The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
Romans 10:9-10quoted as the central point of the chiastic construction: confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead
9 that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart, one believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
if it is by grace it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace
6 And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.
they did not stumble so as to fall completely; by their transgression salvation came to the Gentiles to make them jealous
11 I ask then, did they stumble that they might fall? May it never be! But by their fall salvation has come to the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy.
wild olive grafted in among the branches; do not be arrogant toward the branches for the root supports you
17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them, and became partaker with them of the root and of the richness of the olive tree;
18 don’t boast over the branches. But if you boast, it is not you who support the root, but the root supports you.
branches broken off so you might be grafted in; they were broken off for unbelief, you stand by faith; if God did not spare the natural branches He cannot spare you either
19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in.”
20 True; by their unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by your faith. Don’t be conceited, but fear;
21 for if God didn’t spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.
behold the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell severity, to you kindness if you continue
22 See then the goodness and severity of God. Toward those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in his goodness; otherwise you also will be cut off.
if you were grafted contrary to your nature how much more will natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree
24 For if you were cut out of that which is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree, how much more will these, which are the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?
mystery: a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in
25 For I don’t desire you to be ignorant, brothers, of this mystery, so that you won’t be wise in your own conceits, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in,
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This message finished a multi-week walk through Romans 9-11, focusing on chapter 11 and the question of whether God has abandoned Israel. The preacher held two things together throughout: hope, because God has not rejected his people, and humility, because any standing before God belongs entirely to his grace and not to the one standing there.
What was said
The sermon opened by placing chapter 11 inside a structure the series had been building for weeks. The outer frame of Romans 9-11 moves from Paul's deep sorrow for Israel's lost standing, to praise at the unfathomable wisdom of God. The center of the whole construction, the preacher argued, is Romans 10:9-10, where confession and belief from the heart produce salvation. Everything else in these chapters orbits that point, and keeping it central matters for reading what chapter 11 is actually doing.
The first major question chapter 11 answers is whether God has rejected Israel. The answer is a flat no, and Paul makes it personal: he himself is an Israelite, saved not by his religious credentials but by grace on the Damascus road, the very road on which he was persecuting the church. His own salvation is the evidence that God has not turned his back on his people.
The Elijah story is brought in to press the point further. Elijah cried out that he alone remained faithful, and God answered that seven thousand had not bowed the knee to Baal. The preacher noted the humbling arithmetic: Elijah thought it was one, and it was at least seven thousand and one. Paul draws the parallel directly to his own day, saying there is now a remnant chosen by grace, not by works. If it is by grace, the preacher said, then works can take no credit whatsoever.
The second half of the chapter shifts to the Gentiles, and the tone turns into a warning against arrogance. Paul uses the image of an olive tree: some natural branches were broken off, and wild, uncultivated branches were grafted in. The preacher was direct about the danger here for Gentile Christians, then and now, of assuming their grafted-in position is their own achievement. The root supports the branch, not the other way around. Cutting yourself off from the promises God made to Israel, the preacher said, risks cutting yourself off from the very root that feeds you.
The chapter's hardest phrase, "all Israel will be saved," was handled honestly. The preacher laid out the three main ways interpreters read it, said he was not certain which is right, and left it there. What he was certain about is the "may" that appears twice near the end of the passage, a subjunctive verb in Greek that holds God's desire for all to be saved alongside the genuine responsibility of the human will. That "may," he said, is also why universalism, the idea that everyone is eventually saved regardless of belief, is a heresy the text will not support.
The sermon closed by naming hope and humility as the two things chapter 11 leaves with the reader most strongly. God's promises are irrevocable, the remnant is real, and the broken branches can be grafted back in. The right response to all of that, the preacher said, is not confidence in one's own standing but prayer, a gentle and winsome life, and the good news offered to everyone, since whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Paul's own doxology at the end of the chapter, "from him and through him and to him are all things," was read as the only fitting conclusion to any serious theology.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages
in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
The preacher said that what comes out of your mouth reveals what is in your heart. What does that idea challenge or encourage in you personally?
Elijah believed he was the only faithful one left, and God told him there were 7,000 others. Have you ever felt alone in your faith, and what did that experience teach you?
Speaker 3I'm just thinking it's almost time to begin here. And, you people are lovely. The fellowship is lovely, and it's wonderful to gather in his name. This morning, we gather in the spirit of the Lord, and we're gonna worship together. We're gonna join our voices.
We're gonna raise our voices up and worship God this morning. Is everybody ready? Okay. Give a good stretch. Let's worship together.
Speaker 2Hands out of pockets. Voices up.
Speaker 3It's come alive. Amen. Great to see y'all this morning. Let's get the words up, and then we're gonna we're gonna fly away together this morning. Okay.
Here we go.
Speaker 2Sunglad morning when this life is over, I'll fly away to a home on God's celestial shore I'll fly away I'll fly away oh glory I'll fly away I'll when I die hallelujah by and by I'll fly away when the shadows of this life have gone I'll fly away. Like a bird from prison bars has flown, I'll fly away. I'll fly away, oh glory I'll fly away when I die hallelujah by and by I'll fly away Just a few more weary days and then I'll fly away to a land where joy shall never end. I'll fly away. I'll fly away.
I die, hallelujah, by and by, I'll fly away.
Speaker 3That wake you up a little bit. Not that you were asleep. I... It was me that was up here with foggy mind, and now we're climbing right out of the fog.
Speaker 1Let's sing victory in Jesus. Hymn number three fifty three if you wanna find your part.
Speaker 3There you go.
Speaker 2I heard an old, old story how a savior came from glory, how he gave his life on Calvary to save a wretch like me. I heard about his groaning of his precious blood's atoning, and I repented of my sins and won the victory. Oh, in Jesus, my savior forever. He sought me and bought me with his redeeming blood. He loved me air I knew him, and all my love is to him.
He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood. I heard about his healing, of his cleansing power revealing, how he made the lame to walk again and cause the blind to see. And then I cried, dear Jesus, come and heal my broken spirit. And somehow Jesus came and brought to me the victory. Oh, victory in Jesus, my savior forever.
He sought me and bought me with his redeeming blood. He loved me air I knew him, and all my love is to him. He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood. I heard about a mansion he has built for me in glory. And I heard about the streets of gold beyond the crystal sea, about the angels singing and the old redemption story, and some sweet day I'll sing up there a song of victory amen oh victory in Jesus my savior forever He sought me and bought me with his redeeming blood.
He loved me plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing glow.
Speaker 3We're going up. Here we go.
Speaker 2Oh, in Jesus, my savior forever. He sought me and bought me with his redeeming blood. He loved me air. I knew him, and all my love is to him. He wants me to victory beneath the cleansing flood.
Wanna go up one more
Speaker 3time? Anyway... Alright.
Speaker 1Y'all can have a seat, and
Speaker 2we'll Alright.
Speaker 1Have a few announcements this morning. One of them is for Awana. Awana happens on Monday nights. Right here in this room, there'll be a big, game circle going on, right right after 06:00. Starts at six.
So beginning six... September 12 last week started. It's a great crowd of kids because they matter to God. We pour scripture into their minds to get it into their hearts, and that's a fun time. Middle school youth group started this past week, and so middle school youth group is on Thursdays at 06:30.
Anything you wanna add from the back back there, Renzi? Just as it's written. Middle school middle school youth group, Thursdays at 06:30, and high school breakfast is at 07:45AM on Friday mornings, and that is a great time. Believe it or not, it's a great time for high schoolers to come out. 07:45AM high school breakfast, a blessing before the weekend.
Today, started a girl study, high school, middle school, high school girls from 10AM to eleven. So during the connect hour, they have a class that meets downstairs, And there's a guy study that started today during my sermon, 09:30 to 10:30, that meets in Renzi's office, and that was... It was it was well attended, and that must have been one of them right there. Children's church started today, downstairs during the 09:00 service. The tots went downstairs and some of the potatoes went elsewhere.
But the Peak Children's Church did start today, and that's a good time. They get a good age appropriate Bible lesson. That is from kindergarten through fifth grade. Monday nights at first b happens during the same time as Awana. Down the hall, fellowship hall, we do meal, music, and a message every Monday night.
Carl is up to Luke five right now going through the book of Luke. So, if you're looking for a good old gospel truth, it'll be presented along with meal and music and that's the message. The women's retreat for the ladies of of the church and the community called the promises of heaven. They change everything. It's happened in the third weekend in October.
So that's the fourteenth through sixteenth of October. It'll be up at the Heart 6 Ranch. So that is happening. If you wanna know more information, Anne Stalker is probably the best person to talk to, but you can call the church office, and we'll do the best we can. Okay?
Everybody got that? And I think for all other announcements, precepts is meeting Thursday mornings at 09:00. But for all other announcements, they should be in the bulletin. Is there one more that I'm forgetting? Yes?
No? Speak now forever. Hold your peace. Okay. I thought I missed one, but I guess I didn't.
Would you stand up and greet one another, and we'll bring you back together with a song. Okay.
Speaker 3Let's lift his name on high. One eighteen in your hymnal if you wanna follow your your harmony part. His
Speaker 2name is wonderful. His name is wonderful. His name is wonderful. Jesus, my lord. He is the mighty king, master of everything his name is wonderful Jesus my lord he's the great shepherd the rock of all ages, almighty God is here.
Bow down before him, Love and adore him. His name is wonderful. Jesus, my lord. His name is wonderful. His name is wonderful.
His name is wonderful. Jesus, my lord. He is the mighty king, master of everything. His name is wonderful. Jesus, my lord.
He's the great shepherd, the rock of all ages. Almighty God is here. Bow down before him. Love and adore him. His name is wonderful.
Jesus, my lord.
Speaker 1Amen. I like to say face every once in a while. Scott just speaks up. That's good.
Speaker 2The greatest thing in all my life is loving our lord. Amen? The greatest thing in all my life is knowing you the greatest thing in all my life is knowing you. I want to know you more. I want to know you more.
The greatest thing in all my life is knowing you. The greatest thing in all my life is loving you. The greatest thing in all my life is loving you. I want to love you more. I want to love you more.
The greatest thing in all my life is loving you. The greatest thing in all my life is serving you. Serving I want to serve you more. Want to serve you more. The greatest thing in all my life is serving you.
Speaker 1Amen. Y'all can have a seat. I'm gonna invite the frontline team to come forward, please. And would you pray with me? God, we thank you for this time.
I feel the rhythms of life establishing themselves after school has started back up. And, we are more and more, in this valley, those who live full time in this valley, Lord, and I see our opportunity for the evangel going forth from here starting to wane a bit, but I see a time where we come together and we learn to know more about you. We can feel and sense and share your love, we're we're do do that. And So would you take some of what you have given to us that we're acknowledging you gave it and we're giving it back so that you would have your will done in your way starting right here in this one church of this capital c church in this valley and this state and beyond, to reach the uttermost parts, the ends of the earth. Lord, would you take these, tithes and offerings, and would you multiply them to do your kingdom work?
Would you advance the great name of Jesus and the gospel of peace available through his love and forgiveness. In Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you, Judy and Jennifer. Beautiful rendition of Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.
So this morning, I am... I'm gonna go back to this. This is the the ending of the sermon series that I started a few weeks ago. I heard Sam Sowler call it God's position paper on Israel from chapters nine through eleven and eleven deals a lot with Israel. So, I started this several weeks back.
We went week after week going through the a, the b, the c, the d of this keyastic construction. It's a way of thinking. It's a Hebrew way of thinking and a Greek way of writing too. That central point is the most important one. So the first week though, I covered these outer two points.
Both of these outer two points affirm the central point at d. So it's a b c d c b a. What's funny about this, I I started this presentation and then I had a vacation in there when I was telling Carl where we were in the scripture. I said, just skip chapter 11. Go to 12, twelve one.
And then after he presented on twelve one and two, he did such a great job. I thought, man, am I gonna kill the momentum and go backwards or what? Because 12 is where things really start to take off about how to serve, how to live this out rather than the theology behind what's going on and so, I was like, I'm going to go with Carl. Well, I'm not sure. I really am committed to going through these things in order.
Which is it? So, I prepared a sermon for both. On the way into church, Eric Walker was telling me a few weeks ago, on the way in, the day that we were out of town and Carl was preaching, she said, daddy, what's going on at church today? And she he said, oh, Carl's preaching today. She said, good.
Because she said, a b c d c b a is not that complicated and I think we've got it. I did not take any disrespect from that. I was so tired of this by the time we got away from it. I'm glad that we can come back to it now. Now, out of the two sermons out of the two sermons that I have prepared, I felt this would be the weaker sermon.
After Carl's presentation on one and two, I thought I'd grab one and two and go on down to about verse eight or so and that one is what I presented. This one I had waiting in the wings but I am committed to doing these things in an orderly fashion. So, we're going back and picking up that which I skipped. Even if it was the worst of the two sermons, you're gonna get to hear that one now, okay? Actually, we went forward from the introduction.
Remember the empathy that Paul had for the the for his people, the Jews. He had such empathy for him. He said that if I could give my salvation away, if I could be a curse, anathema outside of God in order for them to accept it all, I would do that but Paul knew he had sin in his life that he had to pay for. He could not give up his salvation for that but he had the empathy that if he could, he would have. That's that first section.
Sorrow for the lost status of the Jewish people because they had rejected Christ. Now, the conclusion he got to and we covered that in the same sermon was praise and rejoicing at the unfathomable riches of God's wisdom and his knowledge. So, we cover both of those, the A sections in one sermon. B, would have been too long to cover both. I wanted to but I just couldn't get there.
So, we did. Is it God's fault? He answers that. The latter half of chapter nine, no. God has not failed Israel.
Well, he's God. So, he does not fail. What he set out to do with Israel, he chose them to be his people, wrote the whole Old Testament about their acceptance and their rejection and acceptance and rejection over and over and over again. He has not failed Israel And so, the next week, we covered all of this. Is it Israel's fault?
And we determined by reading up that far, nine and ten primarily, the green part there. We determined that, yes, it was Israel's fault because of a works based righteousness. So far at least. Now, they had taken the good that God had given, the blessing that he'd given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and he... They had reduced it to a legalistic set of rules that you had to either do or not do, and they had walked away in their hearts.
Their hearts were not circumcised as we see several times throughout. They were following all the trappings of the religion that God had presented them but they were not doing it with the heart. They were seeking after God's favor by their righteousness but the optimistic thing about this is the very central point of what's going on is verse nine and verse 10 that say, if you confess with your mouth and Jesus says, lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. That's very optimistic for this to be the absolute center point of this kiosk construction is incredibly hopeful because it leaves open the whosoever will may come. You will be safe for with the heart a person believes result in in righteousness and with the mouth he confesses resulting in salvation.
So the central point of all three of these chapters is salvation from the heart that will overflow out of the mouth. So you will be saved, absolute center of that construction. And there it is again, it's about the heart and out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. And just stopping right there just for a second to say, if what is coming out of your mouth is venom and cursing and aggravation and frustration, don't be fooled. That's what's in your heart.
Okay? If what's coming out of your mouth, if if you can't help but communicate your aggravation to people, then you are aggravated in your heart. What God's offering is peace. What he's offering is rest. What he's offering is comfort and love and salvation.
So, that's the central point and I love that if we keep that clear about everything else that we're studying today, this has to be central to it, Alright? Belief in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead with salvation in mind, a ransom for many. So, here we are again. Is it Israel's fault came next in the latter part of chapter 10? And yes, it is because of their failure to believe.
Now, they believe that there would come a messiah, but when he actually came, they did not believe in him. So, yes, it is Israel's fault that they stand separated from God at that time by failure to believe. Now, whosoever believes will be saved is the central point and God has not failed Israel. So, we are today gonna cover this. Is it God's fault?
Again, now, if you want to, it it's helpful to me to think of this as that top b section was about the past and this next b section is about the future. So it's about what God had done in the past and what God will do in the future for his chosen people. If you had to break the chapter down, I I see it in two, mainly two categories, and they're characterized by a verse in each one of them. This is verse two of chapter 11. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.
God has not turned his back on his people whom he foreknew. The second one was they have not fallen irrevocably. They have not fallen so as not to rise again. Irrevocably, this is not something that is to be forever. So those two sections, I think, to me make the most sense as the way to think about this.
And as I looked at these two, I know that the temptation for this chapter is to systematize. And when you systematize things, say, you do it in this particular systematic theology or this one or this one, you're gonna come up and you're gonna put periods where there are no periods. You're gonna put an exclamation point on places where he's saying it in passing as information. I ask you today to apply this biblical passage to your own life today. Try your best to think about it.
Now, it does answer questions about God's chosen people, the people, Israel, the Jews. Some people say it also includes the church in that and some people say it doesn't include Israel at all anymore that we are Israel. So, there are a lot of different ways that you can think about it politically. I know a lot of you have made up your mind politically about this. I'm not saying I haven't but for this passage, let it touch you in your heart today.
That's what I'm asking you for because I believe that in the in the whole of chapter 11, we see two things that are overwhelmingly true. He wrote this as an encouragement to those who were believers in Jesus in the church whether they be pagan flavored, gentiles, or Jewish flavored Christians. Okay? Hope and humility to me are what come out of this the strongest. So here we start in Romans eleven one.
He uses a rhetorical question. Rhetorical question, actually, you can see it in Greek, demands a no response, but I say then, God has not rejected his people, has he? May it never be. Mega noito. Absolutely not.
No. He hasn't. Uh-uh. No way. God forbid.
He does not break promises and the promises that he made to his people will be accomplished. So, that's the way he starts off. That's pretty strong. May it never be. For I too, Paul says, am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
He's saying he has not rejected his people because I'm one of his people and he has not rejected me. Now, he was dramatically saved as he opposed the church. So, was it Paul's works that got him in with God to the point where he would be saved? No. He was actually opposing Christ, persecuting Jesus, Jesus said, and he was miraculously and graciously saved on that road to Damascus.
And so he says, God has not rejected his people. He has not rejected me and I go everywhere that I go into the synagogue and express what God showed me about all of the old testament passages and all of the prophets and everything else pointing to where Jesus is the savior, the messiah. So, no. He has not rejected his people. His people are his people.
For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Or do you not know what the scripture says in the passage about Elijah? How he pleads with God against Israel. Do you all remember the passage?
Do you not know? Do you know? The passage about Elijah. If you think about it, Elijah lived in a time with Ahab and Jezebel. Not a very good leadership for the country.
Incredibly selfish, incredibly contra God, always against anything that his prophets had to say. They were bloodthirsty, criminal, awful leaders. Do you not know what the scripture says in the passage about Elijah? How he pleads with God against Israel because they were a rough, rough people with some horrible leadership. Lord, they have killed your prophets.
They have torn down your altars and I alone am left and they are seeking my life. Did you hear the I alone? Now, I know a lot of y'all were here last week. Remember the story about Ironsides? I closed the sermon with the story about Ironsides where he said, lord, I guess I'm the only person that would have done that.
There's a little bit of that going on with Elijah right here. He knew that he had been faithful. He knew he had not and what would not bow the knee to Baal but he's praying to God and said, they've killed your prophets. They've tore down your altars and only me, lord. It's just me.
I'm your lone one left and they're seeking my life And the divine response, or Paul says, but what is the divine response to him? And God says, I have kept myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to Baal. I have kept for myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to Baal. So is that hopeful? Yes.
When he feels like he's the absolutely only one and then he cries out to God and God responds, amen. God's listening. That's hopeful and when he does, what he responds is, there are 7,000 that have not bowed the knee. If you're feeling alone and then you feel figure out that you've got 7,000 more troops, you feel like God might do something mighty. That's hopeful.
It's also humbling to feel like you're the only one and find out you're one out of 7,001 or maybe more. 7,000 some people. We... I take it to be 7,000. It says 7,000, but seven is a number of perfection and thousand is a great number.
So there's a great perfect fullness, a perfect number that I have chosen for myself who have not yet bowed their knee to Baal. There's always a remnant. In fact, I think that's the next verse. In the same way then, there has also come to be at this present time a remnant. Now, is saying pretty directly analogy way now, at this time, there has come to be at this present time, a remnant according to God's gracious choice.
Paul would consider himself a part of that remnant along with other apostles who had been raised Jewish but then seen Jesus for who he was, the messiah, the Christ. There has also come to be at this present time a remnant according to God's gracious choice. But if it is by grace, then it is no longer on the basis of works. Otherwise, grace is no longer grace. When God set up at the top, I have kept for myself 7,000 men who have not bail...
Bowed the knee to bail. He's saying that it's my business. I'm the one who has done it. The sovereignty of God does play in there. Each of these guys had the choice to bow their knee to Baal.
He said, I am keeping them strong. Those who have stood firm, they do so by my will and my way. If it's on the basis of grace, it's no longer on the basis of works. Otherwise, grace is no longer grace. Praise God.
What then? What's the response to that if grace is grace? It's grace. What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained.
Now, why? Because he's already covered this that they were seeking it by their rituals and by their regulations and without heartfelt understanding. They were seeking it by the trappings of religiosity and not by their circumcision of the hearts where they have given themselves to God. What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained. But those who were chosen obtained it, and some of those were of that line, that ethnic line of Israel.
Paul himself was and would have included himself in that chosen few, and the rest of them were hardened. Just as it is written, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes to see, and ears to hear not, or eyes to see not and ears to hear not, down to this very day. Now, when he was writing that, think about Paul. Paul, this very, very orthodox and religious Jew that had been trained at the feet of Gamaliel, that had all of this understanding, and then was arrested on that road to Damascus, changed completely, and becomes Jesus' servant, an apostle to the Gentiles. Now he's the apostle to the Gentiles, understands his role very, very well, but where does he start?
In every city he goes to? In the synagogue. He always starts with the people who are supposed to know God because of his word, because of his choosing, because of the roots that he had put down for them and Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, I would say Jesus also. Just as it is written, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes to see not, ears to hear not, down to this very day, but that doesn't stop Paul from witnessing to him. It doesn't stop Paul from continuing to carry the evangel, the gospel, and all of the proto Euangelion, the pre gospel stuff that got all of the figures and all of the traditions, what they were pointing towards.
He shares that with them all of the time. Down to this very day, he says, even using David, let their table, that is the trappings of their religious meals, sir, systems, let their table, their traditions become a snare and a trap and a stumbling block and a repute... Retribution to them. Let their eyes be darkened to see not and bend their backs forever. That doesn't sound hopeful.
I'll I'll have to admit that. But David is seeing the wanderings and the wayward heart that tradition can bring. He was somewhat of a nontraditional king, wasn't he? I say then, they did not stumble in such a way so as to fall completely and irrevocably. Did they?
I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall completely away from God. Did they? Meganoito, may it never be? Absolutely not. God forbid.
Unthinkable. Inconceivable. No. They did not fall away and so that they could not arise again. But by their transgression, by the fact that they rejected, which was forecast ahead of time that they would do, by the fact that they rejected Jesus, salvation has come to the Gentiles.
I've all throughout the Old Testament. The Old Testament's hard anyway but it's hard for me because you see that they were supposed to be this great light unto the world, this light to the Gentiles. Yet, what happened with the Jewish people is they turned inward and they didn't give up the blessing. They hoarded the blessing of God and so we see without any outlet whatsoever, they hardened themselves to the point that they were just broken. They fell.
They fell away from what it was really about. Like, they trusted in their traditions instead of the heart of God for others which was forecast. It was part of what was gonna happen. By their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles. Actually, you could even list this by their transgression, their actual arrest, seizure, and kangaroo court with Jesus.
Actually, crucifying the Christ is what brought salvation to the Gentiles. Are you with me? To make them jealous. God has a purpose. Paul had a purpose.
Their transgression brought salvation to the Gentiles to make them jealous. Do you know what it's like to be caught up in an overwhelming religiosity where everything you do is ordered and has to be? And the failure rate on that is awful and the freedom that's available in Christ is what is actual and real. That would make me jealous. Actually, Steven Olsham was a professor at the college at my seminary and he was...
Olsham was a Jewish guy from a Jewish family and he started hanging out in college with some guys that were Christians and they were gentle and they lived out their Christianity well in front of him and it made him mad. It made him mad that they lived life so well, yet they did none of the things that he had been raised to do every single day of his whole life. And he started looking into it more and more. He listened to the claims of Paul. He listened to the claims of the New Testament, and he converted to Christianity and now ministers among his people, those ethnic Jews.
So now, if their transgression at that time is riches for the world and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be? The greater... Stephen Olsham, for as an example, he understands Torah and now he really understands it. He really gets it. How much richer will that fulfillment be?
And it says there, it's multiple. It's plural. But I'm speaking to you who are Gentiles, Paul says. Primarily, I'm talking to the pagan flavored Christians, the ones who came out of paganism into the church, the ecclesia, and not as much right now to the the Jews because if they're Jews and they understand their Judaism, they know that they gotta keep on reaching out to their brothers and sisters of the flesh. But the Gentiles have it...
Had had a tendency to feel superior and Paul is asking for their humility here. I'm speaking to you who are Gentiles and as much as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry so that if somehow I might move to jealousy, my countrymen, and save some of them. I wanna show them what this whole light of the nation's business was about. I wanna show them who this Isaiah 53 servant, suffering servant was. I want to provoke them and save some of them.
For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, so far the chosen people of God have been of this one race, of this one little small sect, and their rejection spreads it out to the whole world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? Amen. If the first piece of dough is holy, the lump is also, and if the root is holy, the branches are too. Now he goes into an agricultural metaphor here, and I don't know anything about horticulture whatsoever. I mean, understand grafting in from this, but I hadn't ever done it, and I've never really successfully raised anything.
That's my brother's business. I'll fix the lawnmower. You cut... You know, you you plant the grass. If some of the branches were broken off and you being a wild olive, and actually a better translation for wild olive is an uncultivated weed.
If you and uncultivated weed were grafted in among them and you became a partaker with them of the rich root of this olive tree that goes way back, you know, goes back to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, God's promise and his covenant with his people. Some of the branches were broken off and you being this wild olive or uncultivated olive. You were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root, the sap of this olive tree. Humility. Do not be arrogant toward the branches, not the ones that have fallen on the ground and not the ones still attached to the tree, which they were in community with at the church at Rome.
They're in community with some of the branches are still on the tree. Do you get that? You get the metaphor? Do not be arrogant toward the branches, but if you are arrogant, remember that it's not you who supports the root, but the root supports you. We run the risk as Christians of divorcing ourselves completely from the old testament and all the promises of God if we bash that.
Does that make sense? God does not... He's not slack concerning his promise. He's going to follow through on his promises. Don't be arrogant.
There's humility there. If you are arrogant, remember that it's not you who supports the root. Your Jewish heritage is very, very important. It's grounded in the promises of God. The root supports you.
You will say then that branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in and that could lead one to pride. Well, they had a faulty system and so they have fallen away but I'm good and I'm here. Paul goes on, says, quite right. They were broken off and and they were broken off because of their unbelief. They rejected God's way but you stand by your faith and it's by grace through faith.
It's still God's grace. You stand by your faith. So, do not be conceded. There's humility but fear. For think about this, if God did not spare the natural branches, he cannot spare you either.
It's by grace. It's his grace. Now, that for an eternal security guy, I will admit, I'm an eternal security guy. Absolutely. Once you are saved, you are always saved and you can't be plucked out of the hand of God.
Nothing can separate you from the love of Jesus but that is a fairly strong warning right there, right? Behold then, the kindness and the severity of God To those who fell, it's severity because they were sincerely seeking after God by their works and it's severe and it's hard. It's hard to see folks in this community who are incredibly devout but wrong. But to you, God's kindness. If you continue in his kindness, perseverance, otherwise, you also will be cut off.
If you get away from the heart of God, if you get away from the gospel, the generations after you will not even know what it was about. If it's all religiosity and tradition, what should we do then with words of warning? As eternal security folks, should we just skip over them? No. When he says, be careful lest you fall.
What should you do? Be careful lest you fall. Stick with him. Persevere. Go on through it.
In humility. And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, the other thing is, if you start bashing them, well, they just had this. No, no, no, no, no, and I'm the one that's right because my heart is right before God. He says, but wait a second, if they if they do not continue in their unbelief, they'll be grafted back in. For God is able to graft them in again.
He's the one who split them off so that you could be accepted and he can put them right back. So, don't get so hearty. For if you were cut off from what is by nature, a wild olive tree or an uncultivated herb or weed and you were grafted contrary to nature, was it contrary to your nature that God saved you? Yes. So, if you could be saved contrary to your nature into a cultivated olive tree, this great root root of Jesse.
Actually, there's a play on words too. Did you all know Netzer is the word in Hebrew for root, and Nazareth is drawn straight from that Hebrew root. Nazareth, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus, the root of the root. I just like that.
So, how much more than will these who are natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree? It's much easier for a plant that is that plant to be grafted into that plant again. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will stand true. And those branches that have fallen, God can graft back in. So rather than considering our status right now and thinking that we have survived and they have not, let's pray that God would graft them back in.
Let's reach out to them with the good news of the gospel in a gentle and humble way with a winsome lifestyle. For I do not want you brethren to be uninformed of this mystery. Oh, it actually is a mystery. Now, when we try to put a period where God doesn't put a period, when we try to say that something that is somewhat ambiguous is exactly this way, I think we do God a disservice. It it is a mystery and Paul admits it right here.
For I do not want you brothers and sisters to be uninformed of this mystery so that you will not be wise in your own estimation. Humility. That a partial hardening and it's only partial because there is a remnant that a partial hardening has happened to Israel just until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. So I can see from this, I see that at the end of human history, end of human time, that after the fullness of the Gentiles have come in, I see a massive conversion of Jews to Jesus. That's what I see and that goes along hand in hand with a couple of different systematic theologies.
But I I think it stands out right there. A partial hardening has happened for your benefit Gentile Christians until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in and so all Israel will be saved. Now right here, all Israel is where the systematic theologies diverge. Some say that all Israel means only ethnic Israel that's pure and has been kept pure. Some say, all Israel is...
All of those ethnic Israel Israel and the church, Ecclesia added together. And some say, it is just the Ecclesia, the called out ones, Christians, has nothing at all whatsoever to do with the Jewish ethnic race. I don't know. I don't know. I'm not sure.
I do know that all Israel will be saved though because that's what it says. God, would you have us understand where we are and consider our place in you realizing it's by grace that we are saved alone, that you have justified us by faith, and everyone you have justified will be glorified. Lord, we don't know who those people are. Your central point here being, whosoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Would you allow us as your believers to live out a life and be able to answer clearly as to your grace so that more would come in to the fullness.
Amen. The deliverer comes from Zion. He will remove ungodliness from Jacob and this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins. So, who is Israel? Everyone whose sins have been taken away.
Don't know how he does it. I just know that he does it. It's always by the blood of Jesus. The Old Testament Jews had to look forward to a Messiah who would come. The provision that God would make.
They had stories like Abraham and the provision of the ram and all of the other sacrificial system pointing towards the messiah. We have the whole New Testament pointing back to the messiah. This special time that Paul was writing was right in that transitional era. It's a difficult time to be alive. Paul articulates it very well for both ages.
This is my covenant with them when I take away their sins. Now, from the standpoint of the gospel, they are indeed enemies for your sake. Do you get that? The Jews are indeed enemies. Paul knows this because he has been reaching into the synagogue everywhere he's been for the last twenty two years and he has been rejected almost out of hand but there's always a trickle of Jewish remnant that will go with him.
From the standpoint of the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. The people of Rome that were in this church would face people and rejection from Jews. They are enemies for your sake from the standpoint of the good news of the gospel. But from the standpoint of God and from his choice, they're beloved for the sake of their fathers. God remembers his people.
He remembers his covenants. He remembers what's going on and he is the one who does the hardening so that it would spread out. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Now, when I see this, the most often that I see this verse used, it's almost always in a missionary or a pastor's prayer letter when they have fallen into some sort of sin and they want to continue ministering. They say, the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
That's not from the context. You'll see that that's not what that is, right? God has made an offer and once you have accepted the gift of eternal life, he's not going to take it back and he has made an offer through his people and none of the promises that were ever made to Israel have ever been revoked. The gifts in the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you, Gentile Christians, just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their Jewish disobedience, So, these also now have been disobedient though they were God's chosen people and they have now gone against Jesus and been disobedient to what they should have known that because of the mercy shown to you, they may also now be shown mercy.
Paul was saying that the influx of all these Gentile Christians coming in should provoke Israel to jealousy and it should bring them to accept the facts of Jesus' life, death, resurrection, and be shown the mercy of God. Because of the mercy shown to you, they also may. If you can't see that's green instead of yellow, that may there is a subjunctive verb. It's dependent upon two wills. It's not just the will of God.
The will of God is that no one should perish, but that all should come to know him and to eternal life. But he leaves your responsibility intact with that little subjunctive right there. He may show mercy to... Because central point of the whole lesson, whosoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Alright.
I think that's it. The very last verse, I want you to see the may in there also because there is a fairly popular heresy in the past few years. You might have heard of it. Love Wins was a book that Rob Bell wrote a while back and it is very popular and very convenient because it it says that love wins. God's love eclipses all.
It trumps everything and everyone will eventually come to a saving knowledge of Christ and be saved and heaven is for everybody. There's no such thing as hell and that is heresy. It is flat heresy. It's not even a new heresy. It's an old but very popular and very convenient one.
If you don't wanna have to live your life in a holy and separate way, it's convenient to think that your neighbor will spend eternity with you and Jesus. This verse actually has a subjunctive verb right there too. For God has shut up all in disobedience. All are sinful. Right?
We know that. There's no one righteous. No, not one. For God has shut up all in disobedience so that he may show mercy to all. He may.
Now, because of Jesus but dependent upon your will, he will not disturb your responsibility for making that choice. I think that's the last verse. So, is it God's fault? No. God cannot be held liable or accountable.
God has not failed Israel and no, he still has not rejected them such as for them to be rejected forever because whoever believes will be saved. And I think that's it. Judy, would you come up? Scott, would you mind coming on back up? And we'll sing, have thine own way, Lord.
I think there's some humility here too because when we think we know and we get really, really hearty and aggravated, are we really letting God have his way, are we really trying to have our own? So as you look over these verses, consider them, consider how it is, and sing them out if you mean them. Amen.
Speaker 2Have thine own way, lord, have thine own way thou art the potter I am the clay mold me and make me after thy will while I am waiting yielded and still. Have thine own way, lord. Have thine own way. Search me and try me, master today. Whiter than snow, lord, Wash me just now as in thy presence.
Humbly, I bow. Have thine own way, lord. Have thine own way wounded and weary. Help me, I pray. Power, all power, surely is thine touch me and heal me savior divine have thine own way lord have thine own way hold o'er my being absolute sway filled with thy spirit till all shall see Christ only always living in me.
Speaker 1In the last couple of our last slide is what immediately follows this in the text and I covered it several weeks ago but just listen to what Paul comes up with. All good theology should lead to doxology. This is a hopeful thing and spurring us on the humility and then Paul says, oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments and unfathomable his ways. For who has known the mind of the Lord or who become...
Has become his counselor or who has first given to him that it might be paid back to him again. For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen. Amen.
