Romans 11:1-10 (#40.2026.03.15)

Scott Keffer [: 00:00:00

Hi, if you're looking for greater hope, assurance, and confidence through the shifting sands of life, then join me on today's episode as we dig deep into the Bible to discover rock-solid truth for life and living from the God of the Bible. I'm your host, Scott Keffer. Hi, and welcome to today's episode. As always, for a deeper experience, you can go to the show notes and download the blank insight sheet Fill in the blanks along with the group. Depending on how you're listening to this, there will be a link to the episode website at beholdingbibletruth.com, and a sheet with the answers is included as well. Enjoy today's episode. Well, we find ourselves in the middle of Romans. Things are heating up, challenging concepts.

Scott Keffer [: 00:00:53

God is taking us deep into the mine of his wisdom, the riches, right? And at the end of this section, the Spirit of God through the Apostle Paul is going to say, oh, the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are your judgments and unfathomable your ways. And as we go through scripture, I hope with me you're often saying, wow, Right? The depths. God is letting us in on the depths. And sometimes you'll go through scripture and think that I don't really care about this, or this doesn't really speak to me. But you want to be sure to say, God, open my ears. He awakens us morning by morning. He awakens our ears to listen as disciples. Right? And so the prayer is, when I go into his word, open my eyes that I may see wonderful things from thy law, but also open my ears that you might speak, and mostly open my heart that I might be willing to respond.

Scott Keffer [: 00:01:57

So stand with me, if you will, as we read our section of scripture today, very end of chapter 10 and into chapter 11. But as for Israel, he says, all the day long I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people. I say then, has God rejected his people? Has he? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. For do you not know what the scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have torn down your altars. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life. But what is the divine response to him? I've kept for myself 7,000 men who have not found the need to veil. In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God's gracious choice.

Scott Keffer [: 00:03:13

But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works. Otherwise grace is no longer grace. What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened, just as it is written, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes to see not, and ears to hear not, down to this very day. The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. If you're like me, I've had the privilege here since probably about 19— I think we're saying 1991— to be opening God's word on a weekly basis. And there are times when I read it and think, what? And I'm assuming the same for you. And as we dig into it together, hopefully the Spirit of God will reveal things to us So this whole section, right, from 9 to 11 is really speaking with this issue, which is if Israel, right, as a whole, right, because the church, of course, in the early years and the very first birthing of the church was mostly Jewish.

Scott Keffer [: 00:04:28

But now what's the deal, right? Because it's mostly Gentiles. So he's speaking to that issue. What happened to the promises to Israel? Right, so he asked that question at the very beginning. He's saying all day long, right, they've been disobedient and obstinate. So has God rejected his people? And this issue is really dealing with the righteousness of God. This is about the righteousness of God, not that it will deal with Israel, but it deals with the righteousness of God. In other words, how do we think about God's righteousness, his faithfulness to fulfill what he has promised to Israel? How do we deal with that in light of the fact that they are largely unbelieving? Which begs a good question: has God abandoned Israel? Has God abandoned Israel? So the context here is Israel has been— God, he shows us here as we go through 9 and 10, he's shown us that Israel has been given an opportunity over and over and over again. In fact, if you study the Old Testament, and you should, because you can't understand the New if you haven't studied the Old, because the New, right, is informed by the Old.

Scott Keffer [: 00:05:51

And if you go through the Old Testament, you can just say, what is up? How has God not just said, I'm wiping the whole group out. We're just going to start again. Well, good thing that God is merciful, because we're a lot like Israel, aren't we? God saves sinners. God saves sinners. But Israel's given— had been given an opportunity, but Israel refused to believe. Again, we're talking about as a whole. Talking about as a whole, were there believers along the way? Of course, but as a whole, what was going on there? So he reminds us that Israel rejected the righteousness of God. Israel rejected the righteousness of God.

Scott Keffer [: 00:06:45

And Romans is dealing with this at the core issue. Here's the core issue. If you understand that God is righteous, that he is holy, that he is pure and sinless, in him is light and there is no darkness. The prophet Isaiah saw, right, saw the Lord, but no man has seen God. So God gave him a revelation and he says, I saw the Lord sitting on the throne lofty and exalted, the train of his robe filling the temple. And it says seraphim stood about him, each having six wings. With two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And they cried out to one another, Holy, holy, holy, three times.

Scott Keffer [: 00:07:40

Holy, holy, Holy. In the Book of Revelation, it says day and night the angels cry out, Holy, Holy, Holy. And back then they said the Lord of Hosts. And in Revelation they say the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come. There is none other holy. He is of such a nature it's impossible to comprehend his righteousness, his purity. His inability to look upon sin. And the Old Testament reminds us God's righteousness is unshakable, it's unchangeable.

Scott Keffer [: 00:08:22

His throne is upon a throne of righteousness and justice. Are you get that? Righteousness and justice. Righteousness requires just response. From his throne come loving kindness and truth, but it's built upon a foundation. If that foundation changes, If God is less than righteous, if he is not just, then his throne crumbles. And so all of the world crumbles, creation crumbles, right? So it's built on this context. If God is holy and righteous and just, how will you and I ever have a relationship with him? How will you and I ever come near to him? How will you and I receive the righteousness of God? I always said that the, the actual sun is a picture in some ways, just like all of creation is a picture. 10,000 degrees at the center, light upon light, right? And they can't— haven't been able to get within 4 million miles, 4 million miles of the sun, because the craft gets consumed.

Scott Keffer [: 00:09:37

By the power of the light, by the heat, how could it ever get close to the physical sun? It would have to be of the same power and nature as the physical sun to not be consumed into it. Does that make sense? So how will you and I ever get close to a holy God? Scripture says we all— the only way is we come of the same nature as him. Well, how could that happen? In Christ. In Christ, God does the miraculous. We become his sons. And I don't mean sons as of gender, but sons as in position, sons as in access, sons as in favor. The Lord Jesus Christ sits at the right hand. That's the place of favor.

Scott Keffer [: 00:10:28

We sit with him. We are adopted as sons through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the kind intention of his will. So Romans is about how will you and I ever have a relationship with the living God and not be consumed by his holiness, his righteousness. What happens to his justice? For all have sinned. All have sinned, fallen short. What is, what do you do with that? What do you do with that? The Old Testament reminds us there's a sacrifice required, and you can't make it. You can't make it. So how will you get the righteousness? So that's the context of Romans.

Scott Keffer [: 00:11:09

It's answering the question, how do we receive it? Where do we receive it? In Messiah. In the Messiah, the one who was promised and who came. It's saying Israel rejected that. Israel rejected that, refused to believe. So has God rejected Israel? That's really the question. And he says emphatically not. So now he's going to show— here's the proof, if you will, the evidence that God has not rejected Israel. The evidence.

Scott Keffer [: 00:11:41

Because at the core of that, as he walks out of Romans 8, if you will— and again, there's no chapters in the original manuscript But as he comes out of Romans 8, he's saying, if God has rejected Israel and the promises he made to the nation of Israel, what about the promises he's made to you and me? Will they change? Will God change his mind? Will God be less than faithful to all that he's promised? And he's saying, absolutely not. So what's he saying? He said, first of all, I'm an Israelite. I'm Jewish by birth. I'm Jewish. I am a descendant of Abraham. The covenant, the covenant to Abraham, a moon worshiper called out of darkness and given a promise by Almighty God that I will bless you And I will bless the nations, all the nations of the earth through you, right? Which means, again, beyond even just your ethnicity, I will bless those who are beyond you, right? So the question for Paul is, how do I connect to that? He says, I'm a descendant of Abraham. I can follow my physical lineage back to Abraham. I'm a descendant.

Scott Keffer [: 00:13:07

And God promised Abraham, I will make you a great nation, and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed. So he goes back to Abraham, and he says, oh, by the way, and also I'm of the tribe of Benjamin. Benjamin and Judah were the only two tribes that remained loyal to King David's line when the kingdom split. 1 Kings, it says, now when Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem back, he assembled all the house of Judah And the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 chosen men who were warriors to fight against the house of Israel, right, still disobedient, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. So he's saying, I'm of the tribe of Benjamin, connect back to Abraham and Benjamin. So Paul's saying, I'm Israel by birth, I'm a Jew by birth. Then he says, these are God's people whom he foreknew. These are God's people whom he foreknew.

Scott Keffer [: 00:14:17

So he's pointing them back to the fact that God foreknew. God operates in a timeless, right, in a timeless capacity. God is not bound by time. He's, he has all knowledge in all places at all times. Hard to comprehend, isn't it? Our son Josh used to say, Dad, this makes my mind hurt. Well, your brain should hurt because how does the finite who were born in time comprehend the timeless one? I always say to me, this What does that mean? So we have a symbol for a concept that a finite person shouldn't have a concept. How many of you were born on one day? And before that, you had no knowledge of your— right? So how do people who have a beginning have a concept of infinity, something that you can't look around and say, is there anything you know of in creation that is infinite? But we have that, a reminder that God, of course, has revealed himself to us. Infinity.

Scott Keffer [: 00:15:48

So there's 4 knowledge for God. And I love this in In Deuteronomy, he says, so why did God choose Abraham, Abram, and the nation of Israel? Well, they must have deserved it. Let's see. For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God, and Yahweh your God has chosen you to be a people for him. So who initiates? And who's this about? Him. A people for his own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. And the Lord did not set his love on you, nor choose you. So understand, he's saying those two concepts are the same.

Scott Keffer [: 00:16:37

When God chooses, it's a covenant choosing. In other words, when he chooses you, it's a choice to put his love upon you. So God chooses you and puts his love upon you. It's the same thing, right? He said, when nor did he choose you, right? He set his love on you, nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest, because the Lord loved you. You set your love on me because you love. But he says, I set my love on them because I love them. Wait a minute, which came first? No, I set my love on them because I love them. Well, you love them why? Because I set my love on them.

Scott Keffer [: 00:17:28

Because he's saying, I set my love on them just because I love them, which means he's free to choose. He's free to choose, and he initiated the choice. He said, I set my love on them. There was nothing in them. And I kept the oath which I swore to their forefathers when I brought them out, of course, out of the land of Egypt. Since you were the fewest of all people. Of course, that would point forward to a future choosing and a choosing along the way of how does God choose, on the basis of what? So on the basis of himself, huh? Because he's going to say to those who he calls out of darkness, you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Why did he choose you? You're amazing.

Scott Keffer [: 00:18:41

What's he say in Corinthians? Consider your calling. Not many mighty, not many noble, not many smart. But he said, by his doing are you in Christ Jesus, who became to us our wisdom from God, our righteousness, our sanctification, and our redemption. Why was that? So that at the end no man may boast, but let him who saith boast in the Lord. So the, the so that, the so that, no boasting. Boast in the Lord at the end of the day. Because God had chooses whom he means to choose. What does that mean? It's not dependent upon me.

Scott Keffer [: 00:19:30

Is that good news? I thought it was all about me. Come on, Lord, you're so amazing. I'm so— and you have so great thoughts for me, and I'm just, ah, awesome. No. Oh, he is awesome, and his love is awesome, and his love is a covenant choosing. We get that. He makes a divine choice, and he sets his love on whom he sets his love. That's what he's saying.

Scott Keffer [: 00:20:01

And does God have the right to do that? That's the question in here in 9, 10, 11. That's the question. Does God have a right to do that? And this, the scripture says, well, he's the creator of heaven and earth. He's righteous and he's just. So he can set his love on whom he will set his love. And he reminds them in Amos, you, you only have I chosen among all the families of the earth. And guess what? He's going to remind you as well. If you're in Christ, he has chosen you.

Scott Keffer [: 00:20:38

He's chosen you, set his love upon you. Well, again, it goes back to, well, what's up? Lord, a lot of Gentiles coming to you, but not many Jewish. What's up with that? Well, Lord's going to remind them that he always preserves a remnant. He always preserves a remnant. And he says this is according to his gracious choice. So he points them back to Elijah, points them back to Elijah. Well, Elijah is pleading with God against Israel, against all, all his fellow countrymen. Why? So what's he saying? I've been zealous for the Lord, Eliza says, the God of hosts.

Scott Keffer [: 00:21:44

But the sons of Israel have forsaken your covenant, torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. So how are the rest of the people doing? So what have they done? They have forsaken your covenant, your covenant love. They have rejected you and your covenant love. By the way, they've torn down your altars. What's that mean? They're worshiping foreign gods, worshiping Baal, Moloch, other gods. And they have killed your prophets. In fact, when you sent your prophets to say, hey, it's time to repent, we not only ignored them, we just killed them. You don't like the message, don't just turn it off, just kill the messengers, right? So he says, that's the state of your people, Lord, and I alone am left.

Scott Keffer [: 00:22:45

So it's a great reminder. Sometimes you feel like you're standing alone, doesn't it? Sometimes you feel like you're standing alone. Sometimes you feel like you're standing alone in the midst of a world that seems to be out of control and certainly anti-God and not against him. So he says, I alone am blessed and they're going to kill me too. And the Lord Jesus said, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to set the heart— there's this, the heart of God through his Son, the Lord Jesus. Here's his heart: you killed our messengers, and he knows you're going to kill me. But his heart is that I would gather you, right, gather your children together the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings.

Scott Keffer [: 00:23:39

And you are unwilling. There's the unwillingness, the rejection, continued rejection. So that's the state of the heart of the people. And then God's prophet says, I alone am left. I alone am left. And the Lord says, like, chill out. Like, you're— I'm your only hope, Lord. You ever feel like that? I'm the only one.

Scott Keffer [: 00:24:08

Lord says, I've kept for myself 7,000. And by the way, Isaiah, you're not the only one, right? You're not the— or Elijah— you're not the only one. I myself have kept how many? 7. What's 7? The number perfect. Yeah, I've, I've kept the, the perfect number. So it's a great reminder for you, you know, whatever you feel the world, the state of the world, how the world is going, you're not alone. You're not standing alone. Sometimes you'll feel like it, but Lord says, nope, there's a greater plan and purpose even when you can't see it, even when it doesn't feel like it's going on.

Scott Keffer [: 00:24:51

So then the Spirit of God says, in the same way. So he said, what's he doing? He's taking them back to the Old Testament. He's saying, look, this is not new. This is not new. This happened over and over and over again. They rejected. I sent prophets. They rejected.

Scott Keffer [: 00:25:07

They killed them. Right? Same thing with my son. Sent my son, says, right, in the parable when the landowner sent his son and they said, let's kill him, right? Let's kill him. So he's saying, in the same way today, there is still a remnant. So he's reminding them through Israel's history God never preserved the entire nation, right? There was rebellion and unbelief, in fact, in the majority of the folks. Instead, he preserved a remnant, always a remnant, a smaller group chosen by grace who remain faithful to him. Always, always, always there is a remnant. Many are called, few are chosen.

Scott Keffer [: 00:25:57

See, that's the deal. If you want to be in the majority, don't be a follower of Christ. It's a— it's always a remnant, right? And he said it's not just any remnant, it's a remnant according to God's choice. It's as if he keeps reminding us of that. Why is that? What do you think? Because we forget. We think it should be Ours. We don't understand it, so we fight against it. Who's God? How does he have a right to do this? I don't understand.

Scott Keffer [: 00:26:36

It doesn't make sense. Doesn't make sense to me. So he reminds us, I am the Lord and there is no other. So he's mirroring back to earlier in the letter Romans 9:11-16. He said, for though they were twins, were not yet born, and had not done anything good or bad before they were— it wasn't a moral choice, what they're saying— so that God's purpose— underline that, God's purpose. What was his purpose according to his choice would stand. So his purpose rounded around his choice, and that it would stand not because of works but because of him who calls. Who's that? The Lord, right? He— it was said to her, the older will serve the younger, just as it is written, Jacob I love, but Esau I hated.

Scott Keffer [: 00:27:44

Sure, if you're struggling on that, go back and grab one of the earlier sessions. By the way, people have asked of that, so if you notice up at the top, these are all recorded. They're on beholdingbibletruth.com. Those are one of those fancy— I don't know what they call them— QR codes, but you put your phone there. And so the audio version is a podcast, the video version is on YouTube. Anyway, that's— we talked about that in Romans 9. But then he says, well, when you hear that, what's your natural response, human response? Well, that's not just, that's not fair, right? That's not fair. So he says, is there injustice with God? So they said, what shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be.

Scott Keffer [: 00:28:41

Here's the same, the same emphatic, may it never be. Then he's quoting from Moses, when Moses interacts with God and says, show me your glory. And the Lord says, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I'll have compassion. So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. I've said before, nobody wakes up every day and says, why is there mercy at all? We wake up and say, why do some receive mercy and others? All deserve no mercy. Some receive it. That's the end And he reminds us that God's choice is by grace. It's by grace.

Scott Keffer [: 00:29:41

What's grace mean? Undeserved favor. Undeserved favor. Unmerited. Unmerited. Unworked for. Un— right? So grace. And he said not by works. This is an important phrase.

Scott Keffer [: 00:29:57

He said otherwise grace If it had anything to do with you, then grace is no longer grace. Grace is no longer grace. If there's 1/10 of 1% you, 99.9999% God, and the little speck you, It's not grace. He says it's not grace. You have some role in it. So he clearly says, not by works, otherwise grace is no longer grace. This is the hardest thing. It just blows our mind.

Scott Keffer [: 00:30:41

Why? Because we live in a world where, I can't remember, this was a Christian leader who said, I don't like this. I like the idea that we earn it. We, we compete. That's the prize, right? Yeah, that's the problem with grace, because if it's not grace, then who can boast? You say no boasting, only in the Lord, right? Boast in the Lord. This is so hard to get, but once you get it, you think, my God, his grace is awesome. Grace is awesome. So he says Israel, right? So God promises to Israel they haven't failed. So that's what he said.

Scott Keffer [: 00:31:39

They haven't failed and a remnant remains. So he's, he's building this case, if you will. So what then? Israel failed, he says, because they pursued righteousness by works. Why does he keep saying that? Think about how often in the book of Romans he said that it's not by works. Why? Because it's our nature to believe that things happen by works. We get what we deserve. No, you don't get what you deserve. If you got what you deserved, it would be eternal separation from the living God.

Scott Keffer [: 00:32:23

What is that? Non-life. Non-life. If you think about that, he is the Lord of Life, which means separation from him is non-life. So it says Israel failed. And then again, he's pointing back to 9:31 and 32 where he says Israel pursuing a law of righteousness, they did not arrive at the law. So they were given the law, and the law was doing what? Which of the 630-whatever commandments are you keeping every day? Well, how about the 3, to walk humbly? How about the, how about the 1? How about the don't eat of the tree? How about the 1? How'd that work? So the reminder to us, so it says they pursued it. They did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. And they stumbled.

Scott Keffer [: 00:33:30

What'd they stumble over? A Messiah who would hang on a tree. To, to— if you're Jewish by nature and you're serious about a Jew, cursed is the man who hangs on a tree. That's what you would do when you overcame an enemy, right? You would hang them up, right? To show, like, cursed is the man who hangs on a tree. Messiah hanging on a tree, coming on a donkey. So it's a stumbling block for Jews. It's a stumbling block. But he says the elect did. He said, but the elect did.

Scott Keffer [: 00:34:18

Still does. Well, who are the elect? What's the word mean? Chosen. But it's the chosen. But we're back to God's choice. Then we get back to this very difficult— this very challenging issue— the idea of hardening. The idea of hardening, right? That at some point God would harden. So I have to remind you and remind me that he righteously, justly, and judiciously pardons. He righteously justly and judicially pardons.

Scott Keffer [: 00:35:23

What's that mean? God gives them over, gives them over. That part of the sentence to their rebellion is the inability, the hardening of the heart, the stupor, the inability to believe. So he quotes from Isaiah. He says here, Isaiah said, go tell this people— where the Lord said to Isaiah, tell his people, keep on listening but do not perceive, keep on looking but do not understand. Render the hearts of this people insensitive, their ears dull, and their eyes dim. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and return and be healed. What? That doesn't seem fair. That doesn't seem right.

Scott Keffer [: 00:36:21

Why? Because I drop it into my translator and it goes through my sinful heart And I don't recognize justice. I don't understand God's righteousness. I don't understand how sin is utterly sinful. So God says the soul that sins must die. The wages of sin is death. So here's the question. When sin, right? So first of all, people sin because they're born sinners. And if God is just and the soul that sins must die, and all have sinned, why do any live? Jesus.

Scott Keffer [: 00:37:11

Why? No, why do any even keep living? Why are you allowed to live till the time? We don't think that. We think, well, that's not fair. That's not right that God does that. So we never go back and start with God and his righteousness and say, what is just? What is— so there is a time in obstinance and rebellion where God gives them over to their own rebellion, gives them over. And so judicially, right, he says, you will hear and not— you will, you will hear and not hear. And he also said, quotes from the Psalms, may their table before them become a snare, and when they're in peace, may it become a trap. May their eyes grow dim so that they cannot see, and make their loins shake continually. In other words, continual rebellion will lead to more rebellion.

Scott Keffer [: 00:38:13

Continual resistance will lead to more resistance. and God's justice is upon that. So Barclay says, the idea is that men are sitting feasting comfortably at their banquet, and their very sense of safety has become their ruin. They're so secure in the fancied safety that the enemy can come upon them unaware. It's sort of the outcome of arrogance and pride. So here's the amazing thing. How many of you were rebellious, resistant? People say, I, I've known the Lord forever. That's not true.

Scott Keffer [: 00:39:00

But there was some point in time when he took your heart of stone and gave you a heart of flesh, where your resistance became a desire Where he turned you from away to toward it, where you went from being at not at peace to being at peace with God, to having access to the heavenly throne, to the Holy of Holies, the very Holy of Holies, the place that only the Lord Jesus could enter. We have very access to that. How'd that happen? How'd that happen? Well, he says here, as he reminds us in Romans 9, so he has mercy on whom he desires and he hardens whom he desires. How did I get mercy? Well, mercy— how'd you get it? God chose to set his love upon you, not because you were more in number like he said Israel, not because you had greater potential, not because you were just nicer person, not because you deserved it in any way, his mercy, because God chose to set his love upon you. We should be astounded by grace every day. We should remind ourselves of the gospel. And this is the gospel. That's why I said this is the gospel for believers.

Scott Keffer [: 00:40:36

So then, okay, there's a hardening for Israel because of their resistance and rebellion. So is God done? Is he finished? Right? That would be the next question. So he's finished. Well, Israel's present hardening, he's going to say, is not God's final word. So he hearkens back to Ezekiel when he says to the nation Israel, thus says Yahweh God, the Lord God, behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and they've gone because God scattered them in judgment. And I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land, and I will make them one nation in the land. Why? God promises a land. That's what he promised to Abraham.

Scott Keffer [: 00:41:36

And he says— there's, there's scripture in there you can see— but he says, I will make a covenant of peace with them. It will be what kind of covenant? Everlasting. And I will place them and multiply them, and I will set my sanctuary in their midst. For how long? Forever. Huh. An eternal— my dwelling place also will be with them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people. This obstinate, resistant people. And the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel when my sanctuary is in their midst forever.

Scott Keffer [: 00:42:18

So Israel's present hardening is not God's final word. And so we're going to continue to deal with that. What does that mean? Does that mean for Israel? But I stop and say, Lord, okay, is God righteous despite the promises to Israel and the fact that they as a majority don't believe? They're not coming to Christ. What is that? Is God still righteous? Are his promises still true? Are they true to them? Which really goes to, are they true to me? So then what do we take from this? Well, there's always a remnant. I'm a remnant. How many are a remnant? Raise your hand. We're a remnant. If you're waiting for the majority of the town, of the city, of the nation, of the world to become Christ followers, it isn't happening.

Scott Keffer [: 00:43:13

The world is waiting. No, the world is not waiting. The world is resistant. And he says to Timothy, in the last days, bad times are going to come. Men will become lovers of self, lovers of money, resistant. Huh. It's crazy. Doesn't matter who you vote for.

Scott Keffer [: 00:43:36

It doesn't matter what you hope for. It's not going to change that. So he charges Timothy. He said, I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, I solemnly charge you. He says, preach the word, be ready in season and out of season. Underline that. In season and out of season. What's that mean? There's going to be in seasons and out of seasons.

Scott Keffer [: 00:44:09

Sometimes it will be easier and sometimes it will be harder, but you're in season, out of season. So he says to preach the word, preach the word, for the time will come. What did he say? Reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and instruction. Then he says the time will come Time will come when they will not— what's the word— endure sound doctrine. They will ignore the messengers. They will want to kill the prophets. Huh, nothing new, nothing different. Resistance, resistance, right? They will not endure, but wanting to have their ears tickled.

Scott Keffer [: 00:44:58

They will accumulate YouTube videos for themselves because now you can find— I don't like that, I don't like that, I just find what I like. And you can get enough of it because it's out there, a lot of stuff. What are we doing? I'm getting teachers who teach what I want in accordance with their own desires. It's what I want to hear. It's what I want to hear. And they will shut their ears and they will turn aside to myths, to idols, to fancies, to following all sorts of things. But you, he says, do what? Sober. Steadfast, right? Be serious about where you are.

Scott Keffer [: 00:45:54

Now we say, if you're here and you're still breathing, God has work for you. If you're here, you're still breathing, God has work for you. Well, what kind of work? He says, well, first of all, right, be serious, be diligent, and endure hardship. It ain't easy. And You know, the reality is it's great to study the Old Testament or to look around the world and realize it ain't that hard here in America. I mean, it isn't that hard. Well, they say things about us on social media. We'll turn off social media.

Scott Keffer [: 00:46:32

There isn't anything on there that's worthwhile anyway. But endure hardship. And then he says, do the work of an evangelist. So cross out an evangelist, and you got to fill in whether is that for you. So he's not saying you should preach the word. He's saying that's what Timothy should do because that's his calling, that's his ministry. Ever get it? That's not it. He's not saying you preach the word, reprove, rebuke, exhort.

Scott Keffer [: 00:47:04

That was Timothy's role. So he's saying, what is yours? Do the work of— what is it for you? What is your ministry? He's saying no matter what the context is, right? If you feel like I'm the only one here, Lord says, well, that's not the case. There's 7,000 that have been bound in the earth. But do the work. Do the work that I've called you to do. Fulfill your ministry. Do the Underlined work. Ministry.

Scott Keffer [: 00:47:38

Ministry is work. And you work your ministry. That's why he says employ your gift. These are pictures for us. We put our gift to work. And that's the only thing, just make sure your gift is not unemployed. Make sure your gift is not unemployed. Now remember, they're in season, out of season.

Scott Keffer [: 00:48:07

What does that mean? There are seasons you go through, unhealthy or whatever that stuff is, but generally we are to be at work until God calls us home. God calls us home. In the midst of that, you're going to have to be sober because things aren't good. They just aren't. Never have, never will be on this side. But a day is coming, says a day is coming, day is coming when his new heavens, new earth, every tear wiped away. Day's coming and we have an inheritance that is reserved, preserved, and kept in heaven. It's for us, kept in heaven, right? And we can know that.

Scott Keffer [: 00:48:52

So he says, along the way, be sober and fulfill your ministry. Be sober and fulfill your ministry. All right, right, an insight, question, observation. I don't understand. So he's using in two different contexts, same, same, it's the same word that he used in Romans 8 where he says, right, you have been predestined, right? So that same word. There, he's, he's called to your calling as a believer is predestined. Here he's talking about it in terms of the nation of Israel. But it's the same that God foreknew the nation of Israel, right? His plans and purposes were eternal.

Scott Keffer [: 00:49:34

That's foreknowledge. That's a sense of his plans and purposes are eternal, much like his plans and purpose for you and believers are eternal. And he's predestined you to what? Adoption, says in Ephesians. He's predestined you to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself. Yes, well, Christian, any comment, insight? Aha. Well, there's two big concepts here that are really hard, and we're going to deal with the second one next week, which is this idea of predestination. What is that? What the heck does that mean? Um, the other is, what's God's plan for Israel? There's various views on what God's plan for Israel. So we're going to talk about that more next week.

Scott Keffer [: 00:50:18

But this, this idea of predestination. So my answer would be, depending on whom I'm talking to, if I'm talking to an unbeliever, right, that usually the issue is, oh, you're saying God chooses some and then other people go to hell. And, you know, how do you, how do you deal with that? What about the people who've never heard? And so our answers for all that. So if I'm talking to an unbeliever I'm not going deep into that. I'm really pointing, I'm just moving the conversation back to what about you, and right, what about you? Because that's at the end of the day for them, that's the question. So an unbeliever, I'm just moving that back to you. What about you? Not the Indians, and you know, what about the Asia? What about China? You know, what about all that stuff? If it's a young believer, and you're going to talk about this, I always think about Corrie ten Boom. You know the story.

Scott Keffer [: 00:51:09

She's at, uh, at the train station and she's asking, uh, her dad about— I can't remember the concept, but she, you know, she's in the middle of, uh, Germany and things are not great. And he says, well, you know, honey, he said, could you pick up that bag? And she said, I can't, it's too heavy. He said, well, you know, there are some things that are just too heavy to understand. And when the time is right, I'll— we'll talk about that together. And so if you're in a conversation about predestination, question is, is that— if it's, you know, is it of the right time with that person? It's a heavy— these are heavy topics, aren't they? They're heavy topics. So one is, is it time and right to have that conversation? And then three is, I always say, is this an argument Right? Is this a, you believe, I believe, right? Or is this an open discussion? So I'm, I'm always sort of set that in the context because I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna, uh, I'm not gonna go up to the mat with somebody. Uh, it, you can't, you gotta deal with 8 through 11 in Romans and you gotta figure it out. Oh, and then you have to deal with Ephesians and then you have to deal, I mean, there's a couple of things you just can't walk away with.

Scott Keffer [: 00:52:28

These words and concepts that are hard to believe, right? Hard to comprehend. So generally, I would say it depends on who am I talking to, how I have the conversation. That makes sense? Yeah. And by the way, if you're sitting here and say, I still don't get it, I think, you know, people come up and say, I still don't get it, that's fine. Let's still have a conversation about it. Yeah, Mike. God's heart is that all would come to repentance. God's heart is that Adam wouldn't fall.

Scott Keffer [: 00:52:57

God's heart is— that's— but God's heart is so much that you repent that he sent his son. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son to do what you and I couldn't do. And he demonstrates his own love. While you were yet sinners, Christ died for you. So that's what I say to people. Yeah. And may the God of all mercies, may he bless you, may he keep you, may he cause his face to shine upon you. May he lift up his countenance and grant you shalom.

Scott Keffer [: 00:53:36

His shalom is the prince of shalom deep into your soul. So in the midst of all of life, he would be your peace. He would be your peace. May he bless you and keep you always. Amen. Amen. Thanks for listening. I hope you have greater hope, assurance, and confidence in your life, and a deeper trust in the God of the Bible and His Son, Jesus Christ.

Scott Keffer [: 00:54:04

Until next time, may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, and may the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you His peace, His shalom, in your soul and in your life. Until next time, may God bless you and keep you.