Romans chapter 11. It's good to be back with everybody
this morning. Good to gather again today. We appreciate the
prayers while I was sick the last couple of weeks. Thank you for your thoughtfulness
and all the messages that was sent to me through Facebook and
everything. So I appreciate that. It's good
to be back today. Romans chapter 11, we're going
to be looking today at verse 26. Romans chapter 11 and verse 26.
The Bible says, and so all Israel shall be saved. And as it is
written, there shall come out of Zion the deliverer and shall
turn away ungodliness from Jacob. This passage, I know that I'm
plucking this basically out of a further, longer passage of
Scripture that Paul has been dealing with, particularly Romans
8 through chapter 11. But I particularly wanted to
look at this verse this morning. This is not to be necessarily
a statement of eschatology or anything else, other than in
an attempt, maybe a feeble attempt, but as the Lord gives me direction
and gives me understanding and an ability to speak it, I pray
that I speak the truth as it pertains to what this passage
means in light of the context and the interpretation given
by the scriptures. Growing up, I used to believe
a different way of eschatology. And again, I don't mean this
to be an eschatological sermon, but it does deal with some views,
some thoughts about eschatology and what is going to happen with
the nation of Israel and everything. I don't know if I can particularly
say exactly everything that I believe
about eschatology as I still am learning and still growing
and understanding in some things. The things the Lord has, I hope,
taught to me in these areas has become different than what I
used to think. I used to think that Israel was the people of
God and that ethnic group was going to be at some point in
time later in history, later in future, not history, in future,
that the people of Israel would be gathered back together, and
I used to harp on, in fact, I passed out tracts at one time talking
about the importance of Israel becoming a nation in 1948, and
different things about eschatology in the end times, and that Israel
would be gathered back together as a nation, and then they'd
be ruling with Jesus for a thousand years over the nations and all
this kind of stuff. And that's how I used to think.
And that's how I used to believe that these scriptures were interpreted.
But as the years have gone by and as the Lord has taught me,
and I hope that he's taught me, and it could be the truth, that
scripture interprets scripture, not men interpreting scripture.
My interpretation doesn't mean anything, Your interpretation
doesn't mean anything. How does the Bible interpret
these things? And whenever we read of things
in the Old Testament as it pertains to the types and the foreshadows,
as it pertains to the symbols, as it entails all the prophecies
that was given, that was spoken about, we have a physical aspect
of it, we have a spiritual aspect of it. And I believe In all things,
the overarching understanding of Scripture is always going
to point to the spiritual aspect of it more than it is going to
the physical aspect. The physical aspect is there
to reveal the spiritual truths. We see this often in not only
the types of foreshadows, as in the ark was a type of foreshadow. It was a physical thing that
actually saved eight people whenever the flood came. The wicked was
taken away. Righteous remained, was saved.
The Ark represented Christ. Those who were righteous that
was saved inside represented all the elect of God. The wicked
were the ones who were the tares who God gathers together and
takes away at the end of all things. We see that the nation
of Israel always served as an illustration of God's people
in their deliverance out of Egypt, deliverance through the Red Sea,
through the wilderness into Canaan. So we see types of foreshadows
all through the scriptures. But whenever we look at the Old
Testament and we see these things, we see that their ultimate fulfillment
is in the spiritual realities of it. And whenever we look at
the Old Testament, we need to always look in the New Testament
and see if there is any commentary in the New Testament that sheds
light on these Old Testament prophecies. There are several
that I could go to, and I don't have time because there's a lot
that I'd like to say this morning. But there are a lot of places
that I could take you to, where whenever you look in the Old
Testament, you see a prophecy that, and I'll just speak for
myself, that in times past, that I took that prophecy as a literal
fulfillment now, and something that's going to happen later
on in the future. But yet, whenever you look at
the New Testament, The New Testament takes that prophecy and refers
to it in a spiritual manner and places a different interpretation
on it than what we commonly see in a lot of dispensational premillennial
thought. Those words may be foreign to
you guys. I won't go into all that, but
it's just a different view of eschatology. The way I've been
led to interpret the Old Testament is in light of the New Testament
commentary on the Old. So if a spiritual application
is given in the literal passages of the Old Testament, then I
take the New Testament commentary on the Old as what I meant. And I guess I need to really
give just a quick example. In the Old Testament, whenever
the Bible talks about Jesus ascending to the throne of David, Some
take that to mean that in the end time, in the millennial,
what's called a millennial reign, that Christ is gonna ascend the
throne of David with an iron rod and he's gonna rule over
the nations during this thousand year period. Well, the passage
that speaks of Jesus ascending to the throne of David in the
New Testament, Peter in his sermon at Pentecost, he gives commentary
on that very passage. meaning that it is speaking of
the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And so he lays the interpretation
of that passage, not on something future that's going to happen
with Jesus ascending the throne and Jerusalem on the Mount of
Olives or in the new temple or over with the Israelites, you
know, the, the, the nation of Israel being on thrones with
him ruling and reigning for a thousand years. He takes that interpretation
and he applies that to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So now, if I
believe that that prophecy was talking about a thousand year
reign, I have to dump that because Peter, under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit, wrote down that that prophecy has to do
with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So that's just one example.
There's many others that we could go to. So therefore, what's literal
in the Old Testament Like, again, the ark being built, people getting
in the ark, being saved, the water coming and taking away
all the wicked. I mean, that was a literal thing
that really happened, but it was a literal thing that God
purposed in his predestinating decree that would happen so that
that physical activity would represent and show forth and
teach a spiritual reality. And so we have to take this literal
type and foreshadow, and in the New Testament, as we see, we
take and we apply the spiritual meaning, the spiritual understanding
of that, as we find it in the New Testament. So I understand
what Paul was conveying here, and this is the question at hand,
is whenever Paul says here in Romans 11, 26, and so all Israel
shall be saved as it is written, there shall come out of Zion
the deliverer and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob,
Is this talking about in the end times is all Israelites on
the face of the earth going to be saved? Is that what this is
talking about? And I would at one time say,
yes, that was what it was talking about. But as I've come to understand
now, and especially through the context of scripture, this would
be a big no. That's not what this is saying.
And I think that we will see as we go forward in this. Paul
was conveying when the Holy Ghost had him write this, all Israel
will be saved, is that the all Israel here is not speaking of
the ethnic seed of Israel, the national or the physical people
of Israel, okay? But it's talking about the spiritual
seed of Christ. All Israel being saved is not
an ethnic, national, physical thing. but it is a spiritual
group of people, and this spiritual group of people is made up of
people outside of Jews, but also include Jews. It includes the
Jews and the Gentiles, and I think we'll see that as we go through. There will be a remnant of ethnic
or national Israel, the people of Israel, who will be part of
God's elect, however, All of Israel, as I understand it, the
spiritual seed of Christ, is made up of remnants, not just
of Israel, but is made up of remnants out of, as the Bible
puts it, every kindred and tongue and people and nation. So there's
a remnant out of the Jews, there's a remnant out of this kindred,
out of this nation, out of this tongue, and all those, whenever
they are brought out of the world, as they are brought out by Christ,
understand, to know, to begin to believe the gospel as the
elect of God. This makes up the whole people
of God who is the true Israel or the spiritual Israel. Now,
the reason I'm making this, going over this and everything is because
there are some that say that this verse here is talking about
all the people of Israel nationally or ethnically, physically, will
be saved at this particular time in the future. that there'll
be this time when all the people on the face of the earth that
are true Israelites, as far as ethnicity is concerned, will
be saved. Just automatically be saved because
they're Israelites. They're going to be saved. And
is that true? Is that what the Bible teaches?
And so our task for today is to look into the scriptures and
say, what does God's word say about this and not so much what
does some eschatological groups say about this. Now, I will agree
that Romans chapter 10 and 11, 9, 10, 11, Romans in general is primarily
speaking to, speaking to ethnic Israel. But Paul begins this
discourse all the way back in chapter 8. What we read here
in chapter 11 is the summarization or is the final conclusion, the
final argument, I should say, maybe even the revealing of what he began all
the way back in Chapter 8. Now, of course, this is all one
big letter to the Roman Church, right? And so everything in 1
through 7 has a lot of effect, and that's a lot of doctrine.
1 through 7, Paul puts forth justification. Paul puts forth
how people are saved through the faith of Jesus Christ. how
Christ's faithfulness and righteousness brought in salvation for the
people of God, and how that we are justified before God, and
that God can be just in saving sinners, and that how God can
save us, even though we're sinners and don't deserve it, that through
Christ Jesus' righteousness, we are imputed His righteousness.
Through His obedience, through His work of righteousness, That
is imputed unto us. And so Paul deals with those
things through the first seven chapters. But then in chapter
8, 9, 10, and 11, we begin to see Paul begins to make an argument
here because not all of the people of Israel are receiving or believing
this gospel message. Not all of them are believing
on Christ. They've rejected Christ as their
Messiah at this point. Israel has rejected Christ as
their Messiah overall, especially their religious leaders. They've
rejected Christ. They've looked at him to be some
sort of a fake or a phony or a hypocrite, a blasphemer, saying
that he was himself God. So they did not believe that
he was who he said he was. Everything pointed that he was.
I mean, he did everything that the Old Testament prophesied
that the Messiah would be and do. He fulfilled every bit of
that. And that was right before their
eyes, even when Nicodemus came and talked to Jesus by night
in John chapter 3. He even said, we know that the
things that you do, that no man can do these things unless he's
a man from God. I mean, he knew these things. I mean, over and over, they knew
The things that Jesus was doing, the healing of people, the miracles,
all the miracles that he was doing, that the only one that
can do that is someone who's God, or from God. And so, they
did not believe, though, that he, or received that he was Messiah,
because this is not the Messiah that they wanted. This is not
the Messiah they thought was coming. They thought the Messiah
was gonna come, gonna rid them of all their enemies, prop them
up, on thrones and they were going to rule over all the nations
with their messiah because their messiah was their messiah nobody
else's messiah except for Israel. Now see that's almost exactly
what dispensational premillennialism is teaching and even some just
they claim it to be historic premillennialism still believe
that Israel is going to be placed to this prominence or going to
be glorified in this manner with Christ. And they're saying nothing
more than what the Old Testament Jews were believing is that this
is what Messiah is going to do. Now, with that being said, so
Paul is writing to these people who have this in view and he's
saying, listen, salvation, God's salvation, Messiah's salvation,
isn't what has been taught to us all these years. Now it's
been taught, God revealed it to us in a mysterious way or
in a hidden way, not a full-veiled understanding of everything,
but the gospel was being preached in the Old Testament about the
Messiah and what he was going to do and that a Messiah was
going to come and was going to be their righteousness and save
them. So that had been But Paul was saying, we got it wrong on
exactly how things was going to take place and what Christ
was going to do, what Messiah actually did. And so the gospel
became offensive to those people. And so Paul, in writing in Romans,
has laid down a doctrinal defense for God's salvation. And in part of that, he has to
deal with the thought of, wait a minute, We're Israelites, but
not every Israelite has been receiving Jesus, has not been
believing on him, has not been trusting in him, has not been
converting from Judaism to Christianity. They've not been following Christ.
They've rejected him. So what about that? Is God lied
about his promises to Israel? that they were going to be heirs,
and that they were going to receive the promises and the inheritance,
and that all this stuff that God promised Abraham, that his
seed was going to receive, is God lied about that? Because
you're saying that not everybody is receiving that, not everybody
is believing that. We see people are rejecting the
message of Jesus. They're rejecting Him as their
Messiah. But yet you're saying that they're going to be outcasts.
They're not going to be part of the inheritance. But yet they're
Israelites. So see, that understanding that
was going on during that time, that misunderstanding of how
salvation was and who it was for, that was why there was such
a struggle in preaching the gospel
during that time and why they met with such persecution during
that time. is because it was so ingrained
for thousands of years that salvation of Messiah was for the Israelites
only, for Jews only. But yet, the Bible, even in the
Old Testament, talked about the Gentile inclusion, that salvation
was going to be brought to the Gentiles. And so, while I know
this is speaking primarily to ethnic Israel, Paul begins this
discourse back in 8 and 9 And he talks about how the promises
is not to ethnic Israel, but it's to spiritual Israel. It's
to the spiritual seed of Abraham, not for the ethnic or national
or physical seed of Abraham. Abraham's true seed that was
in view whenever Christ gave the promises of what Messiah
would do for them was given to the children of promise. not
the children of the flesh. And we're going to see that here
in a minute whenever we read through some of the verses before
us. So turn with me back to Romans
chapter 8, and let's kind of go through this. And my argument
this morning is that Romans 11, 26, when it says, all Israel
shall be saved, is talking about all spiritual Israel, not physical
Israel. It's not talking about physical
Israel, but it's talking about spiritual Israel. Although physical
Israel is being talked about in a lot of the passages, woven
in the middle of that is an argument that Paul is making, is that
physical Israel is being saved, but the only ones that's being
saved of physical Israel is not all of them in totality, but
only those who God foreknew, the children of promise, the
spiritual ones, the remnants of Israel is being saved. The residue, as it will be seen
in the Scriptures, is being saved. Just like among the Gentiles,
not all the Gentiles are going to be saved, but there will be
a remnant or a residue from every nation, tribe, tongue, language,
or kindred in there. So let's go back to chapter 8
and let's kind of see where Paul begins speaking on some of these
things. Look at some of the verbiage that the Holy Spirit uses. Let's
look at some of the things that Paul is setting up as an argument
before we even get to chapters 10 and 11. And let's see what
Paul has to say. Now, let's look at Romans 8.
And I'm going to start reading in verse 28. It says, And we know that all
things work together for good to them that love God, to them
who are the called. Now, I've mentioned this to you
guys before. That just, in a lot of modern translations of the
Bible, it says, to them who are called. Right? It's who are called. The thee is not there. But in the Greek, that thee is
actually in the Greek as a definite article. Now, just a little grammar
lesson here. Whenever you have a definite
article before a word, that means that article is not just, you
know, that word thee there. It's not just meaning something
in general, but it's meaning something specific. The called. Okay? Not just called, as in
everyone who's called. And the reason why I bring that
up is because, and this was my mentality at one time and how
I used to preach things, we preach the gospel all the time to anybody
that will listen, right? To anybody that's out there.
Like right now, I'm preaching the gospel to you. Okay? But the only ones that actually
can hear the gospel, truly hear it and understand it spiritually,
are those who the Lord gives spiritual understanding to because
of the new birth. And so the call goes out to everybody,
but not everybody understands it. So my mentality, at least,
and I'm going to again go back to what I say, not what other
people have said, but what I used to say, is that, so therefore,
the called is everybody. Everybody is the called because
everybody, the gospel is being preached to everybody. Okay? But that's not what the Bible
is teaching. The Bible is not teaching that the called is just
everybody who hears or who the sound of the gospel goes out
to. It's everybody who is called of God to be His. The called
is those who are the elect of God from before the foundation
of the world who God foreknew, and we'll see that here in a
second, that God foreknew that He gave to Christ Jesus in the
covenant of grace. In the covenant of grace, God
gave a people to Christ. Christ became their mediator,
became their surety. They were united to Him. His
righteousness imputed to them. Their future sins to be imputed
to Him. So Christ became their mediator,
became their substitute, became their surety. And so they are
called the call. It is a specific group of people.
That's why the definite article is there. Because it's talking
about a specific group of people being called. Not everybody in
general being called, but the specific people being called
in a specific type of call. Okay? Paul is already setting
up that God is operating not on everybody, but on a specific
group of people, and they are called the called. We know all
things work together for good to them that love God, to them
who are the called according to his purpose. They are the
called according to his purpose. Now, I want you to pay close
attention to the phrasing that the Holy Spirit uses here. They
are the called according to the purpose of God. They are the
specific group of people that are going to be the recipients
of the special call because it's according to the purpose of God.
God has a purpose in them being a special group of people who
are the call. Alright? Now look at verse 29. 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. Moreover, whom
he did predestinate." Now, who was the ones that was predestinated?
The ones that he foreknew. Now, I just mentioned a while
ago that this people called the called is a special group of
people that God foreknew and gave to Christ, right? Do you
have scripture for that preacher? Right here. 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. Moreover,
whom He did predestinate, them He also called." Who are the
called ones? The ones that He foreknew and
predestinated to be conformed to the image of Christ. That's
who the called is. It is a specific group of people.
It's not just everybody in general who the gospel message goes out
to, but it's a specific group of people who are called, not
in time by the preaching of the gospel, but who are called before
the foundation of the world in the everlasting covenant of grace
as the people of God, whose names were written down in the book
of life, whose people was given to Christ as His people, the
children of God. That's who the called is. Those
whom he did foreknow, he did predestinate. Moreover, whom
he did predestinate, them he also called. And look, whom he
called, them he also justified. So this group of people are the
people who are justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified. Now let me say this. We are going
to be glorified at the end of this time. Whenever Christ comes
again, we are going to be glorified. We're not going to be glorified
as God, but we are going to be glorified as the people of God,
a group of people who God saved who didn't deserve it. They're
just as bad as the tares, as the goats. They're worthy of
damnation and hell, just like the goats, the tares, the non-elect,
the reprobate, whatever name you want to put to them, they
are in the same lump of clay, natural man as them. They don't
deserve that. However, the only difference
is, is they were called. And they were justified. And
therefore they were glorified. So the only ones who are going
to be glorified at the end when Christ comes is those who are
part of the called. the ones who were forenew and
predestinated to be conformed to the image of Christ. Those
are the ones who are going to be glorified. So this notion
of Israel is going to be as a nation is going to be glorified during
a millennial reign and everybody else that's in the nations are
going to be under their co-rule with Christ for a thousand years
doesn't jive with the Bible that says that that these people who
are the caller of the ones who's glorified it was a well that's
two different world we're not we're talking about that's not
about the glorification at the end when all the elected god
or glorified as the people of god all like this is going to
be given a status because they are the elected god again rather
israel is a type of foreshadow of all the people of god not
an ethnic group in and of themselves is going to be glorified We see
this throughout scripture. The Bible is very clear about
this. We're going to see these verses in a minute. So hang with
me. Don't get, uh, don't let this, you know, kind of run over
you and you kind of glaze over on me. All right. So the ones
who are glorified are the ones who were for new. They are called
the call. Now let's look at verse 31. What
shall we say to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him
up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us
all things? So God is going to give us all
things because of what? Because we are in that group
of people. We are in that called group of
people. Because we are in the group that
according to the purpose of God, He called And those whom He called,
He called because He foreknew them and predestinated that they
were going to be conformed to the image of Christ and that
they will be justified and that they will be glorified. So we
are given all things because we have been made the children
of God, the heirs of God, the seed of Christ, the children
of Christ. That's why we're given all things. We receive all things, reward,
inheritance because we are the children of God. Romans 8.33,
who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? See there,
he's talking about God's elect. Is he talking about ethnic Israel?
No. He's talking about spiritual
Israel. He's talking about the people
of God as it pertains to the seed of Christ. Okay. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand
of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us
from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long.
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these
things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For
I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. So
here we see that there is a certain people, the called, who are the
called, according to God's purpose. And these people who are the
called according to God's purpose are called the elect. And they
are the recipients of God's love and redemption. As we've seen
here, they are the recipients of everything that God is going
to give to them. They're going to be blessed with
all things. They're going to be given all things. And it is
they, those who are the called, the elect, who are the ones who
are considered children, heirs, joint heirs. As a matter of fact,
go with me back to Romans in chapter 8 and go with me to verses
16 and 17. Remember, we're trying to keep
all this in context, right? The Spirit itself, verse 16,
Romans 8, 16. The Spirit itself bear witness
with our spirit that we are the children of God. Okay? So one
of the activities, one of the works of the Spirit in the child
of grace, in the child of God, in the seed of Christ, in the
called, in the elect, the people of God, whatever term we want
to put on that, right? One of the words of the Spirit
is that the Spirit bears witness with the child of God that they
are actually children of God. This is why I reject the notion
of us wondering whether or not we are His people or not, that
we can't know. Well, the Bible says the Spirit
bears witness with our spirit that we are His children. That's
why I believe that whenever the Bible says that we have a hope,
it's not a, well, I hope so, but it's that we are actually
given a hope, an earnest expectation that that is ours, that we are
that children, that we are the heirs, that we are the recipients
of God's grace, that He has given that to us, that all those promises
He said is for me. And it's not that I receive that
or believe that or cling to that or hold to that or know that
or are assured of that because of any outward work that I do.
but it's because of the inward work of the Spirit that is in
me, that testifies to me, or witnesses to me, or as it says
here, that beareth witness to me, that I am the children of
God. So one of the activities of the Spirit of God, through
the elect of God, is that He bears witness in them that they
are, the children are the recipients of these promises. And verse
17 says, and if children, than heirs, and heirs of God, and
joint heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with him, that
we may also be glorified together." See, we're going to be rejected.
We're going to be ridiculed. We're going to be scorned. We're
going to be hated. We're going to be not liked.
They're not going to listen to us. They're not going to like
us. They're going to unfriend us on Facebook. They're not going
to want to come to our church anymore. They're not going to
They're not going to want to have friends. They're not going
to invite you to preach at their Bible conference anymore. They're
not going to listen to you. They're going to reject what
you have. Matter of fact, there may be a time coming that whenever
we preach these things here, that we may actually physically
be persecuted. And the governments and the people
around come and say, if you preach that anymore, we're going to
hang you. We're going to do something drastic
to you. I mean, it's happened in the
past. Every one of the disciples, except
for a couple, Every one of them was martyred, was killed because
of their preaching of the gospel. It wasn't killed because they
were stirring up trouble and rioting and tearing down houses
and all that stuff. No, they were preaching contrary
to what people believed and people hated it. Governments hated it. And therefore, because they didn't
like what they were saying, they killed them. And don't think
that ain't gonna happen to us. could happen to us. So here we
see in Romans, again, that in the context that people who are
the ones who are receiving the adoption, the ones who are receiving
the airship, the ones who are receiving the glorification,
the ones who are, and if you're an heir, that means the inheritance
belongs to you, right? So that's just kind of naturally
understood here. that if you are an heir of God,
then the inheritance of God belongs to you because you're an heir
of God. If you're a children of God, child of God, then the
inheritance belongs to you. Okay? So Paul here isn't making
a reach or a stretch. I'm not trying to make a reach
or a stretch. I'm just trying to say this is what the Bible
says. These promises have been made to say that it's the called,
and it says that the called, or the elect, is according to
God's purpose, and this isn't talking about a ethnic group
of people, it's talking about a spiritual group of people.
Now, with that being said, Paul now begins in Romans chapter
9, so turn with me now to Romans chapter 9, and this is where
the argument is that whenever he says Therefore, all Israel
will be saved, or so all Israel will be saved, is a conclusion
to an argument that we find here early in Romans chapter 9. Okay? So read with me here, Romans
chapter 9, we'll start in verse 1. I say the truth in Christ,
I lie not, my conscience also bearing witness, me witness in
the Holy Ghost, that I have a great heaviness and continual sorrow
in my heart." Here it is, "'For I could wish that myself were
accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the
flesh.'" So here he's saying, I'm making a distinction here.
I have a harsh desire for my kinsmen according to the flesh,
Israelites, Jews. I have a kindred that is of the
flesh that I have a heavy burden for. He says, who are Israelites,
to whom pertaineth the adoption? Well, what does that mean? Whenever
he says, to whom pertaineth the adoption? Well, it was to the
Israelites that God, as a nation there, that God preached and
taught the adoption of children. Nobody else received that preaching
or that claim to be adopted as God's children. It was Israel.
that received all that stuff. But what else he says? He says,
and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the law and
the service of God and the promises. This is all talking about that
Israel in the Old Testament was the only ones who was the recipients
of this activity of God among these people. Now just because
that activity was among those people doesn't mean that those
people were the recipients of everything in salvation. But
again, as the type and foreshadow of God and His elect, spiritual
elect, God showed that these and only these people are the
recipients. These and only these people are the ones who was given
the service. These people and only these people
are the ones who will see the glory of God. So just like the
national Israelites and what God gave to them in the Old Testament,
that is a type or a foreshadow signifying the true reality in
spiritual Israel. That the spiritual salvation
of Messiah and all of the inheritance that is involved in that and
being his child is going to fall upon that spiritual seed of Christ. Look at verse 5. "...who are
the fathers, and of whom was concerning the flesh Christ came,
who is over all. God bless forever. Amen." Now
here it is in verse 6. Here is what Paul is dealing
with. Because Paul is saying what the
Israelites are saying. Paul, your gospel is that there
is an elect that's also including Gentiles. You're saying you're
the apostle to the Gentiles, but yet We understand the Bible
to say that salvation is only for the Jews. Salvation is only
for those who are the seed of Abraham. Salvation is only for
the Israelites, not for the Gentiles. And so how can you come and say
that there is an elect of God from before the foundation of
the world that God chose apart from anything and that there
is no righteousness that we can do of our own? that it's only
based upon this Messiah guy that came, that you say is the Messiah,
that we reject as the Messiah? And so you're saying that God's
Word now is made void? God's Word is not true? That
God lied to us? All these things that God gave
to us and did for us, that God lied in all of that? That's what
the argument is. And so Paul will say, listen
guys, again, it's not what we thought it was going to be. Our
eyes were blinded. It was covered. It was veiled.
We didn't have the full understanding, the full truth. But now we have
that. If the Spirit has enlightened
our eyes, we have that. And look at verse 6. He says,
Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. He says,
now, before you start thinking something otherwise, God's word
hasn't fallen. It hasn't failed. It hasn't been
storied on. God didn't lie to you. And here's
why. Here's why God's Word has not
taken none effect. Because they are not all Israelites
which are of Israel. So God is saying they are not
all Israelites who are of the Israelites. So what does that
mean? They are not all Israel which
are of Israel. Paul makes a distinction between
one kind of Israel and another kind of Israel. This kind of
Israel is made up of people that doesn't necessarily make up all
these people. This Israel, there's parts of
this Israel that make up this Israel. But all these people
that are Israel is not necessarily these Israel. So Paul's making
a distinction between two types of Israels. Two kinds of Israels. There is an ethnic or a national
or a physical Israel. And then there's another Israel.
This Israel over here isn't made up of everybody that's in this
Israel. And everybody that is in this
Israel doesn't automatically become this Israel because they
are this Israel. You understand what I'm saying?
I hope that ain't getting muddy. Just because you're physical
Israel doesn't mean you're part of inheritance Israel. Spiritual
Israel. Just because you are of the physical
seed of Abraham doesn't mean that you are the spiritual seed
of Abraham. Only the called, only the elect,
only the ones God foreknew of the physical Israel are the ones
who will be the recipients with the spiritual Israel. That's
what Paul is saying. It is not as though God's word
have taken none effect, for they are not all Israel which are
of Israel. And here is it, verse 70, plain
as day. Neither because they are the
seed of Abraham are they all children. So see, it doesn't
matter if you're the physical seed of Abraham. God is not accounting
the physical seed of Abraham as the a prerequisite to receive
the inheritance or to receive the promises. That's not the
prerequisite. God isn't looking on the flesh. God's looking at the spiritual
part. So that's why I say, I think
that the spiritual teaching, the spiritual understanding always
supersedes the physical teachings. The physical teachings may have
their fulfillments, may have their issues, that come to fruition
at some point in time, but the ultimate thing is not the physical,
it's the spiritual. The spiritual reality is that
the inheritance that is spoken of, that is foreshadowed by the
physical in the Old Testament, is the spiritual reality. We are spiritual heirs of God,
not physical heirs. We're spiritual heirs. The things
that we are going to receive are spiritual rewards, not physical
rewards. They're not fleshly things. They're
spiritual things. The things of the flesh are nothing.
They mean nothing. They will die. They are of no
use. But it's only the things of the
Spirit that count. Now look what he says there. Verse 7, neither
because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children,
but in Isaac shall thy seed be called. What does that mean?
If you remember, Isaac was the seed of, or was the child of
promise. Abraham was promised. You're
going, you and Sarah are going to have a son, going to have
a child. And out of that son, there's
going to be a mighty nation come from that. And Abraham and Sarah,
they thought that was kind of funny because they were old and
they were past being able to produce children. And they thought,
well this is crazy, we're old and how are we going to do this?
So they waited and they waited and nothing had happened yet.
And so they decided to take things into their own hands. And so
Sarah said, I'm obviously not going to be able to produce you
a son, so won't you lay with my handmaiden? And so Abraham
laid with Hagar, and Hagar got pregnant, and then they had a
son, they named him Ishmael. But God said, Ishmael is not
the child of promise. This is not. This is by your
own hands. This is a child of the flesh, not the child of the
child of promise is going to come and he's going to come whenever
it is completely and totally beyond reason that you're ever
going to be able to produce anything. See, brother, that's just like
how it is with us. Our salvation doesn't come by what we can produce
in the flesh. The only way our salvation comes
is by something that we can, there's no possibility any way
that we can do. That's why the law is so crushing
upon us. That's why the law was given, is to show us that no
matter how much you try to keep the law, you break it. It's always
there yelling at you, lawbreaker. That's why God, if you remember
in Galatians, there was the illustration of Ishmael and Isaac. of Hagar
and Sarah. There's two mountains. There's
Mount Sinai and then there's Mount Zion. There's two mountains there.
The law was never intended to bring righteousness. Righteousness
came by promise. Isaac was the child of promise.
Isaac came whenever Sarah and Abraham could not produce children.
God miraculously caused Sarah to be with child and produced Isaac. Isaac was a child that
came of God's making, not the flesh's making. And so this is
what Paul is trying to say. Those children who are the children
of the flesh are not the children. It's the children of the promise.
Look at it again. 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. That would be national Israel,
ethnic Israel, physical Israel. That's what he's talking about
there. They which are the children of the flesh by fleshly descendancy,
by fleshly generation, by this man producing a fleshly child
and that child producing a fleshly child and more children and more
children until they become so many and they became a nation
in a physical way. But Paul here is saying, even
though we see that physical reality in the Old Testament and in times
past believed that the promises and the airship came because
we were part of that physical descendancy from Abraham. God
has made it clear to us now through the Gospel that that is not the
case. It is not the children of flesh
that was in view in that promise, but it's the children of promise
that is in view. It's the spiritual seed that was in view in the promise,
not the physical. They which are the children of
the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children
of the promise are counted for the seed. For this is the word
of promise. At this time will I come and
Sarah shall have a son. And not only this, but when Rebecca
also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac, for the
children." Now, Isaac was the son of promise, right? Not Ishmael. Ishmael and Isaac. Both came
from Abraham. And remember, Abraham's seed
was the one who was going to receive the promise. But did
Ishmael receive the promise? No. He didn't receive a physical
promise because he wasn't actually the child of promise. He was
the child of the flesh. God rejected him. Abraham had
to reject him. Him and Hagar were put out of
the camp. So they were rejected. The child of the flesh is not
the child of promise. And so here we see that anything
of the flesh is not what is counted. So these promises are spiritual
promises, not physical promises, not fleshly promises. So he says
here, he moves on, not just in Isaac,
but look at Isaac's sons. You could say, well, you know,
Ishmael was from Hagar. It wasn't from Sarah and Abraham,
okay? Well, Isaac was from Sarah and
Abraham, and Isaac, who was the child of promise, had two sons. Matter of fact, not only were
they two sons, so they were physically in lineage to Isaac and physically
in lineage to Abraham and Sarah, but they grew in the same womb
at the same time. They were twins. Jacob and Esau. Both seeds of Isaac, seeds of
Abraham, children from the promise, but yet in the womb before any
had done good or bad, God chose Jacob as the child
of promise and not Esau. The Bible says God loved Jacob
and hated Esau. Whenever he said he hated Esau,
he didn't mean he loved him less. When he said he hated Esau, he
didn't say he hates Esau's sins. He hated Esau, meaning that he
did not have any grace. He did not have any favor. He
did not have any love for Esau. Look what it says there. Verse
11. Not yet born, having done any
good or evil. And here's this phrase again,
that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not
of works, but of him that calleth." So, here we're talking about
the calling, we're talking about the purpose of God, we're talking
about election. Electing, those who were elected
are called the called, they are the called and elected because
of the purpose of God in election. So that the purpose of God according
to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth.
If God is the one calling, and it's talking about election here,
right? It's not talking about in time calling you to belief
or calling you to faith, alright? Or calling you to the life or
calling you to life or whatever. This is talking about the calling
that is preceding all calls, which is before the foundation
of the world. God calling the people for himself. These are
my children. They are now Christ. The called. If there is one who is calling,
then that means there is someone who is being called. And what
are they called? The called. The ones being called
are called the called. And they are being called, why?
Because of election. And what is election? God's purpose.
It says right here, according to the purpose of God. And the
purpose of God is according to election. God's purpose in saying
Jacob not Esau is according to his election. Because Jacob was
part of the foreknown, who was called. It says right here, look
at verse 12. It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger. Even though they were twins,
even though they were born at the same time, it was Esau that
came from the womb first. Jacob came, the Bible says, clutching
his heel. Jacob came out second. Therefore,
Esau was the elder child. Jacob was the younger child. Even though they were born at
the same time, Esau came forth from the womb first. That made
him the eldest child. Therefore, Esau should have been
the recipient of the inheritance from Isaac. Because the elder son is the
one who receives the inheritance. You're supposed to pump your
fists, huh? But God said that's not how it's
going to be. Esau may be the eldest, but I'm
choosing the youngest. Esau is going to serve the purpose
of his brother. That's how it's been through
all generations. The reprobate, the one that God hates, has been
there and God continues to have longsuffering over them, them
storing up wrath for the end. It's not God showing them common
grace, it is in spite of that. God is showing longsuffering
to them because they are storing up wrath for the end. But yet
they are there to serve the purpose of God's delay. It was said unto
her, The elder shall serve the younger, as it is written, Jacob
have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? So God now proclaims that even
though both Jacob and Esau were physical descendants of Abraham,
physical descendants of Isaac, the child of promise, coming
from the same womb, at the same time, God did not choose Esau,
but he chose Jacob to be a child of promise. Esau received nothing
as a child, as far as redemptive work is concerned. So, with that
being said, Paul makes this distinction, and he speaks of God's purpose,
that it's according to election. and that Jacob is going to receive
it and not Esau. Now, let me just pause a moment
here because as sovereign grace believers, most generally, sovereign
graces all around the world, wherever they are, always come
to these verses to prove a point about election. Whenever an Arminian
or a person who believes in free will and decision that we make
our own choice, to be saved, that we choose Jesus, all those
things. That's what we mean by Armenian, that they believe that
salvation is for everybody and that only those who choose it
or receive it, who make that decision, you know, they're the
ones who get that salvation. We sovereign gracious always
run to this verse to prove election is true. Looky here. God chose one and not the other.
God chose Esau to not receive anything, but chose Jacob to
receive everything. And to make sure that that happened,
you know what God did? God, by his providence, brought
in that whenever Isaac, who meant well, he was gonna bless Esau
as the first child with all the inheritance. But what happened? God put it in the heart of Isaac,
or excuse me, of Jacob and his mom, to fool their dad because
Isaac had become blind, he couldn't see, to dress Jacob up like Esau
and have Jacob come in and pretend to be Esau so that Isaac would
bless him. And that's exactly what happened.
Jacob came in, pretended to be Esau, Isaac, thinking it was
Esau, put his hands on him, give him the blessing, in turn bestowed
all the inheritance upon Jacob. Only to find out later that Esau
was the one who was not there. It was Jacob that was there.
And whenever Esau came and complained and all like that, Isaac said,
I can't, I've already given him the blessing. He's already received
it. So see, God providentially made it where Jacob received
that and not Esau. in the physical way, just as
in the spiritual way. We don't deserve it. Jacob didn't
deserve the inheritance, but God gave it to us anyway. Not
because he was looking on what we had done good or bad, but
because we were in Christ Jesus. We were chosen in Christ. We
received that inheritance. Now look, it says, what shall
we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? So Paul is saying, wait a minute. For God to choose Jacob
and not Esau, with Esau being a child of Isaac, a child of
Abraham, he's a physical descendant. He should be part of this province
because he's of the seed of Abraham. See, this is Paul again proving
that not all that is of Israel is Israel. This is Paul proving
that there is a physical and there is a spiritual. and that
it is the spiritual seed, not the physical. It is those of
the spirit, not of the flesh, who are the recipients of the
promise. Just right here, this is why Paul goes back to the
Old Testament and gives this example, because here is the
greatest example of all time. Two men out of the same womb,
from the same mother, who was impregnated by the child of promise,
who came from Abraham, who was the first physical descendant
of Abraham, who was part of that physical promise. But yet God
said, even though you might be part of the physical seed, he
saw you're not part of the spiritual. You're not part of the promise
that I'm giving to Israel. So he says, is there unrighteousness
with God? Has God's word taken none effect? That's what Paul
is reiterating. The blaring question is, is God's word fallen? Is
God lying to me? Is there unrighteousness with
God because he promised to the seed that they were going to
receive inheritance. Esau surely the seed of Abraham.
Nobody can deny that fact. Paul is saying it's not the children
of the flesh who are the children of the promise. It's the children
of Isaac, the children of promise, the spiritual aspect, not the
physical. Listen, Jacob didn't deserve
anything. Jacob was a surplanter. That's
what his name meant. He was a surplanter. He was the
one who plotted all this stuff against Esau. He acted bad. He was horrible. Jacob wasn't
a great man at the beginning. He didn't deserve anything, but
God bestowed his favor on him because he foreknew him. He loved
him before the foundation of the world. He chose him. He was
the call according to the purpose of God, according to election. So is there unrighteousness with
God? Well, God forbid. So in keeping with Paul's thought,
has the word of God taken effect? We see here that verse 14 is
bringing up that same question. Is there unrighteousness with
God? And Paul says, God forbid. God forbid. God can and does
elect only a remnant out of the nation of Israel to be part of
the spiritual and true Israel. Remember in verse 6, not as though
the word of God had taken them in effect, for they are not all
Israel which are of Israel. God has every right to choose
out of the physical seed of Abraham to only save a remnant and not
all of them. But everyone thinks that all
of Israel has to be saved because they are of the seed of Abraham.
That's not true. Not according to the Scripture.
It might be true according to somebody's theological perspective
in eschatological things, but it is not true according to the
Word of God. Therefore, if it's not according to the Word of
God, then it's untrue, right? So God does do that. He is able
to choose a remnant to be part of the spiritual, and those are
the ones who are called to call. Now look at verse 24. Even us
whom he hath called, who are the called, remember who the
called is, the ones who before the foundation of the world were
called, who God foreknew and predestinated to be conformed
to the image of Christ, who are the children of God, the joiners
with Christ Jesus, the recipients of the promise. For even us whom
he hath called, and here it is, brethren, not of the Jews only,
but also of the Gentiles. See, Paul is saying that this
people who are the called, this people who are the children of
promise, who are the seed, the recipients of the inheritance,
is not just of the Jews. That's why you're thinking God's
Word has fallen, because you think it's only for the Jews.
But God's Word is made it very clear that this is not only for
the Jew, but also for the Gentile. That it's only for a remnant.
There's a remnant being taken out of every ethnic group, not
just the Jews. God started with you, but He's
not going to just finish with you. God started with you, but
you're of no more importance than the rest of the ethnic group
in the elect of God. That everybody from every Gentile
nation There's going to be an ethnic group taken out of that
as God's elect, and they are of equal importance as those
who are of the Israelite. Matter of fact, God calls them
a true Jew, a true Israelite. We'll see that here in a minute. Paul corroborates this by quoting
Hosea and Isaiah. Paul goes back to Hosea and Isaiah. Look at verse 25, and I'll start
there. As he saith also in Osea, and that word Osea there is in
reference to Hosea, that's another way of saying, that's the Greek
way of saying Hosea. As he saith also in Osea, I will
call them my people which were not my people, and her beloved
which were not beloved. Okay? Now that doesn't mean they
weren't beloved at the foundation of the world. He's just saying
as it was perceived in time, God only dealt with the Jews,
with the Israelites. He only showed Himself to them.
He only gave them the oracles, the priesthood, the service,
the tabernacle. He only gave them the glory of
God that came down in their midst whenever Christ came in the pillar
of the cloud and the pillar of fire and walked among them and
talked among them and showed Himself to them throughout the
Old Testament. It was only to the Old Testament
Jews. It was only to the Israelites
that God did that. And that was a symbol and a foreshadowing
for the true thing, which is the people of God, the elect
of God, the spiritual Israel. That God only does this. He only
reveals Himself to the elect. He only teaches the elect. He
only gives them understanding. He only saves them. But we have
found that that spiritual seed is not one ethnic group. It's
out of every ethnic group. Out of, called out of. That's
what that word kaleo means. It means to be called out of.
We're called out of every ethnic group. And so he says here, Hosea
prophesied, he said, I will call them my people, which were not
my people. So he's talking about the Gentiles. The Gentiles will be called my
people that were not my people. and they will be my beloved,
which was not my beloved. See, you guys thought that you
were the only ones and that you were the only beloved, but hey,
I've got people over here, too, in the
Gentile nations, and they're my beloved. Matter of fact, if
you remember, in the Gospels, Jesus said that he has sheep
that are not of this foal. Whenever he prayed in John 17,
he said, I have other sheep, that are not in the same sheep
pen. He said, I have other sheep.
Them I also must bring. He had other sheep. They were his beloved, but they
weren't of Israel. He had sheep in other nations.
We praise God that we were included in all that. So he goes on to
say this. He says, and it shall come to pass that in the place
where it was sent unto them, ye are not my people, there shall
they be called the children of the living God. Esaias also crieth
concerning Israel, so that's Isaiah, though the number of
the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant
shall be saved. The children of Israel, spiritual,
are those of both Jew and Gentile, as we see here. And the Bible
says that they are the sands of the sea. This true Israel
that's made up of all kindred, nations, language, tongue, that
this Israel is as the sands of the sea, innumerable, right? But yet, out of Israel, ethnic
Israel, there's a remnant coming out. They're not innumerable. It's numbers. There's a certain
amount that's gonna be brought out, okay? It's a remnant. So, they're remnants, but from
their respective ethnicities. And as they make up the whole,
then they become innumerable as the Sands of the Sea. So there
are some that are of national Israel who did not believe. And
we know that the only way that somebody comes to believe is
by them being granted to believe by the Holy Spirit. The new birth
gives us life. And because we have that life,
whenever the Holy Spirit grants us repentance and faith, we begin
to believe on Christ Jesus. So these Jews are not going to
be saved in any other way. This remnant of Israel that will
be saved, as with the remnant from every other kindred and
tongue, are all going to be saved the exact same way, and it's
going to be a granting to believe on Jesus Christ. Romans chapter
10, verse 11, if you would. It says, For the Scripture said,
Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is
no difference between the Jew and the Greek. I thought there
was a difference in the Jew and the Greek. The Jews are the ones
that's going to be exalted at the last day, at the millennium
reign. They're going to be exalted on
thrones and they're going to be ruling and reigning with Jesus
Christ who has a rod of iron in His hand on David's throne,
on the Mount of Olives in the temple, on top of the temple.
of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem and he's going to be reigning
over all the nations and all the Gentile nations are going
to be subservient to Israel for a thousand years while Christ
reigns. Wait a minute. Is that what the
Bible says? The Bible says right here there
is no difference between the Jew and the Greek. The same Lord over all is rich
unto all that call upon Him. That's what it says there in
Romans 10 and verse 11. Right? And 12. There's no difference between
the Jew and the Greek. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. Not will be saved, shall
be saved. The ones who call on the name
of the Lord So what's Paul making the argument here for? See, we
cut these verses out of context. I used to do that. We used to
make up tracts and hand out the Roman Road of Salvation. And
this was one of the verses in the Roman Road. Whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Meaning that
if you call upon the name of the Lord, then He will save you
for doing that. You only can be saved if you
call upon the name of the Lord. That's not what this verse is
saying. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall
be the saved ones. The ones who have been saved
by Christ are the ones who have been granted repentance and faith
to believe upon Christ, to call upon the Lord, to confess Christ
Jesus. They're the ones who are saved.
Not because they did that. They did that because they were
saved. So Paul is making this argument, why are not all Israelites
believing? Because not all Israelites have
been chosen. And because not all Israelites
have been chosen, not all Israelites have been given the gift of faith
to believe upon Christ. Therefore, they not all will
believe because not all of them were intended to be recipients
of the gift of grace, the gift of faith, the gift of repentance
to confess Christ Jesus and to believe on Him. Only the ones
that you see believing are the ones who have been saved. That's
what Paul is making the argument for here. The ones who were not
ashamed before God and outwardly confessing Jesus Christ were
the ones who have been saved and believed or hoped in Christ
for their salvation. And they were not only from the
Jew, but from the Gentile. So Paul is extending this discussion
that the spiritual Israel, according to election, from the Jew and
Gentiles will be to the ones who believe. Who is the recipients
of these? The ones who believe. Well, who
are the ones who believe? The ones who have been saved.
Well, who are the ones who have been saved? The ones who have
been elected before the foundation of the world. Look at verse 19. It says, But
I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke
you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish
nation I will anger you. So Paul begins to say how God
ordained how the two groups of people would be used in bringing
together one people. God chose the nation of Israel
to bring jealousy to the Gentiles. What do you mean? You're the
only ones that get it, not us? But the Lord was gracious enough
to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles. And so through dealing with the
Jews only for a amount of time, then that brought the Gospel
to the Gentiles. Now God has rejected Israel laid
their Judaic system to waste. We're not a Judaic Christian
church, by the way. We're a Christian church. We're
the church of Christ. Right? It has nothing to do with
Judaism. Judaism was laid to waste back
in the first century. God laid them to waste. He said,
your house will be left desolate under you. And he did. He brought
in, he killed all the Jews. that was in that town in Jerusalem
and in the surrounding areas. Rome came in and decimated the
whole place. Destroyed their temple, their
place of worship, and their place of service. They had no way of
serving God anymore. They had no way of performing
all those things. Why? Because God laid it to waste.
It was for a purpose, a small purpose of time, to point to
Jesus Christ. And the fulfillment of all of
what that showed in type and foreshadow, including the physical
people of Israel, was no longer needed because Christ had fulfilled
all things. Now Christ fully on display,
the gospel being preached in all of its fullness, now we no
longer need the types and the foreshadows. And I would say
we're not going to return to those types of foreshadows by
a rebuilding of a temple, by a reinstituting of the service.
by the Israelites being back into service and over everybody.
That is a slap to me, that is a slap in the face and blasphemy
to what Christ Jesus has accomplished. Because He was the end and fulfillment. Everything in the Old Testament
was pointing to was Christ Jesus. And He fulfilled all that. And
He became everything that that prophecy was saying He was going
to do. And He finished it all and He
said, It is finished. And he told them that is no longer
going to be needed, no longer going to be used. It's not going
to be accounted for anything. That the religious leaders that
were running the whole outfit were children of the devil. And
he laid it all to waste. Then for man to turn around and
say, well, it's going to all be built back up again. We're
waiting for that red heifer bull and we're waiting for that temple
to be built on the Mount of Olives. Man, whenever that happens, that's
going to be an amazing time. Jesus is going to be back. The
church is going to be raptured out, and then all of Israel is
going to be in control of everything over all the people. That's what
the Bible teaches us, a blasphemy of Jesus Christ and everything
that he fulfilled. Why would he go back to the beggarly
things of the world and the flesh and the services of the temple
that were all there to point towards him? Why would he go
back to that? There's no need for that, right? So Paul begins to show how there
are two groups of people. The Jews was there to make the
Gentiles jealous. Now they have been excluded and
the Gentiles have been brought the gospel. And now the Gentiles
are there to make the Jews jealous. Look at what it says. Chapter 11. He says, I say then, hath God
cast away his people? God forbid, for I also am an
Israelite, the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin, God
hath not cast away his people he foreknew. See, it never was
the children of the flesh, it was the children of the promise,
the ones he foreknew. See, he's not going against his
word, you just misunderstood his word. That's what Paul is
saying here. He's not going against his word,
you just misunderstood his word. Not all that are of Israel are
of Israel. For I am an Israelite of the
seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. So I'm believing
on Christ. I'm part of that. So he hasn't
cast away his people, which he foreknew. What ye not what the
Scriptures say to the last, how he maketh intercession to God
against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets
and digged down thy altars, and I am left alone, and they seek
my life. But what saith the answer of
God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men,
who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Even so, then,
at the present time, also there is a remnant according to what? According to the promise of Abraham
to the flesh? No, there is a remnant that God
is going to save of Israel according to the election of grace. It's
according to God's purpose so that God's purpose according
to election might stand. It's not as though God's word
has fallen. God is not unrighteous in choosing one and not another
among Israel, because God has never intended to save all of
Israel, ethnically, nationally, physically, but that there be
a remnant. He says, and if by grace it is
no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace, but if it be
of works, Then it is no more grace, otherwise work is no more
work. What then? Israel hath not obtained that
which he seeketh for? See, the Israelites were seeking
for that day that Messiah would come and that they would be ruling
and reigning with Messiah. And you mean to tell me that
what God said is not going to come true? Israel's not going
to get what they've been seeking for all this time? What does
he say then? What then? Israel hath not obtained that
which he seeketh for? But the election hath obtained
it. He said, wait a minute, that's not, they have obtained it, but
it's only those who have been elected of God have obtained
it. Not all, but the ones who have been elected. The true Israel
have obtained it. And the rest, he said, were blinded.
According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of
slumber, eyes that they should not see. God give them that.
God gives them eyes so they wouldn't see, and ears that they should
not hear unto this day. And David saith, Let their table
be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumbling block, and a
recompense unto them. Let their eyes be darkened, that
they may not see, and bow down their back always. So you mean
to tell me that God's going to save them even though He's turned
them to where they cannot see, cannot hear, cannot respond?
God's not going to save them. That's what God's saying. God
has chosen some to save out of them, but the rest of them God
has rejected, just like Esau. And they're not gonna be the
recipients of God's grace in giving eyes to see, ears to hear,
that they might believe. I say, verse 11, I say then, have
they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid, but rather
through their fall, salvation is coming to the Gentiles. For
to provoke them to jealousy. So the reason that God does all
this is so that the Gentiles would become jealous. Now if
the fall of them be the riches of the world, now the world there
is talking about the Gentiles. So if the fall of the Jews or
Israel, God bringing desolation upon Israel, upon the Judaic
system, if the fall of all that means the riches to the Gentiles,
and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles, how much
more their fullness? For I speak to you Gentiles,
and as much as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine
office, if by any means I may provoke to emulation them which
are my flesh, and might save some of them." So he's saying,
listen, I magnify the fact that God's saving people out of the
Gentiles so that it might make those of the Jews jealous. And
we know they're not, just out of sheer jealousy, they're not
going to choose Jesus and become saved. They're going to be saved
just like anybody else is saved. God's going to grant that to
them. But seeing that, or seeing that gospel being preached, that
they're going to become recipients of that when given grace and
faith. For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of
the world, what shall the receiving of them be but life from the
dead? For if the first fruit be holy, The lump is also holy. Now, this is talking about Jesus.
It's not talking about Israel being the first fruit, being
holy. It says, for if the first fruit be holy, the lump is also
holy. And if the root be holy, so are
the branches. So what's he talking about here?
He's talking about union in Christ. If they are united in Christ,
whether they are Jews in that time or Jews in this time, whenever
time they are, if they be part of the root, then they're holy. If they're branches, that means
they're tied to the root, and the root is holy. If they're
united to Christ, they're the elect of Christ, and they're
going to be recipients of all that Christ gives. And if some
of the branches be broken off, and thou, being the wild olive
tree, were grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the
root and fatness of the olive tree, that means us Gentiles
who, you know, Jesus being the root, began with ethnic, national
Israel, and among them there were some that were believers
that he chose, but the rest of them, they were broken off. Why? Because they were not true branches
that were fruits and any fruit. There was no life going through
them. There was no fruit in them. They were not believing. They
were broken off because they didn't belong there. The life
was going through the branches. They were going through those
who was united to the vine, to the branch, to the root, I mean. He said, but if you, who were
of a wild olive tree, and just using these as examples, were
grafted in, you weren't the original, you weren't the first ones I
dealt with. Remember, you were rejected all those years. But
if you are now being brought in, and now the union is being
shown to the root, Boasts not against the branches. Don't say,
well, ha, ha, ha, Jews are being cut off, but I'm being, you know,
don't be going around boasting against that. Says, but if thou
boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt
say then, the branches were broken off, that I might be grafted
in. Well, because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou
standest by faith. Be not high-minded with fear.
Why? Because your faith didn't come
by yourself. God gave you that faith. Just
like them, the ones of Israel that were still there within
the brand or within the group, they were there because God gave
them faith. The ones that were broken off
because God didn't give them faith. So you better be thankful
to God and not be boasting in yourself because you could be
cut off just like the others, not given faith. For if God spared
not the natural branches, take heed, lest he also spare not
thee. See, that's what it's talking about. Behold, therefore, the
goodness and severity of God on them which fail. Severity,
but towards thee goodness. If thou continue in his goodness
otherwise, thou also shalt be cut off. And they also, if they
abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in, for God
is able to graft them in again." So God's saying, listen, I can
bring anybody into this root that I want to bring into this
root. Now God's giving us an illustration here. God's not
doing this stuff in time, okay? God's made the decision of who
is part of this root before the foundation of the world. Jesus
is the root. We're united to Him before the foundation of
the world. God's given this as an illustration for us to understand
in our mind using physical things again to bring forth a spiritual
reality. God is saying if there's anyone
who of the Israelites are believing, it's because God has given them
faith to believe. The rest are cut off. If there's
any of the Gentiles that are believing, it's because God has
given them faith to believe and the rest of them are cut off.
The only ones who are tied to the root and becoming profitable
as far as producing fruit from the root are those who have been
given it by the gift of grace. And if you've been given it by
the gift of grace, you can't boast. You have no reason to
boast because it's not of your words, it's of God's. God did
that. He's the husbandman. He's the
one who is the vine dresser, the vine keeper, the branch keeper. He's the root. He's the one holy.
And the only reason you're holy is because He's holy. The only
reason you're considered righteous and faithful is because He was
righteous and faithful. The root supports the branches.
The branches don't support the root. That's what He's saying. He says, So what's God saying
there? He's saying, listen, I have caused
the blindness to be over these physical Israelites until the
fullness of the Gentiles come in. What is the fullness of the
Gentiles? Meaning all the elect out of
all the nations of the Gentile nations that God has before the
foundation of the world foreknew, predestinated to be conformed
to the image of Christ, the ones who are the called, right? The
elect of God. until all those have come in." And then he said,
when all those have come in, the fullness of the Gentiles
is brought in, then the remnant of the physical children of Israel
that still need to be elected, God will bring them in as well. Okay? That blindness is in part
has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles
become in. And so, And so, so what does that mean,
and so? In light of, in result of the fact that all the Gentiles
being brought in and all those of Israel, ethnic Israel being
brought in, Jew and Gentile of the elect, the called, the chosen,
the heirs, the joint heirs, the recipients of the promise, the
children of promise, the children of God, the beloved, Whatever
word you want to use that describes those people who God foreknew
before the foundation of the world and gave to Christ. He
said, whenever those of all the Gentiles and those of all the
Jews come together and are brought together by God, and so all Israel
shall be saved. Jesus was named Jesus because
of what? The Bible says you shall call
his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sin. There
shall come out of Zion a Deliverer who shall save his people from
their sin. What does verse 26 say? And so all Israel will be
saved. What all Israel? Ethnic Israel?
No! All the remnant of Israel who are the elect of God and
all of the Gentiles from all their nations who are the elect
of God will be brought in and they will all be saved as it
is written. there shall come out of Zion
the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is my covenant unto
them, when I shall take away their sins." Brethren, not just
the sins of the Jews, but the sins of the Gentiles. How is
it that all Israel shall be saved? It's not all ethnic Israel, it's
all spiritual Israel. Spiritual Israel will be all
saved. Not one will be lost. Jesus prayed.
All that you have given me, I have lost none. I have saved them
all. It is finished. It's all done. I've done it all for them. There's
nothing left to do. Everything has been purchased
for them. Everything has been provided
for them. Everything has been applied to them. They are the
recipients. The inheritance is theirs. They
are the children of God. Everything that I've done for
them, on behalf of them, as their substitute, as their surety,
they will receive everything that is them, but them only.
Of the Jew and of the Gentile, because there is no difference
between Jew and Gentile. All have been concluded under
sin, but all from every nation, tribe, tongue, have all been
redeemed. But it's only those who are foreknown,
the called. Is there any unrighteousness
in God? And in the end day, not all of Israel being saved ethnically? No, there's no unrighteousness
because God never intended for all of Israel ethnically, the
physical seed of Abraham, to be saved. It is only those who
are the spiritual seed of Abraham that will be saved. And we praise
God that even though we be Gentiles, we have been grafted in if we
be His. We don't boast in the fact that we've been saved. We
don't boast in the fact that the Jews are not receiving these
things at the moment. That doesn't mean, at least I
don't believe, that even though that there's this massive blindness
over the nation of Israel, the ethnic people of Israel, that
God's not saving people from among that ethnistic group as
time goes around. But right now the gospel is not
making a lot of inroads into Israel. I know people that go
over and preach the gospel in Israel and most of the time they're
attacked. It's because they don't believe that Messiah. They're
blinded to it. They don't know it. But will
God open up the eyes of ethnic Israel? Yes, and if he does,
they will be saved. But if he doesn't, they won't
be saved. And there is no guarantee that every one of them, head
for head, because they are ethnic Israel, are going to be saved.
There is a remnant, just like in every nation, there is a remnant.
All right, is anybody having questions, comments? Father, we thank you again for
this day, and we thank you for your word that you've given to
us, the gospel of Jesus Christ. We thank you for salvation, Father.
We know that we are not deserving of it, whether Jew or Gentile.
And that God is no respecter of persons in the fact that he
does not respect one nation over another, one people group over
another. He is a respecter of persons
in the fact that he has an elect from the foundation of the world,
shared his love upon and given to Christ, and Christ, as their
surety, has become their substitute and has become everything for
them, and that his righteousness has been given to them, their
sins have been placed upon him, and he has taken all of what
they owed in that, and that he has paid the price for them,
and their sins have been forgiven and been removed, and that his
righteousness is now laid to their claims. that all the inheritance
of who Christ is and what Christ has done is theirs, that, Lord,
one of these days we will all, Jew and Gentile, be glorified
with Christ Jesus whenever he comes. We're thankful for that,
Lord. We know we don't deserve it. So I pray, Lord, that this
has been encouraging to the children of God. I pray, Lord, that it
has been the truth as it is in Scripture. Father, again, I pray
that if I be in error, that you might correct me, that the Spirit
might teach and give me better understanding. of your word.
And Lord, I just pray that if it be the truth that it is been
edifying to your people, and again, as always, Lord, I pray
if there's any here today that is your people, that you might
give them grace, that you might give them repentance and faith
to the acknowledging of the truth, that they might confess Jesus
Christ publicly, that they might come forth for baptism that they
might become part of the local church here and that they might
join in the ministry of the church. Lord, I just pray that you might
save them in a physical way of bringing knowledge and understanding
to them, Lord. If they be yours, saved from
all eternity by union and by imputation, saved in time through
the finished work of Jesus Christ on their behalf as the basis
for that and the fulfillment of all that, Lord. But now, Lord,
we pray that you might bring them into the knowledge and understanding
and the confession of that. And it's all in Christ's name
that we pray these things.