I would like to call your attention this evening to the first three verses in the ninth chapter of Paul's Epistle to the Romans.

I say the truth in Christ, I lie not.

My conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart,

for I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ, for my brethren, my kinsmen,

according to the flesh. Now, having spent our evening last Friday in a general analysis

of this new section which we are beginning to study, the section that includes chapters 9, 10,

and 11 of this epistle to the Romans, having done that, having shown what the apostle does

in it and up to a point why he does it, we are now in a position to come back and start

upon our detailed exposition. And you may recall that I said the first subdivision or the first subsection

in chapter 9 consists of these three verses, the first three verses, in which the great

apostle introduces the subject, puts before us this whole question of the position of the Jews, and does so particularly,

in terms of his own relationship to them and to the problem which they constituted.

Now, this is, I think you'll all agree, one of the most astonishing and remarkable statements,

which is to be found anywhere not only in the writings of this apostle, but of any of the other

apostles.

And it's a very vital and important statement.

So it seems to me that our best method of approach to it is this.

Let's first of all look at what he actually says, the actual statement itself, the terms

of the statement.

And then we can go on to consider why he made it and why he put it in

this form. And then thirdly, we can draw certain lessons and conclusions from it.

Now, let's start then with the terms themselves. He starts off by saying, he suddenly bursts into the whole problem.

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