Sermon 32

Three Things That You Can

Always Count On

Romans 11:1-15

My friend, Mark, was asked to pray on Thursday night of the Rodgers Missions Conference. During his prayer he said, "We thank you Lord for all the blessings that we've endured, I mean, enjoyed during this conference." Then he added, "We have enjoyed blessings from you this week, O Lord." It was a slip of the tongue.

I knew when I began preaching through the Book of Romans that chapters 9 and 11 were going to be especially challenging. We've made it through chapter 9 and today we have reached Romans 11. Romans 11 may be one of those "blessings that you endure". But I just want to give you some hope that there are good things ahead in this book - Romans 12-16 are very practical.

The challenge of Romans 11 is that it is primarily about the nation of Israel and we have a hard time relating to them; it wrestles with some of the more difficult theological issues and is not very practical for daily living. The wording of this chapter is not always easy to comprehend. It would be a lot easier to just skip over Romans 11, but, folks, this is God's Word, it was written for our learning (Romans 15:4), it is part of the "all scripture that is inspired by God and profitable" (II Timothy 3:16) and it is part of the whole counsel of God which I am commanded to preach (Acts 20:27).

So when you pray tonight, you, like my friend, Mark, may be thanking God for the blessings that you have endured today. But here goes ...

Having written already about Israel's rejection of Christ which lead to God's rejection of Israel, Paul answers in Romans 11, a simple question - Is God finished with Israel? The answer to that question is a resounding, "No! God is not finished with Israel." Actually, it is stated more strongly than that. It is "God forbid!" Israel’s failure is neither total nor permanent. In God’s good time, Israel will be restored to a place of national prominence and blessing. In the mean time, God's attention is turned toward the Gentiles. Now, that is a summary of the whole chapter. But let's look a little closer at the details and see how Paul explains it all.

There Has Always Been A Remnant, 11:1-5.

While it is true that, in general, the nation of Israel as a whole is in unbelief and has rejected Christ as the Messiah and Savior, it is not true that every Jew is in unbelief. In fact, in verse 1, Paul uses himself as an example. Indeed, Paul himself was a forceful argument against any claim that God had rejected the nation Israel. Paul was a believing Jew. Has God given up on Israel completely? Hath God cast away his people? Paul in his pre-conversion days had adamantly rejected the gospel and was guilty not only of persecution, but of shedding the blood of innocent saints. If a rebel like Paul could be made to do a spiritual about-face, surely there is hope for Israel.

There is a practical reminder to us, here, never to give up on people. We do. We grow tired and frustrated with their rejection of the gospel and give up. Paul wants us to know that God Himself hadn't given up on Israel and neither had he (9:1-3; 10:1).

There is something else that these verses remind us of. And that is, that the true people of God have always been a remnant. Paul uses that phrase in verse 5. He has already used it in Romans 9:27. It is, actually, a common theme throughout the Bible. Particularly in the Old Testament prophetic books (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel), God would speak of the remnant. "I am going to lay waste to your land and many people are going to be slain, but I will save a remnant.

God's people are always the minority, not the majority. Most of the people in our world are not saved, heaven-bound. The same could, no doubt, be said about the place where you work, the school where you study, the neighborhood where you live, the store where you shop. Jesus said that the road to destruction is broad and there are many traveling on that road while the road to eternal life is narrow lane "few there be that find it."

That, however, being said, we must know that, even though they are in the minority, God always has His remnant, He always has His witness. And, we must not get the "lone ranger syndrome." That's exactly what happened to Elijah. He got depressed after his encounter with the 400 prophets of Baal and told God, "I alone am left." God reminded Elijah that he was not alone, that there were 7000 who had not bowed their knee to Baal.

God always has a witness to Himself. There is now and always has been a remnant. And while Israel as a nation, as a whole has rejected Christ, there are still individual Jews being saved.

Salvation Has Always Been By Grace, 11:6-10.

The last word of verse 5, and the last word of salvation, is "grace." We are saved by grace, Ephesians 2:8. And that is exactly were most people get hung up. You see, they want to do something in order to earn or merit heaven and eternal life and forgiveness of sins on the basis of their own goodness, on the basis of works - religious rituals, moral goodness, humanitarian kindness. But salvation is not by works, Ephesians 2:9; Titus 3:5. It is completely and entirely by grace. That God does for you what you could never deserve or achieve on your own. He saves you by grace.

And that was the problem that the Jews had. They kept trying to earn salvation by keeping the law. And if you do it by works, what point is there to Christ? Why did Jesus live and die on the cross? Salvation is not a mixture of grace and works. It is an either / or proposition. And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. And while some of the Jews, understood salvation by grace, the rest, verse 7 says, were blinded which, according to verses 8-10, is a fulfillment of what God predicted would happen in the Old Testament (quotes come Isaiah 6; Psalm 69). It is like Israel is asleep. They have eyes but they cannot see and ears but they cannot hear.

Israel's problem is that they just could not accept the truth that salvation is by grace. Their desire to work and earn salvation kept them from seeing Christ. What is true of Israel, is also true of many others. Particularly the religious. Religion has a way of blinding one from grace and binding one to works. But salvation is and always has been by grace.

God Always Brings Good Out Of Bad, 11:11-15.

In the rest of the chapter (we won't get through all of it today), Paul explains that the Jewish rejection of Christ is not only not total (there is a remnant) but also not permanent. There is going to be future restoration of Israel. The present rejection by Israel of God serves ultimately to God's wonderful purposes.

Israel’s loss is the Gentile’s gain (vs. 11-15). From eternity past, it was the will of God that through the disobedience and unbelief of Israel the Gentiles would come to faith in God. "But through their fall salvation has come to the Gentiles …" (v. 11b).

But God’s purpose extends beyond Gentile conversion. The conversion of Gentiles is a back-handed blessing for the Jews in that it is intended to provoke them to jealousy. This was something the Jews of Paul’s day did not yet appreciate. They violently resisted Paul’s offering of the gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 22:21, 22). But to Paul preaching to the Gentiles had a double intent. First of all it resulted in the salvation of Gentiles. Second, it furthered God’s purpose of provoking the Jews to jealousy. In this way, the offering of the gospel to Gentiles was good for both Gentiles and Jews alike.

Presently, the Gentiles have much to gain by Israel’s unbelief. Ultimately, Israel has much to gain by Gentile belief. There is no need, however, for the Gentiles to dread the time when God once again restores the nation Israel to a place of faith, blessing and prominence. Paul’s argument in verses 12 and 15 is from the lesser to the greater. If the Gentiles could be blessed by the Jews due to their unbelief, imagine the blessing that will come through their faith and obedience! Surely, the Gentiles should not dread the day of God’s blessing on Israel, but should await it with eager anticipation.

This is a beautiful illustration of Romans 8:28. God does cause all things to work together for the good of the elect and the glory of God. Jewish unbelief has prompted Gentile evangelism; and this Gentile evangelism will provoke the Jews to jealousy. Those things which appear to be tragic and catastrophic are but a part of a much larger picture, which ultimately contribute to the accomplishment of God’s holy and perfect will. Whenever we find ourselves in circumstances that appear to be counter-productive to our spiritual advancement, we must assume that our situation is like that of Israel described in Romans 9-11. That God is at work in a way which we could never have devised to promote His glory and our good.

Our response to the sovereignty of God as expressed in history through the partial and temporary rejection of Israel and the salvation of Gentiles should be one of wonder and praise at the wisdom of the One who indeed works all things together for good.