Tucker Presbyterian Church Sermons Tucker Presbyterian Church

Please turn in your Bibles to Romans chapter 10. Our sermon text this morning is verses 5-17. You can find that on page 1124.
As you are turning there, let me note a couple of things.
We are in the middle of our summer study of Romans 9-11. Thank you to Peter Van Wyk for preaching last week from the end of chapter 9 into the beginning of chapter 10. It was excellent. As we get into these verses this morning, I’ll refer back to some of those points.
In these three chapters, the big question is, how should we understand Israel and the Jewish people today? Especially unbelieving Jews? There were many in the apostle Paul’s day and there are many today.
It’s an important question because God revealed himself to the world through Israel. So, Israel, as a people, were central in God’s plan.
One thing that underlies these chapters is having a heart for their salvation. In the beginning of chapter 9, Paul put it in the most passionate of ways. If I could be cut off for their sake that they would believe, I would do it. That is how deeply he desired to see them believe in Christ. In fact, Paul says something similar at the beginning of chapter 10, verse 1 – he writes,  “my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.”
Our hearts desire should be the same. So that is the underlying sentiment in all three of these chapters.
And what the apostle Paul has been explaining in these chapters is the relationship between unbelieving Israel and believing Israel and believing Gentiles. As I mentioned before, but just to be sure, the Gentiles are all the non-Jewish people.
To explain the relationship between these groups, Paul asks questions and gives answers. That has been his approach all through Romans.
And as he asks and answers questions, he makes the point that his answers are not new. I was thinking about how he’s done that. I think a good phrase that captures it is this, “it has always been that way.” He doesn’t use those words, but that idea is in every answer.
For example:
·       Paul asks, since many Israelites do not believe in Christ, have God’s promises failed? Remember that question from three weeks ago? His answer is no. Why? Not all Israel are Israel. A subset of Israel are children of the promise. He points out that it has always been that way.
·       Paul next asks, is God unjust when he chooses only some to believe? The answer is no. Rather God in his sovereignty is merciful. He points out again it has always been that way.
·       His next question, which was last week, is a really important one. Do the Gentiles (which includes us or most of us) receive a right standing before God by faith, but the Jews are righteous by keeping the law? Paul’s answer again: no! Righteousness is only received by faith. In fact, it has always been that way.
That answer is like the beating drum of these chapters. It has always been that way. That is why there are so many Old Testament quotes. And we’ll continue to see that.
Alright, I know that is a long preamble, but hopefully that helps tie together where we’ve been so far.
In our verses this morning, Paul addresses the next logical question, what is this faith thing? And second, how do people come to know of this faith?
So, let’s turn now to God’s word.
Reading of Romans 10:5-17
Prayer
The word “faith” today is very squishy. I think you know what I mean. Its use is broad. We say we have faith in other people. Or we have faith in our abilities. Or we have faith that something will work out in the end.
Sometimes faith refers to different religions. You’ll hear people ask, “what faith tradition do you come from?” Other times you will hear “he has a deep faith” or “she has a deep faith.” Or maybe you’ll even hear, “I have faith in science or technology to solve such and such a problem.”
You see, in today’s world, faith has a lot of different meanings.
But wh

Please turn in your Bibles to Romans chapter 9. We will be focusing on verses 9-23 this morning. You can find that on page 1123.
This summer, we are working through Romans 9-11.
Last week, we started with the opening few verses of chapter 9. In it, the apostle Paul revealed his heart. Every fiber of his being desired to see his fellow Jews who do not be in Christ, come to know Jesus as the Messiah. He was willing to be accursed if God would open their hearts to know the promised Savior. We should have that same heart and desire.
Paul also answered an important question. Since the vast majority of Israelites did not believe in Jesus, does that mean that God’s Word and promises failed? The answer is no. Paul revealed that there has always been a distinction between the natural descendants of Abraham and the descendants of the promise.
God’s Word has therefore not failed.
Ok, that brings us to these verses. He continues the argument and works through some important matters.
For a little context, I’ll start reading from verse 8.
Reading of Romans 9:9-23
Prayer
Is God sovereign or does man have free will? The answer is yes and yes. Sometimes we set those two statements in opposition. But the Scriptures teach both. Is God sovereign? Yes. Can we act according to our will? Yes. God has created us with the ability to think and reason. We are responsible for our actions. God has given all mankind common grace, as we call it, by which people can choose to do honorable and kind and generous things, or not. However, in our fallen state, that is, since Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden, there is one thing that no one can do.
Noone is able, in his or her own will, to choose God and salvation. No, rather, the Bible is clear that we are dead in our sins. Spiritually dead. Only God can turn our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh. Only the Holy Spirit can awakens us. Only he can give us a new heart to see our sin and to grieve it. It is at that point that we are then able to turn to God in Christ and pursue holiness and righteousness in him through his Spirit.
Are you following me on the distinction? So yes, God is Sovereign. Yes, man is responsible. And yes, we have free will. But our free will is limited by our nature. In our fallen nature, we are spiritually dead and cannot pursue God. In our redeemed nature, we are alive in Christ and able to pursue him and the things of God.
I bring that up because in the middle of Romans 9 (these verses), Paul is speaking about salvation. Specifically, he is speaking about election. It’s about those to whom God has determined to give his grace.
In context, the apostle Paul is answering the question, why did God choose to give some Israelites his mercy and believe in Jesus and others he did not? Of course, the question applies to all people. He’ll make that clear in the next section.
And let me say this. This chapter is a beautiful chapter, but it is also a hard chapter.
It’s beautiful because it is about God and his mercy. And it’s hard because it is about God and his mercy – specifically that he chooses who will receive his mercy.
There are two things that I hope and pray that you will leave here with today.
·      First, a renewed sense of who God is - an understanding of who God is as your creator.
·      Second, I hope and pray that you will see the mercy of God in these verses. Yes, these verses speak of God hardening people’s hearts, but the emphasis is God’s mercy.
With that in mind, let’s begin by considering the historical examples.
Last week, we touched upon Abraham and Sarah. Remember from last week, God declared that his covenant promises would be fulfilled through Isaac’s descendants and not Ishmael’s. Isaac was Abraham and Sarah’s son born to Sarah in her old age. Ishmael was born to Sarah’s servant, Hagar. Remember, Abraham and Sarah didn’t think that Sarah could conceive a child, so they came up with thei

Some of you will remember… When we launched 4 years ago, we began with a short sermon series on Romans chapter 8. The reason was… we were in the middle of COVID and we needed Romans 8 encouragement. It gave us some foundational perspectives and hope. It gave us great assurance. It speaks of the impact of sin not just on humanity but on creation itself. And it reminds believers in Christ that nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
That was four years ago. And in between our regular sermon series, we’ve been going back to different chapters in the book of Romans.
So, for the next 7 weeks, we’ll be working through Romans chapters 9-11.
This morning, our sermon text is Romans 9:1-8 – actually, I’ll read verse 9 as well.
You can find that on page 1123 in the pew Bible.
Reading of Romans 9:1-9
Prayer
Almost every news broadcast today touches upon the war in Israel and Gaza. And it weighs on our hearts. Every day it seems that more people die. Just when it appears there may be some semblance of peace, there’s another setback. Iran sends a barrage of missiles at Israel. Hezbollah attacks towns on Israel’s northern border. An errant bomb kills aid workers in Gaza. Hamas uses Palestinians as human shields.
Until the October 7 invasion of Israel, there had been relative peace going back to the mid-1990s. Occasional skirmishes lasted only a few days. Today, there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight
And we are saddened at the loss of life. We grieve the Israelis murdered in their hometowns. We grieve the Palestinians in Gaza caught in the crossfire. And we are angry at the hate filled and bloodthirsty regimes and groups. Thinking back on our Proverbs study, the description of wickedness defines some of them like Hezbollah and Hamas. The Lebanese and Palestinians and Israelis are often their victims. And they have a goal to wipe Israel off the map.
Let me add another layer of complexity. This spring, protests arose on several college campuses across the United States. Many of the protestors were supporting Hamas and were against Israel. It’s been reported that antisemitism has been on the rise in the US. That is deeply concerning. Besides the fact that any and all racism is sin, we’ve seen the tragic effects of antisemitism in the past – persecution and genocide.
With all of that in mind, how are we, as Christians, to respond? And related to that, how should we understand Israel and the Jewish people in relationship to God’s redemptive plan in history?
Let me acknowledge, some of you are really nervous right now. You’re either nervous wondering if I’m wading into politics… or you are nervous about how I will talk about Israel.
Let me slightly relieve some of those concerns.
·      First, Romans 9-11 speaks about Israel. In fact, the apostle Paul directs us how to think about Israel and how to understand Israel within God’s plan of redemption. If there is any text in all of the New Testament which helps us with these questions, these three chapters do.
·      Second, when we get to chapter 11, some of what Paul writes does have implications for end-times theology. However, these chapters are not about the end times, so we won’t be getting too much into that sticky subject.
·      And the last thing to relieve some of your concerns… like any passage in the Bible, we’ll begin with the text and its context and draw conclusions from that perspective. I’ll be very careful not to impose current politics or geopolitical events into the text. Rather, we’ll seek to do the opposite – understand what the Scriptures mean to the original audience, and then second, how they apply today.
In fact, let’s start there. Let me remind you of Paul’s occasion for writing. He wrote this letter to the church in Rome. Unlike the other churches that Paul wrote to, Paul did not plant the church in Rome. He had actually never been to Rome, at least after

The Heart of the Matter: Fear the Lord
We started our Proverbs study last August. Today we are wrapping it up. I trust and have prayed that the Lord would use this in our lives. And based on conversations with some of you, I believe he has.
Before I read our concluding verses, I want to reminder you of how Proverbs defines wisdom.
Do you remember? Biblical wisdom is (1) seeking to know God and his Word, (2) humbly reflecting God’s goodness and righteousness in everyday life, and (3) striving to discern what is true and right and good, and what is not.
So, 3 things – knowledge, righteousness, and discernment. Not any knowledge, but the knowledge of God and his Word. Not righteousness as we define it, but righteousness as God has revealed. And not a general discernment, but discerning what is true, right, and good on the path of life.
That is wisdom – that is what God revealed to us through Solomon in the very first chapter. And that is what we’ve seen all throughout the book. Knowledge, righteousness, and discernment from God contrasted with the selfish foolishness and wickedness of the world. One path leads to life and peace and the other path to death and condemnation.
Today, we are going to end where we began. We are going to end with the very first step on the path of wisdom.
And that first step is to fear of the Lord. We’ve come across that phrase many times. To be exact, a dozen times so far – so it’s not new. And today, we’ll conclude with a few more references.
So, if you would take your proverbs insert out one last time. On the inside, you’ll note the two groupings of verses.
The first is about the heart and the second is about fearing the Lord.
Reading of selected verse
---------------------------
Knowing Your Heart and Knowing Him Who Knows Your Heart
14:10 The heart knows its own bitterness, and no stranger shares its joy.
14:13 Even in laughter the heart may ache, and the end of joy may be grief.
15:11 Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the LORD;
    how much more the hearts of the children of man!
15:13 A glad heart makes a cheerful face,
    but by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed.
15:15 All the days of the afflicted are evil,
    but the cheerful of heart has a continual feast.
15:30 The light of the eyes rejoices the heart,
    and good news refreshes the bones.
17:3 The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,
    and the LORD tests hearts.
17:22 A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
19:3 When a man's folly brings his way to ruin,
    his heart rages against the LORD.
20:5 The purpose in a man's heart is like deep water,
    but a man of understanding will draw it out.
20:9 Who can say, “I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin”?
21:2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes,
    but the LORD weighs the heart.
27:19 As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man.

The Blessings of Fearing the Lord with Your Heart, the Curses of Rejecting Him
14:2 Whoever walks in uprightness fears the LORD,
    but he who is devious in his ways despises him.
14:26 In the fear of the LORD one has strong confidence,
    and his children will have a refuge.
15:16 Better is a little with the fear of the LORD
    than great treasure and trouble with it.
15:33 The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom,
    and humility comes before honor.
16:6 By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for,
    and by the fear of the LORD one turns away from evil.
16:20 Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good,
    and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD.
27:21 The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,
   and a man is tested by his praise.
28:14 Blessed is the one who fears the LORD always,
    but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity.
29:25 The fear of man lays a snare, but whoe

Selected Proverbs