The point that in the beginning
of these verses, the point that's being made here, that's being
emphasized, is that it doesn't matter what nationality or what
ethnicity or what your pedigree is, as far as whether you're
a Jew or a Gentile, that there is no hope Absolutely no hope
for any of us, any fallen sinful human being, apart from God's
grace in Christ. And that's the main point. Now,
people may disagree over some of the particulars here and how
they apply, and that's okay. But the gospel is the same. The
good news of how God saves sinners. And so when he opens up here
in verse 22 and says, behold therefore the goodness and severity
of God on them which fail. Now there he's speaking specifically
of the unbelieving members of the Jewish nation. That's the
ones who fail. He talked about their fall worked
out to the riches of the world and how God overruled their fall
to bring salvation to the Gentiles. So he's saying, behold the severity,
the goodness and severity of God on them which fell severity.
And what is that severity? Well, it's eternal damnation.
It's the same as what he mentions in 2 Corinthians 5. Remember
he said, behold, knowing the terror of the Lord. What is the
terror of the Lord? Well, think about standing before
God on your own without Christ. Think of the terror of that.
It's the wrath of God, the impending wrath of God upon those who stand
before God without Christ, without being washed in his blood, without
being clothed in his righteousness. And so understand, Paul is saying
here, that this is the severity of God on them which fail. But toward thee, that is the
believing Gentiles, goodness And then he says, if thou continue
in his goodness, and I always point out now that if there is
not a conditional if, it's a evidential if. The ifs of the New Testament,
of the gospel covenant, are evidence. In other words, this is a condition
we must meet in order to attain or maintain the blessing, but
it's an evidence that we have been blessed by God in Christ
by his grace. And so if thou continue in his
goodness, otherwise thou shalt be cut off. Now there he's talking
to those who have a boast of being in good with God, but because
of their pride and their attitude towards others, in other words,
as I mentioned last week, one old preacher called it pride
of grace, and that attitude exposes the condition of the heart. In
other words, if I don't really understand, if God ever saves
a sinner from their sins, that sinner's gonna understand that
he or she is a recipient of blessings that they did not earn and did
not deserve. And so you can't look at anybody
else and say, well now, I'm better than them in essence, or I did
something that they didn't do in order to get these blessings.
And so you can walk around and say, well, I've been saved by
grace all you want. But if that's your attitude,
that's a denial of grace. You remember we talked about
boasting against the branches, those branches that were cut
off of the unbelieving Jews. The only difference between you
and an unbelieving Jew is the sovereign mercy and grace of
God. And that's it. So we don't have anything to
brag about. So if we continually brag or boast as if we made the difference,
what he's saying here is you're not really a recipient of God's
grace. You'll be cut off just like those
Jews that didn't believe. So understand the severity of
God. Understand the goodness of God.
And understand the attitude that God brings us to when he saves
us by his grace through Christ. Look at verse 23. He says, and
they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted
in, for God is able to graft them in. Again, somebody might
ask, well, is there any hope at all for a Jewish person to
be saved? And what Paul's saying to you,
well yeah, he says, if they abide not, still in unbelief, God's
able to graft them in. And look who's able now. It's
not they're able, they're not able to graft themselves in,
but God is able to graft them in. What does that mean? That
means God is able to save them. God is able to bring them to
faith in Christ. and true repentance. He is able,
we've been reading in Hebrews chapter seven, Christ is able
to save to the uttermost them that come unto God by him. So
the ability here is not in the sinner. We're totally depraved
by nature, totally unable. The ability here is of God. So understand that when you look
at any unbeliever, Jew or Gentile, And you might say, well, there's
no hope for that person. Well, now wait a minute. God
saved you, didn't he? God saved me. If there's any
hope for me, there's hope for them. But it's of the Lord. It's God who's going to have
to do the saving. I can't save them, you can't
save them, we can't talk them into this, but if God gives us
an opportunity to witness to them, we tell them about Christ.
We tell them about the issues of life and death. How sin has
rendered us totally unable to be saved by our works. And he
says in verse 24, for if thou were cut off, cut out of the
olive tree, which is wild by nature, now there he's talking
about sinful fallen humanity, That's what we were by nature.
The olive tree that we were in by nature was sinful, fallen
humanity, and we were cut out of that. Now, who cut us out?
God did. Before the foundation of the
world, God chose us, gave us to Christ. God justified us,
made Christ to be our surety. And God redeemed us by his Son
on the cross, and God called us out by the Spirit. And he says, we're cut out of
that tree, which is wild by nature, unbelieving by nature, by nature. That's how we're naturally born.
And we're graft contrary to nature into a good olive tree. That's
the kingdom of God. That's the church of the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's the people of God. That's
the family of God. That's the house of God. So, in other words, when God
saved us, we were cut out of the wild olive tree, the fallen
sinful mass of humanity, and we were graft into a good olive
tree, the kingdom of God's dear son. The wild olive tree, the
kingdom of darkness. The good olive tree, the kingdom
of light. So how much more, he says, shall these which be the
natural branches, now go back to Abraham. These natural descendants
of Abraham, how much more shall these which be the natural branches
be grafted into their own olive tree? How much greater, think
about that. That's a great thing. That's
a good thing. We ought not resent it. We ought
not be proud of our association with it. It's just this is the
will of God. This sovereign mercy. We don't
have anything to brag about except Christ. God forbid that I should
glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the
world is crucified unto me and I unto the world. And so he says
in verse 25, for I would not brethren that you should be ignorant
of this mystery Now, the mystery that he's talking about, I believe
specifically, is the mystery of the makeup of the kingdom
of God that was revealed. The kingdom of God was never
just for the Jews. It was never just for the Gentiles.
It was for all of God's elect, Jew and Gentile. And again, it's
a matter of sovereign, unconditional mercy and grace. So, he says,
lest you should be wise in your own conceits. In other words,
understand this mystery. If you understand this mystery,
you're not gonna be bragging on yourself. If you're bragging
on yourself, if you're boasting in yourself, you don't understand
this mystery. and it's the mystery of the makeup
of the kingdom of God. I think one of the old writers
said one time, and I'm not sure what context he was saying this
in, he was talking about when he got to heaven, there'd be
some people there that he didn't think would be there, and then
there'd be some people that he thought would be there that aren't
there. Well, it's that kind of attitude. Like I said, theologically,
I don't know where he was coming from, but I know this, I know
this, Whenever we're gathered together in the kingdom of God's
dear son, we see a little bit of this here on earth, but we'll
see it in glory even more, that the kind of people that God saves
and brings into his kingdom are not just, they don't fit the
mold of how man naturally thinks. All right? By nature, the worst
aspect of that is by nature, we think that good people go
to heaven, bad people go to hell. That's how we naturally think
in some form or another, to some degree or another. And then here
comes God's word and says, no, there's none righteous, no, not
one. There's none that seeketh after God. There's none that
doeth good. There's none among people here on earth that doeth
good and sinneth not. And that's what we see. that
even the best people on earth cannot work their way into God's
favor. Those that men and women would
look at and they would be shocked if we'd say this person is lost
and on their way to hell. And we could mention names, couldn't
we? People that all the world respects, all the world holds
up in high esteem because of their charity or their sacrifice. their work in this world. And we say, well, that's what
the light of the gospel does. It exposes that darkness that
exposes that our deeds are evil. And so that's what he's saying
here in verse 25. He says, lest you should be wise
in your own conceits. And then he says that blindness
in part has happened to Israel. Blindness in part is not a partial
blindness. It means that some of them were
blinded. And it happened to be the majority
of them. But until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. Now
that term, the fullness of the Gentiles, and let me just set
this up because in going to verse 26, I'll show you how I come
to the conclusion that I come to on this. A lot of people think
that the fullness of the Gentiles means that there's going to come
a time here on Earth that every one of God's elect among the
Gentiles will have been brought into the kingdom, and then that
time is cut off, and then the gospel goes back to the Jews.
Now, I don't think that's what this is saying, but I could be
wrong on this. Now, y'all mark this down now. I could be wrong on this. But
there's a lot of people, don't they? They believe that there's
gonna come a time period, on our calendar, that the last one
of the Gentile elect's gonna be brought in the kingdom, and
then the gospel's going to go back to the Jewish nation. And
then all the Jews in that nation will hear and believe the gospel.
And they believe that's why he says here, verse 26, and so all
Israel shall be saved. So in other words, they think
that in some future point in time, as we approach the second
coming of Christ, that the gospel is going to stop with the Gentiles. In other words, the last one
of God's, the fullness of the Gentiles. And then it's gonna
go, leave the Gentile world and go back to the Jews. And then every Jewish person
in that nation, as a nation, that all Israel shall be saved. Now, I don't believe that's what
this is saying, but as I said, I could be wrong. Listen, I've
told you all, if God was pleased to save the whole Jewish nation,
shouldn't we rejoice? Well, sure. If God was pleased
to save America, we'd rejoice, wouldn't we? If God was pleased
to save Saudi Arabia, wouldn't we rejoice? But now, I don't
believe God deals in his saving purpose with nations as such. Now, what is this talking about?
Well, the fullness of the Gentiles simply means that every one of
God's elect among the Gentiles shall be saved. They're gonna
be saved. That's the fullness of the Gentiles.
And so, whether that means there's gonna be a time period in our
calendar that's cut off, And it goes on, well, that's another
matter. But I know this, every one of God's elect are gonna
be saved, Jew or Gentile. And so what I believe the thought
that he's bringing forth here is this, is that there's the
fullness of the Gentiles. Don't worry about that. God's
gonna save every one of his elect among the Gentiles. And he says
in verse 26, and so all Israel shall be saved, Jew and Gentile. As it is written, there shall
come out of Zion the deliverer. Now, who's that talking about?
Well, that's Christ. This is quoted from Isaiah 59. And he shall turn away ungodliness
from Jacob. Now, Jacob, the way I understand
this as applied in the New Testament, Jacob is an identification of
all of God's people in our sinfulness. Jacob means supplanter. Isn't
that right? Jacob's name was changed to what?
Israel, those who prevail with God. It has already been established
in the book of Romans, for example, that he is not a Jew which is
one outwardly, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and circumcision
is not that of the flesh, according to the law, but of the heart.
So Paul had already established that precedent here. I preached
a message for television this past week called Jews for Jesus. And I related the story of a
man who talked to me about that. And I said, well, I'm one of
those, I'm a Jew for Jesus. And he asked, he said, well,
you mean you're a Jew? And I said, well, I don't think I'm a Jew
the way you're thinking of it. I'm a Irish American or English
American. But I said, if you look at Romans
2, 28, 29, what does he say there? He is a Jew, which is one inwardly,
and circumcision is that of the heart. And what is circumcision
of the heart? Well, that's the new birth. That's
regeneration and conversion. So the point I think that Paul
is making here is this. God has used the Jewish nation
as a tool, as a means to bring salvation to the world, and that
through their fall, the gospel was catapulted out into the nations,
and went to the Gentiles and God raised up many churches in
the Gentile world. He's saving his elect among the
Gentiles. But the Gentiles should never
be boastful or proud or look down upon the Jews. We should
never be anti-Semitic. We should never stand against
them as a people in that sense. We don't have any warrant from
God to hate any particular nation, Jews included, see. But we have
to understand that there is still hope for God's elect among the
Jews. He's gonna save every one of
his elect among the Jews, every one of his elect among the Gentiles,
and so all Israel shall be saved. Because it's written, there shall
come out of Zion the deliverer. And he's not just the deliverer
of the Jews, he's the deliverer of the Gentiles too. That's what
the Bible means when he's the savior of the world. Do you realize
that? John the Baptist said, behold the Lamb of God who takes
away the sins of the world. He's not talking about everybody
without exception. If he were, then it would be
useless for Paul to be talking about the Jews who fell and the
severity of God that fell upon them. So somebody says, well,
all right, so are you telling me that the world means everybody
without exception from John the Baptist on? Well, it doesn't
say that. The world is God's elect. God
so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever
believeth should not perish but have everlasting life. Who's
he talking about? He's talking about God's elect
all over this world. Out of every tribe, kindred,
tongue, and nation. Remember the promise he made
to Abraham. In thee shall all nations be
blessed. Not just one nation. Now the
blessing came through one nation. Christ came according to the
flesh through the Jewish nation, but through him all nations shall
be blessed. God has chosen a people all over
this world. And the gospel is never, it's
never to be confined to one particular nation. Salvation is never to
be fenced around by one particular nation. And one particular nation
has no reason to brag on themselves as if they earned it or deserved
it. We're to preach to every creature. Anybody who'll listen. Well,
what if he's a Jew? Preach to him. What if she's
a Gentile? Preach to her. Tell her about
God's salvation. Tell her about God's grace, God's
mercy in Christ. Tell them the truth about their
sinfulness and their depravity and how there's only hope in
Christ. Tell them how there's none righteous,
no, not one. I don't care what you've done
or how hard you've tried. You cannot make yourself righteous.
You cannot work righteousness that'll justify you before God.
That only comes through the deliverer, Jesus Christ. He's the Lord our
righteousness. And he shall turn away ungodliness
from Jacob. And notice that phrase. It doesn't
say he's gonna beg Jacob to turn away from ungodliness. That's
not how he does it. Says he's gonna turn away ungodliness
from Jacob. And what is that ungodliness?
Well, it's any way of salvation other than the one way, which
is Christ. Any way of righteousness other
than the one way, which is Christ. And he's gonna turn away ungodliness
from Jacob. And who's Jacob? Sinners saved
by grace. That's who they are, whether
they be Jew or Gentile.