Before we read, let's pray. Our
Lord and our God, we are aware that we are about to read not
the Word of men, but as it is the very Word of God, that these
things are divinely inspired, that they are an accurate record,
that we may take them literal as Thy good Word, And we pray
that they might speak to our hearts this evening, and that
we might be lifted up. And Lord, that we might be found
to rejoice in what is written here, in that Lord there is great
wonder and admiration on the part of the Apostle at the great
providence, the great wisdom and the purpose and the outworking
of all things by our great God. So may we hear and may we understand. We ask it with forgiveness of
sin in the name of Christ our Lord, we pray. Amen. Alright,
Romans 11 beginning with verse 33 for our text of the evening. Oh, the depth of the riches,
both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are
his judgments and his ways past finding out! For who hath known
the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been his counselor? Or who hath first given to him,
and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him and through
him and to Him are all things to whom be glory forever. Amen." Now, we have used some
words in setting up the title of our study that might be better
understood and received if we should take time to define what
we mean by the use of these words. Unfathomable refers to something
that cannot fully and actually be comprehended. It is something
that cannot be fully measured. Something of such great depth
that we are unable with our finite minds, therefore, to sound it
out. So that the word fathom is a
word or unit of measure, actually of a whole, about six feet in
length, they say, and of all was a means of measuring the
depth of the water." In fact, we have the word used twice in
the book of Acts, chapter 27 and verse 28. You remember when
Paul was on the ship being carried to Peel before Caesar, and the
ship was caught in a great, great storm. And in that 27 and 28
of the book of Acts, As they deemed that they were
near shore, they sounded or measured and found it twenty fathoms. And a short time later, they
sounded or measured out again and found fifteen fathoms. So that fathom, therefore, was
a way of measuring water. The something that is unfathomable
is a thing that cannot be fully known cannot be fully understood
for the depth of it. It is impenetrable to the finite
mind of men. In other words, to describe it
would be inscrutable, incomprehensible, for more than can be sounded
out for its depth and for the wideness and so forth of it. The other word that we use, Paul's
doxology, refers to a short hymn or statement of praise unto the
gods of heaven, either sung or spoken. So that there is the
short doxology here that we sometimes sing, and that one in church,
praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures
here below. Praise Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost. Praise Him, all creatures here
below. In our text, We see Paul declaring
a short doxology or eulogy unto God, and he does so declaring
that the ways of God are unfathomable. What he has just said, what he
has just laid out, he now looks backward upon it and finds it
to be an unfathomable ocean. And he makes two statements in
support of the fact that God's work And God's ways are unfathomable
unto us. The first statement is, number
one, how unsearchable are His judgments. And the second one
is, His ways are past finding out. How unsearchable are His
judgments and His ways are past finding out. Now in order to
give more emphasis, we isolate His Word. Look at the Word. unsearchable,
and look at that phrase, past finding out. And Paul says these
pertain to his judgment and his ways. And he also, in verse 33,
praises two of the great attributes of God, and they are first wisdom
and then knowledge. The wisdom and the knowledge
of God. Now to get at the significance
of this text, Let's see how it is laid out and its connection
to what goes before and what follows after. We see its location,
the place that it is put in the epistle. Now it is clear that
Paul had finished at long length the doctrinal part of the Roman
epistle. He has put an end to the great
doctrinal part of the epistle And our text is a concluding
summary or doxology of that doctrinal section. In chapter 12 and verse
1 and henceforth, he begins the practical, or as we say, the
orative section of the book wherein Paul lays out the duties of believers
and how they ought to live their Christian life, how they ought
to relate to one another and such like. And a careful reader
will observe that this is the order in practically every one
of Paul's epistles in the New Testament. Doctrine is first,
sound doctrine, including the exposing of any heresy that might
be present among the people, and the correction of any errors
that they might have fallen into. When he has done that, then Paul
brings forth the practical application of the doctrine that he has set
forth. But this is always his order. Doctrine first, and then duty
or practical things second. But before Paul makes the transition,
to the practical section, which begins at chapter 12 and verse
1, he, like a plowman in the field, stops, and he looks back
over the rows that he has plowed, and he pauses to reflect upon
the wondrous thing that he has written before this. His mind
is filled with wonder and with ecstasy at the meditation upon
the divine and sovereign works of God that he has just described. And he inserts this one short
hymn or doxology to the praise of God who has ordered these
great works of the salvation of sinners through Jesus Christ. Now Robert Haldane put it this
way in his commentary, quote, the apostle pauses to contemplate
the ground which he has covered or traversed." Calvin put it
this way, quote, The apostle breaks into language which arises
spontaneously from the devout consideration of God's dealings,
unquote. Now, of course, the Spirit put
these things in the mind of the apostle. The question arises
which we ought to answer An answer, perhaps, without being dogmatic. That is, taking an opinion and
forcing it upon others at any cost. To how much of the preceding
section of Romans does Paul have reference here in this great
doxology? That is, how far does he look
back? How far in his mind does he go
back to say, oh, the wonderful works of the Almighty God? Does he include All that he has
said from the very beginning of the book, or can that be that
he has in his mind the section beginning in chapter 9 and covering
chapters 10 and 11 also. And continuing down through chapter
11 and verse 32, where he sets forth the sovereignty of God
in dealing with the Jew and the Gentile. The question is not
in his strife for us to seek to settle the matter, for this
doxology had been just as true had it included everything that
Paul has written up to this point. But notice now, he begins, O
the depth! We might hang to every word here,
for this is a wonderful song of praise, a psalm or doxology
unto the mighty God. Oh, the depth are the first three
words that Paul writes. Linsky rightly says, this is
not only an interjection, it is an exclamation on the part
of the Apostle. How deep he is saying, as it
were, a bottomless abyss is this wonderful riches of the wisdom
and the glory of God. Paul is speaking here of an immeasurable
depth, as if it were an ocean that had no bottom that could
be sounded out. With no finite mind can fathom
or measure. None can sound out the depth
of these things that have been laid out for us. Yes, Paul did
speak of the deep things of God in 1 Corinthians 2 and verse
10. Also, we notice and remember that the psalmist used familiar
metaphors in his writing to impress upon us the greatness of God. As for example, Psalm 36 and
verse 6, Thy righteousness is like the great mountain. Now
that paints a picture immediately in our mind. Thy righteousness
is like the great mountains that seem to rise up and to touch
the clouds. But on the other hand, he says,
thy judgments are a great deep. As high as His righteousness,
so deep are His judgments. Psalm 92 and verse 5, O Lord,
how great are Thy works, and Thy thoughts are very deep. But Paul has more to add. He says, all the depths of the
riches, for he wishes now to describe something in particular. The riches signifying, no doubt,
the quality of abundance of the riches of God. We read in Ephesians
2 and 7 and 1 and 7, of the riches of His grace, that He is rich
In Romans 2 and 4, the riches of His goodness. He abounds in
goodness. In Romans 9-23, the riches of
His glory that He might display. In Ephesians 1-18, the riches
of the glory of His inheritance. in Ephesians 2 and 4, that He
is rich in mercy. God who is rich in His mercy
towards us. Now obviously, none of these
texts, not a one of them, by using the word riches, have any
reference unto money. Though the same word is used
to describe money and possession and riches and earthly valuables,
as the word that here is in our text. But then in verse 33 of
our text, we notice the particular attributes of God that are extolled
by the Apostle. The wisdom of God and the knowledge
of God. Now does it surprise us that
rather than grace or mercy or power or long-suffering or goodness,
as is extolled in other places, God is also rich in all of these,
all of them displayed in the salvation of sinners. They are
possessed by Him in great abundance. They are exercised in the saving,
in the salvation of sinners. They are found in Him in an immeasurable
quantity and cannot be measured. Now, I emphasize these things,
the depth and the riches of God, because the two great attributes
that are eulogized here in our text and the way that they relate
unto the context give us a strong hint of what the apostle has
in his mind if we look and listen very carefully to what is going
on. And does the place where the
verses are inserted do the same thing? Which is at the end of
that magnificent section from 9, 1 to 11 and 32. That in relation to that context,
it is not just the justification, not just the salvation of sinners
that calls forth this great eulogy, but also the work of God by wisdom
and knowledge by which He has managed the matter of the Jew
and the Gentile, as Paul described. John Murray wrote on this text,
quote, the question of Israel is one with which the section
had begun, unquote. And in the interval, the apostle
had declared the sovereignty of God in dealing with Jews and
with Gentiles, had given a large discourse on the various aspects
of God's sovereign purpose as it related to the unbelief and
rejection of the nation of Israel, and the belief and the graphene
of the Gentiles, that the fall of one becomes the salvation
of the other. and that salvation of the Gentiles
is a way to provoke the Jews unto jealousy, that Israel may
fall, but not be completely or forever cut off in chapter 11,
verses 1 and 2, and also a remnant according to the election of
grace of Israel be reserved unto himself. Paul said, even in that
day there was a remnant reserved. Now there seems to be another
hint that the apostle has in mind the account just given of
the Jew and the Gentile from 9-1 to 11 and 32. And that is
by the use of words in verse 33. Judgments and ways. judgments and ways. Number one,
that His judgments are insurmountable. That His judgments are insurmountable. They are inscrutable. They are beyond our understanding. And secondly, that His ways are
unsearchable. Who can know the ways of our
God? Now, let's consider the duo of
attributes that are mentioned here in this particular place.
Number one, wisdom. Number two, knowledge. First
of all, we see that wisdom and knowledge are not one and the
same thing. We have a tendency perhaps to
run them together and make them one and the same thing. But Paul
mentions them separately. And I know not which one should
come first. whether wisdom guides the use
of knowledge, or whether knowledge makes for wise management. One thing I know concerning the
wisdom of God, that God is the only wise God. 1 Timothy 1.17 and Jude verse
25. He is the only wise God. Now concerning knowledge, His
understanding is infinite. Psalms 147 and verse 5. And He knows all things. We remember that great 139th
Psalm. That nothing is hid, nothing
about us is hid from God's eye or knowledge. We might define
God's knowledge as that innate attribute by which He knows all
things whatsoever there are to know. whatsoever there is to
know. Things we do not know, but whatsoever
there is to know, God knows it, including all beings, every single
event of all beings, what will and what will not happen during
the course of history or the life of an individual. And that
wisdom is that attribute of God by which He is guided in all
things in the best way to accomplish the desired end of His will and
of His purpose. In making all things work together
for good. God is all-wise and in His wisdom
is able to make all things work together for good. Now what Paul
is declaring in our text is the incomprehensibility of God's
counsel. And yet, notice this in here,
and see what you think, not the unrevealed counsel of God. He doesn't have that in mind,
for Paul is referring to what has been written, to what has
been revealed, and has based it all on the Old Testament Scripture. Again and again in this section
we find or hear him quoting from the Old Testament Scripture.
Chapters 9, 10, and 11. These things are revealed because
they are written first in prophecy and then by Paul in 9, 10, and
11. John Brown, I like him, wrote
on this doxology. The Apostle's explanation may
be thus paraphrased, and I quote it. What infinite knowledge and
wisdom do these divine dispensations display? Unquote. John Gill wrote
much to the same thing. The account just given of the
call of the Gentiles and the rejection of the Jews is an astonishing
scheme of infinite wisdom, unquote. John Murray, good commentary
on Romans, quote, what constrains the doxology is the revealed
counsel, unquote, and particularly that concerning the Jew and the
Gentile along about here, so that the apostle, actually having
written it, is now overcome with wonder at the wisdom and the
knowledge of God that is involved in it. It contrived and brought
to pass the scheme just declared in the preceding chapters, how
that God would cut off the Jew and graft in the Gentile by the
wild olive tree, and so forth. Now, as for His judgment, and
there are examples of God's judgment in chapter 9, 10, and 11, such
as the hardening and the destruction of Pharaoh, chapter 9, 17. Vessels
fitted to destruction, chapter 9, verse 22. The blinding of
the non-elect Jew, chapter 11, and verse 7. The cutting off
of the natural branches and the grafting in of the wild, in chapter
11. His judgments are judicial sentences
that God passes and imposes. They are the carrying out of
the counsel and the purposes of Almighty God. What John Brown
calls his eternal determinations. The eternal determination of
the Almighty and Sovereign God. So, his ways are his dealing
with men. His ways are how he directs his
providential dealings with them so that what he has declared
and prophesied does perfectly come to pass. For example, could
either Jew or Gentile ever have imagined in olden times that
the Jews would be cut off and the idolatrous Gentiles would
be grafted in and would be called the people of God? And yet these
things were predicted by the prophets of old again and again. Paul recalls what he considers
to be a very bold prophecy that had been uttered by Isaiah. He calls it bold in chapter 10
and verse 20. He said Moses said something,
but Isaiah is very bold and Isaiah said something. When the prophet
said, and it's Isaiah 65 and verse 1 is the reference, quote,
I am found of them that sought me not. I was made manifest unto
them that asked not after me." And Paul says that's very bold
on the part of Isaiah, that a people who knew not God or sought Him
not would know Him and would be called His people. In Romans
10 and verse 21, taken from Isaiah 65 and verse 2, Isaiah spoke
of the constant rebellion of the people of Israel. All day
long I have stretched out my hand unto a rebellious and disobedient
people. Nor should this come as any surprise,
for in Romans 10 and verse 19, Paul reminds his readers that
Moses, long before Isaiah, in Deuteronomy 32 and 21, wrote,
I will move them to jealousy with those which are not of people.
I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. Now the
context of this saying by Moses is this. He is rebuking Israel
for her gross idolatry and disobedience. So God would, in turn, provoke
Israel to anger and jealousy by making a foolish and idolatrous
nation the recipient of the favor which Israel had slighted and
rejected. A godless people would be called. Strangers and aliens would become
partakers of covenant blessings in the stead of Israel. And when
Paul and Isaiah speak the paradox of a people coming to God who
had not sought Him, it concerns the election of grace and irresistible
calling. Thus, His ways are past finding
out. And let's say this before moving
on. that they are right who think that Paul is not speaking of
unrevealed things in verse 33. That is not the secret things
that belong to God. Deuteronomy 29.29, the things
that are revealed belong to us, but the things that are secret
belong unto God and that forever. It refers to what God has revealed
and recorded in Romans 9, 10, and 11. Nor, as John Brown wrote,
is the difficulty, the reconciling of God's dealings with these
things, with God's righteousness in so dealing with the Jew and
the Gentile, that He is not talking of the equitableness of such. He's not discussing whether God
has acted equitably or not. But even in revealing these things,
as John Brown the good man wrote, there is a depth of wisdom in
them which the human intellect cannot fathom. Paul is saying
there is a depth here of all things working together in unity
because of God's knowledge and because of His wisdom. There
is an exercise of this wisdom and this knowledge of God that
is evident and visible There is a providential marvel that
God has carried out. There is a wide range of action
that God has made to come together, which work together, which a
finite mind is not able to take in. And only an infinite mind
is able to design the impossibility of fully comprehending, therefore,
the divine purpose of God. You remember how often the disciples
heard and saw something from Jesus, and yet did not understand
it until a later time. Now, I believe that this is the
correct view. It seems to be confirmed further
by verse 34 and verse 35. There are three questions here,
and the answer of all three must be one and the same, none. The answer returned can only
be none. And each one of them is taken
from the Old Testament. Number one, for who has known
the mind of the Lord? None. Question number two, who
has been His counselor? Or with who took He advice? And
the answer is none. And number three, in verse 35,
Who has first given to God that it might be recompensed unto
Him again, or repaid? Meaning, who can exchange favors
with God? Who can lay God under obligation
to respond with some kind of a blessing? Who can do something
that obligates God in turn to reciprocate with some good blessing? The first question It's a citation
from Isaiah 40, 13 and 14. I shall read it. Who has directed
the Spirit of the Lord, or being His counselor, hath taught Him,
instructed Him, and taught Him in the path of judgment, and
taught Him knowledge, and showed to Him the way of understanding? Isaiah asks. The answer, of course,
is none. God cannot be controlled or taught
or advised by one that He has created. He cannot receive knowledge
or understanding from a mere mortal. He is not at all influenced
by men in any of His judgment or action. Paul wants his readers
to understand that God alone fixed the purpose, which is providence,
is bringing to pass. The work is strictly according
to his own good pleasure, what he has described. I can agree
with the commentators who think that our present text contains
a strong rebuke, first of all to the Jews in Paul's day, but
also to any who object to the arrangement of the new economy
and present-day Arminianism, which disputes God's sovereign
election and predestination in this matter of Jew and of Gentile,
and would prefer to attribute the whole thing to free will
and to the free agency of men. Other texts which Paul cites
from the Old Testament are Job 41 and verse 11, Joel 3 and verse 4, Job 35 and
7, and Jeremiah 23 and verse 18. Along the same line, who
is able to counsel or instruct God or understand His ways perfectly? Thus Paul teaches us, God neither
receives nor owes anything to man. He cannot be put under the
slightest obligation to any creature, angel, or man. His favor bestowed
is never the payment of a debt, a worth, or a merit. Grace given is never the result
of the action of the merit of man, for he is debtor to absolutely
no one. On the other hand, that all these
questions require a negative reply become an assertion of
three things. Number one, the self-sufficiency
of God. He has need of nothing. He has need of nothing that might
be provided by any outside of Himself. He said, if I was hungry,
I wouldn't ask you. The cattle on a thousand hills
are mine. Psalm chapter 15, 12 and along
in there. Secondly, these questions and
answers declare the independence of God as He is both eternal
and has His being separate and apart from all others. Having
no beginning. He is the eternal God. and therefore
can have no end." The independence of God. He hath need of nothing
outside of Himself. He is able to exist in His solitariness
if it so pleased Him. He is perfectly independent of
any other creature whatsoever. And then number three, the sovereignty
of God is also declared here. He has all power and does as
He pleases. He can harden whom He will and
have mercy on whom He will. He can take of the same womb
one twin and love him and the other twin and hate him. He has
done that. There are examples of that in
the Scripture. Now, we close with all of that
and all comprehensive climax to this doxology in verse 36. The answers to all three questions
must be none, and in verse 36 he gives the reason for, because,
in view of the fact that all things are of Him, through Him,
and to Him. He is the originator of all. They proceed according to His
goodwill and pleasure. All things serve His purpose,
and all things glorify Him. He directs all things to their
proper end and intendment. He established the old economy,
therefore He can abolish it and bring in the new. And Paul rightly
says, yes, Paul rightly says, to God be the glory unto the
ages. to God be the glory age after
age. All glory, every glory, glory
unto the ages. Look at this great doxology as
Paul reflects back over what he has written and how intricate
is that work of God between the Jew and the Gentile, between
election and reprobation, and the wicked and the righteous,
Paul is overcome, absolutely overcome with an ecstasy of the
great contemplation of the great work and attributes and wisdom
and power and sovereignty of God. So may we say, oh the depths
of the riches of God's wisdom and His understanding in ordering
all things. Okay, let's bow our heads together
for a final word of prayer.