Romans 11, Paul the Apostle has been talking
about some branches, some branches that were broken
off and branches that are grafted in. And I've thought about this since
last week when we first started this study. And I want to just
make a statement that I think will be a help to you. It was
to me. While we go through this passage,
I'm going to try to look at verses 20 to 25 this morning for a few
minutes. And while Paul is talking to
the church at Rome. Now he's talking to some Gentiles
and he's talking about some branches that were of the natural tree
and broken off and you know. Remember this one statement that
I'm about to make and I'm going to preface everything that I'm
getting ready to say concerning branches being broken off and
branches being grafted in and Whatever we know, we know this,
that which Almighty God has purpose to do, He's always purpose to
do. Branches being broken off or
branches being grafted in means that God has made it manifest
to His people. OK? It doesn't mean that God
somewhere in the middle of the stream decided to break something
off that was grafted in with Him. That which God has done,
He's always done. That which God has purposed,
He's always. So branches broken off are branches grafted in.
Remember, that is terminology that means that it's made manifest
to us that that's what happened. God's eternal. OK, now, I heard something, an illustration. I think it's wonderful to use
illustrations. It helps us understand. You know,
the Lord taught in illustrations, parables. And the way that He
taught, we ought to be sensitive to that. I had a friend of mine. that told me something after
listening to the message last Sunday. He was sitting here and
he told me, he said, you know, I got to thinking about that
branch that you was talking about being broken off. And he said
a while back, he said, I was walking out in the yard there
and I kind of looked right on the edge of the woods. And he
said, I had a tree out there, flourishing, beautiful tree.
But he said there was one limb in that tree that he said was
dead. One branch, just everything. I looked at it and he said, I
walked over to it. And he said, when I got right
up on the tree, he said, I realized that what had happened is another
branch, a branch from another tree right next to it had broken
off. and just fallen down and kind
of lodged itself right there close to the trunk. And he said,
just backing away, it appeared as though that that branch was
part of that tree. But it was so unusual because
I thought, why was that branch dead and everything else is alive?
He said, I realized it never was part of the tree. It just
fell off, just looked like it was. He said, I just took it
out. That's what God Almighty does.
Whenever it talks about the Lord breaking off branches, what it
is is they may appear. It may be a tear. It looks like they're part. But
they never were vitally joined to the Lord Jesus Christ. If
they've ever been vitally joined to the Lord Jesus Christ, they'll
live. All right, we ended last week
with verse 19. Paul was speaking to the Romans
and he said, Thou wilt say, or so let's read verse 18. Boast
not against the branches, but if thou boast, thou bearest not
the root, but the root thee. Don't say, you Gentiles, all
of us Gentiles, we look back and see how the Lord openly displayed
by breaking off. They never were part of the tree
to begin with. They just looked like they were.
Don't boast against those branches. He said, you're not bearing the
root. Gentiles were not the original
ones that God sent the gospel to. The root thee. The root bears
thee. Thou wilt say then, the branches
were broken off that I might be grafted in." And here's where
we'll pick up, verse 20. Paul says in verse 20, well,
you're right. You're absolutely right. He says,
they were broken off. God openly manifested that they
weren't His from the beginning. Until the Lord Jesus Christ came,
the scribes and the Pharisees, everybody looked at him and said,
oh my goodness, boy, I'll tell you what, man, if there's ever
going to be anybody in heaven, I'll tell you this, it'll be
the scribes and Pharisees. The Lord Jesus Christ comes and
he tells them, he says, he said, you know, the publicans and the
harlots will be in heaven before you do. What he did was he openly
manifested, just like that branch that fell, just stuck into the
tree. He openly manifested that it
wasn't, that they weren't his from the beginning. Paul says,
you say, they were broken off that I might be grafted in. He
said, that's right. They were openly manifested to
be taken out. It was because of unbelief that
they were broken off. And he said, you stand by faith.
Be not high-minded. but fear because of unbelief. You know, the cause of God's
judgment is a man's willful rejection
of Christ and Almighty God's right to do as He will. I want you to turn to 1 Timothy
1.1. 1 Timothy 1.1. God Almighty does that which
God is pleased to do. 1 Timothy 1, Paul, an apostle
of Jesus Christ. Ordinary, you know, if we stopped
right there, we'd say, man, you know, that's, boy, Paul's an
apostle. Man, he's got something to be,
by the commandment of God, our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ,
which is our hope. You know, we say concerning ourselves,
I believe in the sovereign grace of Almighty God. By the grace
of God you believe that. Almighty God has the right to
do whatsoever He will. The Apostle says they were broken
off, and you're right that they were openly broken off. They
were openly taken out. God Almighty, the Lord Jesus
Christ told them, openly displayed. He said, I'll paraphrase, everyone
else thinks that you're the epitome, the pinnacle, the top of righteousness
before God, you Pharisees, but you're white and sepulchers full
of dead men's bones. He manifested what they are. God Almighty judged
them. Why did He judge them? Unbelief
left them to themselves. Hebrews 11, 6, "...without faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ, it is impossible to please Him.
For he that cometh to God must believe that He is a rewarder
of them that diligently seek Him." Those branches were broken
off openly because they didn't believe Him.
He manifested. They didn't believe that salvation
was by the sovereign grace of God through faith in Christ. They thought that salvation was
by the works of the law. By the works of the law, in their
own opinion, they were blameless, like Paul. Kept all those from
my youth up. Works of self-righteousness.
They were openly manifested to not be the Lord's. and that which
openly manifested, that which today shows us that God Almighty
breaks off openly. How do we know? There's a lot
of folks in church today. A lot of people going to church
today. How do you know? I'll tell you
how it is. A man that leaves this world
in unbelief. All of us were at one time in
unbelief. But Almighty God called us out
of darkness. How do you know those branches
that God has openly displayed to never been part of Him, never
been vitally joined to, and life flowed from? How do you know?
What's the sign? Unbelief. That is the sign. Not morality. That's not the
sign. Morality can be manifested. People can do moral things, but
unbelief. How did you know? Paul says they
were broken off because of unbelief. And he said, and you stand by
faith. Don't be high-minded. Reverence
Almighty God. Don't be arrogant against those
that don't believe. That's the easiest thing in the
world to do. I know. Man, I'm telling you, I know. Man, to
think to myself, I'm just going to share my heart with you. Boy,
there's been times that I've looked at some in my own family
and say, boy, I'm telling you, I can't believe it. They don't believe because Almighty
God has allowed them to do exactly what they want to do. I don't
have any reason to be prideful. Verse 21, For if God spared not
the natural branches, take He, lest He also spare not thee.
Now this is not a verse. Let me tell you this. It sets
forth a false notion that a true believer can lose his standing
of salvation before Almighty God. That's not so. God Almighty saves those that
He's everlastingly loved. The Lord says they're never going
to perish. All that the Father has given
me shall come to me. He that cometh to me, I will
in no wise cast him out. Salvation is of the Lord if God
Almighty has set His affection upon a man or a woman, there
He is kept. But it's a warning against pride,
against men or women who seemingly, seemingly are faithful to Christ
only in their mouth and not in their heart. Wherefore, the Lord
said, forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth,
and with their lips they do honor me, but have removed their heart
far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of
men." Be careful. If God spared not them, if God
left a man to himself, and pride was the evidence of those men
and women, And God left them in unbelief. He said, Be careful.
Be careful. Pride comes, the Scripture says,
before fall. Verse 22, Behold therefore the
goodness and the severity of God. On them which fail, severity. But toward thee, goodness, if
thou continue in His goodness. Otherwise, thou also shall be
cut off. I don't think I can continue
to say it enough. I mean, it's almost like every
verse of Scripture I read, Remind us, believe me, believe me, God
Almighty is not going to cast off His own, but those that are
cast off, leave this world in unbelief. It is manifested that
they were never the Lord's. Behold, Paul says, the goodness,
the kindness and the severity, the abruptness of God. Behold the goodness of God. You
know the Gentiles weren't seeking after God at all. And He looked
upon some in kindness. Nothing can be said concerning
the salvation of the Gentiles except that God was pleased to
show mercy to some of them. I can tell you this. I was not
looking for the Lord. I look back now, Mitch, and I
see how God Almighty providentially crossed my path with the gospel.
I wasn't looking. I wasn't seeking. Behold the
goodness, but behold the severity. These Jews that the Lord was
pleased to leave to themselves, the Lord abruptly judged them. Now, there's some instances when
I can see the abruptness of God's judgment. Korah. Korah and his,
you know, they stood against Moses and Korah came to him and
told Moses, he said, you know, Moses, you take too much to yourself.
I don't think you realize, Moses, who we are. And Moses, under the inspiration
of God's direction and leadership, told Korah and his band, he said,
be here tomorrow. Bring your censors, bring all
your religious stuff. And he said, we'll let God settle
this. You remember what happened? The Lord opened up the earth
and it says Korah and all of his band went to hell alive. The abruptness of Almighty God. You say, well, there's some I
see today and they're not. God is not. Well, if God Almighty
is long suffering, allowing men to continue in their sins, Realize
this, there is coming a day of judgment. And in that day, the
abruptness of God's judgment will surely be seen. Behold the
goodness and the severity. On them which fell, God was severe. Almighty God has shown goodness
to some. He has absolutely been pleased
to show kindness But He said, remember, goodness has been shown
to you if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise, thou also
shalt be openly manifested to where never been His. Now, is
this if right here, is that dependent on you to keep it? God has shown
goodness to you if you continue in that goodness. Now, is there
a demand from me now that the Lord has called me out of darkness?
Does that mean that the Lord now has handed me the reins?
And he says, OK, now, there you go, Marvin. It's up to you. I've
brought you to this point now. I've shown you goodness. Now,
if you continue in that goodness, is that what that means? You
know better than that. What does it mean? God has shown
goodness to you if the Lord continues by His power and grace to keep
you That's what you just read, Brother Scott. Kept by the power
of God. How do I know that God has shown
me goodness? I don't leave. Why didn't I leave? Because He kept me. Why did He
keep me? It pleased Him to do so. We're
kept. Almighty God has shown goodness
to His people, and they stay by that goodness. Otherwise,
thou also shalt be cut off." When? Well, obviously in this
life, He won't endure to the end. Leave me to myself and I'll
do whatever I want to do. But if I cannot stay away, if
I can't go, I think about that prodigal son. Oh, my goodness. I've made reference to myself
so many times. Take my word for it. Take my
word for it. Almighty God has shown mercy
to this sinner. But you remember the story of
the prodigal? Give me what's coming to me. I'm leaving. It's
mine. I want it. Went off and riotous
living. Spent all that he had. But what
happened? The Lord was merciful. And he
came to himself. Almighty God by His Spirit revealed
something to that boy. And he got to thinking about
it. And he said, you know, there are servants in my daddy's house
that eat better than I do. I have just squandered. What am I going to do? I'm going
to go back. I'm going to go back to my daddy's
house. I'm going to talk to him. And I'm going to rehearse it.
I'm going to get my story right. And I'm going to tell him I've
sinned against you and I've sinned against heaven and I'm not worthy.
Make me as a hired servant. It's all I deserve. It says the
Father saw him a long way off. I think about this. How far did
the Lord Jesus Christ see me? He saw me a long way off. He
saw me eternally. And it says the Father ran out
While the boy was getting ready to start his story, Carl, he
had it going. I mean, it was a good story.
I mean, it was a good... He's going to honorably come
back. Said the father fell on him. Fell on his neck and kissed
him. The boy was trying to talk. The boy was trying to talk. Daddy
turned around. He said, y'all bring the best
robe. Put it on him. Get him some good shoes. Put
those shoes on him. Bring that ring that's a symbol,
the symbol of my house, my authority. You put that on his finger. Kill
the fatty calf. Why? Because this is my boy. He's mine. I love him. Always loved him. Did he love
him while he was out there in righteous living? Absolutely.
Why? That was his boy. I think about when Almighty God
was pleased to show me mercy. He saw me. He saw me and what
I was doing. He saw my righteous living. I
mean, you think you've got some stories. I mean, listen, I've
got some stories. And revealed to me that I wasn't
broken hearted. Scripture says in verse 23, And
they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, should be
grafted in, for God is able to graft in him. Who is he talking
about? Paul has been talking from the beginning of this chapter
about the Jews. Did God cast them away? No. Paul said, I know He didn't. He said, I'm an Israelite. God
hasn't cast away those that He foreknew. But he let, for years and years
and years, he allowed many of the Jews to obviously be broken
off. Why? They were never his to begin
with. They were religious, but they weren't vitally joined to
Christ. But Paul is making a statement
here. He says, if they abide not, still in unbelief, if a
man doesn't abide in unbelief. Why? It's because God has given
him a new heart. And Almighty God is able to graft
him in. Again, is that an afterthought
with God? No. Remember, the grafting in
and the breaking off is manifestation of what God has eternally purposed. God can openly reveal that one
was always His. Here the divine truth of God's
calling out of some of those Jews that God had not cast away. Years and years and years God
left them to Himself. But does that mean that God will
always leave those in unbelief? No. If they abide not still in
unbelief, they'll be grafted in. God's able to graft them
in again. You see that? Again. Because He's loved them,
eternally loved them. Paul tells the Gentiles, he said,
for if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature,
Paul said, listen, where you guys came from, where we came
from, remember when God sent the gospel, to the Jews. The law, the ceremonies, the
pictures, the type, who did he send it to? The Jews. Salvation was sent to the Jews
first. Well, where were the Gentiles? It hadn't been openly manifested
yet that God was going to show them mercy. It's prophesied that
He would, but He hadn't yet. God says, if you Gentiles, if
you were cut out of that olive tree which is wild by nature,
this false religion, just false religion, and were grafted contrary
to nature into a good olive tree, if God was pleased to openly
manifest that He brought you out of false religion and put
you, openly manifested you to be part of His own, Paul says,
how much more shall these, talking about these Jews, which be the
natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? Paul
says if God could take one that came out of false religion that
never had anything to do with sovereign saving grace, if God
could take you and graft you in, He says, don't you think
that Almighty God can take these natural branches, those that
originally heard and were left in unbelief for a while? Do you
think God's able to graft them in into that own olive tree? Do you think He could do that?
Verse 25, He said, I would not, brethren, that ye be ignorant
of this mystery. Thus you should be wise in your
own conceits, that blindness, hardness in part, is half unto
Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in." It
was a great mystery, revelation, that the Gentiles would be found
in the ranks of God's elect. That was a great... Turn to Ephesians
1-1. Let me show you something. Now this was a miracle of God's
revelation. To the Jews, they were convinced
salvation is only for the Jews. Nobody else, none of these Gentile
dogs are ever going to be saved. It was a great revelation that
God would save any Gentiles. Ephesians 1.1, Paul, an apostle
of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, to the saints which are
at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus." Now, let me
tell you something. The saints at Ephesus were Gentiles. They were Gentiles. Okay, so
he's writing something to the Gentiles. Now look at verse 8,
"...wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence,
having made known unto us The mystery of his will, according
to his good pleasure, which he hath purposed in himself, that
in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together
in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, on
earth, even in him, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance
being predestinated, according to the purpose of him who worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will, that we should
be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ."
Paul is saying, listen to me. It was a great mystery that God
would show mercy to Gentiles. Almighty God. And that a great
number of Jews should be called out of darkness. Before the Lord's
return, Paul said, this is life from the dead. That's a great
mystery. Paul is telling us, he said,
here's something that we would not know unless the Lord revealed
it to us. I would not, verse 25, brethren,
that you be ignorant of this mystery. Why? That you be wise in your own
conceits. He just told them, he said, now don't boast against
those branches that were broken off. Yes, they were broken off
because they were never vitally joined. That's right. They were
broken off because God had never eternally loved them. They were
broken off because they weren't part of the tree, of the true
tree of God's grace, the church. They were broken off. They were
manifested to have never been the Lord's. That's right. He
said, but I want you to also understand. Don't be wise in
your own conceits. Remember, they were broken off
because God left them to themselves in unbelief. If you believe,
you're going to believe by the grace of God, power of God. But
he said, I want you to understand something. Blindness in part
has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles
be come in. Now, I'm going to just make a
statement and then we're going to end here. Paul is revealing something that
I cannot tell you the fullness of what he's saying. But I will
say this. Based on what he's saying, it
is apparent that Almighty God sent the gospel to the Jews first. Some of them were called out
of darkness. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, some prophets,
Moses. The Jews, to whom the message
of God's grace was sent, especially manifested when the Lord Jesus
Christ came into this world. The Lord Jesus Christ openly
manifested that a lot of those branches that people assumed
were all part of the tree of God's family, the church. The Lord Jesus Christ manifested
that they weren't His, many of them. They were broken off. They
weren't part of that grafted. They weren't into Christ. If
they were grafted into Christ, they've always been grafted into
Christ. But He took out what looked like was His, manifested,
broken off. Because of their unbelief, Almighty
God told His apostles, He said, now you go preach the gospel
to the Gentiles. Go into all the world. Preach
the gospel. For years and years and years,
the gospel has been preached to Jew and Gentile now. That's
what Paul the Apostle did. You notice him when we go through
the book of Acts. Every time the Apostle Paul preaches, he
goes to the Jews first. But he goes to the Gentiles also. Why? Because he knows that God
has an elect people. But Paul said, I've got a revelation
from God. It's a great mystery. He said,
blindness in part. It doesn't mean that the blindness
that these Jews had was partial. That's not what the word means.
Those that were in blindness and left in blindness were totally
blind. They were dead in trespasses
and sins. But it means blindness in part
means that this blindness didn't extend to all of natural Israel. God's got an elect Paul had been
talking about. He's got a remnant according
to grace. God hadn't forsaken Israel. No,
Paul said. He said at this present time
there is a remnant according to grace. God's got a people. He said those first converts
that were called out of darkness, Abraham and all them, he said
those were like the first fruits, the promise that God had a harvest
that He was going to bring out. He said, now, I want you Gentiles
to understand something. Blindness in part has happened
to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. I don't know when that time is,
but I can tell you something about the word fullness. Blindness is happened in part, in a partial. Not to everybody, because God's
got a people in there, and He calls some of them out. But He
said that blindness in part is happened until the fullness The
fullness. Let me give you three Scriptures
that use that word. 1 Corinthians 10.26, For the earth
is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. It means all of it. Here's another one. Galatians
4.4, But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth
His Son, made of a woman, made under the law. When it was completed,
when the fullness of time, when God said, That's it. Ephesians
1.23, which is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth
all and in all. It means all of it. Completely. No more. No more. As full as
it's going to be. That's what it means. Blindness
in part is happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles
become in. Almighty God has a people, Jew
and Gentile, and Almighty God is revealed through the Apostle
Paul. The gospel went to the Jews.
Some of them were called out of darkness. Many of them didn't believe.
Why? Because God left them to themselves. He manifested who
weren't His. He openly broke them off and
did that by unbelief. He allowed their unbelief to
be known. Paul told these Gentiles, he
said, you were grafted in. You were openly manifested to
be the Lord's because you were always His. He grafted you in
in plain view. But he said, don't boast against
those that God openly broke off, because God broke them off and
manifested them to be of no faith. He said, if you continue in His
goodness, God won't break you off. But He said, I'll tell you
this, if Almighty God leaves you to yourself, He said He'll
openly manifest that you were never His either. So don't boast
against Him. But He said, I'm going to tell
you something of a great mystery. Blindness in part. Has happened
to the Jews. Until the fullness of the Gentiles
come in. Apparently. But not apparently
this is so. Almighty God has a people. And I can tell you this God knows
those are his. And whether it's Jew or Gentile.
When the fullness of the Gentiles, when the completeness of the
Gentiles, God's going to call out so many. And when it's done,
there's no other way. I've looked at this a long time,
prayed about this. When the fullness of the Gentiles,
if that word means what it means, and it does, when the fullness
of time, the fullness of Him that filleth all, it means when
it's done, completed. Blindness, in part, has happened.
to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. God
Almighty has got a people in natural Israel, and they are
His spiritual Israel. And He's going to call them out
of darkness. We expect right now that Jews just, they're not
going to believe this. They adhere to the law. They do that Rosh Hashanah, and
they still do the Passover. And Paul says, not always. Not
always. But those that God does call
out of darkness, rest assured, they were always the Lord's.
And He eternally purposed to show mercy to them. Before He
comes back, He said it's going to be like concerning Israel. He said it's going to be like
life from the dead. I told you I can't help but think of that
passage in Ezekiel. The Lord told Ezekiel, He said,
look at these dry bones. Can they live? Ezekiel said,
Lord, you know. He said, you preach to them and
I'll cause life to be there. If God Almighty is pleased to
call out some Jews and then some Jews along the way and then send
the gospel to the Gentiles and call out Gentiles that He had
everlastingly loved And then when he's called out the Gentiles
that he's going to call out, and then go back and call out
Jews that he's eternally loved. Does the potter have the right
to do what he will with his own? Can God do that? Absolutely. Why? Because he said, I am the
potter. You're the clay. The potter has
the right. What do we do? We bow to God's
will and say, Lord, You've done as You've pleased to do. Thank
You that You'd call me. Thank You that You didn't leave
me to myself. I pray the Lord teach us something
of His sovereign grace in the salvation of His elect.