God and Israel

Morning everyone, great to be here. Keep your Bibles open there at Romans 11.

Got a question for you to kick off with. When can a circle ever be a triangle?

There we go. Discuss that. I'll give you 30 seconds.

Is there any mathematicians in the room? I don't mean to explode your brain right now.

When can a circle ever be a triangle?

The actual technical answer is never. Never.

They are two very two-dimensional shapes.

There is no way possible to actually make a circle into a triangle without it losing its circle-ness.

If you go and look up the definition of what a circle is and what a triangle is,

it's not possible for either one of them to be made into the other without it losing its original identity and purpose.

However, the two shapes can come together in such a way to create a three-dimensional object where you see a circle, you see a triangle, but it's actually a cone.

And it will depend on which angle you are looking at it as to what you actually see.

Two individual shapes, 2D shapes, can come together and make a more complex 3D shape.

And depending on which way you look at it, you'll see one thing or you'll see the other.

And such is the complexity of God's sovereignty and human responsibility working together.

It is a complex issue.

And in debating these matters over the centuries, it's not unusual to push either God's sovereignty or human responsibility to such a point that they lose their shape.

Rather than holding them, as the Bible does, in balance together.

God chooses those he will save through faith in the saving work of Jesus Christ.

We are responsible for our rejection of him and the good news of Jesus Christ.

The Bible declares that they are both true.

The circle and the triangle, but they're actually working together.

100% true.

Not 50%, 50%, not 75% or 95% and 5%.

Both are 100% true at exactly the same time.

It's God's mathematics, not Wikipedia's or mine, yours.

Or to quote John Stott from his Romans commentary,

if anybody is lost, the blame is theirs.

But if anybody is saved, the credit is God's.

This contains a mystery which our present knowledge cannot solve,

but it is consistent with scripture, history and experience.

It is a mystery.

And in attempting to remove the mystery over the centuries,

people have wandered into heresy on multiple occasions.

So the Jews, as we've been reading,

God's historic people are responsible for their refusal

to put their trust in Jesus Christ.

And they have not come to faith because God has not chosen to have mercy on them.

They're both true.

That's a summary of chapters 9 to 10,

as we have so far read in Romans.

So now we're up to chapter 11.

And Paul is still wrestling with this big idea

of whether God has rejected his historic people.

The central argument in this chapter

is God has not rejected his people, Israel,

because the books are still open.

And there is still an opportunity for them to embrace Jesus

as their Lord and their Saviour.

And therefore, the books are still open for us this morning

as we gather here in person or online.

There is still an opportunity.

So I've got three things to say,

the trustworthy God, the saving God, and the praiseworthy God,

if you're someone who likes to take notes.

Chapter 11 opens with a familiar question

of whether God has rejected his people, Israel,

and the short answer is no, then a long explanation.

And Paul, in the first number of verses,

gives four arguments as to back up the short answer.

And the first is the Paul argument in verse 1.

That is, Paul himself is a Jew

who's come to faith in Jesus Christ.

This blasphemous Christian persecuting Paul

is a Jew who God has not given up on.

And he's now being used by God

to multiply his gospel work.

The second argument is in verse 2,

the election argument.

Paul is saying that God has determined,

he has foreordained to bring Jews to faith in him.

Those he has chosen will not fail to believe.

The third argument, verses 2 and 4,

2 to 4 is the Elijah argument.

It's a historical argument.

1 Corinthians, sorry, 1 Kings 19.

We read that Elijah thought that God

had abandoned his people too,

had rejected them,

and he was the only one left.

And yet, as we find out in the chapter,

there are many left.

And there has always been a faithful remnant

amongst God's historical people

who have trusted by grace.

The fourth argument is in verses 5 and 6,

and that's the grace argument.

What guarantees that there will always be

a faithful remnant

is not that there will always be a group,

a group of good people

amongst God's historic people,

a group of smart people

amongst God's historic people

who believe,

but because God is always gracious.

Then in verse 7,

Paul takes us back to his point

in chapter 9, verse 6,

where he says,

for not all who are descended from Israel

are Israel.

So in verse 7,

he makes the point,

it is not God who has rejected his people,

but it's his people who have rejected him.

Have a look at it with me.

What then?

What the people of Israel sought so earnestly,

they did not obtain.

The elect among them,

the elect among them did,

but the others were hardened.

And last week in chapter 10, verse 3,

we read that Israel

did not know the righteousness of God

and sought to establish their own.

So Paul tells us here

that they sought righteousness earnestly.

God's historic people

sought a right relationship with God earnestly.

They earnestly pursued it.

A right standing,

a right relationship with God,

but they did it on their terms.

Instead of receiving

a right relationship with God

as a gift through Jesus Christ,

they attempted to establish their own,

to work for it themselves.

Israel earnestly sought

a right relationship with God,

but they did it the wrong way.

And that is the case for all of them,

except for those that God had chosen.

And as a result,

most of God's historic people were hardened.

And the hardening here,

just to remind us of the last couple of weeks,

is a legal punishment

for having a proud heart

that rejects the good news

of God's grace in Jesus Christ.

In verse 8,

Paul again quotes from the Old Testament

to show us how it has been,

always been.

And what Paul's doing here,

is he quoting Isaiah.

And Isaiah himself is quoting Moses.

That is, what we have here

is both Paul in the New Testament

is quoting the law and the prophets.

And Paul is saying,

Moses warned Israel in his day

that their rebellion resulted in God

giving them a spiritual blindness.

Isaiah in his day told Israel

that he had continued through their history

a spiritual blindness

because they pursued righteousness

on their terms.

And now,

the apostle Paul

is telling the Roman church

it's happening again.

Right through history,

the pursuit of righteousness

on our own terms.

And so,

in verses 9 and 10,

we have this spiritual blindness

is a retribution.

It's a punishment

that exactly fits the crime.

Hardening

is a fitting punishment

for a proud heart.

You see,

pride and self-centeredness

lead to hardness

and lovelessness.

Rejection of God

leads to rejection from God.

It's a just punishment.

But these verses

are quite confronting.

The very people

who had earnestly,

diligently,

zealously

sought a relationship

with God

were the same people

who rejected

his love for them.

It's an amazing dynamic.

And the amazing dynamic

is that a person

can try

so desperately

hard

to please God

with all of their life,

to serve him

with all of their life,

and end up

resisting

the very idea

of God's mercy

on their life.

And you find that

an incredible dynamic.

most people

who believe

in God

conclude

that God

is transcendent.

You don't have to be Christian

to do this.

They believe

that God is transcendent,

that he's powerful,

that he's good

in some kind of way.

And therefore,

the assumption

with human wisdom

is that we need

to approach this God,

we need to appease

this God

in some kind of way.

And I need

to improve myself.

in some kind of way

in order to appease

this God.

And such people

generally find

any concept

of free,

total,

unconditional

acceptance

dishonouring

to God.

You may have

thought it yourself.

you may have

even heard

someone say

something like

the idea

that a convicted

murderer

could just say

words of repentance

and be right

with God,

just like the good

religious person

who's volunteered

themselves

in the,

you know,

the local hospital

all of their life,

like as if somehow

it's a level playing field

for all people.

people,

that's just illogical.

How insulting

to my life

of good deeds.

How insulting

to common decency.

How insulting

to God.

And yet the Christian

gospel,

the core of the

Christian faith

is in fact

an assault

on

our

religious

works.

It appears

in fact

on one level

to be assault

on good character

and on God.

Through a real

desire to please

God

mixed with a

deep pride

and a

self-confidence

the human

heart

becomes

vaccinated

against

and hatred

towards

in fact

the mercy

and the love

of God

through Jesus Christ.

That is the

normal

human

condition.

We like

to bring

God down

and elevate

ourselves

up.

And that's

the case

with so

many

religious

people.

Where a

right standing

with God

is seriously

and earnestly

sought.

Seriously

and earnestly

sought.

And yet at the

same time

his loving

offer of that

right standing

as a free

gift

is rejected.

It may even

describe you

right now

where you're

sitting right now

in this room

or on

screen

tuning in.

Christian faith

motivated

almost

completely

by fear

by guilt

or a need

for approval.

If anything

else that

Romans has

taught us

now is the

time to lay

that down.

Now is the

time to

surrender your

heart to

Christ.

now is the

time to

confess a

heart that

is not

humbled.

A heart

that is

proud that

set itself

up ultimately

against God's

grace and

his mercy.

Do it

today.

Come to

Jesus.

Jesus.

So the

majority of

Israel has

rejected God.

Historic

Israel.

Ethnic

Israel has

rejected God.

So is that

it?

Is that the

end of the

story?

Are they now

beyond salvation?

That's the

essence of the

question from

verse 11

onwards.

Again,

Paul again

gives a

definitive no

and then

goes on for

an explanation.

Then he

outlines three

stages of

God's plan of

salvation for

Israel.

The first

stage is the

stage that

Paul himself

is currently

in and that

is one of

hostility to

the Christian

message.

Yes, he

says, many

early Jews

believed but

the majority

have rejected.

Majority have

rejected the

Christian faith,

rejected Jesus

as their

Messiah.

And if this

rejection, he

says, had

not happened,

the early

Christian Jews

could have

easily

concluded

that the

gospel was

only for

ethnic Israel.

No need

for the

Gentile world

to know

of this.

And you

see this

happening in

the book of

Acts.

Gospel is

preached,

first of

all, to

a synagogue.

The Jewish

community is

fractured with

some believing,

some are

hostile.

Those who

come to

faith then

go to the

Gentiles to

see them

embracing the

Christian faith.

And as a

result, the

early church,

right from its

inception, is a

multi-ethnic

church.

This leads to

stage two.

As they see the

church growing and

Gentiles coming to

faith, in verse

11, we are

told, these

Gentile converts

make Israel

envious.

Paul repeats

it himself in

verse 14.

I take pride in

my ministry in

the hope that I

may somehow

arouse my own

people to envy

and to save

some of them.

Now, we

normally would

think of envy in

a negative

sense, which

as a general

rule, it is.

But I think

that John

Stott, writing

in his Romans

commentary,

captures here

Paul's thinking

in a much

better way,

where he

writes,

not all envy

is tainted

with selfishness

because it is

not always

either a

grudging

discontent or

a sinful

covetousness.

At base,

envy is the

desire to

have for

oneself something

possessed by

another.

And whether

envy is good

or evil

depends on

the nature

of the

something

desired and

on whether

one has a

right of its

possession.

If that

something is

in itself

evil or

it belongs

to somebody

else and

we have no

right to it,

then the

envy is

sinful.

But if

the

something

desired is

in itself

good,

a blessing

from God,

which he

means all

people to

enjoy,

then to

covet it

and to

envy those

who have

it is not

at all

unworthy.

This kind

of desire

is right

in itself

and to

arouse it

can be a

realistic

motive for

ministry.

I think

that's a

great

explanation

of what

Paul's

trying to

do here.

God's

historic

people will

see many

of God's

historic

promises to

them being

fulfilled in

the Gentiles

and that

will prompt

them to

want to

believe it.

Here's the

remarkable thing

about God's

plan.

Just as

the Gentiles

could only

have heard

the gospel

because Israel

had largely

rejected

Jesus,

now the

Jews can

only believe

because those

who accepted

Jesus were

largely Gentiles.

Paul then

writes that

the third

and the

final stage

of blessings

for the

Jews is

sometime in

the future.

in verse

12,

he seems

to have a

vision of

a significant

number of

them coming

to faith in

Jesus Christ

which we see

again at the

end of the

chapter.

If their

unbelieving

has had a

remarkable

benefit,

imagine the

benefit of

their believing

in Jesus.

Jesus.

In verses

17 to

24,

Paul uses

an olive

tree as

an illustration

if you like

to bring

clarity on

how God's

salvation plan

works.

And this

is also a

warning to

the Gentile

Christians that

are there.

Verse 17,

if some

of the

branches have

been taken

off and

you,

though a

wild olive

shoot,

have been

grafted in

among the

others and

now share

in the

nourishing sap

of the

olive root.

Now,

to get what

he's saying

here,

there's a bit

of a

horticultural

lesson to

understand what

he's getting

at.

And who

better to

understand a

horticultural

lesson but

to turn to

a Scottish

New Testament

scholar,

William Ramsey,

he writes

in his

commentary,

in exceptional

circumstances,

it is customary

to reinvigorate

an olive

tree which

is ceasing

to bear

fruit by

grafting

into it

a shoot

of a

wild

olive

tree so

that the

sap of

the tree

enables,

ennobles,

enables,

this wild

shoot

to in

fact grow

while at

the same

time

encouraging

the original

olive tree

to bear

fruit.

This wild

olive branch

is a

dynamic

and a

growing

thing

in and

of itself

but it

can draw

and produce

life

only because

it is grafted

into an

olive tree

because it's

there,

it draws

the nourishment,

it needs

full life

and at the

same time

that that's

happening,

the presence

of the wild

olive branch

renews

the

original

olive tree

in such

a way

that it's

invigorated

and it

starts again

to bear

fruit.

Verse 13

tells us

that Paul

is applying

that metaphor

specifically

to the

Gentiles.

They are

the wild

olive shoots,

they've been

grafted into

God's historic

people and

all its

promises.

the Gentiles

are being

grafted in

so that

they might

be nourished

by the

giving gospel

of justification

by faith

which has

always been

the faith

of God's

historic

people ever

since Abraham

right through.

They've now

been included

in justification

by faith

and so

the lesson

here for

the Gentile

believers

are growing

humility.

You're not

smarter

than they

are.

You've not

seen something

or got

softer hearts.

The Gentiles

must not

boast.

Verse 18

Do not

consider yourself

to be superior

to those

other branches.

If you do

consider this

you do not

support the

root

but the

root

supports

you.

You will

say then

branches

were

broken

off

so

that

I

could

be

grafted

in

granted

but they

were

broken

off

because

of

unbelief

and you

stand

by faith.

Do not

be arrogant

but

tremble

for if

God

did not

spare

the

natural

branches

he

will

not

spare

you

never

and so

a genuine

response

to the

good news

of the

gospel

is a

reverent

fear.

Verse 22

calls us

to meditate

on the

kindness

and the

sternness

of God

that is

justification

by faith

God's grace

to us

through his

sovereignty

ought

never

ever

ever

lead to

presumption.

We see

throughout

Romans

and the

Bible

the

ongoing

problem

of

presumption.

We saw

it in

chapter 6

and 7

presumption

God

saves me

he's

sovereign

I don't

need to

do

anything

presumption

though

Israel

were

God's

chosen

people

they

started

to

think

they

were

the

choice

people

they

became

confident

that

they

were

in

no

matter

how

they

lived

simply

because

Abraham

was

their

father

they

became

proud

and

looked

down

on

others

and

Paul

is

calling

these

Gentile

believers

not

to

fall

in

the

same

presumption

of

historic

Israel

so

again

verse

22

consider

therefore

the

kindness

and

the

sternness

of

God

sternness

to

those

who

fell

but

kindness

to

you

provided

that

you

continue

in

his

kindness

human

responsibility

work at

it

otherwise

you too

will be

cut off

the only

way

we know

that God's

sovereign

love is

upon us

is that

we

continue

we

persevere

in

seeking

to be

like

Jesus

until

the

day

we

meet

Jesus

it's

not a

circle

or a

triangle

it's a

cone

if

the

continuing

disappears

we

start

living

for

ourselves

and

living

sin

and

start

to rely

on our

own

performance

our own

theological

heritage

marriage

we

start

relying

upon

those

things

for

relationship

with

God

then

we

will

and

we

should

begin

to

wonder

if

his

kindness

is

still

upon

us

if

we

have

faith

in

Jesus

Christ

we

can

be

assured

and

confident

but

we

must

never

be

arrogant

and

proud

assured

and

confident

but

never

arrogant

and

proud

Paul

closes

off

this

section

by

revealing

a

great

mystery

it

is

designed

to

stop

the

Gentiles

from

being

conceited

when

they

look

at the

failure

of

ethnic

Israel

to

embrace

Jesus

Christ

as

their

Lord

and

Saviour

in

short

Paul's

language

in

writing

about

that

mystery

allows

for

the

possibility

of

a

steady

but

growing

flow

towards

Jesus

amongst

his

own

historic

people

ethnic

people

and

so

he

says

here

the

Jewish

unbelievers

are to

be viewed

always

with

hope

always

with

hope

the

Christian

must

say to

themselves

over

and over

again

I

disobeyed

God

I

refuse

to

believe

the

gospel

but

now

I'm

a

Christian

I'm

a

child

of

God

I'm

an

inheritor

of

all

his

historic

promises

to

his

people

Israel

I

am

here

in

part

because

the

gospel

reached

beyond

disbelieving

Israel

and so

if

God

can

reach

me

even

me

in

his

mercy

through

a

Jew

and

through

their

disobedience

he

can

certainly

reach

them

through

his

mercy

and

through

my

faith

the

mystery

is

that

God

uses

the

Jews

to

reach

the

Gentiles

and

the

Gentiles

to

reach

the

Jews

that

in

itself

is

a

grounding

for

a

multi

ethnic

church

all

people

Jew

and

Gentile

have

been

disobedient

and

are

lost

and

yet

all

people

found

by

God's

mercy

so if

you're

someone who

takes

notes

maybe

write

this

one

down

as a

bit

of a

summary

of

9

to

11

God's

mercy

does

not

come

to

all

without

exception

but

it

does

come

to

all

without

distinction

God's

mercy

does

not

come

to

all

without

exception

but

it

does

come

to

all

without

distinction

distinction

this

causes

Paul

to

pause

he

has

carried

this

idea

of

God's

sovereignty

and

human

responsibility

to the

edge

as far

as

knowledge

has

taken

him

as far

as

revelation

has

taken

him

as far

as

God

has

wanted

him

to

know

he's

gone

to

the

edge

of

the

earth

sailed

to

the

end

and

if

there

is

more

to

know

of

God

which

there

is

God's

chosen

not to

reveal

it

at

this

point

and

there's

only

one

thing

left

to

do

and

that

is

for

a

heart

to

be

lifted

a

mind

to

be

lifted

and

to

overflow

in

praise

of

this

God

the

God

of

the

wonderful

of

the

mysterious

as

he

draws

this

to

a

close

recall

God

here

in

the

first

place

don't

forget

at

the

end

of

chapter

eight

we

have

declaring

that

there

is

no

in

no

uncertain

terms

whatsoever

that

God's

promises

to

his

to

believers

in

Jesus

Christ

are

absolutely

rock

solid

you

can

be

confident

of

your

salvation

in

Jesus

Christ

nothing

he

says

can

separate

us

from

Jesus

God's

word

is

true

it

is

reliable

it

is

consistent

God's

promises

are

always

completed

and

fulfilled

not

one

single

bit

falls

to

the

ground

God's

chain

of

salvation

as

as

Aidan

said

is

unbreakable

those

who

have

been

elect

will

be

glorified

and so

we start

beginning

of chapter

nine

what about

Israel

then

you know

has

God

failed

them

has

God's

plan

of

salvation

failed

that's

the

undercurrent

of all

of

nine

to

eleven

and

that

issue

as

I

said

at

the

beginning

is

a

deeply

personal

issue

for

the

Jewish

Paul

a

deeply

personal

issue

he

is

at

the

beginning

of

chapter

nine

in

deep

anguish

about

his

people

deep

anguish

this

is

not

an

intellectual

exercise

for

him

this

is

not

a

lecture

room

where

we

got

an

exam

to

complete

at

the

end

of

this

understanding

God's

sovereignty

and

human

responsibility

this

is

not

a

book

that

he's

writing

for

distribution

per

se

so

that

he

can

sell

things

this

is

a

deeply

personal

issue

he's

in

anguish

in

chapter

nine

and

at

the

end

of

chapter

11

he

just

breaks

out

in

spontaneous

worship

and

there

are

things

we

can

learn

from

these

verses

but

I'm

going to

throw

up

four

firstly

there

is

no

worship

without

truth

Paul

is

quoting

scripture

as he

praises

God

spontaneously

in

verse

34

he quotes

from

Isaiah

40

13

and

in

verse

35

he quotes

from

Job

Job 41:11

41

verse

11

knowing

scripture

intimately

makes

an

enormous

difference

both

in the

ignition

of praise

in the

heart

and

in the

expression

of the

praise

that comes

out of

your

mouth

many

books

will

teach

meditation

and

spiritual

techniques

to

centre

on

things

like

visualisations

of

incidences

of

one's

past

life

or

visualisation

of

phrases

or

images

or

even

of

nothing

at

all

in

fact

there's

a lot

of

meditation

that says

you

got to

get to

a point

where you

don't

visualise

anything

and just

nothing

worship

of the

creator

God

the biblical

is totally

different

than that

worship

should not

come

from

meditation

in

general

or of

nothing

in

particular

but

through

the

meditation

of

scripture

specifically

the

bible

must

always

be

the

centre

of

any

public

or

private

praise

and

worship

secondly

there

is no

teaching

there

should

be

no

teaching

or

study

of

truth