Romans 11

Forgot to do earlier.

We have, I believe, some of our youth going away to vertical this week.

Is that correct?

I would like to just spend a little bit of time and pray over you before you go.

I won't ask you to come forward, but those that are going to vertical this week, would you just please stand and we're just going to have a prayer for you, remembering you as you go, praying a blessing upon your life and your week as you spend time in the Word and study and just good times together.

If everyone would just extend their hands toward toward the youth that are standing and we'll pray.

Jesus, we pray this morning that you would just give each one of these a great week as they go to vertical, as they seek your will in their lives, seek your word, learn from your word, have good times together.

Lord, I just pray that you would bless them, keep them safe.

May your spirit work in their lives in a mighty and powerful way.

We pray this in the name of Jesus.

Amen.

You may be seated.

God bless you.

We'll keep you in our prayers this week and this coming weekend as you go.

It was interesting to take note in our Sunday school.

I believe it's verse 22.

Let me just turn to that real quick in our Sunday school.

Where it talked about our children asking about the things that are happening.

That was Joshua, correct?

Joshua 4.

Verse 21.

In the future, when your descendants ask their parents, what do these stones mean?

That verse stood out to me as we read through there.

Do we have things in place?

Whether they're stories, stones, monuments in our lives, that makes our children ask, What was that about?

What is the meaning of this?

It gives the opportunity, the thing I see there in that verse that blessed me so much is the opportunity of passing on what God has done in our lives as stories, as remembrances.

And I think that is very important, key in our lives to do that to our children and our children's children.

Just thought I'd share that as a blessing that I seen there today.

Turn with me to Romans chapter 11 for the message this morning.

Romans 11 · chapter mention

We are going to be going through Romans 11.

So far, Romans has been a very interesting book to study and to go through with you.

The first 11 chapters have been a highly theological study.

This has been good for me, although it has not always been easy.

Chapter 1 tells us that Paul was not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God that brings salvation.

He goes on to elaborate in chapter 1 about the wrath of God against those that suppress the truth of God by their wickedness.

Chapter 2 goes on to warn us about the wrath of God that will be released on those who are self-seeking, those that reject the truth, those that love evil.

Chapter 3 tells us that we are all under the power of sin.

There is no one righteous, not even one.

The law came to show us our need of a Savior.

No one will be declared righteous in the sight of God by the works of the law.

Rather, through the law, we became conscious of our sin.

He ends the chapter with beginning the argument that righteousness comes by faith in Jesus Christ alone.

Chapter 4 uses Abraham as an example of one that was justified by his faith in God.

Abraham was fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

This is why it was credited to him for righteousness as righteousness.

Likewise, God will credit righteousness to our account when we believe by faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for our salvation.

Chapter five speaks about how we were justified through faith.

Gain access into grace, rejoice in suffering, have hope through the Holy Spirit.

The end of the chapter addresses that death came through Adam, but life came through Jesus Christ.

Chapter six begins with the question, shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?

Paul says absolutely not.

He goes on to explain that we as believers have been baptized with Jesus into his death.

In order for there to be new life, there needs to be death take place.

Just as Christ was raised from the dead, through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

We go from being slaves to sin to slaves of righteousness.

Chapter 7 tells us that Christ came to fulfill and release us from the law, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.

The law is not sinful, but the law is holy, and the commandment is righteous and good.

The law highlights our sinfulness, but it also highlights the perfection of Christ.

Chapter 8 gives us the hope by letting us know that there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.

Also, if we live by the flesh, we will experience death.

But if we live by the Spirit, we will experience life and peace.

Our present sufferings that we go through are nothing compared to the glory that awaits us, awaits the faithful.

And Paul ends a chapter with assuring us that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.

Not trouble, not hardship, not persecution, not famine, not nakedness, not danger, not even death can separate us from the love of Christ.

Chapter 9 shows us the anguish Paul had in his heart for the salvation of his people, the Jewish nation.

We see the sovereignty of God, the election of God, and the purpose of God in our lives.

And chapter 10 again expresses Paul's longing that the Israelites experience salvation.

In this chapter, he spells out the plan of salvation easy enough for a child to understand.

If you declare with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

We ended last time talking about the power of our own testimony.

If we have experienced the grace of God in our lives, we must not keep it for ourselves, but we must share it.

We must share what God has done for us, giving hope to others that need the good news.

And the last verse in that chapter is how beautiful are the feet of those that bring good news.

Going into chapter 11, this is the last chapter that Paul formally and systematically is dissecting the heavy doctrine surrounding the law versus grace and sinfulness of man versus the righteousness received by faith in Christ.

Let's begin by reading the entire chapter 11.

I asked then, did God reject his people?

By no means.

I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham from the tribe of Benjamin.

God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew.

Don't you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he appealed to God against Israel?

Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars.

I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me.

And what was God's answer to him?

I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.

So too at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.

And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works.

If it were, grace would no longer be grace.

What then?

What the people of Israel sought to sow earnestly, they did not obtain.

The elect among them did, but the others were hardened, as it is written, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see, and ears that could not hear to this very day.

And David says, May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them.

May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.

Again I ask, did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery?

Not at all.

Rather because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious.

But if their transgression means riches for the world, their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring?

I am talking to you, Gentiles.

Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry, in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them.

For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?

If the part of the dough offered as first fruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy.

If the root is holy, so are the branches.

If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot have been grafted in among the others, and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not consider yourselves to be superior to those other branches.

If you do, consider this.

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 either.

Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God, sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness.

Otherwise you also will be cut off, and if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.

After all, if you were cut off of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?

I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited.

Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.

And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, the deliverer will come from Zion, he will turn godlessness away from Jacob, and this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.

As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake, but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, patriarchs, for God's gift and his call are irrevocable.

Just as you were just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, so they too have now become disobedient in order that they may that they too may receive mercy as a result of God's mercy to you.

For God has bound everyone over to disobedience, so that he may have mercy on them all.

Oh the depth and the of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable his judgments and his past beyond tracing out.

Who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor?

Who has ever given to God that God should repay them?

For from him and through him and for him are all things.

To him be the glory forever.

Amen.

What an interesting and a fascinating read that this chapter is as we look at it this morning.

If you read the ending of chapter 10, it is describing how God has held the gift of the Messiah with an open hand to Israel.

But over and over again, they have been disobedient and an obstinate people.

In verse 1 here, Paul asks a question that some may have.

So a rejection would obviously include him with it, and we know that was not the case.

Paul had received salvation and a change of life as he put his faith in Christ.

These verses about Elijah here are referring to 1 Kings 18, where Elijah finds himself face to face with Opadiah, King Ahab's palace administrator.

You know, Elijah thought that he was the only one left of the prophets of God, didn't he?

As he was in that cave and the ravens fed him, Elijah had this mindset, I am the only one left.

Maybe you and I sometimes feel like we're the only one left.

But unknown to him, Obadiah had hidden away prophets of God in caves to hide them from Ahab and Jezebel.

Verse 5 talks about a remnant chosen.

One thing we see down through history, again and again, is that no matter how dark the times are, no matter how dark the history is, or how few choose to walk with God, God always has a remnant of his people who choose to walk with him.

It's amazing to think about.

There has always been a remnant.

You may know some groups or individuals that are the self-proclaimed remnant of the faithful.

And I would just have to say, oftentimes, this is the pride, a pride-based assessment of yourself.

And simply is not true.

God has always had a remnant of faithful followers in the past, and He will in the present also.

So what do we make out of these verses seven and eight?

I would suspect that some of us may find these verses a bit troubling at face value.

It says that the elect among them obtained, but the others were hardened.

As it is written, God gave them a spirit of stupor.

That word stupor there I believe means almost in a coma, almost unresponsive, just very almost out of it.

God gave them a spirit of stupor.

This phrase is taken from Isaiah 29, 10, where it states that the Lord has brought over you a deep sleep.

It goes on and says, Eyes that could not see, and ears that could not hear, to this very day.

This is taken out of Deuteronomy 29, verse 4, where it says, But to this day the Lord has not given you a mind that understands, or eyes that see, or ears that hear?

Deuteronomy 29:4

This was spoken of the children of Israel after they left Egypt and wandered through the wilderness for forty years because of their unbelief.

Does God just randomly choose some people and reject the others?

Is this God choosing some, rejecting others, separating them in groups, blessing the chosen, and blinding the ones that are not chosen?

Is that what's happening here?

I don't believe so.

To understand this passage, I feel like you have to understand the foreknowledge of God.

In Romans 8, verse 29, it says, For those God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

Romans 8:29

Also Ephesians chapter one, verses four and five tell us, for he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.

In love he predestinated us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ in accordance with his pleasure and will.

The hardening, the spirit of stupor, the blinding of the eyes, and the ears that could not hear are a result of their decision, and also a result of the foreknowledge of God.

God knows what we will do even before we think it.

We cannot understand the ways of God or how he thinks.

In verse 9, David says, May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them.

May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.

This is taken from Psalm sixty-nine.

And it's interesting to think about the concept of a table here.

A table represents a place of safety, a place where someone lets their guard down and maybe relaxes.

The table of the wicked.

They let their guard down, often becomes a snare that catches them.

Thought that was an interesting idea to think about.

The very thing they trust becomes a trap.

Paul makes it very clear in verse 11 that the apostasy and hardness of their hearts is not irreversible.

They still have an opportunity to repent and turn to Christ.

And it's an interesting thought here to think that God has extended salvation to the Gentiles to make the nation of Israel jealous.

Have you ever thought of that before?

Not sure exactly what to do with that.

It gives the idea here that God extended salvation to the Gentiles to make the nation of Israel jealous.

Again, Paul's heart comes through in these verses, hoping that the jealousy of salvation would lead some of them to faith in Christ.

Paul is hoping that two good things come out of this.

First, that the Gentiles would receive salvation, and secondly, that his people would pass from spiritual death to spiritual life.

This was the heart of Paul.

And we see this over and over again in his writings for his people.

Now, in the ancient world, olives were a very important crop.

Olive trees oftentimes would live for hundreds of years, under the way I understand.

And oftentimes the branches on an olive tree would stop producing fruit.

And if that's the case, they would, from what I read, they would cut off the branches.

Maybe some of you know how this works, but they would cut off the branches that don't produce fruit.

The root of the tree was good, but the branches stopped producing.

And when they would this happen, they would cut the branch off, and they would graft a branch from a younger tree onto the older tree so that it produces fruit once again.

The point that Paul was making here was that Israel was the old branches and that the Gentiles were the wild olive shoots grafted in.

Once grafted in, we can also partake of God's covenant that he made to Abraham.

Being grafted in makes you and I spiritual heirs of Abraham.

In Galatians 3, verse 29, it says, if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise.

Galatians 3:29

You know, I'm thankful today for the opportunity that you and I have to be grafted in as a wild olive branch.

I am very thankful for that.

What an amazing opportunity.

In verse 18, Paul warns us not to consider ourselves superior to other people.

It's a very strong warning.

He uses the term branches.

There is no place for pride in the church, and spiritual pride is just as devastating.

You and I receive our source of life from the same root, from the same tree of Jesus Christ.

We have no reason to think of ourselves more highly than we should.

We have no reason to think of ourselves more highly than any other branch or any other person.

In fact, verse 12 tells us to tremble rather than being arrogant.

Do not forget the sternness of God to those who fell, or forget the kindness of God extended to you and to I.

There is always hope for those that fall away, for God to graft or connect you back to the source of life.

The condition here is if we choose to believe.

These verses talk about the mercy of God.

And as we go through this chapter this morning, I want you to understand that no matter where you find yourself, maybe a branch that is disconnected, maybe a branch that has never been connected, maybe a branch that is just struggling along, barely making fruit.

This morning, God's mercy is here for you.

His desire is to see you connected to the source of life, grafted into the tree, to the root of Jesus Christ.

The question and responsibility is in our lap this morning.

What will you do with the invitation that Jesus gives you?

Will you choose to believe in him?

Will you allow his life to surge through you?

In these last several chapters, we have talked about the awesomeness of God.

And truly, there's a lot about God that we do not, we'll never understand fully in this life.

The holiness of God, the sovereignty of God, the riches of God, the foreknowledge of God, the mercy of God, the love of God, the patience of God, the righteousness of God, the grace of God, the kindness of God, the sternness of God.

In light of all these awesome attributes that we have seen in these chapters leading up to here, let's read verses 33 to 36.

This doxology here that Paul writes is a result of him seeing the awesomeness of our God.

He says, Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God.

Do you know how deep the riches, wisdom, and knowledge of God is?

It is hard for us to understand that.

He goes on to say how unsearchable his judgments, his past beyond tracing out.

Who has known the mind of the Lord?

Or who has been his counselor?

Who has ever given to God that God should repay them?

And in verse thirty-six, Paul wraps this up with saying, For from him, through him, and for him are all things.

All things are from him, through him, and for him.

Isn't that amazing?

It's not, this isn't about us.

This is about our awesome God.

For from him and through him and for him are all things.

To him, to him be the glory forever.

Amen.

May that be our heart this morning as we worship, as we live our lives in adoration to this awesome, awesome God.

Stand with me for a word of prayer as we close.

Lord, we're grateful this morning for your word that you give it to us.

May we take these words this morning and ponder on them, learn of them.

May you teach us today how to walk with you in faith, believing your word is truth.

This morning we are grateful for the opportunity that you give us to be grafted into your life that you supply, into the source of life.

And our hearts are grateful today that we have that opportunity, that you've given us that opportunity.

And as we go from here, Lord, I just pray that we would continue to experience the awesomeness of who you are in our lives.

May we ever realize and live in that recognition of who you are to us.

Help us to always realize that all things are from you, through you, and for you.

And this morning we give you glory forever and ever.

Amen.

God bless you.

Go in peace.