THE MOST DESPISED CHAPTER IN THE BIBLE
Mike Cunningham
May 18 2014

Continuing from where we left off last week, the pastor at Harvestime Campus Fellowship told the students Amy, Gus, Billy and Debbie that,

“In my opinion, chapter nine of Paul’s letter to the first century believers that were living in Rome is perhaps the most shocking chapter in the Bible. The truths contained in it are despised by every non-Christian who is aware of them. It’s a sad fact, but all too many Christians do not accept the entire Bible as being the divinely inspired Word of God. These folks pick and choose what they will and won’t believe-and they don’t believe what’s in chapter nine.”

There are even many Bible believing Christians who would rather this chapter wasn’t in the Bible. Many preachers who do accept the divine inspiration and authority of the Bible avoid this chapter as though it were some sort of plague. Other than what you’ve heard me preach throughout the years, how often have you folks heard sermons addressing the ninth chapter of Paul’s letter to the early Christians? Let’s take a look at chapter nine now.

Romans 9:1-29 (NIV)
1 I speak the truth in Christ–I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit–
2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.
3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race,
4 the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises.
5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.
6 It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.
7 Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”
8 In other words, it is not the natural children who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.
9 For this was how the promise was stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”
10 Not only that, but Rebekah’s children had one and the same father, our father Isaac.
11 Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad–in order that God’s purpose in election might stand:
12 not by works but by him who calls–she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”
13 Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
14 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all!
15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
16 It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.
17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”
18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.
19 One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?”
20 But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?'”
21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?
22 What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath–prepared for destruction?
23 What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory–
24 even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?
25 As he says in Hosea: “I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people; and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,”
26 and, “It will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.'”
27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved.
28 For the Lord will carry out his sentence on earth with speed and finality.”
29 It is just as Isaiah said previously: “Unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah.”

Judging from the looks of the facial expression of each student, it was quite obvious that they were very uncomfortable with chapter nine.

The pastor proceeded to tell them that,“A number of years ago as I was surfing the web I came across a Christmas Eve story which should help us in our study of Romans nine. Please listen carefully to the following excerpts from that sermon. Here they are.

“It isn’t a matter of God looking down at the old dead race of people and then capriciously save some folks by plucking them out of the dung-heap of humanity, while leaving the others to wallow in it.”

“Now how could I make such a statement? Here we have two tiny babies who are still in their mothers’ womb [verses 11-13]. Neither child had done anything good or bad, for the simple reason that unborn babies are not capable of doing anything good or bad. It’s impossible! Nevertheless, the Scriptures tell us that God chose to love one of those unborn babies and hate the other. Furthermore, it was because He had selected one of them, not only while the child was still living in his mothers’ womb, but also from eternity past; meaning before God spoke the world into existence. In other words, Gods’ choosing is part of His perfect plan for each and every Christian.”End of quote.

The Harvestime pastor continued and said, “Judging from the feedback I’ve received from you students during the past week there’s still some confusion about the issue. Apparently I haven’t given you enough information so that you would be comfortable telling a non-Christian classmate what you think of this teaching.Can you imagine yourself discussing it with one of those TV or radio talk show motorized mouths? Would you consider putting a bumper sticker on your car explaining that God is pro-choice, i.e. that He chooses to love some people and hate others?”

“No way!” pastor, said Billy. “Yeah!”Gus chimed in as Amy and Debbie each nodded their head in agreement.

“Pastor, it sure looks as though God really is capricious as to which folks out of fallen humanity He’s going to save. How can God possibly justify choosing some people and not others?”

“I’m glad you asked that question, Debbie. Paul explains by asking a rhetorical question in verse 21.

Romans 9:21 (NIV)
21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?

“If anyone views God as arbitrarily choosing to save some poor lost sinners and not others; how can they possibly believe that He is an all loving God? Where is His mercy and compassion? When you consider verses eleven to thirteen you could come to the conclusion that God is the exact opposite. Look at those verses again.”

Romans 9:11-13 (NIV)
11 Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad–in order that God’s purpose in election might stand:
12 not by works but by him who calls–she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”
13 Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

“The old man in the Christmas Eve story concluded that this is,

“Gods’ supernatural ongoing planned production of a new race of spiritual people, a people in whom the very Spirit of the Living God Himself would dwell and which could only be produced by means of a spiritual birth.” End of quote.

“As I said a moment ago, Gods’ choosing was part of the perfect plan which He conceived in eternity past for each and every Christian. Look at the scriptures.”

Ephesians 1:3-5 (ESV)
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love
5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.

“Lloyd-Jones in his insightful commentary on Romans cited the case of the Prophet Jeremiah to drive this point home.”

Jeremiah 1:1-5 (ESV)
1 The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin,
2 to whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.
3 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, and until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month.
4 Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

“Concerning the Prophet Jeremiah, Lloyd-Jones writes: “God produced him for that purpose. But it only actually happened in time, ‘in the days Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.’ End of quote.

“Lloyd-Jones cautions: “Do not get mixed up with this time element. You see, the Son of God really began His public ministry at the age of thirty, but He had been sent into the world to do it. There were thirty years when people just looked at Him and thought that He was a man like everyone else; suddenly He bursts forth in His ministry.”

“The same was true of Jeremiah. For all those years, nobody knew that he was to be this remarkable prophet of God, but God had known it: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” You notice it is God who forms him. Of Course! This is what He does with all His people. So, let me emphasize it again. God actually brought us into the world through the natural process in order that we might become a part of this ‘new humanity’ in Christ.”

“We appear to be like everyone else, and yet according to this teaching we were always different. We did not know we were different, nor did Isaac and Jacob, these things were not known. Nevertheless it is still the fact, Christian people were never exactly equal and identical with others.”

“There was always this vital and essential difference-not yet manifested, but it was there. Before the foundation of the world, before our mothers’ womb even, there was always this difference.According to the flesh, according to nature, we are all the children of Adam, and yet we are not only that. We are children whom God has produced, and brought into being in order that this purpose and plan of His might be carried out in us.”

“It is not an arbitrary selection; it is God producing something quite new. God uses the natural, but He intervenes in this miraculous manner to produce His people, and so He is producing a new humanity.” End of quote.

The Harvestime pastor continued and said,“This is the truth the old man in the Christmas Eve story was able to grasp. Listen to this:

“In other words, back in eternity past, our Sovereign God planned on creating a very special race of people. And just as He planned on taking some, not all, but some of the dust from the ground to form the first man, He also planned on using some, not all, but some of the folks from the dead race of people to produce new creatures in Christ. Those formerly dead people had been brought into being for this very purpose every bit as much as that particular dust had been brought into existence to form the first human being.” End of quote.

The pastor who preached that Christmas Eve sermon told his congregation that,

“There was a lot of spiritual meat in that story, so much so that I wanted to elaborate on it again today. Don’t get caught up in the things of the world. Take time to think about the things we have looked at today. Speak about these eternal truths with each other. Prepare your mind with a spirit of awe and with a heart full of gratitude. And then, let us plead with Him to constantly remind us that we are His people that He has created for Himself, and help us to remember that He is the Divine Potter and we are His clay.” End of quote.

At this point Billy shouted,

“Oh no. I just received a text [message] about my great grandmother. She’s in the ICU and not expected to make it. I have to go to the hospital right away.”

“Would you like me to drive you there, Billy?”

“I sure would. I could use the company. I feel awful!”

“I know you do, Billy. Let’s go.”

When they arrived at the hospital they immediately headed towards then ICU. Waiting outside the door to the old woman’s room was Billy’s sister. She politely asked the pastor to remain outside while she brought Billy into the room. A couple of minutes later the sobbing young man returned to get the pastor.All eyes were on the man, including those of the surprised patient who managed to exclaim, “Matt”

“I promised you that I would come back again, Julie.”

Then Matt went over to the side of the old woman’s bed, gently stroked her hair, kissed her on the forehead, and softly whispered into her ear, “It’s time to go home Julie.”

At that exact moment a young woman entered the room and rushed over to the bed. Matt introduced her,

“Julie, this is my childhood sweetheart. Her name is Jennifer.”

Then, so that no one would be able to hear, Matt cupped Julie’s ear with his two hands and whispered,

“Jennifer will escort you into Heaven, Julie.”

The old woman gasped her last breath and died. The grieving process had begun for her loved ones who were gathered in the room as they gazed at her dead body.

However, other than Matt, no one saw that at the same exact moment Julie’s room was suddenly filled with a joyous host of invisible angles. With one hand, Jennifer clasped Julies’ and put her other hand and arm around her waist. Then they all zoomed out of the ICU. Praise the Lord! they were bringing Julie home.

As Matt was driving Billy back to the campus he couldn’t help chuckling to himself as he thought about the next time the students at the Harvestime Campus Fellowship got together.He planned on telling them that it would be the last time they would be discussing the Doctrine of Election. If they still had questions as to whether or not God loves all the tiny boys and girls who are living in their mother’ womb and are aborted, they can ask Billy’s great grandmother Julie when they get to heaven.

Lord willing, next week….