The Mystery of God’s Mercy
Righteousness Revealed: An Exposition of Romans

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Thanks for listening to the podcast from Gary Combs and the preaching team at Wilson Community Church in Wilson, North Carolina. Check us out on the web at wccnc.org for more. Here’s the sermon.

Good morning, church! We’re continuing our series through the book of Romans and we’re concluding the latter part of chapter 11. This morning, we will be picking up at verse 25 and finishing up the chapter. We’ve entitled this message today, “The Mystery Of God’s Mercy.”

Who here loves a mystery? Do you love a good mystery novel, a good mystery movie or tv show? I heard, recently, that there was actually a mystery game that you could play in downtown Wilson a couple of weeks ago. I saw some of you talking about it; it was called “The Wilson Ripper.” Some of you played that; apparently, you could get together a team of detectives and follow some outdoor clues in downtown Wilson and discover who did it. Apparently, it was a lot of fun. Mysteries and puzzles can be fun, can’t they? They can be a lot of fun.

Not all mysteries are fun. Sometimes, the unknown causes fear and anxiety. We’re afraid because of the mystery. It can cause some of us to avoid thinking about it. We don’t want to think about it because we can’t figure it out. We may even reject it because we don’t like mysteries.

If I read a mystery, I’m going to come up with my own answers. Some people respond that way to the mystery of God’s mercy. They ask, Why does it look like God shows mercy to some but not to others? Why is there suffering? There are lots of questions about the character of God. Some people end up being apathetic about it. They say, You know, I’m doing good. The God thing doesn’t really interest me. There’s a growing number of people in our culture today that are apathetic about that. Some people look at it and they think, You know what? I can figure this out better than God. They feel like they have a better plan. They don’t even think that God is just. They might think, You know, that’s good, but I don’t really need it. I’ve got my life under control and I’m doing good. Why do I need God’s mercy? There are different ways that people respond to this mystery of God’s mercy.

When the bible uses the word, “mystery,” when Paul is using the word, “mystery,” it’s not the same as a detective novel. You can’t put your “Sherlock Holmes hat” on and deduce God’s mystery. When the bible uses the word, “mystery,” as we see it in Paul’s writings, it has more of the idea of something that God has hidden in the past, but is now revealing.

What we’re reading this morning is something that’s a mystery that was hidden from the Old Testament prophets but was revealed to the New Testament believers. Believers like the apostle Paul.

Mystery, in the Greek, is the word “Mysterion.” That’s where we get the word, “mystery.” It’s more like a secret that God kept and revealed in the New Testament. God has revealed this mystery of God’s mercy to Paul and we get to look over his shoulder now to see what Paul has written to us. He wanted believers in Rome to understand the mystery of God’s mercy and we can understand it too.

As we look at the text today, I think we’ll see three ways that we might respond as we understand the mystery of God’s mercy. So, let’s dig in. Romans 11:25-36 (ESV) 25 “Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; 27 “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” 28 As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 30 For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, 31 so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. 32 For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all. 33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! 34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” 35 “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” 36 For from him and through him and to him are are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

We’re looking for three ways to respond to understanding the mystery of God’s mercy. Here’s the first:

1. We can be aware of God’s coming deliverance.

We’ve already read, in chapter 11, that the apostle Paul warned Gentile believers not to become arrogant. That was in verse 18 of chapter 11. Also, he warned Gentile believers not to become proud; we see that in verse 20 of chapter 11. Now, as we get into verse 25, he warns Gentile believers not to become “know-it-alls.” Don’t be wise in your own eyes. Paul is concerned about the Gentile part of the church somehow thinking they’re superior to the Jewish part of the church, especially to those Jews who have rejected Jesus as Messiah. They are not to become “know-it-alls;” they’re not to become conceited. Paul has been working this out. As we’re looking at this, you’ll hear “you” and “they” constantly. To know who “you? and “they” are, in order to decode what we’re reading, we have to remember that at this part of the book of Romans, “you” are the Gentile believers in Jesus and “they” are the unbelievers in Israel. If he says, “their,” this is the Jewish remnant of Jews who believe in Jesus inside the church. They are part of the “you.” But when Paul says, “they,” he’s talking about unbelieving Israe. That’s very helpful because what Paul is doing here is he’s pulling back the veil of the mystery of God’s plan of mercy to all people. He’s got these two broad categories of Jews and Gentiles. He’s talking about national things; he’s talking about this overview. That’s very helpful. He’s not necessarily talking about individuals here, but talking in this more overview manner.

Verse 25 says, “Lest you be wise in your own sight…” This is his concern, that they will not become conceited , thinking they know everything. Do you know anybody like that? They know everything already. This person is going to have a hard time understanding the mystery of God because they’ll make no room for understanding something that they already think they know the answer to.

Paul says, I don’t want you to be like that. I do not want you to be unaware. The Greek word for “unaware” is where we get the word, “agnostic.” Agnostic means “without knowledge or being ignorant.” I don’t want you to be agnostic about this. I want you to understand something, believing people.

Now, I didn’t have anybody answer this question from the first service, but in the second service I’ll try again. Maybe, you’re watching online and you’ll tell me; you can send me an email or a text and let me know. I would guess that most of us here are Gentile believers in Jesus. Occasionally, I will meet someone who comes from a Jewish background and now believes in Jesus. If you’re one of those, stop me as you’re leaving today and say, Hey, I’m one of the remnant, I’m one of the Jews who believes in Jesus as Messiah. I would love to meet you. But, the vast majority of believers in the church today are Gentiles.

Paul is working this out because Paul is Jewish. What has happened? Is God finished with Israel? Is there hope for unbelieving Israel? He’s working this out; that’s what he’s been doing since chapter nine. He’s getting to the conclusion now and he says to the Gentile church to not get conceited and become a bunch of “know- it-alls” about this because God is not finished with Israel.

Some years ago, when I was in college and before my wife and I were married, we became friends with a young woman named Donna. Donna is a Jew and came to faith in Christ Jesus . Oh the joy of seeing her believe in Jesus. She knew so much from the Old Testament already. Meeting Jesus just made it all perfect. It’s like she saw things in Jesus that we never saw because she saw the “Jewishness” in Him. It’s a beautiful thing when a person from a Jewish background believes in Jesus as Messiah, as the Christ. It was so much fun seeing her grow as a new believer. She’s still a dear friend of ours. One of the things she prays for and we pray with her for is that her parents, her brothers and the rest of her family would come to know Jesus as Messiah.

God is not finished with Israel. Paul doesn’t want us to be agnostic about this; he doesn’t want us to be unaware or ignorant of this mystery. A partial hardening has come upon Israel . We’ve talked about this a little bit earlier. We heard the word, “hardening;” it was from the Greek word ( ) where we get the word, sclerosis, which means hardening of the arteries.

This is a different version of the word, “hardening.” It has more of the idea of being callused, to have your spiritual heart somehow have a callous grow over it because of your unbelief and rejection of Jesus. It’s not complete; it’s partial. What does this mean? It means that, in every generation, there are still Jews coming to Jesus, there’s still a remnant coming to Jesus, although there is a partial hardening. There is a partial callousness on Israel; that’s the state of affairs right now and Paul’s letting us know that this is what is going on. That’s why there’s a callousness towards Jesus being the Messiah.

A lot of Jewish people think that Jesus is this blond haired, blue eyed guy. Some have pictured Him like this. When they finally read the gospels, they say, Wait a minute, He’s a Jew. He probably has black hair and brown eyes (as if that matters; it really doesn’t, because He’s for all people. He’s for all of us.) But, they’re astounded to discover this. This season that they’re in is a partial hardening; it’s not a complete hard hardening, nor is it a final one because the hardening will lift and a time of revival will come to Israel when Israel will believe. That’s what Paul is talking about. God is not finished with Israel; He’s going to do something. It’s coming.

When is it coming? Here comes the mystery in verse 25, “a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” Someone asked me on the “Ask the Pastor” this past week, When will this revival come into Israel? When is that coming? There is the answer. “Until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in.” That’s when the revival is coming into Israel. So, when is that? “Until the fullness.” In the Greek language, it’s the idea of a ship that has all of its sailors’ staff. The ship is completely full. And so, someday the ship will be full and the ship will sail, it will come in, What does that mean? The church is largely Gentile today, but there’s coming a time when the church age will end. It will come to its fullness. When will that be, exactly? Jesus has already answered that question. He says, “No man knoweth the hour, but only the Father knows.” When it’s full, the Father will know how full is full. That’s not for us to know. Only the Father will know when it’s full. The partial hardening will finish; it will lift and there will be a great revival.

Now, here’s what I believe the scripture teaches. I believe that there’s a time that the Bible speaks of, In Jeremiah chapter 30:7, there is a time of Jacob’s trouble that’s still to come. Some have called this The Great Tribulation, that there’s still seven years left in Daniel’s prophecy that have not been completed. Here’s what I believe; I believe that the time of the church, the time of the Gentiles, the church will be caught up.

In 1st Thessalonians, chapter four, in the Latin vulgate, there is “raptura,” to be raptured. The Gentile church will be caught up. The ship will be full. It will be caught up. And then, the time of Jacob’s trouble will begin, which is not really for their persecution, but for their repentance to come to Jesus. During that age, during that time of great tribulation, the Jews, as a nation, will come to Jesus in great numbers.

Even now, we’re already seeing an increase of that happening. I’ve been talking about that for several weeks. There is a movement now in Israel today, of great numbers of Jews coming to Jesus like never before. It’s astounding. I think it’s a reminder of what Paul has talked about is coming to pass.

This is what Zachariah wrote in Zachariah 12:10, This is a prophecy that’s yet to be fulfilled, but it’s coming. He says, Zechariah 12:10 (ESV) “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.” That’s coming. God is going to pour His spirit out on Israel. When the fullness of the Gentiles comes in, then that partial hardening will be lifted.

Paul goes on and he says, 26 “And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob.” He’s speaking of the nation.

Does that mean every single Jew in Israel? Not necessarily. He’s speaking nationally, not individually, but I think it means a vast majority as a people, They will come to Jesus like they never have before. Let me back it up with two passages from the Old Testament. He says, “as it is written,: which means I’m about to speak some things to you from the Old Testament. In verse 26, he says, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob.” He’s quoting almost verbatim Isaiah 59:20. Has God done this already? Has He banished ungodliness from Jacob? Jacob is another way of saying Israel; remember, God changed Jacob’s name to Israel? Has that happened? No, not yet, but it’s coming.

What Paul is saying is that here’s a prophecy from Isaiah that hasn’t happened yet. And then, in verse 27, he quotes Jeremiah 31 and 34. Verse 27, “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” He’s speaking of the new covenant, when God will write the law of the word of God on their hearts. It will no longer be on stone, but will be on their hearts. He will forgive their sins and He will take away their sins. That hasn’t happened yet.

I’ve quoted three prophets to you now. Two that Paul quoted and one that I quoted. In Zechariah, chapter 12, Paul quotes Isaiah and he also quotes Jeremiah. He’s letting us know that God’s not finished with Israel. Now, some would say that the church has now inherited all the promises that God gave to Israel. But I would say, as I’m reading chapter 11 here , that this doesn’t seem to be apparent to me. It looks like God still has some things that He’s planning to do with Israel and there’s a season when the church will be at its fullness, the Gentile church, and then He will do these things that He speaks of here through Paul.

Here’s the humility we need to have in our minds as we consider this. Let’s not be “know- it -alls.” Let’s be careful about thinking that we have God completely figured out. Look what Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, he says, 1 Corinthians 1:20-24 (ESV) 20 “Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks , Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” It takes some humility on our part to say, I don’t know everything, but I know one thing: I know that Jesus is the full revelation of God and that the mystery of His mercy is revealed by knowing Jesus.

One of the things that we say at our church is we are a disciple-making church. The type of disciple we seek to make is a F.A.T. disciple. Aren’t you happy to hear that today? We want to make F.A.T. disciples; it’s an acronym: faithful, available and teachable. If you want to grow and follow Jesus, you’ll be teachable. You’ll say, I’m not going to know everything in my own mind. I’m open to hearing what God says. Are you willing to recognize that God is revealing, pulling back the veil right here and saying that this is the season we are in right now. The fullness of the Gentiles is happening. It’s been happening now for 2000 years but I believe the curtain is closing, it won’t be long, my friends before Jesus is ready to take the Gentile church, that ship will sail and then it will be the season for the Jews to believe. That’s the first point, that we can understand and we can look for that deliverance. Here’s the second:

2. We can perceive God’s plan to offer mercy to all.

We’ve covered verses 25 through 27; now, we’re going to look at verses 28 through 32. In this part, Paul is revealing the mystery of God’s mercy towards Jew and Gentile alike. If you look at verse 32, you can see the conclusion of the matter. In fact, you can see the conclusion of the first 11 chapters. For 11 chapters, he’s been giving a strong theology about how to be made right with God. And he concludes the whole thing in verse 32. He says, “For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.”

Do you see the word, “consigned?” Have you ever taken something to a consignment shop, maybe some old clothes or something else. If you take it to a consignment shop, they will sell it for you and give you a percentage and they’ll keep a percentage. It’s yours, but you put it there for sale. Paul says, “For God has consigned all to disobedience.” The word, “consigned,” in the original Greek has the idea of being caught up in a fish net and all captured together. He sees all of us as being disobedient, caught up in this fish net of sin and not just sin, but the word, “disobedience,” here in the original has more of the idea of willful unbelief.

What is willful unbelief ? It means to refuse to be persuaded that Jesus is the Christ. It’s not understanding it intellectually. It’s willfully, I don’t want it because I want to remain in control. Paul says that both the Jew and the Gentile have struggled with willful unbelief. They’ve decided, I want to do life my own way. I don’t want to do it God’s way. I don’t want to trust Jesus with being the Lord of my life. And so, the word, “disobedience,” has more the idea of willful unbelief. A decision not to believe. We’re all wrapped up in this rebellious unbelief; God is going to turn it into something. He has a purpose for that; that He may have mercy on all. You see, God wants to offer mercy to all of us. It’s not a done deal, because human responsibility is still in view, but we must decide to, by faith, accept the offer. He will do it by His mercy, not because we deserve it, because we’re caught up in a fish net. It’s like you put something on consignment at the consignment store and then you went down there and saw that nobody was going to buy it because it was too beat up and rough; nobody really wanted it in the store. So, you bought it back, but then the consignment store wants their cut. So, you had to buy it back for more than you paid for it before. That’s how merciful God is. This is crazy love; mercy, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He bought us out, even though we weren’t worthy of it. That’s the conclusion of 11 chapters.

Now, let’s “back up the bus” a little bit and look at verses 28 through 31 to see Paul explaining. Paul says in verse 28, “As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake.” Who are “they?” “They” are the Jews of Israel. Who is “you?” “You” are the Gentile believers. Verse 28 continues, “But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers.” Regarding the gospel, the good news of Jesus, they became enemies, Israel became enemies. They rejected it to open the door for you. They didn’t know that was what they were doing, but God’s purposes are at work. He’s revealing a mystery here. Paul is saying that “they,” the Jews of Israel, became enemies of God for your sake. “But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers.” They became enemies of God, but God decided to love His enemies. If Jesus is going to tell us to love our enemies, certainly God loves His enemies. He saw them reject Jesus but He had already chosen them. He’d already decided. We see that He did this to their forefathers through the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob through Moses, through David and through the prophets. He had chosen them even though they were caught up in the sin net of unbelief. He still chose them.

For the sake of that, He decided to love them even though they were not lovable. They rebelled; they became enemies which opened the door for the Gentiles. If the Jews would have said “yes” to Jesus and the nation would have followed Jesus, the Gentiles would have thought, That’s a Jewish thing. But, because the Jews rejected Him, it became open to the whole world. And so, the Gentile nations came to Jesus. This is God explaining His plan. They were beloved for the sake of their forefathers.

Paul has an explanation phrase that comes next in verse 29,”For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” The gifts and calling are for who? I think in view here this primarily is Israel. He’s offering the gifts and the calling to the patriarchs of Israel. They are irrevocable regardless of whether or not they do right or wrong. They’re based on Him and His mercy.

Most of you probably drove to church. If you didn’t drive to church, your parents drove you or somebody drove you. You’re able to drive with a driver’s license because the state of North Carolina has given you one. But, if you break the law of the road, the laws of North Carolina, you’ve got a heavy foot or some other reason, you’ll get your license revoked. They’ll take your license away from you. It’s a privilege to have a driver’s license. A driver’s license can be revoked; it’s conditional. You get to keep a license because you took the test and passed it. You got your picture made, you have a driver’s license in your wallet. If you are pulled over, you are asked to show your license. The state of North Carolina may revoke it; it is conditional.

Hereis what God’s word is saying about His gifts and His calling: they are irrevocable. There’s nothing you can do to make Him change His mind and He’s not finished with Israel. There are still promises, pledges and gifts that He gave to Israel. Even though Israel is unbelieving right now, He’s not going to take away their promises.

Any promise that He’s made to us is irrevocable as well. He goes on in verse 31 and 32 and he says, 30 For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience.” That’s Israel. Verse 31, “so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy.” He is showing that there’s a new season coming; He opened the door for us to have mercy.

Now, He’s gonna open the door for the Jews, once again, to have mercy . This is His plan all along, that He may have mercy on all, which is God’s unconditional loving kindness towards us. In Ephesians, it says, Ephesians 2:4-5 (ESV) 4 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.” It’s God’s mercy.

Titus 3:4-5 (ESV) 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy…” It’s God’s mercy that motivates Him to save.

Perhaps you remember the story from Mark, chapter 10, about a blind man named Bartimaeus. Jesus and His disciples were traveling up the road from Jericho to Jerusalem. (It’s a pretty steep climb and it’s hot down in Jericho, but by the time you get all the way up to Jerusalem, it cools down just a little bit.) They were walking; as they were walking along that dusty road in Jericho they encountered a blind man named Bartimaeus as he was sitting by the roadside. He heard that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by and had heard that this Man was a miracle worker. Bartimaeus began to cry out, “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.” That was his prayer. That’s what he shouted out. The people around him said, Be quiet. Jesus is talking to some people. We’re trying to hear Him. Here you are, on the side of the road, raising cain. The more they told him to be quiet, the more blind Bartimaeus cried out, “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.” He just kept crying it out. The bible says that Jesus stopped and told them to go ahead. He will always stop ; he’ll pull over for us if we’ll call out. He wants to have mercy, but we have to call out. It’s mutual; He comes for us and He calls us, but we have to call out. Jesus stopped and asked him, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And he said, “Rabbi, Teacher, I might have my sight” and the Lord healed him in that very moment. He could see and he followed Jesus on the road to Jerusalem. What’s the key to that story? The Lord wants us to admit that we are blind by sin, that we need His mercy.

Have you ever heard of the Jesus Prayer? It’s an ancient prayer still prayed in the Orthodox church and in other places, but taught to new believers. It’s a helpful prayer because of its simplicity. The prayer is this, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Have you ever heard that prayer? It’s called the Jesus Prayer. “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God have mercy on me, a sinner.” Is it too long? Do you need something shorter so you can remember it? Well, try this, “Lord Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Still too long? “Lord Jesus, have mercy on me.” Still too long? “Jesus, have mercy.” Still too long? “Jesus.”

Some of you know what I’m talking about because you’ve been there. You recognize it’s not some perfect way of phrasing; some perfect prayer. It’s sayin, “I’m blind. I need mercy.” He wants to show mercy. “Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner. To obtain this mercy, we must admit our need. We’re caught up in a net of unbelief and sin. We need mercy. Here’s the third response:

3. We can acknowledge God’s glorious wisdom and ways.

We’ve talked about the coming deliverance that God has planned, We’ve talked about His desire to to make mercy available to all. And then, finally, we can acknowledge God’s glorious wisdom and ways.

As John Stott writes in his commentary, “For eleven chapters, Paul has been giving his comprehensive account of the gospel. Step by step he has shown how God has revealed his way of putting sinners right with himself, …and how God plans to incorporate the fulness of Israel and of the Gentiles into his new community. Paul’s horizons are vast. He takes in time and eternity, history and eschatology, justification, sanctification and glorification. Now he stops, out of breath. Analysis and argument must give way to adoration.” Paul stops, out of breath, and moves from analysis and argument and he gives way to adoration. Theology, rightly understood, should always lead to doxology. Theology is the study of God’s doxology, “Doxa” means glory, it’s the study of glory. The study of worship, Right? Understanding of theology always leads to worship and that’s where Paul heads. After 11 chapters of theology, he goes, Wait a minute, I’ve gotta shout. I’ve gotta praise God. Can I praise God with you for a minute?

Verse 33 says, “Oh, the depth of the riches riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!” Paul taught all he could. Now, he had to get on his knees and cry out and worship, “Oh, the depth…” He didn’t understand it all, but what God has told him is amazing.

Verse 33 continues, “How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” There is partial hardening of the hearts of the Jews and the Gentiles…“until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” He pulls back the curtain on the mystery and he reveals it. It is by His mercy, which is His loving kindness.

I don’t know how many of you have bought a ticket to fly on an airplane. Have you ever flown on an airplane? Did you completely understand the science of aerodynamics before you bought your ticket? In other words, did you understand how that multi-ton vehicle, with the metal wings and the big old heavy engines on it, was going to get off the ground with you inside of it, along with the other 300 people and all of their luggage? Did you completely understand that before you put your faith in its ability to fly and the pilot to fly it? Some would say that’s not very smart. That’s kind of blind faith. You just decided, by faith, to buy tickets, spend your money and get on an airplane. What you say to me is, I saw somebody else do it and it seemed to work for them. I saw one on T. V. I saw one fly over my house and I thought I’d like to get on one of those. Well that wasn’t a lot of information. You flew and, since I see you sitting here, it must have been successful. Now, your faith has increased because you bought the ticket, you got on board and it flew. It took you where you said it was going to take you.

You might not understand everything about God. Paul certainly didn’t; he says, “how inscrutable his ways!” God is not finished. The original Greek here has the idea of hunting a wild animal and losing track of it; it leaves no tracks like you’re hunting something dangerous, but it could have circled back. You lost track. “How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!”

We know enough about Him to know that He’s good. He’s a good God. I know enough about Him because He bought the ticket. He paid for it in full. I took it when He gave it to me by faith. I took the ticket; I’ve climbed aboard and He’s kept his promises to me. I don’t know everything. A lot of it’s still a mystery but this much that I know causes me to trust Him with the rest. “O the depth of his riches, of his wisdom, of his knowledge.” I can’t even come close. God is too big. Your God is too small if you’ve got it all figured out. God is big. You can’t put Him in a box.

Paul is not finished. He says, 34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” Now, we try to be His counselor. You know you do. You try to give God advice. God, I am doing this. Let me talk to you for a minute . God, I am doing this this way. I will handle it. So, I’m going to pray like this. We get in a hurry with our prayers. God, I’m in a big hurry today. I’m planning to do this today and I need You to be with me. I need You to handle that situation right there. So, we try to be God’s counselor. We think of God, like He’s some kind of “celestial Santa Claus; ” we can just climb up in His lap for a minute and tell Him what we want for Christmas. We think that He’s supposed to serve us and we’re God and He’s not. He uses His power to do what we say. Paul says, who can give Him counsel? Who can tell Him what to do?

I’ve thought about this before. This is “sideways advice” for you, single guys. I’ll say ”sideways” because don’t do it. What if you asked a girl out, you pull up in her driveway and just lay on the horn. You honk on the horn; that’s how you are calling for her. She comes out and she looks at you. You hit the power window and say, Come on, honey! I’m in a hurry! She comes out and you kick the door open and she climbs in. You start backing up before she can get her door closed. Her seat belt is hanging out. She’s trying to get her seat belt on. You’re “gunning it” down the road. Then you say, Honey, I’m sorry that I’m in such a big hurry. You know I love you. I’m just so glad to go out with you. Hey, by the way, I got some laundry in the back seat that I need to get cleaned up. I thought, before our date begins, we ought to stop off at the laundromat. I hope you brought some change because I actually forgot to bring quarters. I’m just gonna drop you off because I got another stop. I’ll drop you off with the laundry. If you would do my laundry, I’ll pick you up in a little bit. I promise I will make more time for you later in the day. How would that date go for you, single guys? What would you say, young ladies? Well most of you are going to say, I’m not even leaving the house with that guy, the “honking the horn” guy.

We do this to God. We try to be His counselor. We try to give Him our dirty laundry. Our lives are busy and we’ll get with Him later. Paul says, in verse 35 “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” What do you think ? Do you think you can do that with God? God owns the universe. He has no need. Have you ever given Him something?

Some of us try to negotiate with God. God, I’ll do this for You if you’ll give Me this. We try to negotiate with God, but the problem is, we don’t have anything that He doesn’t already own. You can’t give him a gift that He doesn’t already have in order to have Him be in debt to you.

But, there might be one thing, There might be one thing you have that He doesn’t yet have. What could it be? There’s one thing: He made you. He sent Jesus to “buy you out of consignment.” He doesn’t have you. He’s decided that you get to have something to say about that. The one thing is your heart, your life. There’s one thing you could give Him. It wouldn’t put him in debt to you because He’s already paid in advance for you. Have you given Him your life?

We will be going into chapter 12 next week. I can’t wait to get there because, for 11 chapters, we’ve done theology. We’ve done the proposition, all truth. But when we get to chapter 12, verse one, we’re going to get to the “prescription.” Paul is going to say, “I appeal to you, brothers. Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice. Which is your only reasonable act of worship.” How do you respond to this God who owns everything? What can you give Him? You can give yourself.

Paul, then, closes with this beautiful benediction, this wonderful doxology. 36 “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” He’s the Creator. Everything comes from Him. He made it. He’s a sustainer; if He didn’t hang on to it, it would all fly apart. He’s the consummation, he’s the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega. It all comes back to Him. Paul finishes with worship. Proverbs 3:5-7 (ESV) 5 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. 7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.”

Don’t try to be a “ know- it- all.” Sometimes, you won’t understand it all. Even after the pastor preaches, you might ask, But what about that one verse? I’m probably with you on that. May I humbly say to you, let’s just worship, because the part we know is enough and we can keep on asking for the rest but some of it still remains a mystery.

In 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa guide were the first to reach the summit of Mt. Everest. Many had tried, but died in their attempts. In 1953, they reached its peak. Chuck Swindoll talks about this. He says that 1900 years earlier, the apostle Paul climbed to the peak of the Himalayan Heights of theology. Along the way there were three campsites. First in chapter 9, we came to Camp Sovereignty. God chooses. Then in chapter 10, Camp Responsibility. We are responsible to respond. Then in chapter11, Camp Humility. Whether Jew or Gentile, we must humbly admit we are only saved by God’s mercy and not our merit. Finally, we worship at the glorious summit!” Our study of God has resulted in our worship of God through Jesus, His Son! We climb to the top; we get to verse 33 through 36 and we look out over the range and we say, Oh my goodness! But there’s still more,”How inscrutable are his ways beyond searching or his judgments?” We finish with worship. Let’s pray.

Lord, I pray first of all for the ones that are here today, that have never given their life to you. They’re still in charge or trying to be at least. They’re trying to live life their own way. Right now, You are knocking at their heart’s door. My friend, don’t harden your heart, don’t callus your heart because it grows more callous every time you say “no;” every time you respond in unbelief today, as you feel the call. Would you pray with me? Say “yes” to Jesus, what does that look like? It looks like this? Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. I believe You died on the cross for my sins that You were raised from the grave and that You live today. Save me; forgive me. Come and live in me, adopt me into Your family. I want to be a child of God. I want You to be my Lord and Savior. I give my life to You. If you’re praying that prayer, believing, He’ll save you and adopt you into His family. Others have done that. You know the Lord Jesus as Lord and Savior. Don’t be conceited; it was by His mercy that we are saved. Don’t be a “know- it- all;” remember there are many that He has yet to call to Himself. Let’s not be judgmental. Lord, forgive us. Help us to share the good news with family and friends that are far from You. We pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.