The Gospel Announced: The Gospel will Succeed

So, on page 1138, Romans chapter 11. So, 1138, we're going to read from verse 11 to the end of the chapter, verse 36.

Romans 11 · chapter mention

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, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring?

I'm talking to you, Gentiles. In so much as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them.

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

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

If the root is holy, so are the branches.

Well, 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 boast over those 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 be afraid.

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 out 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, 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 so 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 on your account.

But as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs.

For God's gifts and his call are irrevocable.

Just as you who are 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 too may now receive mercy as a result of God's mercy to you.

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

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!

How unsearchable his judgments and his paths 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 him?

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

To him be the glory forever. Amen.

Thanks very much, Ralph.

Well, we're taking out quite a large chunk this morning.

We're not going to cover every single verse.

And there may be questions that arise.

And so, as always, if there are questions that you have afterwards, please do talk with me.

Well, let's pray and ask for God's help for us as we look at this together.

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!

How unsearchable his judgments and his paths beyond tracing out!

Father, as we think about your work in this world and your plan of salvation, there is so much that we cannot get our minds around.

But yet there is so much that you have revealed to us.

There are things that you have made clear.

And it's to those clear things that we now turn and ask.

That you would make them understandable to our minds.

And that you would implant them deep within our hearts.

So that we see the wonder afresh of your amazing grace.

The way in which your gospel works to save people.

And we ask, Father, for your Holy Spirit to be at work in us all together now.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

You may remember the children's story called The Magic Porridge Pot.

Do you remember reading that when you were a bit younger?

It's about a little girl who lived with her grandmother.

And because they were very poor, grandmother sent the little girl off into the forest to find food.

And while she was there, she meets this old lady who gives her the magic porridge pot.

And it came with two very simple instructions.

If you wanted porridge, you simply said, cook, little pot, cook.

And you got as much porridge as you wanted.

And when you wanted it to stop, you said, stop, little pot, stop.

And the porridge pot would stop cooking.

And everything was going well.

Everything was fine until one day the little girl forgot how to stop the porridge pot.

And the porridge overflowed into the kitchen.

And soon the porridge began to overflow out the door and down the road.

And no matter what she said, the porridge continued to flow.

And soon every street in the village and every home, according to my little book anyway, was full of porridge.

And it kept overflowing.

But God's grace is like this porridge pot.

It continues to overflow to all kinds of people in all kinds of places, especially to those who have rejected his grace.

Look at verse 11.

Again, I ask.

Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery?

This question here is setting the big theme for the rest of the text.

And it's simply this.

It's asking this question.

People who have gone to church.

People who grew up reading their Bibles.

People who know the good news of Jesus, but have now turned their back on God.

Are they beyond recovery?

Have they fallen beyond grace?

Have they put themselves out of reach of God's grace?

Well, look at the answer.

Not at all.

No one is beyond God's grace.

In fact, we should never write people off as having no hope.

God's grace continues to flow to all kinds of people in all kinds of places, especially to those who have rejected his grace.

So we're going to look at the way in which God's grace overflows into people's lives.

First, the attractive nature of God's grace.

Let's read verse 11 again.

Again, I ask.

Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery?

Not at all.

Rather, because of their transgression, because of their rejection of God's grace,

salvation has come to the Gentiles, to people who were irreligious,

to people who never went to church or read their Bibles,

to make Israel envious.

You see, God's plan for those who have rejected his grace and turned his back on him

is to make them envious and jealous.

If you remember the illustration from a couple of weeks ago,

it's like the little,

trying to give a gift to one of your little children.

You want them to enjoy this gift that you have prepared for them.

You want them to take pleasure in it,

to open it and to enjoy it because it's good for them.

But instead of receiving it from you,

they reject it and throw it away in a temper.

So what can you do because you desperately want your child to have this good gift?

Well, you take it away from your child

and you go next door and you give it to the kid who lives there.

And immediately that child sees how beautiful this gift is

and they receive it with joy and they open it,

they unpack it and they're delighted with it.

And it's only then will your child see its true value and want it back.

Why?

Because they have become envious.

They've become jealous.

They want the gift.

And that's God's purpose in making his grace known to other people.

Look at verse 13.

I am talking to you Gentiles

in as much as I am an apostle to the Gentiles.

I make much of my ministry.

So here's Paul who's grown up with his religious background.

But now he says,

look, I'm now preaching God's grace to those who are not my loved ones,

those who are not my people,

those who are not within my family.

And here's the reason, verse 14,

in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy

and save some of them.

The hope is that people who grew up knowing God's grace

but have now turned their back on it

will see God's grace in the life of other people

and will say,

I want that too.

You see, there is something deeply attractive

about a person who has come to experience the grace of God.

Not only do you know God's forgiveness and love

in your mind and in your head,

but you actually are transformed and changed.

You become incredibly forgiving and loving of other people.

Not only do you experience peace with God

and an acceptance with God,

but you become a person of peace,

a person who begins to accept others

no matter what their background is.

When we experience the grace of God in our own life,

then grace begins to overflow from us

to those around us.

We display a character that is beautiful and attractive

and people will look at your life

and they'll want to know,

what is the difference with you?

Why do you behave that way?

Why are you so different?

And they will become envious and jealous

and will want what you have.

They will want who you have,

the Lord Jesus.

So if you are a Christian,

God's grace has overflowed into your life

so that God's grace can overflow from your life

to other people,

especially to those who have rejected his grace.

second, the humbling nature of God's grace.

Look at verse 17.

If some of the branches have been broken off,

that is, those who have rejected God's grace.

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 boast over those branches.

If you are somebody here this morning

who has experienced God's grace in your own life,

don't sit back and gloat and boast.

Don't think that somehow you are better or superior

than those who once used to sit here

or once had heard God's grace

but have now rejected God's grace.

Look at the rest of verse 18.

If you do,

consider this,

you do not support the root,

but the root supports you.

The picture is very clear, isn't it?

We've got here an olive tree

and the only way that that tree is going to live

is because of its roots.

The root gives it life.

It nourishes it and it feeds it.

And if you were to cut a branch off from that tree,

it will die because it's not connected to the roots.

Well, the image is this,

that God's grace is the root for our life.

It gives us forgiveness.

It brings us peace with God.

It's the nourishing sap that feeds us.

But if you are cut off from God's grace,

if you are taken away from that source,

you will die.

Again, look at the end of verse 18.

You do not support the root,

but the root supports you.

If you are a Christian,

you are only a Christian

because of God's grace in your life.

We have nothing whatsoever to boast about

or to gloat over

or somehow think I am superior

because I have God's grace.

In fact, he's saying,

look carefully at the way

in which God has accepted you.

Look at verse 17 again.

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.

If you have God's grace,

it's only because

you have been grafted in.

You were once outsiders.

Look at the word there.

You were a wild olive shoot.

You belonged elsewhere,

but you were cut off from that

and you were grafted into the tree of life,

into God's grace.

And now you are included and welcomed

and accepted as one of his children.

So,

look at the end of verse 20.

Do not be arrogant,

but be afraid.

For if God did not spare the natural branches,

he will not spare you either.

It's a warning.

Don't ever become boastful.

Don't ever become superior.

Be a humble person.

Don't ever think that you're somehow better

for knowing God's grace

than the person who has rejected God's grace.

Be careful, he is saying.

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.

Otherwise,

you also will be cut off.

There is no room

for an arrogant and boastful Christian.

So imagine then

what the community would be like

if we were to live humble lives.

Not judging and condemning those

who have rejected God's grace.

Not pointing our fingers

and counting up all their sins

and saying,

oh, you know what,

they weren't there again on Sunday.

Or did you hear about

what they did last week?

Not boasting and gloating

over them all the time.

Verse 24.

After all,

if you were cut out of an olive tree

that is wild by nature

and contrary to nature,

in other words,

it was nothing to do with yourself,

were grafted into a cultivated olive tree,

how much more readily will these,

the natural branches,

be grafted into their own olive tree?

By living such humble lives,

God's grace will overflow from you to others,

especially to those who have grown up

knowing God's grace,

but at present are rejecting it.

They too, he is saying,

can still be grafted in.

So there is an attractive nature.

There is a humbling nature

that God's grace brings to us.

And third,

the pursuing nature of God's grace.

Look at verse 25.

I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery,

brothers,

so that you may be conceited.

He says,

look,

the mystery is clear.

It's not hidden.

It's been made known.

And this is what the mystery is,

that God's grace

overflows to all kinds of people

in all kinds of places.

It doesn't matter

whether you are black or white,

whether you are Irish or French,

religious or irreligious.

God's grace overflows

all the time,

irrespective of what your background may be.

And his grace continues to overflow,

especially to those

who have rejected his grace.

Look at the rest of verse 25.

Israel has experienced

a hardening in part

until the full number

of the Gentiles has come in.

He's making it clear

that there were those

like those of Israel

who had grown up

knowing God's grace.

They'd heard the stories.

They'd experienced so much.

And in their rejection of it,

in their rejection of Jesus,

the Messiah,

it had now begun to overflow

to other nations

and to other people.

But the point is,

God had not given up on them.

He didn't turn his back on them.

Verse 26.

And so,

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.

God's grace will continue to overflow.

He doesn't give up on his people.

He continues to pursue them,

to chase after them.

He doesn't write people off

just because they've stopped

going to church

or just because they don't read

their Bibles anymore

or because they've had

one big failure in their life.

He doesn't write them off.

Recently,

I cleared out a small box

in my study

and inside it,

I discovered a load of letters,

love letters

from Kirstie.

Now,

I'm not going to read them all.

They'll be published

in the paper someday.

But they were letters

of pursuit

at a time when I had

ignored her love

and I wouldn't write

to her anymore

and I thought she'd done this

and, well,

you know how it goes.

But in one of her letters,

I read this,

that while she hadn't

heard from me,

she would keep

writing to me.

Her love was still there

even though I had

pushed it away.

I think that's how it went anyway.

You can check that later.

But in the same way,

God continues to pursue us

and to chase after us

even though our arms

push Him away

and reject His grace.

That is why we can say

with such confidence

in verse 26,

and so all Israel

will be saved.

All God's people

will be saved.

He will pursue them.

He will chase them.

He will bring them in.

Of course,

here in verse 26,

Israel here is,

I think,

an all-inclusive term

referring to

all God's people.

Go back a minute

to chapter 9,

verse 6.

Chapter 9,

verse 6.

This is how he started

his whole theme out.

It is not as though

God's word had failed.

It's not that God

has given up on His people.

For not all who are

descended from Israel

are Israel.

You see,

the true Israel,

the true people of God

are defined

not by nationality

or race,

but by their faith

in Christ,

by their faith

in the Lord Jesus.

So God,

as He pursues

His people

by grace,

we can be confident,

absolutely assured,

that He will save

all those

He will save.

Go back to

chapter 11,

verse 29.

For God's gifts

and His call

are irrevocable.

those whom God

calls out to.

God will save

and He will bring

to Himself.

God's grace

overflows.

And let's not lose

the focus here.

Just because people

reject God's grace,

it doesn't mean

that He will reject them.

Look at verse 30.

Just as you

who were at one time

disobedient to God

have now received

mercy

as a result

of their disobedience.

So again,

He's repeating

the theme

that people

who had rejected

God's mercy,

it now overflows

to other people

who have accepted

God's mercy.

But,

what about those

who did reject it?

What about them?

Well,

He tells us

in verse 31.

So they too

have now become

disobedient

in order

that they too

may now receive

mercy

as a result

of God's mercy

to you.

For God has bound

all men over

to disobedience

so that He may

have mercy

on them all.

He saves everybody

in exactly the same way.

We're all disobedient.

We've all rejected Him.

We've all rebelled on Him.

And it's only because

of His kindness

and His mercy

that any of us

are His children.

Let me make it

very practical

to us.

If you are a Christian

and you have friends

or family

who have grown up

knowing all about

God's grace

and mercy,

maybe you have

a close friend,

maybe it's a son

or a daughter

or a spouse.

But at this point

in time

even though

they have

all the wealth

and all the knowledge

and the understanding

they are rejecting it

and pushing it away.

The point is this.

When they see

God's mercy

and grace

in your life,

when they see

the way it

transforms your life

and changes you,

you will become

so attractive

to them.

When they see

your humble life,

the way in which

you don't point fingers

and accuse

and nag

and the way

you accept,

it will cause

their hearts

to become soft

and they will

begin to see

the beauty

of God's mercy

and grace

in your life

and they will say

that is what I want.

I need the one

who can make

that change

in my life.

God's grace

overflows

to all kinds

of people

especially,

especially

to those

who have

rejected

his grace.

As we've gone

through

this section

in Romans,

it's raised

lots and lots

of questions

for me

and I know

it's raised

lots and lots

of questions

to you

with some

of the

conversations

that we've

had

and I don't

pretend to have

all the answers

as to why

some people

accept God's

grace

and why other

people reject

God's grace.

I don't

understand

how God

chooses some

and yet

we are all

responsible

for our choices.

I don't know

why I had

the privilege

of growing up

in a Christian

home where

I was taught

the good news

about Jesus

while there

are many

thousands

and millions

across the

world who

still haven't

heard.

I don't

understand it.

I can't

get my

head around

it.

But yet

I do

know this

and I

understand

this and

it is

crystal clear

that God's

grace continues

to flow to

all kinds

of people

in all

kinds of

places

across this

world

especially

to those

who have

rejected his

grace.

He does

not give

up on

his people.

And so

he concludes

verse 33

Oh the

depth

of the

riches

of the

wisdom

and the

knowledge

of God.

It's

amazing

just to

stand

back

and see

how God

works

his salvation

in so

many places

and in

so many

people.

How

unsearchable

his

judgments

and his

paths

beyond

tracing

out.

None

of us

could

think up

this idea

this plan

of salvation

this overflow

of grace.

None

of us

could create

something as

wonderful

and as

beautiful

as God's

grace

towards us

in his

son.

Verse 34

Who

has known

the mind

of the

Lord

or who

has been

his

counsellor?

Did God

ever come

along to

you and

consult you

or me

and ask

how do I

run the

universe?

Did God

ever call

into you

and ask

for advice

about how

he should

rule the

world?

So why

would we

ever think

that God

would somehow

fail in

his salvation's

plan or

that he

somehow got

it wrong?

God

knows what

he is

doing.

Verse 35

Who

has ever

given to

God that

God should

repay him?

The fact

that God

has saved

anyone

is incredible

and his

grace continues

to overflow.

Verse 36

For from

him

and through

him

and to

him

are all

things.

God is

the source

of all

life.

He is

the sustainer

of all

life.

He is

the saviour

of all

kinds of

people in

all kinds

of places

and nobody

is beyond

his limits.

Nobody is

so far

away,

especially

those who

have rejected

his grace.

To

him

won't

be the glory

forever.

Amen.

Let's

pray.

Let's

pray.

Amen.

Just take a moment or two.

Maybe it's to pray for yourself if you have not yet known God's grace in your own life.

Maybe you want to pray for a friend or someone within your family

who at this moment in time is rejecting or pushing against God's grace.

Pray for them.

That God would soften their hearts.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Father God, you are God and we are not.

We have many questions about salvation and about faith.

Things we just don't understand and things we just can't comprehend.

But we stand back in amazement.

We stand back trusting you.

And seeing so clearly that your grace continues to overflow.

And we pray that by the power of your Holy Spirit,

your mercy and your kindness would flow to those who we know and love.

That they would cry out for forgiveness.

That they would find peace with God.

And that, Father, you would show your grace to us afresh in a deeper way.

So that we become more attractive.

So that we become more humble.

And that from the overflow of our lives,

people would see the goodness and the grace of God.

And come to trust in him.

We ask this for your honour.

And for your glory alone.

Amen.

We're going to...