Tonight, we take our Bibles and turn to Romans chapter 11, Romans chapter 11, a few more sermons and we complete this second major section of Romans and we move into the gratitude section in chapter 12, but Paul is working toward a conclusion toward this big issue dealing with israel and how we are to understand this and so tonight we will look at the first 10 verses and some very exciting sections here in romans chapter 11 let's give our attention tonight to the word of the lord i ask then has god rejected his people by no means for i myself of an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? Lord, they've killed your prophets. They have demolished your altars and I alone am left and they seek my life. But what was God's reply to him? I have kept for myself 7,000 men who've not bowed the knee to Baal. So too at this present time, there's a remnant chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works. Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace. What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened. As it is written, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear down to this very day. And David says, let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them. Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see and bend their backs forever. May the Lord bless tonight the hearing of his word. Well, no student of the Bible who loves God's word and wants to study God's word cannot be disinterested or uninterested in this burden of the Apostle. It's a big burden tonight that God raised up all of these descendants from Abraham. One nation in the earth, one nation. That's why we had just, we just sung out that song about what God had set His throne there and one nation in the earth that God loved and chose and set apart to be his special treasure. And he took these people and he led them out of Egypt and he fed them and he was so intimately involved with them, bringing them through the Red Sea and he cared for them and he protected them. The Old Testament is a story of God dealing with his people and making promises to them, The land, the glory, the covenants, giving all these things, Romans 9 said. The law, the promises, all of these things came, and then from them came the Christ. And now the gospel has gone out to all the Gentiles. We have all of this story, what we're studying, we're going to see this plan unfold. And then we come to the time of Jesus, and he stands up at a time of immense rejection. and says i say to you many will come from the east and west to sit down with abraham isaac and jacob in the kingdom of heaven but the sons of the kingdom will be cast into outer darkness there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth and you stand back from that and you listen to that and you think what happened to israel ad 70 comes and the temple is utterly demolished they are dispersed and their special religion if you will was brought to an end and now we have to this day a nation that sits in darkness how important is this issue in the bible and how important was this issue for the apostle paul that god would inspire a major section 9 10 and 11 of romans to explain this to us because it burdened him so much so much so that in chapter 10 he says i would willingly be cut off from christ if they could be saved i have continual grief in my heart for them and i think we should be demonstrating that same kind of grief right he said in chapter 10 they had preachers they um had jesus preached to them they heard the report summarized in isaiah 53 they rejected that report and the saddest verse was the end of romans 10 that all day long i have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and a contrary people i said come i pleaded with them to come and they did not come well if you just quoted all of this and you just quoted isaiah saying they were disobedient and contrary and they ended up cut off what do you still wrestle with his promises but in chapter 11 now paul is is raising something that's very important to still address this issue and he gives it in the form of a question in verse 2 notice what he says in actually in verse 1 i asked them has god rejected his people he's talking about national israel has god rejected national israel this is what's on his mind and i want you to see why this issue is so important for you tonight because if everyone looks ahead to verse 12 of romans 11 you read something that is remarkable that should make us leap for joy and verse 12 says now if their fall is riches if their trespass means riches for the world and their failure means riches for the gentiles how much more will their full inclusion mean and that is very important tonight in verse 12 because the whole thing is presented positively for you to understand this positively and what he just said to you is Israel stumbled through their trespass that happened to them so that today this door would be opened to the whole world and that the Gentiles would receive the gospel and here I'm looking at Gentiles who've received the gospel so we need to stand back and say this is an amazing fulfillment that Israel may never have fully grasped even though they should have from the old testament salvation has come to you through their fall now that's next week i shouldn't get ahead of myself it's an amazing section in that next section but he's dealing with something first tonight a very important question that he wants us to understand has god then cast off the whole nation of israel has god gotten rid of all of them and see paul is now dealing with in chapter 11 the present state of israel and the future of israel that's romans 11 and tonight he's looking at the present state of israel how are we to look at israel presently well this is chapter 11 what does all of this mean for them big question and that's a big question for every bible teacher who's ever especially on the radio and you know what they teach, that God has a future restoration plan for Israel, and that in the future we can expect that after, they say, the rapture occurs and Jesus comes back and reigns in a Jerusalem temple, then you're going to see a restoration of Israel, national Israel. Well, I believe we should start and they should start where paul starts at the beginning of romans 11 by asking first the question what about the present state of israel which i hear very little discussion about what is the present state of israel is god done with them does god have a plan for them and notice how paul is addressing this tonight has god then gotten rid of israel has god cast away his people and he emphatically says here certainly not that's why i gave the um title israel remains no and how does he answer this initially let me give you proof you want to see proof paul says look at me let me give you proof for i am an israelite of the seed of abraham of the tribe of benjamin god certainly then has not cast off his people whom he foreknew this is a remarkable way to begin this argument, isn't it? That may seem to you like a simple argument, but that's what I love about it. It's a very simple way that Paul is addressing this question. I'll prove to you God's not done with Israelites. I'll prove to you God's not done with blood Israelites. I'm one of them. For I am also an Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of benjamin i've got the stock i've got the pure blood i'm one proof number one look at me now this is no small thing if you know the history of the apostle paul this this was a very zealous pharisee this this was a fanatical christ-hating christ-killing pharisee and you know this look what he did to stephen he was the most jewish of them all and when he gives that list when he gives his credentials in philippians chapter 3 no one touched it though i might have confidence in the flesh if anyone else thinks he has confidence in the flesh i more circumcised the eighth day of the stock of israel of the tribe of benjamin hebrew of hebrews concerning the law a pharisee concerning zeal persecuting the church concerning righteousness which is in the law blameless in other words according to my own estimation i was fulfilling that thing i was keeping it i was pure and then he says what things were gained to me i count as loss and so paul is initially saying tonight up front look if the most jewish of all the jews somebody like me has believed the report of jesus already conveyed in isaiah 53 throughout the old testament and i have been brought out of the kingdom of darkness and i've been ushered into the kingdom of light that i myself am a living testimony that god's not done i'm a jew appointed to preach to the gentiles he would say i think this is a remarkable testimony tonight if there's any time it's testimony time for paul this was it he's giving his testimony and what an encouragement this was to the apostle um this must have been you know he says in verse one i grieve over israel of chapter 10 and then in verse one of chapter 11 but that doesn't put me in the the dumps thinking that God is done with Israel. Because I look at the wonderful things that the Lord has done for me. I'm evidence that he still cares. And I believe this is an important thing to look at and remember tonight when we stand concerned about the things and the way things are and whether the Lord is saving. Notice what the apostle does here in confidence. Notice how he thinks in confidence. He stopped and he paused and he testified to the very grace that he had receive such grace shown to him that this was a witness in and of itself that god was still saving and paul draws the conclusion then that means god is not casting off his people and if you look through the first century you did have a steady number of jews coming in jesus said this to nicodemus when nicodemus didn't understand the need for a new birth i've always thought jesus said something that is remarkable challenging but powerful when understood jesus said this to nicodemus you don't understand this and you're a teacher in israel then he said this we speak what we know and we testify what we have seen and jesus was representing his people and he was saying open your eyes and look at the life transforming power look what my power is doing in giving people life it's all around you open your eyes and look people are being raised spiritually all the time i um have told you before but it moves me that uh one who i went to seminary with years ago is in the heart of israel heart of national israel preaching the gospel right now and he has a christian church and this thing's flourishing and they're building a community center there this is in israel and i think paul would have looked at david zadok and said see it's a remarkable thing it's a beautiful thing and so paul is is casting this positively that you can see he's still working and that he cares. And so in verse 2, notice what he says. God has not cast away his people whom he foreknew. In other words, every last one of those whom he foreknew are saved. Now that word for foreknew should have some meaning by now because back in chapter 8, you remember that he said, those whom he foreknew, he predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might become the firstborn among many brethren. So this word means to choose beforehand. And it gives the sense that these objects that God took active delight in before the foundation of the world and that he loved his good pleasure before they were even born, he has never cast out one of them. So, notice how the Apostle wants us to think about the diligence of God's love. The pursuit of God's love. The relentless drive of God's love in His foreknowledge that never let Him cast off a one. And Paul wants you to think about how determined that love was. How determined was that love? What was the worst possible moment in Israel's history? There were a lot of bad ones. There were a lot of really bad ones. But I believe Paul raises one of the worst, if not the worst at this point in Romans 11 to illustrate this point and to drive home this point. What was the darkest moment? It's when Elijah was up on Mount Carmel and all the nation of Israel has gathered with Baal. And it's dark. And Paul raises this in verse 3. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah? How he appeals to God against Israel. This is end of verse 2, now verse 3. Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life. Do you remember the scene? Israel had a terrible king in King Ahab and the nation had been summoned up to the top of Mount Carmel and they have this great showdown. Israel is sacrificing and worshiping the Baal and remember Elijah comes up there and what happened? They all sided with the false prophets and so Elijah commands the building of the altar and the God who would answer by fire, he is God. And remember what happened. The Lord consumed it with fire. And all the prophets of Baal were put to death. Jezebel hears about this. She wants Elijah's head. Elijah flees to a cave and prays all night that he would die. This is Jeremiah up and down, up and down. And he says, take my life. I'm no better than my father's. The Lord comes and what does he do? He feeds him. What are you doing here, Elijah? I'm zealous for the Lord because the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant. They've torn down your altars and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left. They want my life. I want you to notice that in verse 2, how Paul emphasizes what Elijah does before the Lord. What does he do before the Lord? He doesn't plead for them he pleads against them do you know how elijah pleaded with god against israel look at them i'm the last one they've torn down the covenant they've torn down the altars he's not pleading positively and so all of israel has gone after these other gods and the sense of complaint is judgment judgment now god had every right at that moment god had every right at that moment to put an end to it but what did elijah learn there was a promise made to abram wasn't there and paul says think about the divine response to elijah just for a moment think about the divine responds to Elijah for a moment. I have reserved 7,000 for myself who've not bowed down the knee to Baal. And every mouth that has not kissed him. So in the darkest moment of apostasy, he's telling us if it had been up to Israel, yes, they would have failed, but all would have perish but what happened god could not and never did cast away one of his people whom he foreknew you see how positively election is cast in this light how comforting election is cast in this light isaiah had i mean elijah had no idea about these 7 000 and paul is wanting us tonight under the inspiration of the Spirit, to be awestruck, to be awestruck by God's love in election. And as much as people hate the doctrine of election and fight against the doctrine of election, it answers everything. Because if it were not true, nobody would have made it. And Paul sees election as the answer here. And so his answer about national Israel is, Right now, as I'm writing, and I love how he says this, as I'm writing, right now, according to the election of grace, God is fulfilling his promises because there's a remnant. Right now, there's a remnant. Isn't it wonderful to think that over the face of the earth right now, there's a remnant of believing Jews who bowed down the knee to Jesus? And that should excite us tonight. If we're interested in the Bible, that should excite us. True Israel can never be cast off because he has foreknown them right now in Paul's day and in ours. There's a remnant of physical Jews from the nation of Israel, bloodline Jews, in which the promises are being fulfilled. And I love to think about in the darkest moment that God showed us this. God is wanting and God is demonstrating to us how faithful he is. I've reserved 7,000. Fill in the blanks. I've loved with an everlasting love those whom I've foreknown. Think about today. I've fulfilled, I have reserved for myself 7,000. Someone asked me this morning, If kings and kingdoms go this wicked, and it gets this bad, and kings like Ketoleomer and all these kings do these kind of... Why doesn't God just put an end to it? Why doesn't He take us all up to glory now? And the answer to that is, some of Abraham's seed is still out. They're still out there. And this is why we're here, and it's immensely encouraging. gives me the greatest hope to preach the gospel because of all the failure in the church today. And now we can look at this in our time and see what we learned from Israel of all of the failure in the church today and all of the mess that we make and all the mockery of truth and all the provoking of his faith face and the horrible things that we see going on in society. And when we hear Jesus say, when the son of man comes, will he really find faith on the earth? You have to say yes because there's a lot out there somewhere there's a lot there's a samson out there and he's going to get to this day his elect somebody like lot and these people the lord wants us to understand i have i have saved them and i've called them with a holy calling not according to their works but according to my purpose and grace which was given to them in christ jesus before time began and that's what the divine patience that's what he's telling us about his patience in the days in which we live it's overwhelming because when we see these things and we find all of these discouragements along the way if every last church put up with false doctrine and it seemed like that to us if every last church seemed to have itching ears and they heap for themselves false teachers and everyone's getting turned aside in christianity to false teachings turned aside from the truth away from the truth if every last church in my estimation turns to doctrines of demons god says because of the election of grace i have 7 000 and that number is a number of fullness telling you it is a great multitude who have not bowed down the knee. You know how encouraging that is to us. I had a discussion with my wife the other day about how many are saved. Remember somebody had that question of Jesus? How many are saved? And we want to know how many are saved. And Jesus hit hard with that. You strive to enter through the narrow gate because broad is the gate. Wide is the way that leads to destruction. Many enter through that, but narrow is the gate and small is the way that leads to life and only a few find it. And I think, is there just a few? And then we talked about in Revelation that on that day in the vision that John saw, there was a multitude there. No one could number. Full. When God made the promise to Abram, he said it's going to be like the stars in the heavens. sand on the seashore and when we look at this and we see what god is saying to us he wants us to understand tonight grace means grace and i love how he demonstrates this tonight i'm used to the contrast of faith and works and works being anything that the sinner does and versus faith being my embracing and and receiving of christ but many people understand that and they think that when we say faith that's what we have to do and the argument often goes that way yeah but the part that i do is faith and you say yes faith is um you have to embrace jesus but ephesians tells us faith is a gift but that's not what paul's contrasting here tonight did you notice what paul's contrasting here? Paul puts a contrast between two really radically opposed categories. The contrast is between all human activity and God's activity. And so notice what he says in verse 6. Notice how he emphasizes this in verse 6. If it's by grace, then it's no longer of works. Otherwise, grace is no longer grace. But if it's of works, it's no longer grace. Otherwise, a work is no longer work. Salvation has always been according to the election of grace. So when God spared the 7,000, there was his Israel saved by grace. And that resulted, as we'll see, in the fullness of Israel being saved. And if there was no grace, no one would have been saved. So God has never based his acceptance of the sinner on anything in himself and when you stand there it will never have been one work it will only have been grace and more grace as paul says grace heaped upon john says grace heaped upon grace unmerited favor so this question tonight has god cast away his people has god cast away his people what then verse 7 israel failed to obtain what it was seeking the elect obtained it but the rest were hardened national israel right now as a whole as a nation did not obtain what it's seeking what were they seeking what are they seeking if you talk to any jew to this day what are they seeking seeking their messiah talk to them jesus said in john 8 i am going away and you will seek me and you will die in your sin to this day they're seeking national israel has been seeking for her messiah and is seeking for her messiah to this day and paul says in second corinthians a veil lies on her heart and he quotes two old testament verses to prove this tonight that god gave them the spirit of blindness eyes that they would not see and ears that they would not hear to this very day in other words there is a deep sleep that has fallen over israel and they are insensitive and have no real interest to listen to the message of their Messiah. They're deaf. They're blind. And then Paul says in the midst of this, but the true Israel have received it. And that's what he's been saying the whole time. The true Israel are those who have the circumcision of the heart, who are born again. Every last one of those are saved. And tonight I want to challenge us as we end this sermon, you know, this spirit of blindness. It's just as real today. God has been showing us the whole time that the true Israel have circumcised hearts. And now he's going to go in and show that the Gentiles have been grafted in. The Gentiles have been grafted into this tree. and we need to be reminded that we have to embrace and receive Jesus Christ by faith. That's the only way. It's all it's ever been, and that's why I quoted Psalm 95 to begin. I love the first part of that psalm. The second one, the second half is tough, isn't it? Oh, come, let us sing to the Lord. Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving. Let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise. For the Lord is the great God and a great King above all gods. And it goes on. Let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. The second part ends up in Hebrews, doesn't it? And the second part says, Today, if you will hear his voice, don't harden your hearts, says at Meribah. As in the day of Massa in the wilderness, when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof that they, though they had seen my work. For 40 years, I loathed that generation and said, there are people who go astray in their heart and they've not known my ways. Therefore, I swore my wrath, they shall not enter my rest. And the Lord is having us remember and to see the only way anyone enters is by faith alone in Christ. Outside of that, we have no hope. And so I see this tonight as a positive encouragement to remember that God is bringing His true Israel. He doesn't lose any along the way. And He will preserve and persevere His sheep. And you will know that you are a true Israelite because Paul is going to call even the Galatians the Israel of God by whether you have bowed and heard this king today. Notice how Abram bowed to the true king. And bowing to this king Jesus, expressing and trusting him, realizing that he's the only way that we have life, the Lord is announcing to you today as he did in Romans 10, verse 3 and 4. two, three, and four, that you have the righteousness that meets the standard. Christ has, you have that imputed righteousness given to you by which you will stand. And when you see that and when you understand everything that he's done for you, you end up doing what Paul does, realizing God was faithful all the way to the end to bring every last one of his sheep in. He ends with this way and we'll end this way tonight. Oh, the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways. For who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been His counselor or who has given a gift to Him that He might be repaid? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen. Let's pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, we're thankful that this is all by grace and that it's not by our works and that you've been faithful throughout history to preserve your people Israel and that you have even grafted us in so that now the fulfillment of the promises is to Jew and Gentile alike so that that wall has been torn down and we are all made one in Christ Jesus. We praise you for doing this. We praise you for encouraging us this way. And so let us not lose heart and let us not harden our hearts. May we always, Lord, believe and trust the whole way, realizing that it is your grace and your power and your mercy and your love that has relentlessly sustained us, a love that was given to us from the foundation of the world. We pray these things humbly. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.