Week 50 - Free Weekend Program For Street and Vulnerable Children

Text : Romans 11:30-36

Theme : God's Immeasurable Wisdom

30 Once, you Gentiles were rebels against God, but when the people of Israel rebelled against him, God was merciful to you instead.

31 Now they are the rebels, and God’s mercy has come to you so that they, too, will share in God’s mercy.

32 For God has imprisoned everyone in disobedience so he could have mercy on everyone.

33 Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!

34 For who can know the Lord’s thoughts?

Who knows enough to give him advice?

35 And who has given him so much

that he needs to pay it back?

36 For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen.

It’s obvious that we were all in disobedience, engaging in different forms of idolatry - idol worship; the scripture declares openly what is true of us all. For example, my grandmother worshipped the River Niger, sacrificing chickens and other valuable things to it yearly, and we followed her as kids. Was our ignorance, an excuse?, no! our ignorance cannot be excused; God made that clear in Romans 1:20: “For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.” However, despite this warning, we continued in ignorance, idolatry, and superstition until God came with mercy for some of us rather than judgment.

He opened our ears to hear the gospel, our eyes to see our sins and our lost state, and our hearts to believe in Christ and to call on Him. Even now, He continues to reveal the Lord Jesus to us and in us, guiding us in the way of righteousness. there is no doubt that Israel’s disobedience opened the door for the gospel to come to us, non-Jews. They rejected the Saviour, Christ, refused to put faith in Him for their salvation, and crucified Him instead. As a result, God extended His divine mercy to us, brought us into His family, and made us heirs of His kingdom and joint heirs with Christ. Romans 8:17. Today, we are no longer slaves or servants but friends with God, just like Abraham (John 15:15). Christ reconciled us to the Father through His shed blood.

More so, just as God extended His mercy to us, removing our ignorance (darkness) by giving us understanding (light), forgiving our sins, removing our idols, and blessing us with faith in Christ, He will do the same for Israel - for all whom He has chosen from the beginning. Without Christ, the Jews would have something in themselves to boast about, such as their noble heritage from their ancestors—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—backed by the eternal promises of God. They could also boast about being entrusted with the word of God, but with all that privilege, they couldn’t see Christ, even though He was in front of them, and their sacred books (Torah) speaks of Christ from Moses and all the prophets: “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself” (Luke 24:27).

Except for the Mercy of God, all of us serving in church are guilty and continually susceptible to the same evil - self righteousness. Boasting about our years of “dedication and service” to the Lord with the mindset that God owes us a reward - heaven and much more in this life. For some of us, it is the the heresy of shared glory with the Most High “ I did my part and God did His part” but the scriptures says “ He is the Lord, His glory He will not share with anyone. Isaiah 42:8. Until we understand that all our collective part - actions are utterly sinful, a stench before God, we will not cry out for mercy and will not be saved from the wrath of God.

Not withstanding, till the Lord reveals Himself, no one can see Him or their state of sinfulness outwardly and inwardly. We are all lost and blind at the same time; only the mercy of God can make the difference for those He chooses: “Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified” (Romans 8:30).

Salvation is of the Lord. Only those with faith in Christ are the true seed of Abraham and heirs according to the promise (Galatians 3:29). This faith is a gift from God. Have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory? Yes! Are we all (Jews and non-Jews) under the power of sin and disobedience? Yes! Can we purge our own sins and make ourselves willing and obedient? No! It’s impossible. We need help; we need divine mercy—we all do. Romans 3 is real; you know it’s real if indeed the Lord has quickened you from the dead and made you alive in Christ (Ephesians 2:1-5).

This is applicable to everyone, Jew or Gentile—those outside the church who are licentious, outward sinners, and those of us serving in church, reading the Bible daily, fasting, giving offerings, and being acquainted with the word of God and His ways or those mingled with both religion and licentious sin like the Nicolaitans - one foot in church, one foot in the world, so mingled, they became neither hot or cold. Rev. 3:14-17. We all need the mercy of God now and always or we’ll burn eternally in hell.

First, ignorance will not save us from the consequences of sin; the anger of God released against all ungodliness. Don’t let anyone fool you; all without faith in Christ (anyone not found in Christ) will be tormented in hell day and night forever and ever (Revelation 20:15). Faith in Christ is like being in Noah’s ark -boat, everyone outside the boat was swallowed up, everyone inside was saved from death, eternal death; Forever is a timeless reality, always remember that.

Secondly, our good works cannot atone for our sins; they cannot avail before a thrice-holy God. Our best efforts are utterly sinful; they are filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). Perfection—holiness in thought, deed, and action—is impossible with man. We need Christ, the advocate, the perfect atoning sacrifice for our sin. He is the Wisdom of God, our redemption, our righteousness, and our sanctification. “As the only truly purifying water he cleanses us from the power of sin and sanctifies us unto holiness, working in us to will and to do of the Lord's good pleasure” (Spurgeon).

Though this gospel is foolishness to those who are destined to damnation, it is the power of God unto salvation to all who believe. 1 Cor. 1:18. In all things, Christ Jesus has the preeminence. You are blessed beyond measure if by mercy, God has gifted you with faith in Christ and has called you into union with Him.

God is so rich in mercy, I like what a preacher once said: “Everyone in heaven got what they don’t deserve, and everyone in hell got exactly what they deserve.” Think of Saul of Tarsus and how many Christians he killed; the thief on the cross; Abraham, who was an idolater in the city of Ur before God called him out (Gen. 12:1); or Rahab, the harlot. How about Peter, who denied Christ with cursing, or David, who killed Uriah, or Samson? Indeed, everyone in heaven got what they don’t deserve, and that includes you and me if, by God’s grace, we persevere to the end..

God does not owe mercy to anyone, He gives it freely to whomever He chooses. No one can fully understand or give advice to God. God’s thoughts and ways are beyond human understanding. He is all-knowing and wise, He does as He pleases for His own glory alone and for the eternal good of the souls of those He love.

Finally, Let me summarise with the words of Heshimu Colar: “Salvation is by mercy. Jew and Gentile are equally lost. None makes it to heaven without 100% mercy. God’s plan of salvation by mercy is shown in His using unbelief in Israel to give the Gentiles faith, and His using the mercy shown to the Gentiles to save the elect Jews. How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways! His wisdom is great. No one makes it by giving God anything. All is mercy and grace, from predestination to glorification. All is for His glory, so He can be loved, adored, and seen as beautiful. Salvation reveals God’s greatness, not man’s. The best of men is merely a testimony of the mercy of God. All glory belongs to God.”

Call on God for mercy, not for entitlement or for reward. Like Blind Bartimaeus, call on Him, and He will answer you. “For, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’” (Romans 10:13). This is a sure promise, so what are you waiting for?