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turn with me to Romans chapter 11 as we come to the end of Paul's very dense uh very significant Treatise Romans Treatise Romans 910 and 11 we'll be looking at uh verses
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30 through 36 going to read that Passage I'd like to ask Yuri if you pray for the ministry of the word this morning Romans chap 11 beginning in
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verse 30 for just as you were once disobedient to God but now have been shown Mercy because of their Disobedience so these also have now been
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disobedient in order that because of the mercy shown to you they also may be shown Mercy for God has shut up all in
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Disobedience that he might show Mercy to all oh the depths of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God how
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unsearchable are his judgments and unfathomable his ways for who has known the mind of the Lord or who became his
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counselor or who has first given to him that it might be paid back to him again for from him and through him and
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to him are all things to him be the glory forever glory forever amen let us
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prayr of rightous in everything that you do even through our Disobedience we know that your paths are Eternal and sov
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today and for the new year that be more sensitive to your spirit and your guidance and for CH open word in way we can
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amen so we come to the end of the most concentrated statement of God's Redemptive plan as well as his Redemptive m method in scripture and we could honestly start over again there's so much in these
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three chapters uh so much of the Redemptive history that starts even in in Genesis chapter 1 that we have not even touched and I do pray that that you
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will benefit from continued reading of these three chapters as well as the entire letter and of course the whole scripture but I do want to point out as we come to the end of this particular
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section and everyone recognizes that Romans 9:10 and 11 are a distinct section within the letter of Romans in fact some liberal Scholars think it was written by someone else later uh which
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is what they do whenever they recognize something is different it must of course be by someone else and inserted later but there's no there's no reason to think that all manuscripts that we have of the letter of the Romans have these
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three chapters and so they are they're very significant I think one of the reasons that they're so significant is that as Paul is talking about the condition of his Brethren according to
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the flesh he's actually reflecting his own experience which he recounts to us in Philippians chapter 3 so as we think back of what Paul has said concerning
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Israel and that not all Israel is Israel and yet God has saved for himself a Remnant think also about Paul's own pedigree that he gives to us in
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Philippians chapter 3 now again this is also something also something significant because as you read the scriptures you you have to realize that biographical information is rarely given
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about anybody we all have a picture in our mind about what Samson looked like we've been taught since Sunday school that he looked like Arnold Schwarzenegger as a
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Jew that's an odd thought an Austrian as a Jew um he probably was not a bruising Hulk if he had been then the Philistines
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would have had no trouble figuring out why he was so strong he probably looked like a Jewish rabbi okay and so we have these concept we don't really know what David looked
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like what does it mean to be Ruddy he was Ruddy but Paul we hear about more than perhaps anyone else in scripture and I think that's significant because
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in a manner of speaking he personally represents what he is talking about in these three chapters about the Fate the
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destiny of Israel so he says in Philippians 3 the first thing he does is he speaks of all that he had gained as a Jew he says circumcised The Eighth Day
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of the nation of Israel of The Tribe of Benjamin a Hebrew of Hebrews as to the law of law of Pharisee as to Zeal a persecutor of the
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church as to the righteousness which is in the law found blameless if you think about it this sounds an awful lot like what he said
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about Israel here in Romans 910 and 11 consider back in chapter 9 when Paul says to whom the Jews to whom belong the adoption of sons and the glory and the
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covenants and the giving of the law and the service and the promises these are all that Paul had gained gained in his life as a Jew and
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it was an immense gain he says rhetorically in Romans 9 what advantage then of being a Jew and he says great in every respect and so when in Philippians 3 we
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read him give his own Jewish pedigree we should not do unfortunately as Martin Luther did and think that Paul was repudiating all of that and saying that
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that was of of of no Advantage whatsoever no actually he's saying it was of great gain it was of great Advantage again the same thing he says
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about Israel his his Brethren according to the flesh here in these chapters but Paul recognized that these advantages these
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advantages these gains could not be compared to the immeasurable advantage of knowing Jesus Christ so we're not talking about a a false gain we're not we're not
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talking about what is so often considered that Paul realized that Judaism was a deadend street no he didn't or that Paul repudiated his old Faith recognizing that it was a faith of
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works and could never get him no he didn't he recognized all the advantages that he had gained as a Jew and then turns around and counts
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them all as lost for the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord this is not the replacement of one thing for another this is the
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recognition that however great one thing may be there is something greater and no matter how much we gain in life that that gain can actually
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become loss if we refuse to sacrifice it for something greater and that's what Paul recognizes that most of Israel would not do so
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again he says in Philippians 3 he says but whatever things were gained to me these things I count as lost for the sake of Christ more than that I count
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all things to be lost in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus
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Lord pietism has often simplified this by saying that all that matters is know Jesus there's really no doctrinal content no content that that impacts the intellect but rather knowing Jesus that
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is a very subtle and dangerous falsehood how do we know Jesus Through the propositions and the revelation of scripture and so Paul's
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moving forward in his letter to Romans 12 where we read him exhort all of us not to be conformed to this world but rather be trans transformed metamorphosis by the renewing of our
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minds so once again we must not think that he is counting or considering all that the advantages that he had gained as to have been
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worthless because those were that the things that led him to Jesus Christ and then after his regeneration after his eyes were opened these were the things
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that helped him understand who and what Christ was and did and so he counted all these things at loss in comparison to
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the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord this is exactly what the majority of Paul's Brethren according to the flesh could not see and would not do
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Israel clung to her gain and suffered total loss as a result there there's a certain economics
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to this you've heard of the phrase a zero sum gain well this is a situation where one party holds on to its investment past the point of wise sale
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and subsequently loses everything Israel has done this for the most part except for the remnant of which Paul of course is a member and so Paul says here in Romans 9
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he says but Israel pursu pursuing a law of righteousness this is the law that was given to them the law in reference to which Paul was a was a Pharisee and according to the
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righteousness that was in it Paul was found blameless Paul says in Romans 7 that the law is Holy and just and good nothing wrong with the law and that Israel was
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given the law was a gain but this is what happened pursuing a law of righteousness did not AR arrive at that law why
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because they did not pursue it by faith but by works they stumbled Over The Stumbling Stone this is a basic principle of God's
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method of method of Salvation gain is loss when it displaces faith when gain becomes Our Hope and
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security whether it is the gain of the Jews or the gain of Gentile Believers or the gain of the wise man or the gain of the rich man or the powerful man when
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gain displaces faith it becomes loss but loss becomes gain when it is surrendered to
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Grace I think this is the message of the Gospel According to Paul that no matter what he had gained he willingly by the power of the regenerate Holy Spirit regenerating Holy
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Spirit he surrendered it all that he might know Jesus Christ he did not wipe his mind clean of all that he had knew of God's revelation in scripture by no means he remained an
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intelligently or very intelligent and educated Jew and all of that intelligence and education now informs our understanding of Christianity which
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is born out of Judaism but all of that all of that knowledge all of that training all of that Heritage was nothing nothing at all
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compared to knowing Jesus Christ and being found in him in fact in Philippians 3 Paul uses the
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word refuge rubbish the word actually just means decayed rotten trash all of these wonderful things that he gained as a Jew were as trash
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compared to knowing Jesus Christ and the power of his resurrection that little personal biography in Philippians 3 provides so much light into Paul's
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letter to the Romans because what he is saying in Romans he lived he went through on the road to Damascus and in the Years afterward when he researched
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the scriptures and reoriented his understanding toward the revelation of the Messiah Jesus Christ of the resurrection and of the outpouring of the Holy
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the Holy Spirit gain is loss when it displaces Faith but loss is gain when it's surrendered to surrendered to Grace Ephesians chapter 2 you're all familiar with this and it's one of those
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verses that makes me wonder how this whole Free Will Camp actually still exists Paul says very clearly for by Grace you have been saved through faith
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and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God and not as a result of works that no man should boast it's really
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what it boils down to Paul even speaks about boasting here in his letter to the Romans but what it boils down to is in the presence of God no man will boast we read from Psalm 130 oh Lord if
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thou should count iniquity who could stand the answer is pretty obvious no obvious no one and the flip side of that as as Tim
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noted is that if God before us who can be against us and yet Paul says to the Corinthians what do you have that you have not been given that that that's that's true of
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every human being believer or unbeliever what do you have that you've not been given how is it that you gave yourself life you you were given life and if you
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were given Paul says why do you boast as if you were not given it why would anybody want to look to themselves for any aspect of the gracious salvation
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that God has given to us why would anyone want to say for a moment well you know God did a lot in fact he did just about all he could but in the end of the
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day I day I believed perish the thought or as Paul would say may it never be no one will ever boast but the point here in terms
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of the economics of redemption is basically what Jesus Jesus said during his Earthly minist what benefit is there that you should gain the whole world and lose your
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soul for Paul it would be something like what what benefit if you were to gain the respect of all the pharisaic community of Israel what benefit if you were to rise into the into the sandals
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of your Mentor galio what benefit if you become a leader in the Sanhedrin
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a teacher of disciples and lose your soul Paul by God's grace was given the recognition that all that he had gained was of no account if he did not gain
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Christ any worldly gain is dangerous but the most dangerous is religious gain and the reason that religious ious
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gain religious Advantage is so dangerous is it because it can have the form of godliness but deny its power the danger of
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Theology of sound Doctrine is all the greater because it is absolutely is absolutely necessary for a sound faith and a true
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worship you see if you read the history of the church you will find the pendulum swe sing between two extremes one of them was called scholasticism that's where we get that
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phrase how many angels can fit on the head of a pin you may have heard that I think it's apocryphal but the idea was all these theologians would be in their their little scriptorium and they would
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study intensely the word and they would come up with all these theological doctrines and all these religious rituals and institutions and within that
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the spirit was quenched and religion died so the pendulum would chronically swing to the other side to a group called The called The pietists these were those who would
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abandon all sound Doctrine and doctrinal study and focus only on the spirit of knowing Christ the spirit of Christ Thomas Aus you may have have read some
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of his the imitation of Christ he was of the pietist school so be careful as you read it there's a lot of good in it there were Believers on the one side they were Believers on the other side
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but our minds seemed to go back and forth between a more rational and reasoned religion and a more spiritual and emotional and emotional religion none of these two extremes
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neither of them is correct because we cannot have true and vibrant faith that is not informed by sound biblical sound biblical Doctrine you say I believe in
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what if you've ever had any experience within the charismatic movement you would know what I'm talking about because there's a lot of talk about faith but there's no content to it
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there's no understanding as to what we have faith in we have faith we're going to be rich we have faith we're going to live long we're not going to be cancerous or we have faith that our marriage is going to be happy we what
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are you talking about that is not at all biblical but then that's not important the the reality is biblical Doctrine is vital I mean
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literally vital literally vital to the biblical Faith you can't have the one without the other and so the danger of gaining advantage in biblical study
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and theology is the same as Paul faced as Saul of Tarsus and I would have to say that that especially within the reformed
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camp this has been a major problem see Paul did not reject the the truths he had gained rather in comparison to knowing Christ and being
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known by him he counted it as all lost but theologians and again perhaps especially reformed theologians have not always followed Paul in this you see we
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can make an idol of Doctrine no less than one of wood or bronze we can make an idol of our understanding and of our theology
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it can become our security it become it can become our trust we have more faith in our confession in our Creed than we do in
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Jesus Christ at that point that which we have gained may very well become loss and so we have to somehow guard
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against without abandoning The Pursuit Of Truth the Holy Spirit Jesus said would be given to do what to guide us into all truth so I I know I may be
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repetitive here but again it is so easy for us because you know pursuing biblical knowledge takes hard
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work the path of least resistance is to let someone else do it for you and then in their knowledge live
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vicariously or you can go all the way to the to the higher Church like the Roman Catholic church and you can just let the clergy do everything and all the Mechanics for you and sprinkle you with
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oil and put a wafer on your tongue and then you just go away justified in your own eyes but far from God it is a difficult path it's a path that means
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that you know as as Paul says when I was a child I did childish things but when I became a man I put away I put away all the vestiges of childhood
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in in order to understand what Paul is saying we have to be in the word in order to understand as we've been talking about in Plum line on Thursday nights in order to understand what the New Testament
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writers are saying we have to understand the Old the Old Testament this takes effort many of us would would argue I I don't have time for that but it is
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amazing what we do have time for instead of that and so this is a this is still a danger for every 21st century believer and that is that we would put
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our faith in something other than theology but the danger that I'm particularly looking at is the danger of putting it in theology putting it in Doctrine the danger of studying to show
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oneself approved but then studying to show oneself Justified and even worse self-justified at that point what you have gained has become lost
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that is the mathematics of redemption that is the mathematics of Grace so what separates sound Doctrine from doctrinal idolatry and if youve spent any
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time reading reformed theologians throughout the throughout the centuries you've probably noticed a difference in tone between some writers and others a difference in emphasis a
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difference in focus and I would say the difference is between sound Doctrine and doctrinal idolatry doctrinal idolatry so what protects us what keeps us in the one and away from the other well I think
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Paul gives us the answer here in these closing verses of Romans 11 the result of all sound theology is awe and
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awe and praise regarding the wisdom and knowledge of God if there is a most important verse in scripture and of course there is not but if there would
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be a most important verse in scripture as we study scripture as we P pursue truth it would be Romans 11 33 Paul says oh the debts of the riches
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both of the wisdom and knowledge of God how unsearchable are his judgments and unfathomable his
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unfathomable his ways that puts us in the right right perspective and I wonder if Christian churches shouldn't do like the synagogue does as it opens and as it closes it
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repeats the Sha living in a pagan world that was a great the greatest danger was that they would adopt the idolatry of their neighboring countries and so every
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time they gathered and even today they do it as well here o Israel the Lord Our God the Lord is one maybe we should start with Romans
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11:33 how unsearchable are his judgments unfathomable his unfathomable his ways that is a perspective that will best guard us from doctrinal
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idolatry the deeper we mind the inexhaustable riches of God's self-revelation in his word and in his creation the greater our understanding becomes
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that which we read in job 27 these are but the fringes of his ways how faint a word we hear of him that is a perspective that Paul
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represents in himself by the grace of God and a perspective that he would have every one of his disciples everyone in this room every believer in the church
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imitate and that is dig deep search for truth in scripture search to know God better through Jesus Christ and in all of that searching remember these are but the
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fringes of his ways how faint a word we hear of him and how unsearchable his judgments unfathomable his ways that which we do learn of him is true that
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which he has revealed of himself is true but it's not exhaustive that's where we run the danger of pride and arrogance whenever we think that what we have discovered of
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the Lord is definitive and exhaustive of his nature scripture tells us no years ago my wife stole my
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Bible searched all over the house for it she gave it to a friend of ours who does leather work and he put a cover on it okay this Bible's about as old as I am but it looks good on the back she put it
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had him put one of my favorite verses Deuteronomy 29:29 the secret things belong unto the Lord Our God but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our
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children forever that we may do all the words of this law the secret things belong to belong to God that is something that we have a hard time with as human beings and even
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regeneration sadly doesn't help much we want to resolve the tensions we want to resolve the apparent contradictions we want to resolve the
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logical difficulties that we find not only in scripture but in life in general and so we seek to untie the knots that God has tied and in doing so we seek to
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pry into the secret things that belong only to him and in doing so we gain or we pursue what is in fact doctrinal idolatry and not sound
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Doctrine Paul says here in Romans 11 he says after this doxology who has known the mind of the
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counselor we ought to be suspicious of all logical theological systems we ought to be suspicious as I've no doubt made clear of
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dispensationalism we ought to be suspicious as I think I've made clear of covenantalism in fact we ought to be suspicious of any ISM that we can think of or encounter in our reading any
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system whereby we have mapped out the unsearchable judgments of God and plumbed the unfathomable depths of his wisdom any system like that that puts it
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out on charts and timelines we ought to say I don't think so we should view it with suspicion a healthy suspicion because every one of those
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systems is trying to resolve some theological or sociological tension that God has not resolved in his word it doesn't mean that God is
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illogical or irrational that is not the point here it simply means and this should be very logical and rational that God's ways are not our
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ways that rather we are to think his thoughts after him not the other way around we should not think of him as just such a one as ourselves now you may have noticed all of these are scriptures
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God speaking of himself saying you know what I'm a lot bigger than you my mind is a lot deeper than yours my ways are past your full understanding the depths of my wisdom are path past your
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delving that's rational he's God but it's also very healthy to us in knowing our limits and so we need to let the tensions remain
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and glory in the wisdom and knowledge of God who alone resolves all tension he give you some examples of of tensions that good and godly men over
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the centuries over the Millennia have tried to resolve for example the reality of evil in a world cre created by a good God is is that not a
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tension really a insuperable tension where did Sin come from we really can't give a good answer to that so the
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tension of the reality evil of evil in a in a world created by a good and holy God that tension needs to be subsumed in
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our awe and admiration for the wisdom and understanding of God another one the evident responsibility of man in the presence of an absolutely
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Sovereign and omnipotent God there's a big one where is man's responsibility also known as free will come into all of this if man doesn't have free will how
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can he be be held responsible Paul deals with this in Romans nine he doesn't resolve it though does he why does God still find fault who can resist his will
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Paul says who are you oh man to answer back to God you notice he doesn't resolve the tension we we have to have that that
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self-restraint in our own thinking to realize that there are tensions that we cannot resolve and we don't deny the one or the other simply
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we allow them to be subsumed in the Majesty of the wisdom and understanding of God the requirement of obedience from a life lived by faith there another one
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one it's under the rubric of law or Grace okay as if the two are antithetical they're not but we we like
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to do that we like to go down on one side free will or on the other side Divine sovereignty we like to land on one side and that is obey the law obey the law the other is I'm not under law
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I'm under I'm under grace okay do you see the error you see that that the more we learn that that what we learn can actually become lost
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to us error invariably comes when man seeks to resolve such apparent tensions because he always emphasizes one side to the virtual exclusion of the other that
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is how we resolve what are tensions in our logical Minds our mind has to come down on one or the other and the
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scripture comes down on both which means that of necessity we need to avoid those passages that come down on the other side well the premise is wrong to begin
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with we are not trying to resolve human respon responsibility for his own action that's clearly biblical and we're not trying to resolve the absolute
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sovereignty and omnipotence of God because that is equally biblical but rather we step back and say oh the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God
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how unsearchable his judgments how unfathomable his unfathomable his understanding that's that's the position of worship and
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worship and theology should be at all times doxology I think that's that is the ultimate lesson that I glean from Paul
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but especially verse 33 it's as if he cannot keep it in any long longer you know he has been unfolding what is a mystery he even
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calls it that and and he's he's outlining what may seem to some to be illogical when you know when he says essentially gain is loss and loss is
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gain and Peter goes was that but Peter also says some things that are hard to understand so I don't think he should be throwing stones um but Paul is going through all of this and yet as he's
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going through it's building up within him what is building up oh I've solved the problem there it is look at that give me my doctorate no what is what is building up in him is
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doxology the giving of glory to the only one who deserves it and this is should be the result of all true theology now we hear comments often
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times we hear comments like my my God wouldn't do that my my God wouldn't do that because that's not fair my God wouldn't force people kicking and screaming into heaven my God would not
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over override their free will or or we might say you know obviously the question is why does a good God allow evil in the world why does a good God allow tragedy why does a good God allow
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a child to die or tornado or a hurricane or an earthquake and we think well you shouldn't be asking those
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questions but in fact those questions are natural in fact they're they're they're pretty much inescapable they're even biblical I'm
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not saying they're biblically right but they're biblically present I think of the Prophet the Prophet habach habach writes thine eyes are too pure to approve evil and thou can not
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look on wickedness with favor why Dost thou look with favor on those who deal treacherously why art thou silent when
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the Wicked swallow up those more righteous than righteous than they habach is kind of a funny book you he's he starts out as a true
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prophet of Israel he's lamenting the wickedness of his people their Disobedience to the law their estrangement from Jehovah their God and and he's going in full profit mode and
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then God tells him what he's going to do about it he says you know habach you're right and I'm going to punish Israel with the calans and Hab back's like say what again okay
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they're worse than us you know we we don't understand and habak says how how can you do that how can you allow your
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people to be swallowed up by a people that are more wicked than they are well you know God never answers habach he never answered job Paul did not answer
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his objector that's that's the key here that these tensions these misunderstandings or confusion that we have are not answered by God but we know
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the answer already and that is his wisdom and his knowledge are perfect his goodness is without question his Holiness has no stain whatsoever and
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therefore the resolution of whatever is ATT tension in my mind will bring Glory and honor to him and I will not figure it out and he will not reveal it to me
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and Paul essentially says this as he quotes here from Isaiah 40 in verse 34 he says who has known the mind of the Lord or who has become his
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counselor Thursday nights we've been talking about how the New Testament uses the Old Testament and one thing that we ought to do when we're reading the New Testament we ought to go back and
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actually read not only the passage that's being quoted but the context of that passage Isaiah 40 is said in the context of God is the creator of all
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things and in light of our Sunday school class I think it's very significant to actually read what Isaiah writes Isaiah 40: 13 and 14 who has
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directed The Spirit of the Lord or as his counselor has informed him with whom did he consult and who
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gave him understanding and to who taught him in the path of justice and taught him knowledge and informed him in the way of
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way of understanding you see this is the right this is the right attitude of All Creatures toward the Creator and that is to maintain the understanding that as the Creator his
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ways are above our ways his thoughts are above our thoughts and also to understand that he does not govern the universe by universe by committee he does not consult any of us
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and our comments regarding his nature for example that's just not fair or I don't think God should do that that's not loving are completely irrelevant to
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him when someone says to you well my God isn't that isn't that way the answer should be well maybe your God isn't God isn't God in discussing the bondage of the
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will versus the sovereignty of God arasmus countered Luther saying that God would never go against man's will because he
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is a loving God and and so his key phrase in his Treatise was let God be good well Luther responded with his book
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bondage of the will in which he says no let God be God that that's the right perspective that is what keeps us from doctrinal idolatry and Keeps Us within sound
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Doctrine and that is we are not we're not to let God Be Love or Let God be just or let God be good no we're to let God be God be God he has revealed his nature to us in
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his word he has bid us to seek to know him better he has given us his holy spirit to guide us into all truth but at the end of all that truth all that theology there must be
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doxology that is the Hallmark of true biblical theology Paul concludes this Treatise as should every system of sound Theology
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and that is praise adoration and awe toward God not marveling at the efficiency and the logic of any particular theological system but rather
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awe and Adoration of God and that awe and AD admiration you you need to again notice it doesn't come that that that oh I understand all of this now no what
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what actually happens is I don't understand it praise God praise God I don't understand it all because his ways are indeed past finding
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out now keep in mind this does not sanctify false sanctify false theology just ending with a doxology and praising God does not make your theology
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right and right and biblical so it doesn't work in the reverse what I'm simply saying is that biblical theology the spirit guiding us into the knowledge of God will result in
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glory and adoration and awe at the nature of God himself it's also not a formula that we tack on to the end of our theology like we say in jesus' name
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and that makes our prayer official and legal and and how it works because we you know we said that phrase no that's not how it works rather it's the
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orientation the whole thrust and flow of our Pursuit Of Truth it's all that we do and all that we think and not merely biblical theology or biblical Doctrine
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but rather in everything we do the orientation of our life lived by faith in the Son of God will always point to the glory of God's grace
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you think about the life of a minister of someone whose life is dedicated to the study and the propagation of God's word it seems
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to me that there can be no better Epitaph for such a man's life than his theology was theology was doxology let us
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pray father we do ask that you would as you've promised guide us into all truth and give us great gain and advantage in the knowledge of you through your Holy Spirit in your word but also that that gain should not at any point become loss
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that it should never cross over into doctrinal idolatry that we should never put our trust in what we know but rather who we know and even more so by whom we
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are known that we are known and know Jesus Christ the lord and that we would count all gain to be loss and rubbish in comparison to the
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surpassing greatness of knowing him and the power of his resurrection we pray that we might have both piety and doctrinal solidity we pray that we might
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have lives that are infused and indwelt by the Holy Spirit overflowing but also Minds that are seeped steeped in your
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word that our path might be guided by the truth as you have revealed it in Jesus Christ and that we might think your thoughts after you and not our own thoughts instead of yours we ask this
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father For Your Glory we ask it for our good for we know that our true happiness is in your presence we ask this in Jesus
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name amen please amen please rise the benediction as we close out this session in Romans is from Romans the last verses of Romans
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16 now to him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past but now
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is manifested and by the scriptures of the prophets according to the Commandment of the Eternal God has been made known to all the nations leading to The Obedience of faith to the only wise
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God through Jesus Christ be glory forever amen
