I invite you to open the Bible and turn with me to the book of Romans chapter 9, verse 24, exactly where we left off before Christmas and New Year's break. And Romans 9 has a reputation for its profound theology that we get to see behind the scenes. What is God doing to save people like us? But what we've actually found as we're going through Romans 9, is that Paul quotes a lot of Scripture. And I want you to try to track with me how much Scripture he refers to, as we're going to be looking at verse 24, all the way to verse 33 tonight. So, once you're able to get to Romans 9, I invite you to stand for the public reading of Scripture. And I'm going to read from Romans 9:24, to the end of the chapter. And I want to encourage you to give this your full and undivided attention because this is the Word of God. This is telling you things about God you would never know unless he revealed them to you. Romans 9:24-33.
even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? As indeed he says in Hosea, “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’ And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’” And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” And as Isaiah predicted, “If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, we would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah.” Israel's Unbelief What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness[b] did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
That's the reading of God's word, please go ahead and have your seat. And there's a handout there in your bulletin if you want to take some notes with me. And if you do, the first thing I'd want you to do is circle that word “called”; that is the focus of what we want to talk about. The God who calls and the call here is not just the general call of God calling out that anybody could come and be saved, this is what we would call the “effectual call,” that when God calls somebody he's calling them to save them. That's what we've been talking about. And we've been really talking about God's people of Israel, the Jews. And remember getting into the context of Romans 9, if you can remember this, because it's been some time since we looked at it. But we learned that not all Israel is Israel. Just because you are a physical descendant of father Abraham does not mean that you are actually one of God's promised people of faith. And in fact, God, he can call anyone. Go back to Romans 9:13. And this is where we got into the whole purpose of God's election. It says here in Romans 9, actually look with me at verse 11, Romans 9:11, “though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls—.” So that's 9:11. We have this idea that people are getting saved not because of what they do, but just because God calls them. And in fact, God can call anybody he wants to call and whomever he calls. God will save them because God is actually the one that chooses a people for himself. That's what we learned in Romans 9. And kind of the amazing thing that's being said, is God's not just calling Jews, God's calling all kinds of people, people from every nation, God is even calling Gentiles.
So, go back even into Romans 8 and look at Romans 8:28. Let's get back to some of the famous verses that we studied last year. “We know that for those who love God, all things work together for good for those who are what? Is this, hey there, everybody, “called according to his purpose.” And in fact, if God calls you according to his purpose, and his purpose is the exaltation of Jesus, and so, if he places you into Christ, then you'll be there with Jesus on the day Jesus gets glory. On the day, Jesus inherits all things, you'll be a part of it, In fact, look what it says in Romans 8:30, “And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”
So, you can see getting back into the context of the book of Romans, If God calls you, you're going to get saved, and God is saving people. And when he calls them, they do get saved, and they will be there with Jesus in glory, because God's purpose is he can call whoever he wants to be his people. So, go back with me now in Romans 8:24. Because today, we really miss a lot of the original context of Romans 9, which is he's trying to explain why the Jews are not really all believing in Jesus. And how did this whole breakdown occur? Well, it's not just Jews that are getting saved. It's Gentiles. That's verse 24. “Even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles.” Now, you can see right away when Paul makes a statement, and this has really been true throughout Romans 9, when Paul says something, it's like, he immediately backs it up with Scripture; or Paul might even quote the Scripture and then tell you what he's trying to get you to think about. And so that's something I want you to just see here very clearly is, if you're taking notes we've got, before we can even get to a point of what we're supposed to think or take away from the text. We have a reference point, another scripture that he's referring to, to make his point.
And so, let's get this down for Reference Number one, he does kind of a mash up here of two verses from Hosea, Hosea 2:23, and Hosea 1:10. So, this is really interesting. He doesn't just quote the verses, as they are, he says, this is coming from Hosea. But then he kind of puts some of the thoughts from Hosea together in kind of his own unique way that he writes them here. Hey, don't you remember what we learned from Hosea? And he refers to Hosea, but it's not exactly a hundred percent quote. It's kind of a mash up of multiple Scriptures from Hosea. So even though Paul is an apostle of Jesus, Paul saw Jesus on the road to Damascus, Paul had multiple heavenly visions. I mean, Paul, he wrote Scripture, he planted churches. This was a man when he spoke, he spoke with the authority of God. But Paul wasn't saying, listen to me, I'm smart, I can tell you how it is. I have good logic. That's not how Paul was at all. Paul's like, let me tell you how it is, because that's what the Scripture says. So, if we're going to move, we're going to finish Romans 9 and move into Romans 10 in the weeks to come. Let's not leave Romans 9 without just taking note, wow, if that was one of the most theological chapters in all the Bible, that guy wasn't making up his own thoughts. He was quoting to us what the Scripture said. And you need to make sure that the way you think is based on what the Bible says, and not your own understanding; don't lean on your own understanding. Trust the Lord with all your heart. And how do you trust the Lord? You’ve got to get his Word on your heart
Go with me to the book of Hosea. Hosea, it's the first prophet in the book of the twelve. You might have heard someone refer to these prophets as the Minor Prophets. And unfortunately, somebody's started calling them Minor Prophets. And I don't know who that person was, but I am not happy with them. And the reason they called them the Minor Prophets was because they're shorter than Major Prophets. But minors are people who can't vote is what they are. They are people who are not as cool as all of you who are adults here in the room, right? And unfortunately, that's how many people in the church have treated these prophets. It says that they're not as important as the bigger prophets, which is a huge mistake that we have made that we may never recover from because this is the Word of God to his people. And so, if you don't know what's going on in the book of Hosea, Paul's talking about God like he expects everybody to know. Remember how Hosea said, so the book of Hosea is actually a terrible book to lead off the Minor Prophets, because it's a story that's not for minors, if you know what I mean. It's a story about a prostitute is what it's a story about. It's a story about a prophet who goes and marries a prostitute as kind of a symbol of how God and his people are not being faithful to him. His people are having idols and other loves besides God. God told them, love me with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and they're out there loving somebody else. And so, the Prophet here, he marries a prostitute. And it says that word all throughout Hosea, because that's the picture that God wants to put in his people's minds of how they're treating him. And they even have children together. And one of the children gets this really nice name, “Not My People.” How would you like that to be your name, right? And the other day, you never ever met a nice lady named Mercy. Well, how about the name, “No Mercy.” Did you ever meet a kid name No Mercy before. This whole thing is God trying to make a point. And then it says, if you go to the end of Hosea 2:23, you kind of get to this exciting thing, that even though God is not being loved by his people, God still loves his people. Even when they're not faithful, God remains faithful, and the steadfast love of the LORD never ceases. You hear about Hosea, you should think right away, oh, how God loves his people see, and it says here in Hosea 2:23, “and I will sow her for myself in the land. And I will have mercy on No Mercy, and I will say to Not My People, ‘You are my people’; and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’” Here's God giving you a glimpse, like, I want to have a relationship with my people so bad. And someday, the people who are not my people, they will be my people. And when they don't have mercy, I'm going to give them mercy. And then I'll finally hear from my people what I want to hear from them, you are my God. And so he's kind of showing how bad it is to highlight the love he has for his people and how he wants it to be… go back to Hosea 1:10, when it's kind of setting up this whole analogy, with No Mercy and Not My People. It says in Hosea 1:10, “Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ it shall be said to them, ‘Children of the living God.’”
Now, you can see that that's the idea that Paul is saying there in Romans 9, and he kind of takes from both of those verses, and he mashes it up together. But here's what would be shocking. If you and I were sitting in the church of Rome, and somebody read to us Paul's letter the first time, the first time you heard this idea, because it was very commonly thought in the first century, that the Jewish people were God's people, and, and really nobody else. At least that's what the Jews thought. And so when he takes what God says about Israel in Hosea, and he applies it to people who are Gentiles, people from other nations, that would have been like, whoa, you're saying that even not just Jews, who were not your people, will be your people, but people who were not your people at all, they weren't even from father Abraham, they are going to be your people. So that's what's really shocking that he's saying here in Romans 9.
Let's get it down like this for point number one: “God calls the Gentiles to salvation.” A God calls in this was always God's purpose. But this passage here in Hosea was originally in a context of Israel. But now Paul's using it to refer to Gentiles, not just Jews. Whoa, that's really kind of groundbreaking there. That's a big part of the book of Acts, when you see that the gospel starts to go to Cornelius and the Gentiles and God gives Peter that vision that what he thought was unclean would actually be clean. And we're not just going to spread the Good News to the Jews all over the world, but to every nation, tribe and tongue. Now, do I have any Gentiles here in the house tonight, right? We have some; we have some Jews who come to our church, but I think the majority of people who come to this church are Gentiles. Is anybody here glad that God calls Gentiles to salvation? Okay, so a lot of us, we kind of take this truth for granted. Because what do you mean? What do you mean, there was a time when people thought that Gentiles couldn't be saved? Like we're not living in that time, right? We're thinking, of course, we could be saved. Why couldn't we be saved? We're like entitled to be saved. That's kind of our mentality these days. So, you kind of have to get yourself back into the context. He's trying to explain what's going on with the Jewish people. And he's saying, hey, let me tell you something amazing. If you thought it was just about the Jews, first of all, if you thought all the Jews were getting saved, no, it's not all of the Jews that are saved. Not all Israel is Israel. In fact, it's not even just the Jews who are getting saved. God can call anybody, Jew or Gentile. And we're supposed to think, wow, what an amazing God, what a gracious and merciful God! God is just calling people that God wants to be their God, and he wants them to be his people. And if God calls them, he's going to save that person. And nothing can stop God from saving his people. Wow, this is exciting. That's what we're supposed to think here. When we're going through Romans 9 now that might raise a question in some people's mind. Oh, is he just like done with the Jews and he's going all Gentiles and that's where it goes? If you go back to Romans 9 with me, that's what it addresses right away. After that. He goes straight from quoting Hosea, right into quoting Isaiah. And so, you can see he actually has two different quotes here in Romans 9:27. Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, though the number of the sons of Israel be what? As the sand of the sea. And that's actually how he's like if you knew both, Hosea talks about the sands of the sea. Now he's quoting Isaiah on that. So that's like an interesting segue that he's doing there to go from one Scripture that he's quoting right into another one. Hey, remember when Isaiah was saying, only a remnant of them will be saved? And then he says in Romans 9:29, another prediction from Isaiah, another prophecy here, that if the Lord had not left us some offspring, wow, we would have been like Sodom, and we would have been like Gomorrah. So again, these quotes here from Isaiah, are not like exact chapter and verse quotes there, it's kind of a mash up of different ideas from Isaiah, that he's doing here.
So, let's get that down for reference number two, he's quoting two different passages from Isaiah. And he's kind of just referring to them. The first one is Isaiah 10:22-23. And then he's quoting Isaiah 1:9, and these may not be passages that you are familiar with. So, grab your Bible and turn with me. Let's start in Isaiah, chapter 10. So, this is something I want to say to our church. And I want you to really think about this is that, if the apostle Paul thinks that he needs to prove what he's saying, with Scripture, should you prove what you're saying with Scripture? Okay, let me just take a moment to say that in our church, in the culture that we have a Southern California Christians going into 2024, it is easy and regular to hear somebody say, like, I don't know where it says it in the Bible, but and then what do they do when they say, but they butcher the quote of Scripture, okay? I just want you to see that Paul didn't do that. That's not the way you're going to have good theology. That's not how you're going to make profound life changing points, like he's quoting scripture that he is very familiar with. And so, I would encourage you, you’ve got to know the Scripture on your heart. So, when you speak, you know what you're talking about. Look at Isaiah, chapter 10. And look at what it says here. Let's actually go and you get the context starting in Isaiah 10:20, “In that day,” and this is a key word here, “the remnant of Israel, and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean on him who struck them, but they will lean on YHWH, the Holy One of Israel in truth, a remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob to the mighty God. For though your people Israel will be as the sand of the sea. Here's the part that's quoted, “only a remnant of them will return.” Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness for the Lord God of hosts, the God of angel armies, he will make a full end as decreed in the midst of all the earth. So, this is like a really sobering statement. Good News. News, there will always be a remnant of God's people in the Jews, bad news judgment is coming, and many of them will experience the judgment of God. So, he does go to the idea, hey, God can call the Gentiles, God can call whoever he wants, but God does still have a remnant of the Jews.
So, let's get this down here for point number two: “God is still calling Jews too! God is still calling Jews too. And I think that's a very important point for us to make that God always has a remnant of his people. And if you go to Israel, you may not see many professing believers, if you are no Jews today, they may not believe that Jesus is the Messiah, we have some Jews who believe that here at our church praise the Lord. But a lot of the Jewish people they may not have really seen who Jesus is. And you might be tempted to think, well, I don't know if God really has a future for the Jews. No, God has a remnant. That would be a good word to write down under point number two: A remnant. that is a word that we can see in the prophecies about Israel, God will preserve a remnant of his people. In fact, remember when Elijah was having such a hard time in 1 Kings 19. And Elijah felt like I'm the only one. I'm the only guy left. I'm the only prophet left. And what does God say to Elijah right away? He's like, I’ve got seven thousand that have bowed the knee to that idol Baal. I’ve got seven thousand Elijah. Don't act like you're the only one. I've got my people.
Go over to Isaiah chapter 1. Let's look at the second quote here that kind of gets mashed up with the other one here in Isaiah, chapter 1. I mean, Isaiah is a very hard-hitting prophecy. If you've ever really studied what is called one of the Major Prophets of at least of the written prophets, the book of Isaiah ended. This is a master class of prophecy. This is sixty-six chapters of epic scripture. And let's just take it after the introduction there in Isaiah 1:1. Look at verse two with me. Isaiah 1:2 here, “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth,” which is God calling his witnesses of heaven and earth that he said all the way back in Deuteronomy. So really, Isaiah is picking up exactly where Deuteronomy left off. He says, hey hear, for the Lord has spoken. “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me.” Look at what he says in Isaiah 1:4, “Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged.” Like that's getting straight to the point right there everybody. Like here's God saying, Look at my people, these people that should be my kids, have rebelled against me. They are a sinful nation. And you can see what it says in Isaiah 1:9, “If the Lord of hosts had not left us a few survivors, we should have been like Sodom, and become like Gomorrah.” if you don't know the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, you might want to write down Genesis 19. And what has made those cities kind of forever famous is they were judged by God when he said, what everybody fire right that consumed those cities, because they were wicked, sinful cities, and they were judged. And if God hadn't left, it says it in Romans 9 that there was some offspring here. It says, In Isaiah, a few survivors. If God didn't still have a remnant of people, he would have wiped out the nation of Israel long ago, because they were a sinful nation who deserved to be wiped out. But because of God's promise, he still has a plan for the future of Israel. So, if you ever hear somebody starting to act like, well, who cares about Israel anymore? It's all about the church these days. Well, hey, good news. Jesus is building his church. And God is saving people all over the world, in the church, but don't write off what God's going to do with Jews. God has even to this very moment a remnant of his people, and God will save a remnant of Israel. We'll see that as we keep going through Romans 9, 10, and 11.
So, go back with me now to Romans chapter 9. So we have here this powerful thing that he's building his case through Hosea and Isaiah. Hey, it's not, there's actually going to only be even if there are so many Jews as the sand of the sea, only a few of the Jews will be saved. But guess what? People who were not God's people are now being called God's people as Gentiles are getting saved. So, what should we say about this after he quotes the Scriptures here? He then goes to Romans 9:30. You know how Paul, he likes to ask those questions to kind of bring it back to get us thinking. So, what do we say about the Scriptures that I'm sharing with you? The Gentiles who weren't pursuing righteousness, they attained righteousness, because they just believed when they heard the gospel of Jesus, when they heard the word of Christ, Gentiles are getting righteous, Gentiles are getting saved. And guess what? The Israel, Romans 9:31, the Jewish people, they have the law. So, they're trying to live out the law. They're trying to be righteous before God. But that's the whole problem. They didn't succeed in reaching that law. Why? Romans 9:32, because they did not pursue it by what everybody? Faith. So earlier, if you were here when we studied Romans, we learned a lot about how no one, not one person will ever be justified. God is not going to say that one person is ever righteous based on their works, that will not happen. But when you put your faith in Jesus, the Righteous One, you will be declared righteous by faith. Can I get an amen from anybody on that? Now he's applying that? Well, let me tell you how that really played out with the Jews who went down the path of works, and with the Gentiles who are just hearing this message, and believing in Jesus as the Christ. And the Gentiles are finding the righteousness when the Jews are not because the Jews made it about themselves trying to live up to the standard of God's law, when the Gentiles just rejoiced, and believed that Jesus is the righteous one who lived up to God's holy standard. And so, look, what's happened is what Paul is saying. And in the first century, when Paul's saying this, it is so controversial, that they are going to kill Paul. The Jews are going to keep going after him, chasing him from town to town, making sure he's arrested, and then having trial here and trial in Caesarea, and he's going to have to appeal to Rome, and he's going to be killed in Rome. Why? Because Paul's saying that Gentiles can be saved, just like Jews, because it doesn't matter. Whoever God calls, he said. It’s not about where the person came from. God can call anyone; he calls all kinds of people. And if God calls you, you will be saved. This was so controversial when Paul preached this, that that's why they killed him for sayings. So this is some edgy stuff that Paul was writing here in Romans 9. This is raising a few eyebrows when this is originally read in the city of Rome, where Paul is going to end up dead for preaching that the gospel is for the nations, for all people, what you and I take for granted today this guy had to die for. And so, you can see he ends with, I'll tell you that how this all happened. This is his like kind of climax of this section of Romans. And this is what's going to kick off the whole next chapter, halfway through verse 32. He says that they, the Jews, have stumbled over the stumbling stone as it is written.
And then you can see he quotes here, Isaiah 28:16. So, let's get that up here on the screen, Isaiah 28:16. And I just think it's interesting because he says, let me tell you something from Hosea, and it's kind of a mash up of verses. Let me tell you something from Isaiah, and then it's a mash up of verses. But here, he doesn't tell you where it's from. He just says, as it is written, and then here he gives you like a pure quote of Scripture, that is Isaiah 28:16. That is actually a very commonly quoted Scripture. You might know Isaiah 28:16, more from where it is quoted, than from its actual context. So, let's grab our Bible once again. And let's go back to the book of Isaiah. And let's look at this. Isaiah 28:16. And this verse is going to be a big transition for us in the book of Romans. We've been talking for weeks about God's purpose to choose his people, God calling his elect to salvation, will now once you talk about this verse, it flips around to people calling on God to be saved. So, God is the one who calls people to be saved. And God can call whoever he wants, and God will save them. But then guess what, whoever wants can also call on God, and God will save them. And so that's where he's going right after this verse. Are you guys with me? They're in Isaiah chapter 28. And you can pick it up with me at Isaiah 28:16. In fact, let's even go up to Isaiah 28:14 to try to get the context here. “Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers, who rule this people in Jerusalem!” Remember what kind of nation is Jerusalem? Here in the book of Isaiah, they are a “sinful nation.” So, the people ruling in Jerusalem, they're scoffers against God, they are not the kind of rulers you want. Isaiah 28:15, “because you have said, we have made a covenant with death.” Now that is a scary thing for your governing authorities to be doing, everybody. That feels very creepy right there that the rulers in Jerusalem are making a covenant with death and with Sheol, we have an agreement, when the overwhelming whip passes through, it will not come to us, for we have made lies our refuge and in falsehood we have taken shelter. Yikes. Like people ruling in Israel, who have made like a deal with the devil, so to speak, they've like cut a deal with lies, thinking that's somehow going to protect them on the Day of Judgment, what a description of judgment on the day when the overwhelming whip passes through. And so then it says, all of a sudden, right there in Isaiah 28:16, “therefore thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’ And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plumb line.” That's good word right there. It's so corrupt, it's so twisted, the rulers of the people are out here cutting a deal with the devil and making lies their strategy and God's sense, let me tell you what I'm going to do, I'm going to rebuild this whole thing from the ground floor. And I've got the right stone to do it with. See, in the construction, in the architecture, if you were building something at this time, you started with a cornerstone. And I don't know if you've ever gotten to go see the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. And if you've gotten to take the tour, where you go underground, and somebody from your tour walks way over there, and somebody from your tour walks way over there, and they can barely see each other in this long tunnel. And it's like, yeah, from that person to that person. That's all one stone that they laid as the foundation. And you're like, that's the biggest stone I've ever seen in my entire life. And that's what God's saying is, hey, when our nation has reached here in Israel, in Judah at this time in Jerusalem, when it is absolutely hundred percent corrupt, I want to tell you that I'm going to rebuild it. And I'm going to put this cornerstone down. And when I put this cornerstone down, guess what, we're going to have justice, no more lies, no more deals with death. Finally, things will be made right. And God sent to his own people, the Jews, he sent to them his holy and anointed one, God sent to his people his son, and he went to his own people, and his own did not receive him. They rejected the cornerstone. And the cornerstone that should have been the foundation of everything that Jewish people longed for. The cornerstone became a stumbling block that they tripped up on. And that's what it's saying here in Isaiah 28:16. But the good news is, if you believe in this cornerstone, whoever believes in the one who's the cornerstone, whoever believes in the one who's going to bring justice, I love how it says it here, “whoever believes will not be in haste.” What does that mean to be in haste? It means you're fleeing for your life on the day that the overwhelming whip passes through. On the Day when it all comes crashing down. You won't be running for your life, you will be saved on the Day of Judgment. Is that good news to anybody right there. Whoever believes in him, you won't be fleeing for your life. So, this idea that there is a stone that's why it's so powerful when Jesus says Yes, Peter, I am the Christ and on this rock, I will build my church. See when Jesus says that. It's like, whoa, that's like so many references to so many prophecies.
Now go back to Romans chapter 9 and let's just trace, because once he quotes this Scripture here, that Scripture is really what is going to inspire Romans chapter 10, that there is a judgment that is coming on Israel. But if you believe in the cornerstone, yeah, I know, people stumbled over it. And I know they're not believing that Jesus is the Messiah. But if you believe that Jesus is the Messiah, you won't get the judgment that's coming, you will not be put to shame as how it says it here in Romans 9, you will not be put to haste. And that's the idea. Whoever believes in him, they'll be saved when the day of death, the Day of Judgment comes. And so, that's where he goes, right? Look at Romans 10:1, and this is where we're going to, we're going to start a four or five week series, going through Romans chapter 10, talking about God's passion to save people, it's about to get very excited around here, everybody, hopefully, we're going to see some people get saved here in the year of our Lord 2024. And so, it's like he's going through what's happened where the Gentiles are being called, and there's a remnant of the Jews, but the Jews aren't really believing in Jesus. That's a big problem. But I haven't given up my heart's desire. And my prayer is that God will save the Jews is what Paul's saying here. And he's going to go through. Look at Romans 10:9, you might have heard this before. “Because if you confess with your mouth, that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be,” what does it say, everybody, “you will be saved from this judgment that's coming.” You’ve got to believe in Jesus. He's the Lord, he's risen from the dead. In fact, then he says this in verse 12. And this is the point that he's really making. “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek.” And sometimes it refers to Gentile, sometimes Greek, but that's meaning the other nations besides the Jews, God is not distinguishing between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who, what does he say there, everybody? Key word of the day. Okay, so, that's got to jump out to us now. It's been telling us that if God calls you according to his purpose, all things are good for you. Because you're going to be there with Jesus in the end. And if God called you, he's going to justify you. And if God justified you, you will be glorified. In fact, if God called you, it's already a done deal, because it's all about God's purpose of election. And good news. If God calls you, Well, God can do whatever he wants. And so, if he calls you, you can have assurance of your salvation, because God has chosen you to be one of his people. And then now in the very next chapter, he says, And God is God of all people. So, whether you're a Jew, or a Gentile, guess what? Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be what? Okay, notice what happens here in verse 11, he quotes Isaiah 28:16. Again, everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame. But it's almost like, hey, just in case that Scripture is not working for you, just in case, you're not getting what I'm saying, let me be super clear. He's the God of the Jew. He's the God of the Gentile. He's the God of all nations. He's the God of you. And if you call on his name, you will be saved. And he says it explicitly there in Romans 10:13, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. And that is a quote from Joel 2:32, that he's quoting right there to make that point. And so, we'll be getting into how people can call on God to be saved. But the point we're ending and kind of putting an exclamation point on here tonight, is God can call whomever he wants.
So, let's get that down here for point number three: “God calls whoever he wants,” that's the takeaway. Doesn't matter what kind of person they are, doesn't matter where they came from. If God wants him, God can choose them to be one of his people. But here's where we're going. And whoever can call God to. So, this is one of the amazing things in Scripture, how it goes from it's totally up to God, and it's all based on who God calls. And oh, by the way, everyone can call on God and be saved. And so, this idea that people who are not God's people are becoming God's people, and people who haven't had mercy are now receiving mercy. This is so exciting.
Go with me to 1 Peter 2:4-10. And I want to show you that Peter, he teaches this same exact truth. And he doesn't make maybe perhaps as big of a point of the Jew and Gentile distinction, as Paul does in Romans chapter 9. But Peter is preaching the same thing that the Jews have rejected him, they have a stone of offense to them. They've stumbled over the solid rock, the cornerstone of Jesus. But look what Peter says herein 1 Peter 2:4 as you come to him, and he is a living stone. So, let's talk about Jesus here. And let's get back to this kind of ancient architectural analogy of if you're going to build something, you’ve got to start with a cornerstone, and God's ready to lay a stone in Zion in his Son, Jesus. Well, you're coming to him, he's a living stone, and he was rejected by men, but in the sight of God, his Son, Jesus is chosen and precious. And you yourselves, like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture. Here's Peter making his point by quoting scripture, behold, and what does he quote? Isaiah 28:16, same exact Scripture. “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a Cornerstone, chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” So, the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected, has become the cornerstone, and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. They stumble, because they disobey the word as they were destined to do, but you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation of people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him “who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people, once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. See, he doesn't bother with, oh, the Jews over here, the Gentiles over here. He's just talking to you here tonight. Hey, a lot of people rejected Jesus. In fact, Peter, the guy who ran away and denied Jesus three times, do you know in Acts chapter 4, they actually brought Peter and John in front of the same Jewish Sanhedrin, in front of the same court that falsely accused Jesus and had Jesus killed. They then brought Peter and John in front of those same guys. Last time they did a trial like this, Peter lied three times, and before the rooster crowed. Now Peter is the main spokesperson put on trial. Do you remember what Peter said in Acts chapter 4? He said, hey, let me tell you something. The stone that you rejected is the cornerstone. And there is no other name given among men under heaven, by which anybody can be saved in the name of Jesus. Peter goes back to the guys who killed Jesus. And on trial, he says, you rejected him. But he is the only name by which anyone is being saved. Peter doesn't bring that up. He's not like remember, in the Sanhedrin, when I told those guys what was up, he doesn't say that. The point Peter's trying to make is, yeah, he was rejected. But he's precious in God's sight. And you know what, because of Jesus, you, who were not one of God's people, you're now one of God's people. And you, who you weren't going to get what you deserved on the Day of Judgment. Guess what? Now you're not getting what you deserve on the Day of Judgment. You're getting mercy instead. Hey, is that good news for anybody here tonight? See, look at key word of the night. 1 Peter, chapter 2. Can you see it right there in the middle of verse 9? A people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who, what does it say there, everybody? God called you. God called you?

Unknown Speaker 44:09
Like, I don't know, if you ever get a phone call. And sometimes the person's name pops up. I usually don't answer the ones when it's just numbers, right? Or if it says spam call, I usually don't answer that. I don't know if you enjoy bad moments in life, and you answer those phone calls or not. But then you see somebody's name on. I mean, if you see, I would imagine that there are certain names that if you see that name, you're answering that phone call. I would imagine that there could even be some names that we could put and if that name came across your phone, you would be like, wow, I can't believe that so and so is calling me and I'm here to tell you that God called you when you were not one of his people, and you did not deserve mercy. God called, he chose to make you one of His people and And where were you when he called you look what it says here. He called you out of darkness and into his marvelous life. The reality that God called you is supposed to be this marvelous thing in your mind this impossible thing in your mind. This is not like, oh, yeah, God called me I already know about that. Yeah, that's old news for me. Now, at this point, the fact I'm here to ask you this very personal question, if you're my brother or sister, if you would claim to be saved, well, the only reason you got saved is because God called you. And if God called you, I got a basic question for you here tonight. Is it marvelous to you? How would anybody who knows you get the impression that you think it is amazing? It is awesome in the true sense of the word. This is something like marvelous, isn't even like I just picked her marvelous, darling, like nobody even uses that word. Like this is one of the words that is still kind of sacred, it hasn't gotten brought down to the mundane. And the common, like, whoa, that is marvelous. Is that really how you live your life? Like, I'm so amazed that I'm no longer in the darkness. But he brought me into the light. Because he called me when I wasn't one of his people. When I didn't deserve mercy, guess what he called me by my name, he called me. See how it says here. If you look at this verse, it says, that you may, he's made you one of his people. And then here's your response, if you believe the doctrine that we're going through here in Romans 9, about God's purpose of election that God calls whoever he wants, and God saves them. And here's why he did that. Here's why he made you one of his people, that you may write it down, if you're taking notes, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him, who called you. God called you so that you would be praising him, God called you so that you would be telling other people about him. God called you so that you would be saying, thank you, Jesus for being a solid rock, the cornerstone that I can build my life on, I don't even want to think about where I would be if you hadn't called me. And I want to proclaim the excellencies. And there are so many Christians, so many people calling themselves Christians, that are a bad example of the gospel of Jesus Christ. They're not acting like it's excellent. They're not acting like it's marvelous. How are you responding to the fact that you were not one of God's people. And he called you to be one of his people, you had no hope, and he gave you mercy. Now you will never get what you deserve. When everybody else is fleeing for their life on the Day of Judgment, you will not be put to shame. You will not be running in haste. You will be vindicated as one of God's righteous ones. When the rest of the world gets treated like Sodom and Gomorrah, you will share in glory forevermore. All because God called you.
Turn with me to Psalm 118. We've seen Paul quote, Isaiah 28:16, we've seen Peter quote, Isaiah 20:16. How about David, quoting Isaiah 28:16 here in Psalm 118? Well, David didn't quote it because David wrote it before Isaiah, right. So Isaiah is kind of building on the theme here of King David, but this idea of the stone that the builders rejected, it comes from Psalm 118:22, as David is writing this song of, of giving thanks to the Lord, a God is good for his steadfast love endures forever, oh, give thanks to the Lord, like do you have some excellencies to proclaim? Do you have something marvelous to sing about?
And here's what he teaches. Even before Isaiah, David wrote this. So, we actually have like Isaiah referring to something that David put into the Scripture here, Psalm 118:22, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the” what does it say there, everybody? It's “a cornerstone.” See, this is the amazing thing that God's own people rejected him. And then God opened up and he called all kinds of people to come in and be his people to come in and get his mercy. They rejected the stone and that became the cornerstone for you. And look what it says right here, Psalm 118:23, “This is the Lord's doing and it is what? “O, it's marvelous.” Oh, can you see it? Can you see how amazing it is? Here you were doing whatever you want it to do, living life for whatever you want it. And just because he wanted to, God called you. You weren't one of his people, you weren't doing good works. That's not why he called you. It's not because you were born in this family line. That's not why he called you. God called you just because God is marvelous. Is it marvelous in your eyes that God called you? And this is the day that the Lord has made, then what does it say? Let us rejoice. Let us be glad in it. Now. I have seen that verse quoted a lot. “This is the day that the Lord has made.” And a lot of times we use that verse to be like up, kids wake up. It's Wednesday. “This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it.” Come on you slackers. Maybe I've heard this before in my life. I’d be getting autobiographical here, right? Okay, when it says day here, this isn't a day that I think is talking about Wednesday or Thursday. It's saying, hey, after the stone gets rejected, there will be a day. And I don't know how long that day will last. But it's a day of salvation where it doesn't matter who you are. It doesn't matter where you came from. This is a day where anyone can be saved. That's when it says here in Psalm 118, the day of salvation. They're in. This is the day of the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. It's talking about the day that you and I are living in right now. The day where God is calling people, and anyone and everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be what? Safe. That's the day. It's the church age. It's this time where God, he's still got something going on with Israel, but it's wide open for the Gentiles right now. And it doesn't matter how messed up of a person, that person is in their own sin. It doesn't matter what's happened for generations in their family. No, God right now, he's saving people all over the world, just because he calls that. And so then look what it says Psalm 118:25, this is the Hebrew word Hosanna. Save us, save us we pray, Oh, Lord, oh Lord, we pray, give us success. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, wow, if this is really a day where anyone can be saved, and it's marvelous in our eyes, then save us now or and so that's where we are. We are living in a time where Jesus came to the Jews, the Messiah, the stone came and he was rejected. They stumbled over that stone. And so, wow, look what's happening. He's saying in Romans 9, all the Gentiles are getting called, they weren't God's people. Now they are. They had no mercy. Now they have it. Is it marvelous to you that God is calling all these people to be saved? Well, let's go proclaim his excellencies. Let me pray for us. And then we will respond to God in praise. Let's pray right now.
Father, we just want to thank you that we get to study your word. And even as we go through Paul's teaching, in the book of Romans, we see that he is quoting all these other Scriptures. And that Peter’s making the same point, quoting scriptures and even the scriptures they're quoting are from other Scriptures. And so, Father, I pray that we will be a church that learns how to think from your Word. And Father, I pray that you would excite us, that you would energize us, that we were once not your people, but now we've gathered together as the Church of Jesus. We once had no mercy and we're going to be judged. But our sins have been forgiven, based on the blood of Jesus Christ, our Savior. And so, Father, I pray that you’re calling of everybody here, I pray that it would be marvelous to us. I pray that we would be like, wow, why would God call somebody like me? A Gentile who lives at the ends of the earth from Jerusalem, someone who has sinned against someone who has rebelled against him, someone who was lost in the darkness, and he called me out into his light. Father, I pray that you would make us a church that responds to you, that we see that your salvation is marvelous in our eyes, and that we proclaim you are an excellent God because when you call them, they are your people and so, oh let us give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.