Romans 11:17-24

Please take out your copy of God's Word and turn to Paul's letter to the Romans, chapter 11.

Romans 11 · chapter mention

!

And we did so in this way to talk and kind of to bring to some finality Paul's discussion of the Jews and what's happening with them now and what will eventually be the case for them.

And I don't have time to recap everything that I said last week, but essentially I showed in a pattern throughout chapter 11 that I believe in verse 26 when he says,

And in this way all Israel will be saved, he's talking about the process by which his grace is still being extended to the people of Israel, to the nation of Israel.

That he is talking present day and that this grace has not left Israel as a nation, but that it has been extended to Gentiles as well as Jews.

And so his grace is running prevalent across the earth this day.

Either way, the result's the same.

Some believe that this text is talking about a final, full salvation of Israel.

And we talked in brief about that.

But either way, the point remains that what he's trying to say to Gentile believers, which I will presume that every single one of us are,

is that we ought not be proud.

We ought not become haughty towards the Israelites.

We ought not be anti-Semitic in any way whatsoever because it's by grace that we're saved.

Not works, right?

It's not because we're Gentile that we now have the grace of God.

And so I want to talk about that.

I want to kind of rewind into chapter 11 and talk a bit more about that, focusing on verses 17 through 24 and particularly 20 through 22.

So let's pray together and then I'll begin reading that.

Father God, I love you because you first loved me.

And I thank you for the great grace that you've poured out on my life and on the lives of so many in this room.

Surely, us coming together this morning is a picture of your loving kindness toward mankind.

I pray we don't miss that this morning.

And Father, you know what a mess I am generally.

And certainly this morning, frantic.

Even with an extra hour in my day, I'm running around.

And I just pray, Father, that you will work through my frailty by your Spirit.

That you will be powerful in me.

And that you will work in the hearers of your word.

That they might know and understand who you are.

That they might serve you best this coming week.

And we pray this in Christ's name.

Amen.

Alright, so let's read together.

Beginning in verse 17 through verse 24.

But if some of the branches were broken off.

And you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others.

And now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree.

Do not be arrogant toward the branches.

If you are, remember it is not you who support the root.

But the root that supports you.

Then you will say, branches were broken off.

So that I might be grafted in.

That is true.

They were broken off because of their unbelief.

But you stand fast through faith.

So do not become proud, but fear.

For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.

Note then the kindness and the severity of God.

Severity towards those who have fallen.

But God's kindness to you.

Provided you continue in his kindness.

Otherwise you too will be cut off.

And even if they do not continue in their unbelief.

Will be grafted in.

For God has the power to graft them in again.

For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree.

And grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree.

How much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree?

So Paul uses this beautiful analogy of grafting.

And as I was thinking this week through the analogy.

I actually thought about not talking about it at all.

But then realized that there is a really good chance.

That many of you have no idea what he's talking about.

When he speaks of grafting.

What that means.

It's to cut off a branch.

This happens in cultivation all the time.

You cut off a branch.

And you take another branch.

And you cut it in just such a way.

I almost showed you guys a video of it happening today.

But you cut it in just such a way.

So that it can be inserted into the root, the tree, whatever that may be.

And it will then get its sustenance from the tree.

And you will have then a new tree.

The practice happens as farmers try to cultivate a better product.

So it happens with olives.

Quite often, in fact.

There's a trait in a wild olive that is beneficial.

Let's say drought tolerance to the cultivated tree.

And so the farmer cuts and grafts in the other part.

Now obviously in this case, he's not saying that in some way the Gentiles had something to offer to the kingdom of God.

Therefore, they were a better version.

And he needed to graft them into the old version.

But that's the picture that we're seeing here.

Is that because of their unbelief, because of their unfruitfulness, parts of Israel were trimmed away.

And new, wild olive branches were grafted in.

That they might bear fruit.

And so here's the analogy that he gives us.

And he calls us in this to humility.

And he does it three times in chapter 11.

Look at verse 18.

He says,

Do not be arrogant toward the branches.

Verse 20.

So do not become proud, but fear.

Verse 25.

He says,

Lest you be wise in your own sight.

Do not be haughty.

Just because you're part of the tree now,

do not be arrogant, proud, boastful, haughty towards those who have been cut off.

And why?

It's because you stand fast through faith.

Faith.

Not because of your works.

Isn't that the great message of Romans?

Justification by faith alone.

Not because of works.

Not because of anything we could have ever possibly done to earn God's favor.

But because of the faith that he has given us to believe in his son.

Faith is the opposite of pride.

Thinking that we can somehow do anything is the opposite of faith.

Because faith in Jesus Christ, the son of God, the person and his work, his death and resurrection for us, brings nothing but humility.

It impedes pride.

You cannot be proud if you truly believe in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

So faith then is set in juxtaposition to pride.

And we stand fast through faith.

So we see then in verse 20 through 22 that they were broken off because of their unbelief.

But we stand fast through faith.

So we shouldn't become proud.

But instead, we should fear.

For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.

Note then the kindness and the severity of God.

The severity of those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness.

Otherwise, you too will be cut off.

You see the warning here.

Is that if we become proud, if we think that we have obtained our justification before God by our own doing, what does that mean?

We weren't Christians to begin with.

Somehow, we made our way into the tree, but we too will be cut off.

The analogy breaks down at that point, right?

But that is what he is saying.

Truly regenerate believers, those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ, will not be proud.

And he calls us to fear.

And the challenge here is putting in proper balance fear and faith.

Trembling, being in awe at the holiness of God.

And then believing that we can stand before him justified.

There's a challenge in that.

And it's a challenge that's talked about all throughout scriptures.

Turn with me, if you will, to Matthew chapter 20.

Matthew 20 · chapter mention

This is a parable.

Jesus is talking to a Jewish audience at this time.

Those who had the privileges of the Old Testament, the prophets, the temple, the sacrificial system,

had all these things giving them windows into the ultimate and final culmination of God's grace to mankind.

However, I don't want to find myself in this position.

Verse 1, chapter 20.

Jesus says,

The kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.

After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, or a day's wage, he sent them into his vineyard.

And going about the third hour, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace.

And to them he said,

You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right, I will give you a day's wage.

So they went.

Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same.

And about the eleventh hour, he went out and found others standing.

And he said to them, Why do you stand here idle all day?

They said to him, Because no one has hired us.

He said to them, You go into the vineyard too.

And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman,

Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last up to the first.

And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius.

Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more.

But each of them also received a denarius.

And on receiving it, they grumbled at the master of the house, saying,

These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.

But he replied to one of them, Friend, I am doing you no wrong.

Do you not agree with me for a denarius?

Take what belongs to you and go.

I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you.

Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?

Or do you begrudge my generosity?

So the last will be first, and the first last.

And this is Paul's warning, just turned to the Gentile believers.

That we might see that God's grace to people is not deserved, but he pours it out because he's God.

That we might not be proud in any way that we've received it,

but that we pray for those who have not yet received it.

There's another great story, an Old Testament story, of who I don't want to be in the book of Jonah.

Jonah is called and sent to go to the Ninevites, but yet he runs away.

And why does he run away onto a ship to Tarshish?

Because he knows God is good.

He knows God loves even the evil and wicked Ninevites.

He knows that if he goes proclaiming the judgment of God,

that there's a good chance that God's going to pour out his grace on these people,

who in his mind don't deserve it.

And if that's the case, then he did.

In his own mind, he was so proud to think that he deserved God's love toward him.

And so in Jonah 3, 4, he says,

Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey.

And this is the message he proclaimed.

So when God finally swallowed him up in a big fish, spit him out onto the beach,

he goes to Nineveh and he calls out,

Yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

He goes proclaiming a message of God's wrath to the Ninevites.

And then in 4, 1 and 2, it's recorded,

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly,

and he was angry after the repentance of the whole city of Nineveh.

And he prayed to the Lord and said,

O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country?

That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish,

for I knew that you were a gracious God and merciful,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love

and relenting from disaster.

I don't want to have the heart of Jonah.

I want to believe that God is a good and loving and kind God.

I want to have that type of faith

that properly balances in the case with fear.

So we ought to have fear and faith in proper measure.

And you could put other words on that as well,

like in our text, severity and kindness,

mercy and wrath,

justice and forgiveness.

You can put the two things anywhere you would like to in there,

the words that you prefer.

In this case,

we see both fear and faith,

as well as severity and kindness.

So what is the prescription that he gives to us

to not be proud,

to not be boastful,

to not think in this way

about those who have not yet received

the grace of God?

He tells us

to note.

We're told to note

the severity and kindness of God.

Verse 22.

Note then the kindness

and the severity of God.

That word note

is most commonly

translated in our scriptures

as behold,

look.

In the ESV,

which is the translation I'm preaching from,

it's found 1,061 times.

Look, look, look.

Over and over and over again,

which leads me to believe

that God must think

that we're not very good

at seeing things.

Right?

Note, look,

behold the kindness

and the severity of God.

And if we do this properly,

we have no room

to be proud.

None.

Whatsoever.

Where do we do that?

Where do we look?

Where do we behold?

How is it that we note this?

From our scriptures.

Isn't this the record

of God's,

both His severity

and His kindness

toward mankind?

It all culminates,

it all comes together,

converges

in the personal work of Christ

as Christ bore

the full wrath of God

for the sins of the church,

giving to them justification,

giving to them the grace

because of what He did.

It all comes together.

We see that

in the scriptures.

the Bible

in its entirety

speaks of Christ.

I challenge you

in your reading of it

to see that

to be the case.

Shows us

who we are

and who God is.

And that in the middle

stands in that

vast, vast,

unfillable gap

the one who could,

Jesus Christ.

That is how

we note.

That is how we look.

That's how we gaze upon

the severity

and the kindness

of God.

Do you do that?

Do you value

your scripture?

Do you read

your scriptures?

One of the great challenges

of the American church

is that we are

biblically illiterate.

We are at a place

in American Christianity

much like the days

of the Reformation.

Reformation.

Recently,

as a nation,

we celebrated

Halloween.

It's also known

as Reformation Day.

October 31st,

1517

is when Martin Luther

nailed the 95 Theses

to the door of the church

in Wittenberg.

That's when it happened.

October 31st.

And what was happening

at that time

is that the church at large,

the Catholic church,

had led the people astray

because the Bible

was only written

in Latin.

In fact,

the priests preached

in Latin.

And nobody knew

what was going on.

In the same way,

we now have the scriptures

in our own language,

in multiple translations

with study notes.

Right?

And yet,

many people this morning

sit across our country

entirely biblically illiterate.

A pastor can stand up

and because of his position

can say anything he wants

and it's swallowed

hook, line, and sinker.

And many people

are going to be dragged

onto shore

and they're going to die

because he's not

preaching the truth.

God himself

has penned words

for our lives.

Why do we not

read it

more?

Right now,

our Sunday school class,

the men's and the women's,

are reading through the Bible

in a year.

And that has

posed itself

as a challenge

for people to

spend the time

it takes

to read

the assigned reading

to get through

the entire Bible

in a year.

I put myself

in the same boat.

I'm not judging you.

Right?

It can be

a challenge.

Can't it?

We're so busy.

We have so much

going on.

Will you get

less done

if you read

your scriptures more?

Quite possibly.

But I believe

you'll get the right

things done

and they'll be done

well

if you read

your scriptures

more.

That you will be

properly fueled

by a proper

balance of

fear and faith,

severity

and kindness.

Let me give you

an example.

If you've been

around here long,

you know that

George Mueller

is one of my heroes.

A man who

pastored a church

in England

as well as

ran an orphanage.

Reached

thousands and thousands.

He ran a missionary

society,

funded all kinds

of mission efforts

around the world.

In his last days,

he spent his time

traveling around

the world.

An amazing man

of faith.

And this is where

it kind of all

rooted in.

It was in his

diligence in

studying the

scriptures.

Four years

after he became

a believer,

this was written

of him by A.T.

Pearson,

who wrote the

best biography

on him.

It says,

after a true

relish for the

scriptures had

been created,

he could not

understand how

he could ever

have treated

God's book

with such

neglect.

It seemed

obvious that

God,

having condescended

to become

an author,

inspired holy

men to write

the scriptures.

He would in

them impart

the most vital

truths.

His message

would cover

all matters

which concern

man's welfare,

and therefore,

under the double

impulse of duty

and delight,

we should

instinctively

and habitually

turn to the

Bible.

Moreover,

as he read

and studied

this book

of God,

he felt

himself

admitted to

more and more

intimate

acquaintance

with the

author.

During the

last 20

years of

his life,

he read

it carefully

through four

or five

times annually

with a

growing sense

of his own

rapid increase

in the knowledge

of God

thereby.

In the last

20 years of

his life,

George Mueller

lived,

I'm pretty

sure,

to the age

of 92.

At the

age of 71,

in his own

writing and

his journaling,

he said that

he had read

the scriptures

through a

hundred times.

So in the

last time of

his year,

it increased

even,

even more

so.

It's a great

story of Mueller

when he was a

young Christian

who went to

a meeting

and spoke

about infant

baptism.

You know,

we're not on

board with that

here as a

Baptist church.

We're credo

Baptists,

and he

spoke in

defense of

infant baptism

and afterwards

an old lady

sitting in the

group said to

him,

Mr. Mueller,

I would

encourage you

to never

speak on

such a

topic until

you've

searched the

scriptures in

regards to

it.

And he

felt so

pricked by

that that

he spent

his studies

from there

reading the

entire

scriptures

with

baptism in

mind.

At the

end of that

process,

he was a

credo

Baptist.

Praise God.

As you

should be.

And he

began a

habit of

doing that

with any

topic that

vexed him.

He would

read the

entirety of

the scriptures

with that

topic in

mind,

trying to

search the

counsel of

God in

regards to

that.

A man who

loved the

scriptures,

read it

through over

200 times

in his life.

And we're

challenged to

even get

up and

spend any

time in

the word

of God

in the

morning.

It's worth

the sacrifice.

It's worth

the sleep.

It's worth

putting something

else off.

You know

what?

The dishes

can stay

dirty.

We must

know our

scriptures to

see these

things in

proper

balance.

Fear and

faith,

severity and

kindness.

God

proclaims his

name when

Moses is on

Mount Sinai.

He says,

the Lord

passed before

him and

proclaimed,

the Lord,

the Lord,

a God

merciful and

gracious,

slow to

anger and

abounding in

steadfast love

and faithfulness,

keeping steadfast

love for

thousands,

forgiving iniquity

and transgression

and sin,

but who will

by no means

clear the

guilty,

visiting the

iniquity of

the fathers

on the

children and

the children's

children to

the third

and the

fourth

generation.

So in

God's very

presentation of

his own

character,

he says,

I am

merciful,

I am

good,

I am

kind to

thousands,

I'm

forgiving

iniquity,

I'm

being

gracious

to

sinners,

yet,

yet,

I'm

also

wrathful,

I'm

vengeful,

I will

punish

sin.

And we

see the

two things

together,

severity of

God and

his kindness.

Matthew

10,

28-31,

Jesus said,

and do

not fear

those who

kill the

body but

cannot kill

the soul,

rather fear

him who

can destroy

both soul

and body

in hell.

Are not

two sparrows

sold for

a penny?

And not

one of

them will

fall to

the ground

apart from

your father,

but even

the hairs

of your

head are

all numbered.

Fear

not,

therefore,

you are

of more

value than

many sparrows.

Interesting

language.

Jesus

says,

do not

fear

those who

kill the

body but

can't kill

the soul,

rather,

fear him,

being God,

who can

destroy both

soul and

body in

hell.

The severity

of God,

right?

Fear God.

He can

destroy you.

That's what's

due you

because of

your sin.

He can

destroy you.

But then

look at the

kindness.

Are not

two sparrows

sold for

a penny,

and not

one of

them will

fall to

the ground

apart from

your father?

Even the

hairs on

your head

are numbered.

So,

fear not

the severity

and the

kindness

of God.

We are

owed

destruction.

We were

enemies

of God,

but now

we're called

his friends.

So,

we ought to

both

fear

and then

be comforted

by his

kindness

to us.

Romans

Romans 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2.

verses 4

and 5.

Paul wrote,

Or do you

presume on

the riches

of his

kindness

and forbearance

and patience,

not knowing

that God's

kindness is

meant to

lead you

to repentance,

but because

of your

hard and

impenetent

heart,

you are

storing up

wrath for

yourself on

the day of

wrath,

when God's

righteous

judgment

will be

revealed.

Again,

the kindness

of God

to us,

meant to

lead us

to repentance,

set against

the wrath

when God

will judge

the world

and those

who are not

found in

him.

So,

it's a

simple

gospel message,

right?

The faith

that should

be preventing

us from

being proud.

We ought

not be

proud,

but we

should fear

because if

we continue

in the

kindness

of God,

we are

his.

You see

how the

two things

can live,

exist

together,

that we

can both

fear him,

but continue

in his

kindness,

because we

are his.

So,

then how

do those

two things

kind of

press

together?

How do

they increase?

How do

they cause

us to

live

rightly?

And this

is the

practical.

Number

one,

fear

causes

your

faith

in the

kindness

of God

to grow.

It

causes

your

faith

in the

kindness

of God

to grow.

Verse 22,

provided you

continue in

his kindness,

severity

is meant

to lead

us

to

kindness.

Understanding

the weight

of our

sin

leads

us

to

understand

the

kindness

of

God

to

us

in

Jesus

Christ.

It's

a fear

of mine

that the

church,

that even

our

church,

doesn't

quite

understand

their

just

condemnation

before

they were

justified

by Christ.

That we

think,

well,

I mean,

I wasn't a

good person,

but I wasn't

really a

bad

person.

Compare me

to the

others

around

me.

I was

doing

okay.

Many of

us probably

grew up

in Christian

homes.

We were

moral,

but we

were not

righteous.

Understanding

God's

severity

towards

sinners,

how much

he hates

sin,

leads you

to increase

your faith

in the

kindness

of God,

cause you

to hold

fast to

that love

towards us.

I'm

familiar

with 1

John 4

18 that

says,

perfect love

casts out

fear.

I know

the text.

I understand

it.

Do you?

If there's

a question

in your

mind,

this side

of heaven,

this side

of glory,

none of

us will

experience

love

perfected.

fear.

So fear

will always

play a

part in

our

living.

After our

death,

glorification,

one day,

it will no

longer anymore,

but for

now,

fear and

faith must

combine that

our faith

in the

kindness of

God will

grow.

Number

two,

fear brings

joy to

our faith

in the

kindness of

God.

So if

we're further

believing that

this is true,

that the

severity of

God is

what was

due us,

and yet

the kindness

of God

is what

we've

received,

we will

find great

joy in

that.

The

doxology

found here

at the

end of

chapter 11,

which I'm

looking forward

to preaching

on next

week,

we read

the scriptures

so horribly

at times,

and it's

difficult,

of course,

to read

tone and

inflection

into things.

I think we

all experience

that to be

true with

text messages.

What did he

mean by

that?

But the

translators have

helped us,

they've given

us punctuation,

they've helped

try to emphasize

some things,

and many people

read this,

oh the depth

and the riches

of the wisdom

and knowledge

of God,

how unsearchable

are his

judgments,

and how

inscrutable

his ways.

But they're

ignoring the

exclamation

points on

the end of

this type of

thing.

Paul, as he's

talked through

us, this

whole process

introduced the

doctrine of

election to

us in

chapters 8

and chapters

9, and

moving through

what's going

to eventually

happen to

his people,

the people

that he

loves and

desperately

wants to

see come

to Christ,

he finally

at the end

of all of

that says,

oh the

depth of

the riches

and the

wisdom and

knowledge of

God, how

unsearchable

are his

judgments and

how inscrutable

his ways,

for who has

known the

mind of the

Lord, or

who has

been his

counselor,

or who has

given a gift

to him that

he might be

repaid.

For from

him and

through him

and to

him are

all things,

to him be

glory forever.

Amen.

I think that's

how Paul would

have read it.

Right?

Moved to

joy because

he understood

the severity

of God, the

fear that he

should have in

his relationship

with God, and

therefore he was

moved to joy in

the kindness of

God.

God.

And those two

things, our

faith increasing,

our dependency

on God, and

our joy increasing

in his kindness,

should move our

faith into action.

So fear, thirdly,

fear moves our

faith into action

for the sake of

others.

For the sake of

others.

If you have

wrapped your mind

around, as much

as you can, the

severity of God

towards sinners,

sinners, you

know that you

stood in that

place, but

because of the

justification of

Christ, you no

longer do, because

you've experienced

his kindness, you

no longer do, it

will grieve you

that others still

stand in that

place.

Knowing what

their final

destination is,

knowing how

severe the

severity of God

is going to

be, he hates

sin.

He's going to

pour out his

wrath on

sinners.

It's going to

be bad.

It's going to

be really, really

bad for those

who don't have

faith in Jesus

Christ.

Understanding that

should move our

faith into action.

How selfish of

us, how

Jonah-esque

to sit on our

hands and say,

these people don't

deserve the grace

of God.

God, I

deserved it.

They don't

deserve it.

God is loving

and kind and

wants to pull

people into

his hand where

he can hold

them for

eternity.

Fearing God's

retribution,

his wrath on

those who don't

know him ought to

move us to

share our faith.

2 Corinthians 5.11,

Paul wrote,

therefore, knowing

the fear of the

Lord, we

persuade others.

Is that true of

you this morning?

Do you have a

proper view of

the fear of God

and your faith,

the severity and

kindness?

righteousness?

And are these

things working

themselves out into

increasing your

faith and bringing

you great joy and

moving your faith into

action for others?

If not, some

self-examination is

necessary.

Some time spent in

the scriptures that

you might see who

God is and who you

are and see that

Christ comes in the

middle of all of

that.

Christ.

It's a great

adage.

I can't remember

who said this.

I'll just take some

credit for it this

morning.

We have been saved

from God, by God,

to God.

Isn't that good?

We've been saved

from God's wrath, by

God's work in Jesus

Christ, to God.

He himself is the

end goal of the

gospel, that we

might experience him,

enjoy him,

forever.

Are you being

shaped in this way

as a Gentile

believer?

If not, let's pray

together.

Amen.