Are You an Object of God's Mercy?

Well, thank you, Larry, and good afternoon again. I always look forward to getting back home, getting back here in Kansas City, and be able to come to services here and see everyone. As all of you know, we've been going through sections of the Book of Romans over the last two times, two or three times, I guess, and I intend to go through the third part of the Book of Romans today, which is essentially Romans chapter 9 and 10 and 11. And I think it's pretty easy to be able to segment this section in the Book of Romans, because as Paul comes to the end of chapter 8, he almost...it looks like he's almost making a concluding statement. He might be able to almost close down the book, although, of course, he continues on. And so you've got several kind of summary statements at the end of chapter 8, and then he launches into, in essence, a different topic, a different topic here in chapter 9 and 10 and 11, and at the end of 11, he even ends what he's stating about this by saying, Amen. So he's kind of segmenting this particular segment. So this section, which is part 3 in our going through Romans, this particular section is directly about the plan of God as far as Israel, regarding the people of Israel, the people of Israel in the past, the people of Israel who are drawn to Jesus Christ and actually make up the Church of God, spiritual Israel, and even what God is going to do with the people of Israel in the future. It's even about what some of the things that are going to happen in the millennium. But in order to at least give you, Mr. Welbin will be glad to have this, I'm going to give you a title so that he doesn't have to guess, what is it about? I've titled this, and this is actually a statement that Paul makes in this section, I've titled it, Are You An Object Of God's Mercy?

Are you an object of God's mercy?

Maybe more directly, do you view yourself, do you think about yourself as an object of God's mercy?

See, we often talk about being drawn to be a part of the Church. We read that, Jesus said, No man can come to me unless the Father would draw him to Jesus Christ. And we see many references to, and Paul uses these, and Peter and so does John, they talk about being called by God. And yet, Paul talks more about that in this section than maybe many others.

But he does point out specifically how that those who make up the Church of God today, and of course he was writing to the Church of God, as we went over earlier, there were two components. There were actually two in almost opposing aspects or groupings of people in the Church of God at that time in Rome and other places. The Jews, those who had a background in the law, those who were aware of their heritage and often who relied on that more than what they should have been relying on. And then the non-Jew, the non-Israelite, the Gentile population that God had also drawn into the Church. And actually what we find here in some ways, and Paul says this leading up to this section in earlier chapters, he tells the Gentiles and the Jews that both of them are wrong, that all of them have sinned and all of them have fallen short of the glory of God, and so everyone needs forgiveness and everyone needs to have a relationship with God. And then, as we went through last week, he talks about a righteousness that comes from God, a righteousness that comes from faith in Jesus Christ. And he made a number of statements about that in chapter 4 and 5, and then he said, as you are drawn to Jesus Christ, that involves faith, that involves a belief in God, a belief in how God is working out a plan of salvation, then we're expected to respond, to recognize our sins, to see what our sins are, to repent of those. We're acknowledged to be reacting or to act on being baptized, on being a recipient of the Holy Spirit, and of struggling against sin for the remainder of our lives. But I want us to look here in chapter 9, chapter 9, verse 22, because here, this is where God mentions, and Paul is mentioning to the people there in Rome, he's mentioning to the Jews and Gentiles there that both of you need to learn to work together. Both of you need to learn that all of you have been drafted, in a sense, into this in the same way to become a part of God's true Church. And both of you have to view yourself as an object of God's mercy. Here in verse 22, it says, What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, what if he is endured with much patience the objects of wrath that are made for destruction? And what if, in verse 23, is the one that I'm really wanting to get to, what if he has done so in order to make known the riches of his glory, for the objects or vessels, as it says in your King James, the objects of mercy which he has prepared beforehand for glory, including us whom he has called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles?

Here he's talking to the whole group, both aspects of the group that made up the Church there. He says, all of you need to view yourselves as the objects of God's mercy, the vessels of mercy. And he says that he actually has called us in order to guide us toward glory. Now, he said that in chapter 8 as well, that the predestined, you're called, you're justified, you're glorified. That was a statement that he would make in the latter part of chapter 8. But here, he talks about the members of the Church as the objects of God's mercy. And we need to understand why. We need to understand why that's the case. And so, in going through this today, going through this particular few chapters, we're going to be covering the plan of God regarding Israel. But it also covers the incredible blessing of the calling of God. See, all of us know something about God's Word, about His plan, about His purpose, about His future. We all know that because of the mercy of God. We don't know that because we're brilliant and that we know everything, and we've been diligent students of the Bible for 50 years. We don't know that because of that. Now, hopefully we have been studying the Bible for a long time. That's not something people put a lot of time into today. But it is something that we need to continue to more clearly understand. How that God can decide... He has the prerogative to decide who He calls in this age. He has the authority to determine if He deals with one group or another, even as Dan was reading in the sermonette. Elijah thought he was the only one. Paul even mentions that here. And he said, no, there are some others. There are 7,000 that I'm reserving for myself. And yet what Paul is focusing on and trying to get the Gentiles and the Jews to understand is that God is working out a plan. And that plan involves Israel. It involves the development of Israel, as we read about in the Old Testament, and the giving of the law. See, they had that available. But it also involves bringing Gentiles into the Church through faith in Jesus Christ, which is what happened with them, although they had to acknowledge their sins. They had to recognize where we're wrong and turn. And yet it also is a tremendous blessing to see, as you read through these chapters, how God is working out a plan that He's going to turn everyone, ultimately, from disobedience to being the objects of His mercy. To all of us, if we receive eternal life or as we receive eternal life, we're going to do that because God is giving us that gift. And we want to be grateful for that and be thankful. Let me just point out one or two verses here, because Paul is going to talk about... Well, maybe we should just go ahead and start in chapter 9. And I think it's pretty obvious where Paul is going with this whenever you read through it. Paul says in chapter 9, verse 1, I'm speaking the truth in Christ.

I'm not lying. My conscience confirms that by the Holy Spirit, I have great sorrow and increasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I, myself, were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people, my kindred, according to the flesh. He was saying, you know, my heart breaks. To see the majority...see now, where did Paul come from?

Well, he had been a Jew. He was a Jew. He was a Pharisee. He was highly schooled in the law. And so that was his background. But he said, it saddens me when I look at my people, who have been given so much from God, and yet are not benefiting from what he has to offer. And who are really, as he's going to say later, they are refusing. Refusing to acknowledge the only way that they could have salvation, and that that would be through Jesus Christ. They're refusing to acknowledge the stumbling stone, as it mentions in verse 33. We'll get to that in a little bit. But Paul says, just talking about Israel, he says, they are Israelites. In verse 4, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, the promises, the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, comes the Messiah, who is over all, God bless forever. Amen. See now, he understood the many benefits that Israel had been extended. But he goes on to say, it is not as though the Word of God has failed, but not all Israelites truly belong to Israel. Now here he's going to point out something that was going to be important for anyone with an Israelite background and anyone with a Gentile background. He says, I want you to understand this, that God has been working by his own order, with his own selection, with his own election, those are different words that he uses, and he does that as he sees fit. He goes on, well, verse 6, not all Israelites truly belong to Israel, meaning, well, not all of the descendants of Abraham are truly Israelites. See how many descendants did Abraham have through Ishmael? I don't know what the population would be, but there are many. And of course, there were many that also would come through Isaac. And so he points this out and says in verse 8, this means it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as descendants. And so here he says, well, it's ones that I identify, that God identifies as his people that are going to be worked with by God. And so he goes on in verse 9, this is what the promise said, about time that I will return and Sarah will have a son, nor is that all something similar happened to Rebekah, when she had conceived children by one husband, our ancestor Isaac, even before they were born, or had done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose of election might stand or might continue, not by works, but by his call. See, many times we read John 644, and that's a primary verse that points out that, well, God has to draw us to Jesus Christ.

But here he talks about God determining long before, you know, something about his election and his calling. And so he says, not by works, but by his call, and she was told, the elder shall serve the younger, and as it is written, I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau.

Now, we have to have, and I believe many of us do, have a pretty good knowledge of the history of what he's talking about here, with Abraham and Sarah, with ultimately Isaac being born as the son of promise, and then with Isaac and Rebekah having two sons, but Jacob was one that would be favored and not Esau. It actually is amazing to see very little throughout the Bible. I don't know that you could pick out anything that seems to be very positive about Esau. Almost everything is negative. And yet, whenever you see, you know, what it's meaning here in verse 11, that God's purpose of election might stand. So he has the prerogative, and so he asks the question in verse 14, speaking to Jews and Gentiles, both having been brought into a spiritual body, having been brought through faith in Jesus Christ, into the church. What should we say in verse 14? Is God not fair? Is there injustice on God's part? And he answers that, of course, as he does many different questions here in Romans. He answers that by saying absolutely not. God is not unjust, for he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who shows mercy. So even as Jesus told his disciples, and this is in John 15, I believe, he said, You didn't choose me, I chose you. The Father drew you to me. And that's how you have become a part of make-up of a very beginning of the called-out true Christian church. And he says in verse 17, we're familiar with this, the Scripture talks about Pharaoh. I've raised you up. The Scripture says to Pharaoh, I've raised you up to be the very purpose of showing my power in you, so that my name will be proclaimed in all the earth. So then he has mercy on whomever he chooses, and he hardens the heart of whomever he chooses. See, in some ways, it appears God was certainly favoring Moses. He was favoring Aaron. He was favoring the Israelites. He was going to bring them out. And in that setting, what happened to Pharaoh? Pharaoh seemed to go nuts. Sometimes he would accept Moses. Sometimes he wouldn't. But later, it would seem very clear that his heart was hardened. And God even says, this is something that I brought about. So, in verse 19, in thinking about the value of God's calling to faith, calling the Jews to having faith in God and calling the Gentiles to have faith in God, to be a part of an election or selection from God, he says, you'll say to me, then, well, why does God find fault? Who can resist his will? But he answers that by saying, he or you, who indeed are you? O human being, O man, to argue with God. Will what is molded say to the one who molds it? Why have you made me like this? Sometimes we might think that. Why are we struggling with some things that we feel like we're struggling with? Well, God made us the way we are.

And he goes ahead to say, why? In verse 21, has the potter no right over the clay to make out of the same lump, one lump for special use and another for ordinary use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the object of wrath that are made for destruction? And what if he has done so in order to make known the riches of his glory? See, that's very similar to what you read in Colossians 1, verse 26 and verse 27, where he's talking about the mystery of the ages and the riches that God wants us to have, that mystery.

But here he says, what if he has done so in order to make the known the riches of his glory for the objects of mercy? See, brethren, that's all of us. That was the church in Rome.

That was the Jews in Rome and the Gentiles in Rome. Both had been extended mercy from God and had been brought into a grouping that was going to be responsive to the head of the church, Jesus Christ. That's the same thing that we're to be doing today.

And he goes ahead to say in talking about these vessels of mercy, if you want to use that term, including us, verse 24, including us whom he has called, not from the Jews, but from the Gentiles. And then he goes ahead to point out that, well, Hosea wrote about this. God said there would come a time when the people that were not my people would become my people, and the people who had not received mercy would receive my mercy.

And so, Hosea, he quotes those. That's the amazing thing about Paul. He can quote Old Testament Scripture quite well. He's very familiar with what it says in the Old Testament and some of the prophets and the applicability to what he was teaching from God to the New Testament church. He also says, Isaiah said, verse 27, concerning Israel, though the number of the children of Israel be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved. And so, what's that talking about? Well, obviously, not all people who have any kind of an Israelite background are going to become aware of the truth of God in this age, but a remnant will.

And you could even say, well, there maybe was an election, even as you read the Old Testament. It certainly looks like Moses was specially selected. And clearly, David was given great honor, and you could go through many of the prophets and many of the other leaders, where they were given favor by God, and seemingly the rest of the house of Israel and the house of Judah seemed completely lost as far as their understanding of God, their desire to obey.

He said, Isaiah spoke about Israel being vast, but only a remnant being saved, for the Lord will execute his sentence on the earth quickly and decisively. And down in verse 30, he kind of sums this up. What should we say? And so here is what he's going to say about the congregation there. The Gentiles, who did not strive for righteousness, have attained it, that is, righteousness through faith. See, this is what he talked about in chapter 3 and chapter 4. He says, all of the people who make up the church had been drawn through faith in Jesus Christ. And he says, the Gentiles, who did not strive for righteousness, have attained it, that is, righteousness through faith.

But Israel, who did strive for the righteousness based on the law, did not succeed in filling the law. See, he describes the difference between a righteousness based on the law and a righteousness of faith. Why did the Israelites not obtain? Because they did not strive for it on the basis of faith.

But as it was based on works, they stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written, see, I'm laying in Zion a stone that will make people stumble, a rock that will make them fall, and whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame. See, here Paul points out that, well, part of the failing of the Israelites was that they were not seeking a righteousness of God through faith, and they certainly were not accepting Jesus Christ as the Son of God.

See, two thousand years ago, something incredible happened. We live at a time, and of course we're familiar with the last hundred years, 150-200 years, we're aware of a lot of changes that have taken place during that time and during our lifetimes.

Actually, during our lifetimes, incredible amounts of things have changed. And yet, two thousand years ago, the Father sent the Word, He sent His Son to this earth. He came to the earth. And, see, that had been predicted in the law. That had been predicted in the Old Testament. That had been talked about among the prophets. Whenever you or I read Isaiah 53, it's pretty clear about Jesus Christ coming, or at least references to the fact that the Messiah would be coming, and He would come, and He would be despised.

He would be overlooked. They wouldn't see what they wanted to see. See, why didn't they accept Him? Why did they stumble over Jesus Christ when He came? Why did they even instigate putting Him to death and getting the Gentile world, the Roman world, to do it?

Why did they do that? Well, we mentioned this the other day. They were looking for a different kind of Savior. See, they weren't looking for an Isaiah 53 Savior. They weren't looking for a suffering servant or the Lamb of God who could take away the sins of the world. They were looking for a Revelation 19 Savior. They were looking, and of course Revelation 19 at that time wasn't written. It wasn't going to be written for another hundred years. But whenever Jesus came, we would later see Jesus written about, and of course you have Him written about as far as a conquering king when you read Daniel.

But see, they were looking for the wrong kind of ruler. They didn't want a meek, humble servant. They didn't want to address that. And see, all of us should want to address that because that's exactly who Jesus Christ is. Now, He's going to come back in power and glory, but He came and set an example for us as a servant, as one who is seeking meekness, humility. I mean, there are so many things that you could talk about why Jesus was not recognized as the Son of God.

But Paul says here that the Israelites stumbled over Jesus Christ. And he goes ahead in chapter 10, to move on to our next chapter, and he goes ahead in chapter 10 to say, brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel, for them, is that they may be saved. And I can attest that they do have a zeal for God, but it's not an enlightened zeal. See, they didn't have an enlightenment that was needed. For, in verse 3, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, that being a righteousness of faith, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted to God's righteousness.

See, that's what we are required to do today. To seek, see, what does it tell us in Matthew 6, 33? Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. We're to seek a righteousness of God that comes through faith. He makes a statement that often people misunderstand, in verse 4, for Christ is the end of the law, so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. Now, clearly, he was going to be the author of righteousness, but this is not talking about doing away with or making void the law.

But it says Christ is the end. He's the goal. He's the finish line, in essence, of the law, so that there is righteousness for everyone who believes. He obviously kept the law. He obeyed that perfectly. But he tells us that we have to not only continue to obey, but that we are to seek Him through faith. We are to grow in faith. And so he says, in verse 5, Moses writes concerning the righteousness that comes from the law, that the people who do such will live by them, but the righteousness that comes from faith.

In verse 6, he says that's what's important. And then he goes through a description of ascending up to heaven to bring Christ down, or descending to the earth to bring Him up. No human being could do that at all. The great God could. He's the one who sent Him, and He's the one who caused Him to rise from the dead.

And he says, in verse 9, if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord, and if you believe in your heart, that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Again, people take that out of context. See, that is what we need to do. But that's not all we need to do. There are many other things that God also wants in order to cause us to grow spiritually.

But he says there is no distinction between Jew and Greek. The same Lord is Lord of all, and is generous to all who call on Him. And so he goes into a section here just talking about, well, how do we get that type of faith that is required? Well, let's say, as in verse 17, that faith comes from hearing. It comes from hearing, and what is heard comes from the Word of God. See, we're hearing the Word of God, and we have a message about the Kingdom of God. It's about the rule of Jesus Christ. And yet that rule is not only a future rule, it is a rule that must be enacted in our lives, even today.

And so he said, I ask, have you not heard? Indeed, they have. For their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. He quotes several other Old Testament scriptures, talking about what Moses understood. And in verse 21, Israel, of Israel, he says, All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and a contrary people. See, Israel in the past simply did not honor the Word of God. They did not accept Jesus Christ. And the spiritual Israel that makes up the Church of God today is going to be a grouping of people that God calls, and that he leads to faith in Jesus Christ, and who are desirous of proclaiming Jesus Christ as the King.

He's the one who's going to come back. He's going to return. And that, of course, is our message. He asked another question here in chapter 11, and he kind of concludes this whole section with a discussion and then an example. And so, keep in mind again that he is talking about Israel of the past, the spiritual Israel of today, the Church, and he's going to talk about Israel in general in the future.

Verse 1, I say then, has God rejected his people Israel? Well, you could read some of the stuff, and you could wonder, well, what has God, or what he caused them to have unbelief. They didn't recognize the Messiah. And Paul's asking the question, well, are you Gentiles better than the Jews because they rejected him? Well, he said the answer to that is by no means. He says, by no means, look at me. He says, I myself am an Israelite. I am a descendant of Abraham.

I'm a member of the tribe of Judah. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. And so then he even talks about Isaiah, and we won't go through that story since we've already gone through it. But he says in verse 5, even as God spared additional people in the days of Elijah, he can choose to spare whoever he wishes today. Verse 5, so at the present time there is a remnant that is chosen by grace. But if it's by grace, it is no longer the basis of works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

He says those of you who make up this congregation, Jew and Gentile alike, have all been drawn into this spiritual union, spiritual Israel, with God through faith, no matter what your background is. And so he asked another question in verse 7, what then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking, but a remnant or the elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened. So again, he goes back and talks about how the Israelites of the past didn't respond, they didn't react, they missed Jesus when he came. But in verse 11, he says that's why they stumbled.

That's why they didn't respond whenever Jesus was on earth. But in verse 11 I ask, have they stumbled so as to fall? And again he answers, no, certainly not. But through their stumbling, salvation has now come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. Now if their stumbling means riches for the world, and if their defeat means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean?

He was pointing out something that they probably didn't yet understand, that there was something yet that God would do with Israel. And so in verse 13 he starts talking directly to the Gentiles. Now he has, at times, been talking to the Jews and telling them that, well, if they are standing in the faith and they are doing it because they accept Jesus Christ.

But he says, I'm now speaking to you, Gentiles, in verse 13. And so much then as I'm an apostle to the Gentiles, I glorify my ministry in order to make my own people jealous, and thus save some of them.

He says, I hope, as people see, that God is big enough to be able to draw, not only Jews, but Gentiles into the people He would call the elect, the church. That God is big enough to do that, and if He is able to help them, the Israelites fail, the Gentiles are given an opportunity.

But he says, in verse 17, if some of the branches, and here he uses an illustration about an olive tree, if some of the branches are broken off, in you, you Gentiles, a wild olive shoot were grafted in their place to share the rich root of the olive tree. Here he actually begins to, in a sense, warn them, warning the Gentiles, wanting unity in the congregation. He says, do not, in verse 18, boast over the other branches. If you do boast, remember that it's not you that supports the root, but the root supports you.

And you might say that well, branches have been broken off so that I might be grafted in. And he says, that's true, but they were broken off because of their disbelief, because of their unbelief, because of a lack of faith. But you stand only through faith, so do not become proud, but stand in awe. For if God does not, if he does not spare, did not spare the natural branches, perhaps he'll not spare you either. I want you to note here the kindness and the severity of God. Severity toward those who have fallen, but kindness toward you, provided that you continue in that kindness.

This was Paul's appeal to the Gentiles. He wanted them to understand that, well, God is working out a great master plan, and that plan involves the seed of Abraham, but it involves people who will come to God in faith, that God will draw to Jesus Christ.

And so he concludes down here in verse 25, so that you may not claim to be wiser than you are, or so that you will not claim to be wiser than you are, brethren. I want you to understand this mystery. And again, you can certainly see how that, you know, trying to read through what Paul was writing in somewhat of a complex way, you know, seems mysterious. It seems not to easily be understood.

And he says, I want you to understand this mystery that the hardening has come upon part of Israel until the full number of the Gentiles have come in, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so he goes on to say, all Israel will be saved, as it is written, out of Zion shall come the deliverer, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob, and this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins. He's actually even starting to refer into several verses from the Old Testament that, you know, we would always apply to even something yet in the future, beyond today, beyond, you know, that's why our program is called Beyond Today. We're advertising for a time that is beyond, you know, this current timeframe. And yet at that time, as we always teach during the feast, you know, Israel is going to be regathered. Israel is going to be used as a model once again. And we won't take time to try to go through any of that, but that's something that we do study from time to time about how Israel will be taught. How ultimately everyone will respond to the king, but there will be a shepherd, a shepherd named David, who will be given responsibility, and the apostles will be over the tribes of Israel. I mean, there's an entire structure that God talks about for the future that is beyond the time that we live in now. But he says, verse 28, as regarding the gospel, they are enemies of God for your sake, but as regarding election, they are beloved for the sake of your ancestors, for the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. And just as you were once disobedient to God, but now you have received mercy, so, verse 31, they have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy, for God has imprisoned all in disobedience, so that he may be merciful to all. See, that's why I ask, brethren, do we view ourselves? Do we see ourselves? Do we individually see me as an object of God's mercy? Because God allowing us, whatever our background, Jewish or Gentile, would have to be one or the other, or surely a combination for almost all of us. And yet, all of us have come out of disobedience and have been the recipients of the mercy of God. That is how we stand in the truth. It's not because of anything that we have done, as he said, it is by my election. So, Paul paints a graphic picture in some cases, and in other cases a little more complex, and yet he wants, what he wants is for the Jews and Gentiles to work together to be united. He wants them to all understand that they are responsive to Jesus Christ, the head of the church. And of course, he's going to conclude this from verse 33 on down to the end, and as you will see, it looks like kind of an ending to the book, but of course it goes on as we read in chapter 12. But in verse 33, as he's described the plan of God, as he's described how God chooses to deal with Israel and how he is mercifully working with the Gentiles and bringing some into the church, and how that he then is going to rework with Israel. He's going to, as branches, make them a part of the wild olive tree, or the natural olive tree, I guess, that they were a part of earlier.

But he says in verse 33, oh, the depth of the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God. How unsearchable are His judgments? How inscrutable His ways.

See, as Paul understood it, see, again, when we think about the New Testament church, what was it that God did to begin the New Testament church? Well, He sent the Holy Spirit. But who was it that He had work with many of the Jews there in Acts 2? Well, He was working with Peter. He was working with Peter, and Peter said, you just killed Jesus Christ. And they said, uh-oh, what do we do? And he told them what they needed to do. He didn't send Paul right then as a known Pharisee and known Jew. He didn't send him right then. He actually, with all that background and with all that schooling and with being a doctor of the law, He sent him to the Gentiles. He's the apostle to the Gentiles. And yet, even in that, did God start bringing the Gentiles into the church through Paul? No. He sent Peter to work with Cornelius. Again, that's why He said, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God. How amazing! How incredible is what God is choosing to do, because He deals with His plan of salvation according to His order. And see, all of us are familiar with 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15, of course, talks about the resurrection, an area that we may be a little more familiar with even, because we read it fairly often. But it says in verse 20, in fact, Jesus was raised from the dead. He was the first fruit of those who have died. And He says in verse 22, all are in Adam, or all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. But in verse 23, each will be in His own order. Christ the first fruit, those who had His coming, who belong to Christ, and then will come the end.

See, He's going to work out a plan, and we see that plan revealed even more so in other sections of the Bible. But to go back to Romans 12 here to end this, Paul was just amazed at what he was able to offer to the church there. And he did this so that they would learn to cooperate, they would learn to get along, they would learn to love one another, they would learn to accept one another, Jew and Gentile alike, because all of them had been brought by God into His church. And he says in verse 34, who has known the mind of the Lord? Who has been His counselor? You know, none of us. We are wanting to grow, try to understand the mind of God, but clearly He's far ahead of us. Far ahead of us in the plan that He is working out. Certainly He's not asking us for counsel. In verse 35, who has given Him a gift in order to receive a gift in return? Well, we don't have enough to give to be able to have God return His gift of eternal life to us.

And so He says in verse 36, from Him and through Him and to Him are all things, and to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. He kind of concludes this whole section as He'll start in chapter 12 with some admonition about Christian living and how He wants us to live together. Primarily, He was giving some overview of the plan of God to the people there in Rome, and He was encouraging them not to look down on each other, not to boast about whatever background they had, either way, but to be growing in faith and growing in trust in God. And as they did so, then they could fulfill the purpose and the reason that God had drawn them into the Church. So next time we'll go through the next few chapters here that are basically Christian living, and yet we've been able to get through, at least somewhat quickly, a good section of the Book of Romans, and so look forward to being able to go over the remainder next time.