know why Paul weeps and his heart breaks? We didn't get to touch on this. In the way we could have last week. Geographically, where the temple is and where Calvary is and where that wall is and where the place of crucifixion is means that these people, these Jews, when they go to the wall and they weep and they long for this temple that's not there anymore and their hearts break over the fact they don't have Jerusalem the way they should, as they do that at this wall and they cry and they cry out to God, You know what their posture is? Mourning over bricks and mortar that aren't there, with their back turned to the place where their Messiah was crucified. That's why Paul mourns.
51 · Expounds the tragedy: Israel continues to offer sacrifices for sin while the true sacrifice was made at Calvary, just behind them
It kills him to see the way they continue to go to the temple to offer sacrifice for sin. When the sacrifice was made directly behind where they're at.
52 · Applies the warning to the church: believers can fall into the same us/them thinking, forgetting that apart from grace, they too would be lost
And that still happens in the church. In our desire to resist conforming to the culture around us— and there should be ways that we resist. We're called to be holy and set apart. If we're not careful, we can start treating Christians as the other. But if not for grace, every single one of us would still bear that distinction.