Okay, right there in Romans chapter
11. Romans chapter 11. Our message
this morning. The title of that message is
the question that Paul poses there. Has God cast away His
people? Has God cast away His people? And you can see there in verse
1, when Paul asked that question, as he was inspired by the Holy
Spirit to do so, he immediately invoked the strongest negative
that you'll see in the Bible. God forbid. God forbid. That means absolutely in no way
at no time. That's what that means. Has God
cast away His people? Absolutely not. It's unthinkable. That's what
Paul's saying. It's unthinkable that God would
cast away His people. And I know what some do with
things like that. They'll say, oh, well God won't cast you away,
but you might cast Him away. Now that's totally unscriptural
right there. This issue of salvation, that's
what Paul's talking about here, and how a sinner is saved, is
in the hands of God, and he will not cast away his people. And
I want to tell you something, there's no way that any true
preacher of God, true preacher of the gospel, can overemphasize
the security of the saved. the absolute security that God's
people are safe in the arms of Jesus Christ. That's what he's
talking about. Has God cast away His people? No. Now, what brought about this
question? What is this whole issue about?
Well, back in verse 21 of chapter 10, the verse right up before
this, The Apostle Paul had just finished describing something
that's very sad, something that's really tragic, something that
is very serious and is to be taken seriously. And that is
the wholesale rejection of the gospel, of God's grace in Christ
by the nation Israel. Generally, the whole nation,
Israel, rejected the Lord Jesus Christ. John 1 and verse 11 says,
He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. Most commentators
will go to that and they'll say, His own nation. I believe that's
talking about mankind in general, natural man, because we all reject
Christ by nature. And then it says there in John
chapter 1 verses 12 through 13 that those who do receive Him
are those who are born again by the Spirit of God, by the
will of God, not by the will of man, not by natural generation,
but by regeneration. By the power of the Spirit, we
come to see our sin and come to see the glory of Christ. But
this is tragic. Look at verse 21 of chapter 10.
He says, but to Israel. That's talking about the nation
Israel. He saith all day long. He's quoting here from Isaiah
65. During Isaiah's day, Isaiah,
that great preacher of Christ, the preacher of the gospel, there
weren't many who came to know Christ under Isaiah's preaching. He said, all day long I've stretched
forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsame people. disobedient
to God, gainsane, meaning those who have something to answer
that would elevate themselves, that would deny the glorious
person and finished work of Christ. Israel, under the Old Covenant,
was a glaring example of the natural man's wicked, willful
rejection of Christ. And my friend, that's all of
us by nature. Don't get puffed up and proud and say, those evil
Israelites. That's mankind by nature. Israel today is the same, but
so are the Gentiles. Look over at Romans chapter 3
with me. Listen to the indictment that
God the Holy Spirit, as He inspired Paul to write, this is an indictment
against all men and women without exception born of Adam. Not just
the Jews, not just the Gentiles, but both. And here's what he
says, he's been talking about those who have rejected Christ,
and he says in verse 9, what then? Are we better than they? Remember I told you a couple
weeks ago about the accept me syndrome. You know, people who
say, well, here's a nation that rejected God's word, but not
me, accept me, I wouldn't have done that. But you see, we would
if left to ourselves. If left to our own wills, we
would all reject Christ and go merrily our way to hell. That's
the way it is. Are we better than they? He says,
no, in no wise, in no way. There's no way that I can look
upon those people and say I'm better than them. He says, for
we have before proved, both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all
under sin. All under sin. We're all sinners. We're all in a shape that if
God gave any of us what we deserved or what we've earned, it would
be eternal death. That's what he's saying there.
And he goes on to say, verse 10, as it is written, there's
none righteous, no, not one. That's according to God's standard.
Tonight in the message, I'm going to talk about God's standard.
You see, this issue of salvation has to be judged and gauged by
God's standard, not man's. Because men will tell you, we'll
tell ourselves a lie. That's what the Bible means in
Jeremiah 17 when it talks about the heart is deceitful. Desperately
wicked above all things who can know it because we'll convince
ourselves of many things that aren't true concerning spiritual
matters concerning salvation So when it says there's none
righteous. No, not one that's not talking about how we see
each other Talking about how God sees us in our sin. That's what it's saying. God's
standard is the only standard. God's going to judge this world
in righteousness, the scripture says in Acts 17 verse 31, by
that man whom he hath ordained, in that he hath given assurance
unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. In
other words, that's Christ. You say, well, I'm not as bad
as some, but I'm better than some others. That doesn't matter.
Christ is the standard. You say, well, I try to love
everybody. Christ, listen to me, Christ did not try to love
everybody. He loved His people with an everlasting
love. That's what the Scripture teaches.
And He loved them perfectly. The Scripture says in John 13,
He loved them to the end. You say, well, I tried to obey. Christ didn't try to obey. He
did obey perfectly. You see what I'm saying? Now,
how does my obedience or my attempts at obedience stack up to His?
Well, they don't even measure up, you see. Somebody said, well,
nobody can do that. That's right. That's why salvation
is by grace. and not by works. There's none
righteous, no, not one. Doesn't say here there's none
religious, no, not one. The Israelites were religious,
but their religion didn't make them righteous, perfect, whole,
complete before God. It doesn't say there's none moral.
There are moral people on this earth, but morality will not
make you righteous. It doesn't say here there are
none that have been baptized. A lot of people have been baptized.
Some so many times that old preacher said that even had been baptized
in the creek so much that the tadpoles know them by their first
name. But that will not make you righteous. That will not
wash away your sins. Are you washed in the blood of
Jesus, the blood of Christ? That's what we say. Are you washed? You remember that line there
that says, are your robes spotless? Are they white as snow? That's
a reference from the prophecies of the Old Testament in reference
to Revelation. And I've heard so many preachers,
they'll go to that and they'll talk about that white robe that
the bride of Christ wears and they'll say, that's the righteous
works of the saints. Oh no, that's the righteousness
of Christ charged to them. Because one thing is clear in
Revelation is that robe is washed in the blood of the Lamb. Are
you washed, you say? There's none righteous, no not
one. Now that's Jew and Gentile. He says in verse 11, there's
none that understandeth. Understands what? What's he talking
about? He's talking about how God saves
sinners. Man by nature doesn't understand
that issue. How God is just to justify the
ungodly. How God can take a sinner and
forgive that sinner's sin and still be true to himself. We
don't know that. We don't understand that by nature.
That man cannot grasp that. That's not a message of man.
That's from God. And that's by revelation from
God. How God can take an imperfect, sinful human being and declare
that sinner righteous That's what we don't understand.
We think, well, we do the best we can and that's got to count
for something. But that's not the way it is, is it? There's
none that understand. And he says, there's none that
seeketh after God. Now notice he didn't say there
in verse 11, there's none that seeketh after a God. There's
none that seeketh after the God of grace, Jehovah. That's who
that is. Jehovah who saves. He says in
verse 12, they are all gone out of the way. What way? God's way.
Man wants salvation his way, and there are many ways among
men, but in God's way, there's one way, and that's Christ and
Him crucified and risen again. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. Man wants
a way of obedience. That's right. Religion, society,
we want to obey. But the way of obedience to God
is not the way of man. It's the way of grace. And he
says there's none, there's none, they are all together become
unprofitable. In other words, the way that
man naturally takes will not profit him. Because it's a way
that denies God, denies Christ. And he says there's none that
doeth good, no not one. Now that's Jew and Gentile. So
when you read about these passages here that talk about the wholesale
rejection of Christ by Israel, don't let that puff us up as
if we're better. Because I want to tell you something,
the only difference between a sinner yet in darkness and unbelief
and a sinner that's in Christ is the grace of God. That's it. By grace, I am what I am. That's it. God had mercy. And we can spend a lot of time
in our lives asking the whys and the wherefores of that and
never come to an answer except what the Lord himself gave in
Matthew chapter 11. For so, Father, it seemed good
in thy sight. But you see, Paul has already,
by inspiration of the Spirit, brought all men and women without
exception in guilty before God in Adam. But now as we look at
this, back here in Romans 11, and you see this tragic scenario,
this tragic, sad rejection of the nation Israel, of the Messiah. One thing is clear, and that's
this, that throughout the generations of man in history, and even today,
in every generation there has been a remnant and that word
remnant is so important in the scriptures there has been a remnant
of believers and that by the grace of God chosen by God saved
in Christ by the grace of God called out by the Holy Spirit
in verse five of Romans 11 he describes them this way verse
five Even so, then, at this present time also there is a remnant
according to the election of grace." Now, notice he didn't
say a remnant according to their works. He didn't say a remnant
that was better than everybody else. He didn't say a remnant
that was less obstinate, less stubborn, less stiff-necked,
less rebellious than the rest. He said a remnant according to
the election of grace. That's what that book says. This
book. This book of God. But now down
through the ages, the thing about this, God used the nation Israel
greatly in spite of themselves. And again, don't let that puff
us up. God saves his people in spite
of themselves, doesn't he? If we're saved, we're saved in
spite of ourselves. God saves us by His grace, He
keeps us by His grace. But He did use the nation Israel
greatly. Think about His covenant with
Abraham before they were even formed as a nation. Four hundred
and some years before they were formed as a nation of Sinai.
How God blessed them in a temporal way, a civil way, a national
way through Abraham. the covenant at Sinai with Moses,
the covenant with David, the royal covenant, and then ultimately
the greatest blessing of all is that through that nation,
humanly speaking, God brought Christ through that nation. The Messiah came through the
Jews, through Israel. Humanly speaking, he was of the
seed of David according to the flesh. That's his humanity. He's
both God and man in one person, but his humanity, his perfect,
sinless human body and soul came through the Jews. And that's a blessing. The first
converts in the New Testament were Jews. Men like Peter and
James and John, and eventually the Apostle Paul, They were Israelites
in the flesh. And the gospel was spread forth
to the world by these believing Jews, actually against their
desire. If you read the book of Acts, how they wanted to confine it
to themselves. But God, in His sovereign providence
and will, He shot it out into the world. He catapulted the
gospel out into the world through their persecution. Read it in
Romans or in Acts chapter 8 and Acts chapter 9. And this remnant of grace, these
believing Jews, were used of God in a great way. But there
came a time in history when God was finished with Israel as a
nation. God reveals that it was due to
their rejection of Christ as the Messiah and His righteousness
as the only way of salvation. We saw that in Romans. chapter
3, but look at Romans chapter 9. Look at verse 30. He says, what shall we say then?
What is he talking about here in Romans 9? He's talking about
God's electing grace. God says, I'll have mercy upon
whom I'll have mercy, and I'll be gracious to whom I'll be gracious.
It's not of him that willeth, not of him that runneth, but
it's of God that shows mercy. He's saying that Israel rejected
the message of the prophets, the prophet Hosea, the prophet
Isaiah, he uses as an example. So he says in verse 30, what
shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed
not after righteousness, have attained a righteousness, even
the righteousness which is of faith. What is the righteousness
which is of faith? It's the righteousness of God
in Christ. It's looking to Christ, resting in Him, believing in
Him for all righteousness. But Israel, verse 31, which followed
after the law of righteousness. They had the law of Moses. They
didn't attain the law of righteousness. They didn't attain righteousness
that they were seeking for. Why? Because they sought it not
by faith. They didn't seek it in Christ.
They didn't seek righteousness by the grace of God in Christ,
but they sought it by their works of the law. And you can read
the rest of it. Look over at Romans 11. Look
at verse 19. Here he talks about the branches that were broken
off. That was the people of Israel who were in that old covenant,
but they weren't part of the new covenant. They weren't part
of the everlasting covenant. They rejected Christ, he says. He says, they were broken off.
Verse 20 says, well, because of unbelief they were broken
off. And thou standest by faith. In other words, God-given faith.
Faith is the gift of God. That's how we stand. We stand
in Christ. So don't be high-minded. But
fear, respect and reverence and thank God for this salvation
that He freely provides in Christ. Israel's failure under the Old
Covenant, as a nation now, Israel's failure under the Old Covenant
is typical of the failure of all men by nature under a conditional
covenant. Did you know that? That old covenant
given to them by Mount Sinai, the Ten Commandments, the ceremonial
law, the civil laws, all of that, it was all a conditional covenant
as it pertained to that nation, and they failed. So would we. We're sinners. They failed because
of spiritual pride and self-righteousness and unbelief. Isn't that what
we are by nature? Spiritually proud, self-righteous,
unbelieving. God also reveals that this was
His purpose from the beginning. God knew that there was no possibility
of salvation in the Old Covenant. He didn't give it for salvation.
You know why He gave it? He gave it to expose their sinfulness. That's what He says in Romans
chapter 5 and in Galatians chapter 3. That's why the law was given. It was given because of sin.
A measure of sin and righteousness. To ultimately do what? to drive
the sinner to Christ for salvation, to show me my sinfulness, my
depravity, my inability, and to know that there's no possibility
for me to be saved by my works. For whatsoever the law saith,
it saith to them that are under the law, that every mouth may
be stopped, and all the world become guilty before God. Therefore
by deeds of law shall no flesh be justified in God's sight."
Romans chapter 3 verses 19 and 20. For by the law is the knowledge
of sin. What do I need? I need grace.
God's purpose was never, now listen to me, God's purpose was
never and is not now to restore the old covenant and that worship. That is not his purpose now.
That's finished, that's abolished. Hebrews teaches that plainly
as well as other scripture. His purpose was to bring in Christ
to establish the new covenant which is the everlasting covenant
of grace established in time. It always has been, always will
be, to save His people by grace. By grace, and that's it. And
on God's side, it was always divine, sovereign, electing grace. Always. So think about it. How are we as Christians today
to view the nation Israel today? Should we support Israel? Well,
I would say this, in a civil way, as far as politics and government
and diplomacy is concerned, we should support Israel when Israel
acts justly, when they act right, as we should
any nation. But not for any religious reason. Connected with the purpose of
God and the salvation of his people by his grace through Christ.
Absolutely not. Do we, as many on TV today and
in churches today, do we want to bring Christians and Jews
together in fellowship? Well, in a civil sense we do.
We're living in this world, aren't we? We have to get along without
compromising the gospel. The scripture says in Hebrews
chapter 12 and verse 14, follow peace with all men and holiness,
that holiness there is separateness. We've got to follow peace with
all men. We've got to be peacemakers while
we remain separated unto the gospel of God's grace in Christ,
without which no man shall see the Lord. So in a political,
civil way, yes, but in a spiritual sense, we cannot, listen to him,
in a spiritual sense, we cannot stand in fellowship and unity
with anyone, Jew or Gentile, who rejects Christ and who will
not submit to God's way of righteousness in and by him alone. In a spiritual
sense, The only way to bring people together, sinners together,
Jew and Gentile, is through the preaching of the gospel of God's
grace in Christ by the power of the Spirit. That's the only
way. God has rejected the nation Israel
for their unbelief. He rejects all for their unbelief. So what happens here? Paul poses
two questions. Well, has God cast away his people? The fact that Israel was rejected,
they rejected Christ and God rejected them, has God cast away
his people? And he says, no, don't ever think
that. God forbid. God forbid. God's never gonna
cast away his people. Here's the question, who are
God's people? Under the old covenant, the nation
Israel were called by God my people. And they were His people
in a civil, ceremonial, national sense. But that did not mean
they were His people in a spiritual sense. That Old Covenant did
not in itself provide for the eternal salvation of any Israelite
under it. Who are God's people? Well, they're
called children of God. Look back at Romans 9. Look here. Look at verse 6. Has God cast
away His people? Well, did God promise to save
a people that He could not or for some reason would not save?
Is that what the Bible teaches? God forbid. God forbid. Look at verse 6 of Romans 9. Not as though the word of God
hath taken none effect. The word of God is never ineffectual. We talk about the invincible,
effectual calling of the Holy Spirit. And that's the power
of God unto salvation, to every one that believeth, because he
gives faith. He says, For they are not all Israel, which are
of Israel, that is, national Israel. Neither because they
are the seed of Abraham are they all children, but in Isaac shall
thy seed be called. That is, they which are the children
of the flesh, born natural citizens. These are not the children of
God, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
There's God's children, the children of the promise. Well, what is
the promise? It's the promise of salvation
by God's grace in Christ. Look over Galatians chapter 3. Look at verse 26. It's the promise
of eternal salvation, eternal life, the forgiveness of sin,
righteousness before God, glory in heaven by God's grace in and
by the Lord Jesus Christ, period. No other way. Look at verse 26. For you are all the children
of God, how? because you were born natural
citizens of Abraham. Galatians 3, 26. No, it doesn't
say that. It says, for you are all the
children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. Do you believe in Christ
Jesus? That's who a child of God is.
John chapter 1 and verses 12 and 13 that I referred to earlier
says that those are the only ones Those who have received
Him by the power of God, the Holy Spirit, in invincible calling,
not by their own will, that won't do it, but those who receive
Him by the power of God have the right to call themselves
sons of God, children of God. For you are all the children
of God by faith in Christ Jesus. That's what brings sinners together,
whether they're a Jewish sinner or a Gentile sinner. There's
the fellowship of God's people right there. You are all the
children of God by faith in Christ Jesus for as many as you have
been baptized into Christ. That baptized there doesn't mean
water baptism. That means placed into Christ.
That's what that literally means. That's what baptized means, placed
into. United with Christ. Now who placed
me into Christ? Now who did that? Well, you did
it. Sunday when they were when that
when the preacher was begging you to come down or not. No,
that's not placing yourself in Christ You know, you know what
the Bible teaches about that issue about being placed into
Christ It says that his people were placed in the Christ before
the foundation of the world That salvation which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began That's the election of
grace. He says, for as many of you as
have been placed into Christ Jesus, now you've put on Christ. Now what is put on Christ? That's
believing in Him. That's when we come to saving
faith in Christ. If I've been placed into Him
by the power of God before the foundation at some point in time
in my life, I'm going to put Him on. I'm going to believe
in Him, rest in Him, trust Him, follow Him, serve Him, obey Him. walk in Him, worship Him, live
by Him. You can go on and on, couldn't
you? And he says, look at verse 28 now. Now, if you've been placed
into Christ, and you've put Him on, here's the situation of the
fellowship. There's neither Jew nor Greek.
There's neither Jew or Gentile. The distinction of Jew and Gentile
is gone, folks. It's not there anymore. If it
is there, it's only in the minds of men. But it's not in God. There's neither bond nor free.
There's neither male nor female. That distinction... Now listen,
you know, if a person is born a Jew, that person is physically
a Jew. And if God saves that person,
he won't stop being a Jew. But what he's saying, that Jewishness
has nothing to do with his salvation, his forgiveness, his righteousness
before God. It's only Christ. Gentile the
same. If a person is born a male, he's
a male. And he'll stay a male after he's
saved. But that maleness has nothing to do with recommending
him unto God, female, whatever. He says, for you are all one,
united together in Christ Jesus. There's the union, there's the
fellowship. And if you be Christ, if you belong to him, then are
you Abraham's seed, then you're his people. and the heirs according
to the promise. That's who God's people are.
Look back at Romans 11 now. Paul says, God forbid. He goes
on, look at verse one, he says, I say then, have God cast away
his people? God forbid, for I also am an Israelite of the seed of
Abraham and the tribe of Benjamin. Paul was nationally, physically,
ethnically a Jew. And what's he saying here? Well,
because the nation as a whole rejected him doesn't mean God
has cast away any of his people. Verse 2, listen to what he says.
In other words, what he's saying, the rejection of national Israel
for their unbelief was not a total rejection of every individual
Israelite. That doesn't mean that God is
never going to save any more Jews. The fact that the Gentile nations
rejected him mainly during the times of the old covenant, that
doesn't mean that there were not any individual Gentiles.
Say, God has a people. So what does he say? Look at
verse two. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. There's your key. What does that word foreknew
mean? Well, it's the same word back here in Romans 8, 29. Look
at that. Look at Romans 8, 29. Same word foreknew. For whom
he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of his son that he might be the firstborn among
many brethren. Who's he talking about? Well,
turn to 1 Peter 1. Look at verse 1. Same word here
in 1 Peter 1 and 2. Look at verse 1. Peter, an apostle
of Jesus Christ to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus,
Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to
the foreknowledge of God. Same word, foreknowledge. elect
according to the foreknowledge of God." Who's he talking about?
Go back to Romans 11. He's talking about God's chosen
people here. That's what he's talking about. God has not cast
away His chosen people. Chosen in Christ Jesus, justified
by His blood and righteousness, redeemed by His blood, called
unto Him by the power of the Spirit. Look at verse 2 again.
And he goes back to the Old Testament. He uses Elijah as an example
here. The prophet Elijah. He says, what? That word W-O-T,
that means no. K-N-O-W. Do you not know what
the scripture says of Elijah? How he made intercession to God
against Israel. What does he say made intercession
to God against Israel? Well, Elijah was running for
his life. There was a wicked king and queen
in Israel at this time, the northern kingdom, Ahab and Jezebel. You've
probably heard of those. And Jezebel hated Elijah because
he was a prophet of God. Jezebel wanted to spread idolatry
throughout the land, the worship of Baal. In fact, she really
kind of introduced the worship of Baal into the northern kingdom
there. And she hated Elijah and she
wanted his head on a platter. And so Elijah was running from
Jezebel and everybody who was anybody rejected Elijah's message
of God's grace in Christ and opted for Jezebel's God. And Elijah thought, I'm the only
one, I'm the only believer, I'm the only one who's not worshiping
idols. And so he prayed for God to destroy
Israel, just kill them all. That's what he said. That's what
it means to make intercession against Israel, saying, verse
3, Lord, they've killed thy prophets. Anybody who preached the truth
they killed. They dig down thine altars, the altars where the
sacrifice of God that typified His redemptive work in Christ,
they dig those things down and replace them with Baal idols,
Baal altars. And I'm left alone. I'm the only
one left. And you know what? They're trying
to kill me too. They're seeking my life. Verse four. What was God's answer to Elijah?
He says, I have reserved to myself. Now, who did the reservation
here? God did. I have reserved to myself 7,000
men who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. There's
7,000 more of you, Elijah. You just haven't met them. You
don't know them. They're in other parts of the country. So you're
not alone. Now, what distinguishes Elijah
and these 7,000? What distinguishes 7,001 people
from the rest of them? Look at verse 4 or verse 5. Even so, at this present time,
now Paul's talking about in his time, just like there was in
Elijah's time, at this present time, there is a remnant, a small
piece of the nation according to the election of grace. There's
the distinction. It's not what they've done for
God, it's not their will or their works, It's the sovereign electing
grace of God. You can read about all that in
1 Kings chapter 19 if you want to read about Elijah and what
was going on there. But here's the point. God always
has a remnant. And that remnant, what distinguishes
that remnant? Grace, grace, grace. That's it. Look at verse 6. And if by grace, then it is no
more of works. Grace cancels out works. Now
what's he talking about? For salvation, for righteousness,
for forgiveness, you see. Somebody says, well that means
if I'm saved by grace, I don't have any works, don't have to.
That's not what this is saying at all. You see? But when it comes to the foundation,
the ground of salvation, the ground upon which God saves sinners,
accepts sinners, blesses sinners, and even rewards sinners, it's
not works. It's grace, grace, grace. And
if it's grace, it's no more works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace.
I've heard people say about preachers, say, well, they mix works and
grace. No, they don't. You can't do that here. because
it's a if it's he took on he says but if it be of works that
is no more grace otherwise work is no more work you can't mix
it's either all of grace or all of work it's either all of christ
all of me it can't be cut it can't be a combination of or
cooperation with it's either salvation by grace my friend
grace is the people of god this remnant grace is the foundation
of everything we are and do, and it permeates everything we
are and do. Our salvation is by grace, not
by works, lest any man should boast. Our believing is by grace. It's the gift of God. Our service
and obedience is established and founded upon grace. That's
right. It's motivated and energized
by grace. I heard tell of a preacher who
preached a message about the Christian life. And here's what
he said, he said, the Christian life is like walking a tightrope.
You know those tightrope walkers, they carry a big bar. And they're
walking across the tightrope, and on one end of the bar is
the righteousness of Christ, on the other end of the bar is
the righteousness of the believer. And they've got to balance out. No, sir. Preacher got up behind
him, and you know what he said? He said, salvation, the Christian
life, is not like walking a tightrope. The Christian life is standing
on a rock. Christ Jesus. And walking in
his light, walking by his love. What motivates a believer to
worship? What motivates a believer to
be kind? To be compassionate? to be giving,
to be loving, to be moral. What is the motivation? Is it
the tightrope? You're going to fall? You'll
fall every day, won't you? It's grace, gratitude, love. That's the motivation. That's
how the Holy Spirit energizes us. We walk looking unto Jesus,
the author and the completer, finisher of our faith. secure
in Him. God's not cast away His people.
It's grace. Our doctrine is grace. We don't
mix works with grace. Works are the product of grace,
not the cause of grace. The Scripture says, "...For by
grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves, it's
the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For
we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, unto, not because
of, unto good works, which God hath before ordained, that we
should walk in them." Works are the product, the fruit.
And they're not, listen, the works of a believer that are
accepted of God are not the power of a believer, they're the power
of God. Christ working in us to do His will and His good pleasure.
It's grace. Grace is the key. This is the
union and the fellowship of God's people, Jew and Gentile. Well,
look on verse 7, he says, What then? Israel hath not obtained
that which he seeketh for. Now, what did Israel seek for?
Remember back in Romans chapter 9, verse 31? Israel followed
after the law of righteousness. They were seeking righteousness.
They were trying to make themselves righteous. That's what people
in religion are trying to do. They want to make themselves
righteous. They want to be righteous before God. That's the ultimate
goal. They know in order to get to
heaven and be accepted before God, you've got to be righteous.
And they know they can't be perfect, so they lower the standard. And
the standard sometimes becomes just faith, sometimes it's faith
plus works, faith plus baptism, faith plus giving, faith plus
church attendance, whatever. But see, that's the same as Israel
seeking righteousness by works. They didn't attain it. This is
what he said, "...Israel hath not obtained that which she seeketh
for." She's seeking righteousness by works. She didn't obtain it.
But now listen to the next line here. Look at it. "...but the
election hath obtained it." Now, if anybody goes to these
scriptures and tells you whenever you see the word election, that
that only refers to national Israel, read them this verse
right here, verse 7. Israel, the nation, didn't obtain
what he sought for, but the election did. They obtained it. What were the elections seeking
for? Righteousness by faith, righteousness in Christ, you
see. And he said the rest were blinded.
In other words, that part of Israel whom God brought to faith
in Christ, they obtained it. The rest of them were blinded,
verse 8, according as it is written, God had given them the spirit
of slumber, eyes that they should not see and ears that they should
not hear. That's God's judicial rejection of those who reject
His Son. Under this day, it's the same
in this day, Paul says, he says in verse 9, and even David said,
let their table be made a stand. Now their table there is their
religious service, that's what that's referring to. We have
a table up here, we're going to serve the Lord's supper tonight.
You say, we know there's no salvation in that table. There's no salvation
in our service. There's only salvation in Christ.
And if I think that there's salvation in this table or in my service
or anything I do, you know what that becomes to me? A snare.
That's what David's saying. Let their table be made a snare
and a trap and a stumbling block and a recompense unto them. They'll
get what they deserve. You see, that's it. In this matter
of salvation, I don't want what I deserve. How about you? I want mercy. I want grace. I must have Christ. You see that? Verse 10, let their eyes be darkened
that they may not see and bow down their back always. That's
judicial blindness. That's the state of all who reject
Christ. But my friend, never mistake
this. God has never and He will never
cast away His people. Do you believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ? Do you hope in Him and rest in
Him for all salvation, forgiveness, pardon, life, righteousness and
glory? If you do, then you're His people.
Part of that remnant according to the election of grace and
you have nobody to thank but God himself and God alone. All right.