We're in Romans 11. I'm going
to start at verse 16 again. You have a new outline. This
outline will begin to advance us down the line. Thank you. We'll be dealing with verses
11 through 25 strictly. We started off last week dealing
with the metaphor of the olive tree as the Apostle Paul deals
with it over in verse 17. you notice what it says and if
some of the branches be broken off and you being a wild olive
tree were grafted among them and with them partaker of the
root and fatness of the olive tree we started looking at that
concept of the olive tree for the last two weeks and I want
to just make sure that we can close out on that today we talked
about the olive tree with our previous outline in terms of
its general definition as it runs through the scripture. And
we said that the olive tree represents the witness, the witness. The olive tree is a testimony
of God's grace in the life of sinners. It's God's olive leaf. When the olive leaf is handed
out, God is or the olive leaf represents peace. It represents
a reconciliation. It represents a removal of guilt
and condemnation. It's a gesture of peace. And we saw the olive leaf in
Genesis chapter six through eight. After the flood of Noah's day,
the olive leaf was found by the dove. And so there's a correspondence
between the olive leaf and the dove. And the dove is a symbol
of the spirit of God, the spirit of grace, the spirit of mercy
and peace through Jesus Christ. And so When we are talking about
the work of the Holy Spirit, we are talking about the work
of witnessing as we deal with the metaphor of the olive tree. David said in Psalm 52, if you
guys remember, God has made me like a green olive tree in the
house of my God. And we have talked about the
significance of the trees. Trees are in the Bible from Genesis
to Revelation. The Bible opens up with trees
and the Bible closes with trees. And the tree is a metaphor for
mankind, for kingdoms. But the quintessential significance
of the tree is that it is a metaphor or symbol of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the tree of life. He is the way, the truth, and
the life. And except men come to that tree,
they'll perish. And this is why when Adam and
Eve fell in the garden, God took the cherubim and stood them.
before the tree of life and guarded the way to the tree. And so men
must come to the tree to live, but they must come the right
way. And the apostle is dealing with this metaphor of the olive
tree. And as we dealt with the olive tree, we started looking
at the specifics of the olive tree. In the Old Testament, the
olive tree was seen in Genesis It was also seen in the tabernacle.
We talked about the olive tree with respect to its application
to the candlestick. You guys remember that the olive
tree stood on both sides of the candlestick, the menorah in the
tabernacle and in the temple, both the first temple of Solomon
as well as the second temple in the days of Joshua, the high
priest. that is in the days of Zechariah and Habakkuk and Haggai
in the days of Nehemiah, Ezra and those guys and so the olive
tree is a means or source by which the candlestick is what? Illuminated. So what we saw when
we dealt with the olive tree in Zechariah chapter 4 Zechariah
was asked, do you understand what you see when you see the
two olive trees on either side of the candlestick? And he said
he didn't understand. And then the angel responded
by saying, not by power, nor by might, but by my what? Spirit, saith the Lord. What
he was being taught was that the illuminating work of the
menorah was a consequence of God's power being poured into
the menorah represented by that olive tree. You guys see that
right? And those same two olive trees
then made their way through the Old Testament into the book of
Revelation, Revelation chapter 11, where the two witnesses were
called two olive trees And those two witnesses refer to the New
Testament church. The church now is the witness. We are God's witness. The Bible
said in Acts chapter 1, tarry ye here at Jerusalem until you
be endued with power from on high, so shall you be my what? Witnesses in Judea, in Samaria,
and then the outermost parts of the world starting at Jerusalem.
And so the church now takes on the characteristic and the virtue
of both the olive tree and the candlestick we saw it in Revelation
chapter 1 where John turns to see the voice that spoke with
him and what he saw was seven golden candlesticks and the Son
of Man standing in the midst of those candlesticks and so
the message is very clear the New Testament Church has become
a the receptor or reservoir or means by which the olive tree
now has operation by which God's word is illuminated in the life
of the church. We then become partakers of the
olive tree. And this is what Paul is dealing
with now. He's actually commending the Gentiles, but he's also about
to explain to them the need for them to have a very clear understanding
of what's going on. We're over at verse 16 again.
for if the first fruits be holy, the lump is also holy, and if
the root be holy, so are the branches. Do you guys see that?
The apostle, I said this last week, he understood what he was
dealing with. And last week, I drew a horrible tree on the
board with its roots, and we talked about the roots, and we
talked about the tree, and we talked about the branches, and
the way that your outline describes this is given in our title, one
with them in him do you see that that's the title one with them
in him and then verse sixteen in your outline addresses from
different bible verses the fruit really it should be first fruits
the lump the root and the branches all of that is described in verse
sixteen for if the first fruit be holy the lump is also holy
and if the root be holy so are the branches. In other words,
it's talking about a unity of holiness based on the consummate
whole of the olive tree. And this is what's important
about what we, what Paul is dealing with. And I want you to grasp
this too, is that when Paul is arguing for the unity of holiness,
he is saying that to the Gentiles who are contemplating their distinction,
between them and the Jews in relationship to this olive tree.
Paul is saying, I want you to know the root, the tree, the
branches, the fruit, all of this is holy. And what that means
is there's no distinction. And we started talking last week
about this concept of holiness, and we're gonna get into it just
in terms of the context, in terms of the metaphor here of the olive
tree. And last week I described for us three aspects of holiness,
didn't I? I said holiness is first of all
being set apart. You guys remember that? When
something is holy, something is set apart. And when God consecrates
something and makes it holy, it's because he sets it apart.
Whether that be an inanimate thing like a vessel or the temple
called the holy temple, or whether it be the people of God who were
called the holy people of God, he set them aside for himself. And then after setting them aside,
what he did was to wash them. When a thing is holy, it is first
set apart, then it is washed or purified. It is cleansed of
its contaminants, of its prior unholy state. So when a thing
is holy, it's set apart, it's cleansed, and then what was the
third thing we said? Used. The holy vessels of God
are vessels that are used. This is how you know you're holy. You're holy when God has set
you apart, when God has washed you and when God has begun to
use you. And in fact, in the larger redemptive
sense, no believer is satisfied with merely being set apart and
merely being washed. All believers want to be used. That's a certain drive in the
heart of every child of God, because you lived your whole
life not being used of God. You lived all your sinful life
being on the sidelines in terms of the kingdom of God. Now that
God has called you by his grace and saved you by his spirit and
placed you in the kingdom, now you want to be used. Isn't that
true? And so what the apostle Paul is actually saying in an
inadvertent way is that the Gentiles have been brought into the service
of the kingdom of God, having been made part of the very olitary
analogy that runs through all of scripture. And so as he talked
about the first fruits, remember, we dealt with that last week,
the first fruit. And this is actually going to
get into the particulars of his argument. to stave off flawed
assumptions about the distinction between Jews and Gentiles. I
want to go over this again, the first fruits principle. If you
and I were to use a concordance and to look up the word first
fruits, you'd find the principle of first fruits given all the
way back in the book of Exodus. All the way back in the book
of Exodus, in Exodus 12, God talked about when you come into
the land, I want you to give me the first fruits of everything
that you have. So God was teaching Israel the
first fruits principle. Now the first fruits principle
simply means a couple of things. One is source. When we give God the first fruits,
we are acknowledging that God is the source of all of the blessings
that we have. You guys got that? When we give
God the first fruits of everything that we have, we are acknowledging
that God is the source of everything that we have. That's all we're
doing. We're not paying taxes to God. When we give God the first fruits,
we are simply acknowledging that we are only giving to you that
which you gave to us. And that's what God was disciplining
Israel with, with the first fruits principle that ultimately ended
up being what we deal with today is the word tithe, the first
fruit principle in terms of the tithe. But it also meant not
only that God was the source of it, but that there would be
also a harvest. Remember that? Harvest if I give
a first fruits of the the produce of my land Would it whether it
be wheat or lentil or bean or what have you? The way God had
disciplined Israel and we're going to go to Leviticus chapter
23 You can turn there now the way God disciplined Israel was
to tell them to give a first fruits In order to trust God
for the harvest Now the harvest was the total in gathering of
all the fruit that was brought in. I God said, give me the first fruits
and the trust me for the harvest. Now we're going to bring this
to its crystal centric and redemptive interpretation because everything
is about Jesus Christ. This is not really about you
and me and carnal earthly blessings. This is not a negotiating plan
for economic preservation. This is not about trying to con
God and giving you more money because you give him 10%. Please
understand all of that is alien to the scriptures. It's very
alien to the scriptures. You can't manipulate God. not
the true and the living God. So when God was training his
people under that pedagogical system of the law, he was trying
to teach them spiritual realities, but they got stuck in what we
call the pragmatic elements of the Old Testament system. And
they thought that they could deal with God as an autocrat.
If they give God his taxes, then God will bless them. And that's
how a lot of folk think today. that if they just give their
time, they've done their duty and God ought to bless them.
When you think like that, what that means is, is you don't know
God. God wasn't relating to Israel
merely to renumerate with them on a business model. He was teaching
them larger spiritual truth. He was teaching them how to operate
in the fullness of who he was and to trust him and then to
look through those temporary things to the larger reality.
So in Leviticus chapter 23, what we are dealing with is a feast
that the Lord had instructed Israel to observe. There were three major feasts
that Israel had to observe, the Feast of Passover, the Feast
of Pentecost, and then the Feast of Ingathering. alternate names to them as well.
But the Feast of Passover was the feast in which our Lord was
crucified. He was crucified on Passover
day. In the Feast of Passover, it was combined with what was
called the Feast of Leaven. And then there was what we call
a Feast of First Fruits. Notice what it says over in Leviticus
chapter 23. Just to help us, Leviticus 23
verse 9. And the Lord spake unto Moses saying, speak unto the
children of Israel and saying to them, when you come into the
land, which I give unto you and you shall reap the harvest thereof,
then you shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits. Do you see
that? Then you shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest
unto me. Now there is in the harvest a
first fruits, a, an initial upspringing of the harvest. They were to
take a sheep, a sheep was a bundle. We don't know the amount of the
bundle, but it was a sheep, a sheep. Now the sheep was a bundle of
the raw wheat, the raw wheat. It was scooped up and it was
to be taken. And it was to be offered as a
first fruit. Notice what it says. Your harvest
unto the priest you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of
your harvest to the priest now listen to what it says and He
shall wave the sheaf Before the Lord to be accepted for you on
the morrow after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it so you
took your firstfruits and you gave it to the priest and The
priest took it and waved it before the Lord Now all of this appears
to be empty ceremonialism unless you understand the gospel. When
you understand the gospel, what you understand is, as I said
earlier, that the priest was mediating in the behalf of the
people because the people were taught you can't come to God
except through a mediator. And the priest represents the
mediator between man and God, the man Jesus Christ. So Jesus
Christ is taking that which the people give to him and offering
it to God. And what he's saying to God is
accept this gift, which you actually gave to them initially for my
sake. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
Because there's nothing that you and I can give to God that
God will accept, except it be given to God through Christ.
And it must be something that God had required and told us
to give, not something of our own hands. If you remember, Cain
tried to give of the fruit of the ground to God and got rejected
it because Cain didn't believe the gospel. And so God says,
no, I'm not accepting it because you're not coming my way. And
so the priests were to mediate before the people and they took
the raw wheat and waved it before God. We call this a wave offering.
You see folk do this in religion today. Now it goes on to say
over in, um, verse 15, uh, verse 11, verse 11, and he shall wave
the sheep before the Lord. We already, we already got that.
Look over at verse 15 through verse 17. This is the last phase
of it. There was the first fruit. There
was the offering of the sheep and it goes on to say, and you
shall count on to you from the moral after the Sabbath, from
the day that you brought the sheep of the wave offering, seven
Sabbaths shall be completed. That's seven weeks. That means
after 49 days in the 50th day, you're supposed to do something
else. So 49 days prior to this next
execution of obedience, we had the wave offering of the sheave,
just the raw wheat. 49 days plus one is what we call
what? 50 days. We are dealing now with
what we call what? Pentecost, right? So something happened back 49
days earlier with regards to the wheat being waved before
God called the first fruits that corresponds to the death, burial,
and resurrection of Jesus. Are you guys able to hear what
I'm saying? Meaning, remember I told you, you can't have wheat
unless you sow the seed into the ground. And once you sow
the seed into the ground, the seed dies and it bears forth
much fruit. And when the seed bears forth
fruit, you take the first fruits and offer it to God. The first
fruits represented the resurrection of Jesus. Are you hearing me? The first fruits represented
Jesus' resurrection. We're getting ready to develop
this. And then 49 days later on that 50th day, we're about
to have something else take place. Now, 49 days before Pentecost,
we are dealing with Passover. I told you a few minutes ago,
Passover was the precise same day Jesus was crucified in A.D. 33. What am I saying? I'm saying
the Old Testament Levitical system had a larger crystal centric
interpretation. Everything they did pointed to
the person and work of Jesus. Am I making some sense now? Okay,
so there was a wave offering of the first fruits at the resurrection
and that Constituted something we'll develop that here in a
moment, but 50 days later notice what it says Verse 16 even unto
tomorrow after the seventh Sabbath show you number 50 days and you
shall offer a new meal offering unto the Lord you shall bring
out of your habitation two wave loaves of two-tenth deals. They shall be a fine flour. They
shall be baked with leaven. They are the first fruits unto
the Lord. Do you see that? What has just
happened? Here's what happened. After the
initial harvest called the first fruits, there was a waving of
the sheaves. Between the waving of the sheaves
50 days later, the priest was to take that wheat, grind it
up into fine flour, turn it into dough, which corresponds to the
lump that Paul was talking about. You guys got that? Which corresponds
to the lump that Paul was talking about, by which you make the
bread. So in order to get the bread,
you got to start with a seed. Who is that seed? That seed has
to go down and die. We're talking about his crucifixion.
His resurrection produces a harvest. The first fruits of that harvest,
we've talked about it before, but we'll talk about it again
tonight. Down the line, that first fruit, or those sheaves,
are ground and purified, turned into dough, and actually baked
and made into two loaves of bread. You guys got that? And then the
high priest is to take those two loaves of bread and offer
them to God in recognition of God's mercy of producing all
the harvest for Israel for the whole year. See what the priest
understood and what the people understood was that God was dealing
with Israel in terms of an agricultural system to typify and point to
the sustenance that believers receive in the person of Christ. See, they totally lived on the
agricultural system in the Old Testament, like a bunch of country
folks do still. Country folk who raise cattle
and raise corn and raise wheat depend on God to bless the harvest. Isn't that true? They know intimately
that unless God blesses the harvest, it won't be blessed. They also
know that the harvest is the Lord's. They also know that God
has to give seed to the sower so that that seed given to the
sower can be sown in order for him to have bread for the eater.
So we're talking about a full loop system that we recognize
comes from who? From God. And this is all talking
about the grace of God that's given to sinners in Jesus Christ.
The time then in the Old Testament was merely a tutoring tool to
teach the people of God that everything that they receive
came from God, whether it was the first fruit. or whether it
was the harvest, it came from God. Am I putting you to sleep
right now? Well, this is what the Old Testament
saints were learning, and this is how they comprehended the
gospel. They integrated the whole of their life into this process
by which they were able to comprehend free grace, the mercy of God
given to them as typified by the agricultural system. So look
at it one more time before we move forward and look at the
New Testament application. Verse 17, you shall bring out
of your habitation two wave loaves of two tenth deals. They shall
be a fine flour. They shall be baked with leaven.
They are the first fruits unto the Lord. So we move from Passover
to Pentecost. And now we go to the New Testament.
Go with me in your Bible again to the book of Romans, chapter
uh, 15. And I want you to hear how the
apostle Paul makes the connection between the old Testament feasts
that was offered up by the priest and his ministry under the gospel,
particularly in relationship to the Gentiles. I'm in Romans
chapter 15. Now I want you to hear how Paul
views himself as the, one of the priests in the ministry of
the gospel and the Gentiles being represented by the lows that
he offers up. I'm in Romans 15. I'm going to
start at. I'll just read. Yeah, I better
start at verse 14. And I myself also am persuaded
of you speaking to the Romans, my brethren, that you also are
full of goodness, filled with all knowledge. and able to admonish
one another. Nevertheless, brethren, I have
written a more boldly unto you in some sort as putting you in
mind because of the grace that is given to me of God. Now he's
getting ready to explain that grace that was given to him.
That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to whom? The
Gentiles. Watch this now. Ministering the
gospel of God. that the offering up of the Gentiles
might be acceptable being sanctified by the Holy Ghost. Now, will
you watch this? When Paul says that the offering
up of the Gentiles might be acceptable through sanctification of the
Holy Ghost, he's referring back to those two wave lows. See,
the two wave lows represent the church. We are the byproduct
of the death burial and resurrection of Jesus. Am I making some sense?
We are the consequence of Christ being the one seed that falls
into the ground. And you and I are offered up
and made acceptable only through the ministry of the gospel. Notice
then what Paul says. Paul says, God made me a minister
of the gospel and I labor in such a way preaching the gospel
of God so that the offering up of the Gentiles might be what? Acceptable. You know what that
means? If you are under a false gospel, if you're being taught
wrong, your offering, your service is not acceptable with God. The
only way you and I are made acceptable with God is under the blessings
of the truth of the gospel. God views his ministers as it
were New Testament priests. And the loaves represent the
fruit of their ministry. See, we're not talking literal
bread now. We're talking about the fruit
of Jesus Christ in the salvation of sinners. You and I now become
the first fruits. Am I making some sense? You and
I now becomes the product and byproduct of Christ's death on
Calvary street. But this is how it works. His
death does not automatically produce the fruit. It produces
it as the gospel of his death, burial, and resurrection is preached
to sinners. Men and women hear that message,
and they themselves are affected by the death of Christ, being
brought into union with Christ in his death, and then being
raised again by the power of the Spirit of God. And the whole
aggregate becomes either the first fruits, or the two loaves,
or the full harvest. See, God's still waiting for
his harvest. And the harvest concept is the
end of time, is it not so? So what happens in between what
happened at Passover, the death, burial, resurrection of Christ,
and what happened at Pentecost, which was the offering up of
the first fruits represented by the early church. Remember,
we said the early church, that first century church, that nucleus
of the New Testament church, they were the first fruits. Am
I making some sense? I just want you to see it now.
Look over in chapter 16. Look at chapter 16. I think they
said it again in verse five, and I want us to see a few verses
before we move forward. The apostle Paul didn't have
a problem making mention of, again, we said Priscilla and
Aquila in verse three, greet Priscilla and Aquila, my helpers
in Christ, who have for my life laid down their own neck unto
whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of
the what? Gentiles. So here these Jews
are corresponding like Naomi to help rule. You guys remember
that, right? Likewise, greet the church that
is in their house. So Priscilla and Aquila have
a church in their home. They're preaching the gospel
in their home. And by the way, they have an
understanding of the gospel because they were the ones who straightened
out Apollos. Remember that? So now notice
what it says. Likewise, greet them. greet the
church that's in their house, salute my well-beloved Eponidas,
who is the first fruit of Achaia unto Christ. In Paul's mind,
when the gospel went to Achaia, now Achaia is the regions of
Corinth, men and women hearing the message of the gospel were
saved, he saw them as part of the first fruit. In his mind,
he sees the church in its early stage, in his first fruits manifestation. That means every sinner that
hears the message and bows in need of Christ and receives him
as Lord is a first fruits type. Am I making some sense? Now,
let me say it also like this. In a real sense, all of us who
are truly born again are a first fruits type. We talked about
this, didn't we? Back up to Romans chapter eight.
I want you to see this. Now, some of you say, well, pastor,
you already talked about this, but I need to talk about it again
because we've got about 25 or 30 people here who have never
heard these things. That's why I back up and say
a lot of things repeatedly. Secondly, I do it because Paul
said for me to repeat the same things is not burdensome, but
for you, it's salvation. And the third reason I do it
is because most of y'all slow and you don't get it the first
time. No way. All right. So we're Romans chapter 8. And
the fifth reason why I do it is because the scripture says
reproof of instructions are the way of life. You know, when you
teach somebody well, you have taught them the basics over and
over and over and over again. You have taught them the basics
so well that they've gotten past the presumption of knowing them.
Because, you know, when you think you know them, you really don't
know them. And then they've gotten past the tedious tiresomeness
of having heard it all over again. they've entered into that phase
of appreciating hearing the same truth over and over again now
they got it are you hearing what I'm saying now they got it because
the Bible is very clear that what you don't use you what now
I know that's a earthly vernacular but the Bible says to him that
hath more shall be given but to him that hath not even that
which he hath Shall be taken away. We talk about the takeaway
principle all the time. If you're not serious about what
jesus gave you you'll lose it and so we read in romans chapter
8 where paul is dealing with the uh, the ministry of the spirit
of god in the life of god's people and we start over again at verse
um verse uh 19 for the earnest expectation of the creature or
the creation that is this world waits for the manifestations
of the sons of god is that true Now here's what Paul said, and
this is a mystery. The whole universe is waiting for the harvest. That is the ultimate ingathering
of all God's elect from every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue
from all over the world, from the beginning of time to the
end of time. When the last of God's elect
are brought in, the whole harvest is it. Jesus is not scratching
his head wondering who's going to be the last one except him.
I just want you to know that. We sit up and talk like that,
but God knows everyone that is his. And he also knows the last
second and last moment when the gospel will be preached and a
soul will say yes to Christ. And when that soul says yes to
Christ, God can come again and bring his harvest in. Am I making
some sense? So what's going on here is the
ministry of the spirit of God corresponding with the ailing
of this universe, because our world is under sin. You know
that, right? I'm talking about our physical inanimate creation. There are cracks in this world
that if you were on a on the moon, you could look over here
and you think, you know, this was an egg is broken in so many
places. We have earthquakes and tornadoes
and hurricanes and the tectonic plates under the oceans are shifting
all the time. And the Bible says right before
Jesus comes, men's hearts will be felling them for the things
that are coming upon the earth. Right now, because we were so
smart, we can look out into the galaxies. We are just startled
at the wars that are going on out there with the meteors. And
we marvel at the fact that while many of these showers of meteors
run close to the earth, none of them actually hit the earth.
So you don't believe in intelligent design. I do. You hear what I'm saying? I know
that there's a God who has determined to preserve this particular hemisphere,
this particular galaxy from judgment until he has saved his people.
But since you want to look out there, little puny man, God's
going to let you see this thing is under judgment. And there's
a massive war out there. And so the Bible said the whole
creation grows and travails together until now, waiting for the manifestation
of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject
to vanity, verse 20, not willingly, but by reason of him who had
subjected the same in hope, because the creature itself that is this
universe shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into
the glorious liberty of the sons of God now watch what he says
for we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together
until now does it and not only they that is the creation but
ourselves which have what the first fruits of the spirit remember
what we said You and I are experiencing what we call the first fruits
of Christ's death, burial and resurrection in that you and
I have been privileged to receive the Holy Spirit. Now, the Holy
Spirit is God himself. So I want to say this again,
when you receive the spirit, you receive initially everything. It's not like you just got a
little bit of what God has for you. To have God is to have everything. The Holy Spirit was the same
spirit who was in the beginning when this world was created,
putting order and structure and purpose, teleos, in our study
on systematic theology, to this whole universe. It's the Spirit
of God who garnished the heavens. The Spirit of God, right now,
sustaining this creation. It's the Spirit of God that sustains
all human beings. Isn't that true? He is the God
of all flesh and he is the father of spirits. And it's the spirit
of God sustaining all these things through Jesus Christ by God,
the father, you and I have God in us operating, controlling
and guiding us as the promissory note. And this is what we talked
about last week, the down payment to the full purchase possession. And what that means is God promises
us more to come, which corresponds to the harvest. are the end gathering
and the culmination of all things when Jesus Christ come. So he
gives us that down payment, that promissory note, which is called
the spirit of God, but it's also called the first fruits of the
spirit. What does that mean? That means
that when he made us born again, that was his initial work as
a reward for the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. You
and I are the first fruits. We are the beginning of the new
creation. Is that what the Bible says? We are the beginning of
the new creation. I think I told you this before.
I've said it for years. And it's important that you get
in the old creation. God created the heavens and the
earth first. On the sixth day, he created man in the new creation. God creates man first. And then
when he comes again, he creates the new heavens in the new earth.
Right now, you and I are part of the pinnacle of God's new
creation. And that new creation is Christ. If any man be in Christ, he's
a what? See, Christ is the beginning of the creation. That is the
new creation of God. So he did the exact reverse in
this new redemptive scheme that he did in the first creation.
And what's important about this is that is this is this is that
the man or the woman that's going to get in on going to heaven
and being part of glory must first be in Christ. You must
first be a partaker of the spirit of God. You must first become
part of the first fruit of his ministry. Am I making some sense?
So let me say it again. We're going to look at a couple
of the verses. We're going to move forward. Now notice what he says. And
not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruit
of the spirit, even we grown within ourselves, waiting for
what the adoption to wit the redemption of our what, what
that means is in my soul, I've been born again in my spirit.
I've been quickened. In my spirit and soul, I'm united
to Christ by faith. The spirit of God, which is a
quickening spirit, has made me alive again in Christ. But my
body is dead because of sin. That's Romans 8 verse 10. What
that means is, even though Christ bought me lock, stock and barrel,
body and soul, isn't that what the Bible says? You are not your
own, 1 Corinthians chapter 6. You've been bought with a price.
Therefore glorify God in your what? Bodies, which are his.
But my body is limited in its capacity to do what God wants
you to do because of sin. Therefore, I am waiting for my
body to experience what we call the glorification so that it
might be compatible with the soul that's in me that yearns
to worship God uninhibited. Am I making some sense now? So
you and I are in it in at least a two stage process. We are born
of God. citizens of heaven, quickened
by his spirit, united with Christ, but we're still in a body that
has yet to experience any of those dynamics. So we walk by
faith and not by sight. And this is why, as we said before,
and you need to get this, this is the reason why when you really
say, I really want folk to see Jesus in me, he ain't going to
see Jesus in you. I want I want I want people to
see Jesus in there They didn't see Jesus in Jesus
Jesus walked in and out of this world and nobody saw him He came
unto his own and his own received him not every time he tried to
tell him they wouldn't believe it Isn't that right? You know
why because the word was made flesh and and the glory was veiled
intentionally so that in his humility he could redeem sinners
being made like unto them. And what the self-righteous person
does, stumbling at their own assumptions about how Christ
should look and what Christ should do, they miss the Son of God
because he was too humble for them. And the Bible tells us
in Philippians chapter 2 verses 5 and following, let this mind
be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who made himself
of no reputation. He didn't think it robbery to
be equal with God. He was, but he didn't make that
an issue. That's why whenever he went where
he went preaching and teaching, he said, keep it quiet. Remember
that? Because it wasn't about him.
It was about his father. He didn't come to glorify himself.
He came to glorify his father. And when he cast out devils,
he said, shut up. You guys remember that? And he
set that up as a model for his gospel church. We walk in the
humility of Christ. See, this is not about us being
glorified. So when folk want to be on TV,
had a names and lights and names on the books and names on the
CDs and names on the DVDs, that's not after Christ. Not at all. Did you guys hear what I just
said? Not at all. You would have never saw Jesus
doing that, nor his disciples. But you see, we got caught up
in the Antichrist system. In the Antichrist system, it's
all about us. So you see the man or the woman's
picture on everything. Do you know that God made it
so that you don't even know what Jesus looks like? How humbling. And I know he was glorious. And yet, because it wasn't about
the flesh, God gave us no physical descriptions of Jesus except
for that which occurred at his sufferings. And then he told
us, when you see that, you won't even look until you come to see
that you need that suffering servant as your substitute to
deliver you from your sins. Am I making some sense? And so
he became obedient even unto the death of the cross being
made in the form of a man being found in fashion as a man he
humbled himself he was just a man to the carnal eyes just a man
his glory was veiled and so this is why john says in first john
chapter three beloved now are we the sons of god that's what
he said i believe that do you Now are we the sons of God, but
it doth not yet appear what we shall be. You know what he said?
So now hold on now. I'm the son of God, but I don't
appear that way. You don't either. I know sometimes
you think you look like an angel, but you don't. Please listen
to me. Please listen to me. You look
just like the same sinful person you were before God saved you.
And on some days you look real bad. Isn't that true? Just tell
the truth now. Why? Because God has called us
to walk by faith and not by sight. And what God is using to save
sinners is a message by which men or women with the eye of
faith are to look to Christ and not to you. And the devil works
the exact opposite. The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians
11, he's an angel of light. The Bible tells us that he is
called the dragon, the ancient serpent. And when you understand
that Middle Eastern Oriental imagery, he is beautiful. He is mesmerizing. He is awesome. He is hypnotizing. He is this
magnificent, elaborate serpent with multiple colors. The Bible
says in Ezekiel chapter 28 that the stones on Satan were so glorious
that it even caused him to be proud of how he looked. That's
what made him fall. Men and women get caught up in
the appearance of things. But the appearance of things
is deceitful. I'm going to talk about that
a little bit here in a moment. What I'm trying to get you to
understand is when you're walking by faith and you're operating
in the spirit and you're doing what God is calling you to do,
you're not operating on the same level as this physical earthly
carnal world. You do know that this physical
earthly carnal world, it looks at all of its commodities in
terms of appearances. Isn't that right? See feel touch
smell and hear the five senses the empirical dynamics of this
world. That's not the way the kingdom of God works It never
has and it never will and so now I want you to see that Paul
going going back to Romans chapter 11 now because I strayed a good
little bit I want to go ahead on and get us back down. Of course
Paul says that the first fruits are all believers and they are
waiting for the harvest and he he tells the Gentile Church if
the first fruits be holy the lump is holy and If the lump
is holy the root is holy rather the branches are holy verse 16
In your outline we have the root Again, if I were dealing with
the tree, what do we say that root was? That root is Christ
We had identified the olive tree as As the gospel promise given
to Abraham, remember that the gospel promise given to Abraham.
Given to Abraham, that is the olive tree. Abraham was told
that he would be the father of a multitude of nations in that
what the Bible says, Abraham, I'm going to bless you and I'm
going to bless your seed. And because of your seed, all
the nations of the earth would be blessed. That was the promise
that God gave to Abraham. Is that right? This is the promise
that we're dealing with right now. The Gentiles were brought
into that promise by virtue of the seed that God had told Abraham
would multiply the earth. Who is that seed? That seed is
Christ. Isn't that what Galatians says?
The seed is Christ. I think we're dealing with Galatians
chapter three and Galatians chapter four. My point is, is that this
olive tree analogy has a root and that root is Christ. That
root is not Abraham. That root is Christ. The promise
was Christ to Abraham. The promise was Christ to Isaac
and Jacob. The promise was Christ to the
12 tribes and the promise was Christ to us as Gentiles. Keep
your hand here and go with me to Galatians 3. I want you to
see that. In Galatians 3, the Apostle Paul
makes this very plain. And he has a reason for saying
this as he speaks to the Gentiles. And I'm simply taking my time
developing this so that the analogy of the olive tree won't escape
you. I'm in Galatians chapter 3. And I want us to see what the
Bible says here over in verse 13 and 14. Are we there? And
then we'll see it again over in verse 16. Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law. You believe that? Be made a curse
for us, for it is written, curse it is everyone that hangs on
the tree. Now notice verse 14. It opens up with what we call
a purpose clause that in order that the blessings of Abraham
see it. Wait a minute. The death of Christ
on Calvary's tree has something to do with the blessings of Abraham. You mean the seed analogy that
we were talking about about 20 minutes ago, except the seed
fall into the ground and die. It abides alone. And that seed
was Christ and that death was Calvary. He became a curse for
us. Is that what we're talking about
here? So that seed goes into the ground and it dies. And the
Bible says as a consequence of his death on Calvary Street,
he now is effecting the promise given to Abraham. Look at it
again. I want you to see this. This
is quite interesting. That the blessing of Abraham might come
on the what? Now the Gentiles are the primary
subjects we're dealing with. Isn't that right? Now listen
to the blessing. that the blessing of Abraham
might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ. Do you see it?
Now watch this now. The blessing that God gave to
Abraham was designated to come to the Gentiles through Christ. You got it? The blessing that
was given to Abraham called this olive tree is given to the Gentiles
who themselves become part of the branches, right? but it comes
through the root. Who is that root? You got it. Now listen to what it says. That
the blessings of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through
Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the what? Through what? Now see, this is
part and parcel of what I was saying when I said earlier, when
you and I received the spirit of God, what we had received
was the first fruits of the whole inheritance, we have received
the promise that God had actually told to Abraham would come on
the Gentiles. Actually, the Spirit of God is
the blessing. You know, you've heard this so
much in theology and in preaching, the blessings of Abraham, the
blessings of Abraham, the blessings of Abraham. What are the blessings
of Abraham given to the Gentiles? The Spirit of God. That was the
promise that Jesus said, tarry at Jerusalem until you receive
the promise of my father, which I told you. Am I making some
sense? So please bear in mind that what
God had told Abraham in that he would be the father of a multitude
of nations could only come to pass when the seed of Abraham
came And that seed was who? Christ. That seed then had to
go into the ground and what? Die. And then after its death,
it would rise again and bear forth much what? Fruit. As a
consequence of him being preached in every nation, kindred, tribe,
and tongue. And the Spirit of God honoring
the death, burial, and resurrection, and saving the lives of those
who believe. Am I making some sense? So what
Paul really is emphasizing to the Gentiles is You know that
you have entered into the blessings of Abraham because you've been
saved You've been made a partaker of the Spirit of God I want you
to see this over in verse 16 because he reinforces this now
to Abraham and his seed Were the promises made do you see
that? He said not and to seeds as of many but as a what one
and two your seed which is what there you go now see for me i
love to hear this because it does two things it reaffirms
what god intended to do from the beginning And then it continues
to burn up the chaff of false notions that we all try to engage
in in this 21st century. And that is we're looking for
something else other than what God meant to give us, which was
Christ and the spirit of God by Christ. Are you hearing what
I'm saying? See, once you start being excited
about temporal earthly material things and not excited about
what God's excited about, you've been distracted by the devil.
Am I making some sense? See, for God, the whole shebangle
is about his son. And the purpose of the spirit,
who is God himself as well, is all about glorifying the sun. And an aspect of the glory of
the sun is the salvation of sinners for whom Christ died. We then
are a partaker of the spirit of God and made to be first fruits
as a result of the root. All right, let's go on and see
if we can make that good. Go back to our text. Paul made sure he
dealt with this language and this metaphor of the unity, the
unity of holiness, because he wanted the Gentiles to understand
that their participation in the gospel age was no small matter. Verse 17 of chapter 11. Are we
there? Now, if some of the branches be broken off. Are you there
with me? If some of the branches be broken
off, who are those branches? Are you sure? All right, good. I love it when you're sure, because
it means you've learned something. The branches, and it says some
of the branches. Now the branches are not the
root and the branches are not the trunk. The branches are not
the tree, they're just the branch. The branches that were cut off
were the unbelieving Jews, right? Now notice what Paul says, and
if some of the branches be broken off and you, who's he talking
about now? Right, being a wild olive tree,
Watch this, were grafted in, do you see that? So some branches
were out and that was the nation of Israel. Remember we said that
the stewardship was taken from them, right? And some branches
were in. Now you have some branches who
were always in, who weren't taken out because the text said only
some of the branches were taken out. Isn't that right? So the
branches that weren't taken out originally were the branches
of those who believed among the Jews, right? Peter, James, John,
Mary, Martha, and all those folks. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
They believed the gospel. They trusted Christ. They waited
on the Lord Jesus. These are the branches that are
still in the trunk, still connected to the root. This is what Jesus
meant in John 15. I'm the true bond. You are the
you're the branches every branch that bears fruit. My father what
purges it that it might bear more fruit the branches that
don't bear fruit get what cut off. That's what he's talking
about. Now some of those branches were cut off and put in their
place. We're Gentiles. Isn't that what
he's saying? But now let's keep this keep
the analogy tight now. Just as all of the Gentiles weren't
cut off. I mean, sorry, all the Jews weren't
cut off. All the Gentiles weren't engrafted in. Am I making some
sense? So this is what we call the sum
process. S.O.M.E. Understand God never
meant to save everybody. Are you hearing me? He didn't
mean to save a few. He meant to save many. But he
didn't save all. He saved some, like he saved
some among the Jews, and he's saving some among the Gentiles,
and they are all part of the same tree. You guys see that
listen to the language how the apostle puts this I like this
and we'll see this in our outline verse 17 together for the gospel
and if some of the branches be broken off and you being a wild
olive tree were grafted in that verb there for grafted in means
to be pierced and to cut if you were grafted in and you were
grafted in by a hard process listen to it listen to it now
grafted in among them do you see that among who the believing
jews You guys got that? Now, the reason why I'm stressing
this is this. Because as I'm talking to you, I hear a lot
of arguments in my head. A lot of theological arguments.
I hear a lot of positions and I hear a lot of doctrines because
I've been around for a while. So in my head, I'm hearing a
lot of doctrines. One of the doctrines I hear is this sort
of ad hominem attack against the church by those who are pro-Jewish
and they would despise and reject the idea that the New Testament
church recognizes that it is the Israel of God. They would
reject and despise the idea that somehow we can take on to ourselves
a relationship to Abraham. Well, the Bible says that we
are Abraham's children. Isn't that what it says? The
Bible says that we are Abraham's sons. If you be Christ, then
you are Abraham's seed and heirs of the promise. The Bible says
that I'm a peculiar person and that we are peculiar people.
The Bible says that we are the people of God. The Bible says
we are the circumcision. We are the circumcision. The
Bible says that we are the true Jews. You know what the Bible
says? And so all of those wonderful superlatives that apply to Israel
in the Old Testament apply now to us in the New Testament because
we are the stewards of the very gospel that was taken from them.
Now, having said that, what we are not saying is this. Because
God has recognized the New Testament church as part of the commonwealth
and therefore are called children of God and are heirs of the promise
that Abraham received through Christ, it does not mean that
we have rejected the nation of Israel, that we have rejected
Jews. They use a term among the pro-Jewish
constituents called replacement theology. You may not know that,
but this is the term they use. It's a derogatory term meant
to startle you who would even take on the idea that somehow
you have become the Jewish church in the New Testament age. Replacement
theology is a bad doctrine. It doesn't have any connection
or correlation to what Christ accomplished. See, we didn't
replace Israel. We fulfilled Israel. Will you hear what I just said?
We didn't replace Israel. We fulfilled Israel. Israel did
its part from 1500 BC in the days of Moses to the coming of
Christ. Now we're doing our part from
the days of Christ till Jesus comes again. And both the old
and the new make up the consummate of the church of God. Am I making
some sense? So then if I were to draw the
picture again and to establish what you are seeing I think it's
over in verse 18 or 19. It says that we have a tree with
its roots and those roots represent Christ. Then we have branches
on one side and we have branches on the other side. Do you guys
see that? But now notice if on one side we have branches And
let's say those branches are the Jews who are the physical
descendants of Abraham. And then on this side, we have
what? Gentiles. Do you see anywhere in that analogy
where the Gentiles are cutting off the Jews? You don't see it,
do you? What you actually see is that
Jewish constituency that believed, and we're gonna get into that
in a moment, are still in the tree, aren't they? But over on
this end, the Gentiles have now been included. Isn't that right?
Now, that would seem to tell me that if the whole tree was
the promise given to Abraham, and that in the process of time,
God takes branches from a wild tree and connects them to this
tree, that it was God's purpose to fill up this tree in that
process. In other words, we along with
the Jewish believers fill up the purposes of God in the redemption
of sinners. We call this fulfillment theology. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
We call it fulfillment theology. And this is why Paul said in
Romans chapter four, Abraham is the father of a multitude
of nations of both Jews and Gentiles. And that's why when God saved
Abraham, he saved him as a what? Gentile. In order to foreshadow
the bringing in of the Gentiles. Though his own prodigy would
be part of the circumcision, so that the Jews would be those
who would come in first, being the vehicle by which Christ came
in, yet the Gentiles were coming in all along with them. Haven't
we talked about that under the whole Old Testament dispensation
all along the way? God was saving a handful of Gentiles
In order to let us know he had always intended to save some
Gentiles Then when Christ was crucified died rose again as
he said in John chapter 10 verse 16 Other sheep have I that are
not of this fall. They also I must bring in and
there will be one foal not two And one shepherd, isn't that
what he said? That's what he's doing right
now. So here's what I say to you. Jesus doesn't have two wives. He doesn't have two women. He
doesn't have two bodies. Do you hear what I'm saying?
He has one bride, one wife, one body, one people, not two people. We are all Jew and Gentile part
of this olive tree. Isn't that what Paul is saying?
All right, let's go on. I've just got a few more things
to say. We'll wrap this up. Notice what he goes on to say. Now,
this is interesting. He says, now, if some of the
branches were broken off and you being a wild olive tree were
grafted in among them and with them partaker of the what? Root.
Who is the root? And fatness. What is the fatness? The Holy Ghost. Isn't that what
we learn? Write that down, make sure you
get that. Isn't the fatness the Holy Ghost? Didn't the olive
tree say to the trees of the field in Judges 9, verse 9, now
why should I leave my fatness, which blesses man and God, to
come rule over you knuckleheads? Remember that? The fatness is
the fullness of the resources of the Spirit of God that operates
in the life of the church. to help us get the job done of
sinners being saved and sanctified and secured for glory. Did you
guys get that? The fatness of the olive tree
is the oil that pours into the lamp that gives illumination
to the lamp by which men see the witness and are drawn to
Christ. Without the fatness, there's
no illumination. Without the illumination, there
is no witness. Without the witness, there's
no salvation. That's why Zachariah was told
by the angel, not by power, nor by might, but by my spirit, saith
the Lord. Did you guys get that? See, I
don't want the analogy to evade you. Paul is saying to the Gentiles,
you, right along with them, are partaker of the root The root
is Christ and the fatness, the fatness is the spirit of God.
You are being blessed by Christ's death, burial, and resurrection
through the spirit of God, just like your Jewish counterparts.
And therefore, as we have in our outline in verse 17, together
for the gospel. Do you see that? Together for
the gospel. What are you saying? I'm saying
that God is saving Jews and God is saving Gentiles. Now Jews
and Gentiles are the two categories that the Bible recognizes for
the whole human race. Please understand that in God's
mind, there are no other categories. There's only Jew and Gentile.
Did you guys get that? And when we grow up, it ain't
even Jew and Gentile. When we grow up, it's not even
Jew and Gentile. Remember what I said earlier
I said and this was a few months back. We got about five more
minutes I want to make sure I press this home as Long as we are caught
up in the idea of racial distinctions We will never walk in the fullness
of Christ And it's gonna take all the fatness and all the root
of to help you get out of your misnomer about your ethnicity
and walk in Christ. Please understand what I'm saying.
It's going to take all of the spirit of God's power to work
in your life to sanctify you out of this notion that because
you're Hispanic, you're something. Or because you're Asian, you're
something. or because you're Caucasian, you're something,
or because you're black, you're something. When the Bible says
in 2 Corinthians 15, around verse 16, the Bible says, we don't
know any man after the flesh. See, Paul had grown by the time
he spoke to the Romans, and then having spoken to the Corinthians,
He got the second Corinthians 5.16. He said to the Corinthian
church, I want you to know I'm so focused on the transcendent
post-resurrected glorified Christ. I see him as the new creation
of God. And as such, I'm not even thinking
in terms of Jews and Gentiles. He says, we don't know any man
after the flesh. We don't judge you good or bad
based on your ethnicity. He says, we don't even know Christ. after the flash. Isn't that what
the Bible says? You better go and look at it
right quick. I just want to make sure you do. I don't mind you
saying, mm-hmm, but you better look at it with your own eyes.
Because we're just about done. I just want you to see this.
Mm-hmm, that's what it said. I don't know where it's at, but
mm-hmm. It sounds real good. I'm at verse 16 and then I'm
gonna read verse 17 where for his fourth 2nd Corinthians chapter
5 verse 16 2nd Corinthians 5 16 wherefore from this point on
Paul said No, we no man after the flesh Do you guys see that? Yea, though we have known Christ
after the flesh Yet now henceforth. No, we him no more Do you guys see that? That's
remarkable. How many times I have to say
it? Second Corinthians chapter 5 verse 16. Now this is the verse that no
one quotes and the other verses what they always quote. But I
want you to see the verse that prefaces the next verse. Because
this is what a mature minded Christian is able to think. Are you ready? He says, wherefore
henceforth know we no man after the flesh. Yea, though we have
known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him
no more. Do you know what that means?
Paul doesn't tolerate arguing about the ethnicity of Jesus. He's not going to engage his
Jewish brethren who would say, well, you know, Jesus was a Jew
like us. Paul said, no, he's more than a Jew. He's God. We're
not going to even talk about his Jewishness because his Jewishness
was a temporary mold by which he came to accomplish God's purpose,
which he could have easily have done in a Gentile body. Am I
making some sense? That's why I'm saying when you
mature, And you understand what Christ came to do. He came to
break down the middle wall of partition and all this division
that goes on. I'm this, that, and the other
thing. We're nothing outside of Christ. And if we're in Christ,
all we are is what we are in Christ. Am I making some sense? I know this sounds good, but
when the heat is on, you're going to be running right back to your
ethnos. I'm at 2 Corinthians 5 verse
17 now. Therefore, therefore is what
we call a conclusive clause. A conclusive clause is when you
have set your premise and now you are drawing the conclusion.
Because we don't look at anyone's ethnicity, therefore, if any
man be in Christ, he's a new creature, a brand new creature. Old things have passed away.
Behold, all things have become new. Am I making some sense?
That's precisely what Paul is dealing with. And so when he's
dealing with the Gentiles in Romans chapter 15, in relationship
to the Jews, I'm sorry, in Romans 11, in relationship to the Jews
in Romans chapter 11, he's not taking away anything from the
Jews. If anything, he's adding to the
Jews. And we'll take this up next week.
The gospel age is an age of fulfillment. It's not an age of replacement.
We haven't kicked the Jews out. You can come on in, Jews. You
just got to come in through the front door, just like the rest
of us. Am I making some sense? As guilty,
hell-bound sinners, bowing the knee to Jesus Christ as the answer
to all your hope and glory. Once you do that, you've actually
fulfilled that which God had told Abraham would occur. I'm
gonna make you the father of a multitude of nations. And then
we'll take up the rest next time. Let's close in prayer. Father,
thank you for this time. Thank you for your word. Thank
you for the truth as it is in Jesus. Teach us, Lord, little
bit by little bit and help us to treasure Christ and honor
your spirit and walk in your grace and conform us to him so
that we can make our calling in election sure. As we go our
way, give us traveling mercies. Prepare our hearts to worship
you on Sunday. You are worthy to be worshiped, worthy to be
exalted, worthy to be praised and glorified and honored for
all that you have done for us in Jesus name. Amen. God bless
you.