We're going to be working through
our new outline. It's, in part, partially that
of the old outline, but we do make some progression. And I
wanted to restructure this so that we can get through a very
terse portion of the language here in Romans chapter 11. I'm
confident that if we don't deal with it properly, we'll miss
the importance of the terminology. Paul says some things in Romans
chapter 11 verses 16 and following that
if we aren't careful, we'll miss the import. And if you look at
your outline as we're addressing verses 16, actually, I'm going
to start back at verse 12, because there's a statement there that
will help us. But if you look at the top of
your outline, the comment is that the apostle is seeking.
His objective is to explain the transfer of stewardship. That's the objective of the apostle,
to explain the transfer of stewardship. Now, the word stewardship is
a term that is used frequently in the Old Testament and in the
New Testament. In the New Testament, it's the word dispensation or
stewardship. It's the Greek word eikonomos.
And what it has to do with is God's economy, or God's purpose,
or God's process by which he does a thing. And you'll read
the word stewardship or the word Dispensation several places in
the scripture the one prominent Passage that underscores what
the Apostle Paul is seeking to explicate is in Matthew's Chapter
21 verse 43 you don't have to go there We quote it often where
the Lord Jesus gave the parable of the vineyard being lent out
by the owner of the vineyard Husband men worked the vineyard
produced the fruit and the owner was seeking revenues and he sent
his servants and they beat his servants and he sent his prophets
and they Killed his prophets and then he said finally at the
last in the end I'm gonna send my son and the language went
like this. I know that they will reverence
him And when he sent his son, they said this is the air Come
let us kill him and we'll take over the vineyard for ourselves. And the Lord Jesus was speaking
to the rulers of the church at that time. And the Bible says
that the rulers perceived that Jesus had spoken against them,
which means often the parables that Jesus set forth were parables
indicting national Israel for its rebellion against the gospel.
They understood this parable. They didn't understand every
parable. But in this account, they understood that what Jesus
implied in the parable was that God was angry with the way Israel
managed their inheritance. And so God said that he would
take the inheritance from them and give it to others who would
bear the fruit thereof. That's language that Jesus set
forth concerning what would shortly happen to the nation of Israel
with respect to their stewardship. This is what the Apostle Paul
is explaining now, the stewardship process. What happened when the
stewardship was taken from the Jews and given to the Gentiles
was that there was an integration process by which both Jews and
Gentiles would ultimately enter into the reality of those things
that were only prefigured by Old Testament Israel. Please
understand what I just said. When God took the stewardship
away from Israel, they were the Old Testament church. They were
the Old Testament people of God. They were the Old Testament witness.
We're going to see this as we deal with our language. When
he took the stewardship from them and left their house desolate,
as Jesus said in Matthew chapter 23, he gave that stewardship
to the Gentiles. The Gentiles are now called the
church. And every one of the nomenclatures, every one of the
terms and phrases that was used for national Israel in the Old
Testament are terms and phrases that are applied to the church
today. Israel in the Old Testament were called the people of God.
The church is called the people of God. Israel in the Old Testament
were called the circumcision. The church is called the circumcision.
Israel in the Old Testament were called the Jews. The church are
called true Jews. Israel in the Old Testament were
called... The children of Abraham, the
church is called the children of Abraham. Israel in the Old
Testament were called the firstborn. The church is called the firstborn
of many brethren. The same terms that were used
for national Israel in the Old Testament, which made them distinct
and unique and set apart to God, were terms now that were transferred
to the New Testament church. The New Testament church now
becomes the steward of the purposes of God. Does that make some sense
to you thus far? This is critical to understand,
or if you're hermeneutic again, concerning Old Testament, New
Testament distinction and parallels will be totally messed up. The
New Testament church now assumes the same responsibility that
the Old Testament church did with the qualifier that all the
things that the Old Testament looked for, the New Testament
possesses. That's why when you look at the
phraseology at the top, The apostle is seeking to explain the transfer
of stewardship from the Jews to the Gentiles and the integration
of both, who? Jew and Gentile, into the what? Reality of the promise. You guys got that? The reality
of the promise. Now what I'm saying wouldn't
even be a problem for you if you were used to reading your
Bibles. And I say that because as I think constantly about this
present generation, that is not only challenged when it comes
to reading. We are very illiterate age. But the accommodations of our
present day culture cease to it that we don't have to read
because we're inundated from other sensory perceptors, sight,
visual and hearing. We don't have to open up Bibles
or open up books and read and have to take the slow paced process. of understanding propositions
and chapters and assertions and arguments and conclusions. We don't have to labor in the
process of reading anymore. This is what makes us illiterate.
And so there's an aversion, a basic aversion to the Bible on the
part of most Christians. You don't know many Christians
that are well versed in the Bible. Am I telling the truth? And so
what happens is when doctrines are taught, people embrace doctrines
not based upon a well-rounded understanding of scripture, but
because of a cultural majority principle. If you're part of
a church and the church holds this doctrine, you embrace that
because, well, the majority holds it. It's an easy path to follow. This is the path of least resistance.
But you're really lazy. And the Bible calls you slothful.
And then it warns us who are lazy and slothful that we'll
be deceived because the simple believe every word, but the prudent
look well to his going. That's Proverbs chapter 14, verse
15. The simple just believes it because it's easy to believe
because, you know, until the root caves in, we can believe
anything. There are no consequences to
just believing it. Am I making some sense? So what
I find constantly in the forefront of my mind as I'm preparing messages
is that I have to do a lot of work in helping people gain a
context and a perspective so that they can derive truth from
the scripture because they haven't had that preparatorial work.
Now, I don't mind that, but what that says to me is that people
who are listening auditors are very vulnerable people when they
should be discerning people. when they should know the Bible.
I quoted Psalm 119, this is around verse 130, and it says, the entrance
of thy word, give it light. It gives understanding to the
simple. The entering of God's word. Now, in order for the word
to enter in, a person has to divulge that word. They have
to read that word. They have to meditate on that word. They
have to think on it. They have to cogitate. They have
to embrace the scriptures as a major preoccupation for it
to enter into their system and establish a grid or a prism for
interpreting things. That's a lot of prerequisite
work before you can discern what's right and wrong. Isn't that true?
So for some of you have been with us for a couple of years,
you have the advantage because, you know, our Bible studies are
predicated upon a careful, slow process of exegesis and exposition. We just take our time and deal
with the scriptures. But I find that if I'm going
to help people, I can't assume that they know anything about
the Bible. So I make little statements like I did at the top of the
outline. The apostle is seeking to explain the transfer of stewardship
from the Jews to the Gentiles. and the integration of both into
the reality of the promises. And what I mean by the reality
is the majority of the Old Testament activity and goings and operations
were shadows and types. They did not actually occupy
the reality that was promised. That reality only came when Christ
came and accomplished eternal redemption at Calvary Street.
The believers in the Old Testament were actually saved. They had
a relationship with God. They had the Spirit of God. There's
no doubt about that. But a lot of the things which
God said to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the patriarchs, these are
the promises that God made to them about the promise of the
land, and the promise of the blessing, and the promise of
the store, and the promise of the... All of those earthly promises
were merely foreshadows of the heavenly promises. that are given
to all of God's people in the person of Christ. You guys got
that? So I'm gonna make a radical parallelism between the old and
new. Those of you who've been with us long enough, you know
this. In the Old Testament, national Israel was promised the land. It was called the land of what?
Promise. milk and honey, the land of promise. The land of promise was only
a type of a larger, more intangible promise called the promise of
the what? Spirit. Did you guys get that? The Old Testament land of promise
corresponds with the New Testament promise of the spirit. The Old
Testament land of promise corresponds with the New Testament promise
of the spirit. When you read your Bible carefully,
the New Testament, even Jesus said, you wait for the promise
of my father. And that promise was what? The
spirit. So the things that were within
the framework of the historical and geographical setting of national
Israel, Palestine, all of the different nuances, the land of
milk and honey, olive trees, and grape trees, and vine trees,
and all of the, those are all picture images and representations
of fuller realities in the life of the believer who possesses
the spirit of God. Am I making some sense? This
is critical to understand so that what God was always aiming
at was accomplishing redemption through Christ and then giving
himself to his people in a full or way so that they could enter
into the reality of those things that God has for us. You see,
when we say that we have received the promise of the Spirit, we're
simply saying that we have received God himself. Are you hearing
me? And you can't have more than
God himself. To have God himself, and we're
going to get into the language here now, is to have an inexhaustible
fullness and resource that you and I could never begin to exhaust
are to wane. The moment you have God himself,
because of the terms of the covenant being fulfilled at Calvary, you
have entered into the quintessential blessing. This is why Jesus talked
so much about the spirit. This is why Paul talks so much
about the spirit of God. He's talking about the third
person, God himself, actually inhabiting the people of God.
And so that we enter into that reality of which Israel, for
the most part, only experienced typologically. Are you guys hearing
what I'm saying? This is very important as we
make our way through the language. So I want you to understand this
because a lot of times our present-day church folk are still thinking
in the same type of carnal dimension that national Israel is. Very
physically physically oriented very naturally oriented very
carnally oriented We're looking for physical things when what
god has promised to give us is himself In your presence are pleasures
forevermore Am I making some sense? I wanted to lay that down
because this is critical when you have him you have everything
and this is the argument of the apostles As they preach the gospel
You are complete Where? In Christ. And so now it's important for
us to understand what we're dealing with. We're dealing with a transfer
of stewardship, explained in Matthew 21, verse 43, the kingdom
of God will be taken from you and given to others bearing the
fruit thereof. Now, the kingdom of God is represented by three
principal attributes, righteousness, peace and what? Joy in the holy
goals. Paul said that Jesus said that
would be taken from Israel and given to a people bearing the
fruits there. So the stewardship economy, which
is the spirit of God, gifts given to the church qualifies them
not only to enter into the joy of blessed fellowship with God
through Jesus, but then to do the work of the ministry for
which the church has been called. That's what we're about to get
into. God had a purpose for Israel. That purpose came to termination
in Christ. And then it was expanded to the
church. And we are dealing with three
principles. We're dealing with the fall.
You know what we've been talking about for the last two or three
weeks? We're dealing with the fullness. That's what we're going
to talk about today. And then we're going to be dealing
with the fatness, the fall, the fullness, and the fatness. Paul
knows what he's talking about. He's using Old Testament economical
terms of which I'm going to explain as we go through. If you were
a Jew, you would know what he means. And I'm going to explain
that as we go. So look with me in your outline. I want to go
through this fairly quickly to get into verse 12 in your outline. What is the cause? What was the
cause of the stumbling of Israel? Why did Israel stumble and fall?
Verse 11. I say, then have they stumbled that they should fall?
God forbid. Now they did fall, didn't they?
But rather through their what? Fall. But rather through their
what? Fall. Is that what the Bible
says? Y'all following me? I'm in verse 11. What Bible you read? Okay, that
that's the least she now she's being honest. I'm in verse 11. I say then have they stumbled
that they should fall God forbid, but rather through their what?
Now you're on the same page with me. Stop right there. They fail. in your outline what was the
cause of their stumbling remember we learned that there's a distinction
between a falling perpetually and stumbling by purpose what
was the cause of their stumbling self-righteousness that's what
you have two slats there right the cause of their fall was what
self-righteousness paul has been building this theme up from Romans
chapter nine through 11, Israel did not obtain the righteousness
for which it was called because they sought it as it were by
the works of the law rather than by the hearing of faith. That's
Romans chapter nine, verse 30 and 31. What shall we say then?
That the Gentiles which followed not after righteousness have
attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of
what? Faith. Romans 9 verse 31. But Israel,
which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained
to the law of righteousness. Verse 32. Why? Because they sought
it not by faith, but as it were by the what? Words of the law. For they stumbled at the stumbling
stone. Now who's the stumbling stone?
You got it. Now why did they stumble? Because
they sought to get right with God by words. Please understand
the great fall of religion is that it rejects God's righteousness
and it seeks to go about establishing its own righteousness and it
will fall just like Israel fell. Every church, every denomination,
every system of religion that seeks to get right with God by
its own righteousness will have the same miserable doom that
national Israel did. For by the works of the law,
no flesh shall be justified in the sight of God. It's evident.
There are two sins committed when you try to get right with
God by your own works. The first is you have denied
what God said about your righteousness. Is worse than the mistral cloth.
He didn't say your sin, he said your righteousness. That's bad. Did you hear that? Your sins
are worse than your righteousness, but he said your righteousnesses
are as a filthy rag. Isaiah chapter 64. In other words,
God will not accept your works. He will never accept your works.
Now, so you come to God with your works, even though God says,
I will not accept your works, you will never be justified by
the works of the law. You have just made God a liar.
That's one sin. Then the other sin you have committed
is God has brought before you and laid out his own righteousness
in the person of Christ. And you've rejected God's righteousness
for your own righteousness as double sin. That's exactly what
Israel did. Am I making it clear? I have
to because I'll tell you, it's so important for you to understand
what happened at Calvary and what Paul is doing as he's seeking
to explain what's taking place. Israel stumbled because of self-righteousness. The whole of the legacy of Israel
is they never believed God. They never believed God. They
never believed God. And the ultimate evidence that
they didn't believe God is that when God came, they killed him.
Is that what the Bible says? The application then is to you
and me to make sure that our standing before God is never
based upon who we are or what we did or what we will do or
what we say we will do. But it must be upon the finished
work of Christ alone and upon Christ himself. Are you hearing
what I'm saying? So critically important. So this
is what Paul is dealing with. So the evidence of their fall
was their rejection of Christ. The evidence of their fall was
their rejection of Christ. And that's why Jesus said in
Matthew chapter 23, he says, because you did not recognize
those things that made for your peace, your house is left to
you desolate. To reject the stone that God
had set up is to set your house up to fall. God has set Jesus
Christ up as the chief cornerstone. Now, you know what a cornerstone
is? It's the first stone in the foundation process of the building.
If you remove that stone, if you reject that stone, your house
is unstable. At any earthquake, it comes down.
And that's what happened to Israel. because they have rejected the
stone. The builders have rejected the stone that God had placed
there. And that stone, which should have been their salvation
now has become their stumbling. I know that I'm pressing this
issue, but I want to make sure, you know, understand what's going
on before we move on into verse 12. So Paul says, God forbid,
but rather through their fall, salvation is coming to who the
Gentiles. in order to provoke them to jealousy. Now, notice verse 12. We're getting
ready to get into the language that Paul is going to lay down
for us to understand what happened precisely. Now, if the fall of
them, who is them, national Israel, be the what? Riches of the world. He's going to be talking about
a couple of terms that we haven't developed, but I want to make
sure that you understand that he's going to deal with this
term, riches and fullness. And I want to make sure that
you and I understand what Paul understands about this. He said,
now the fall of national Israel. Became the richest of the Gentiles
are the richest of the world are the Gentiles How much more
so and the diminishing of them that is nationalism the riches
of the Gentiles how much more so there? What fullness so he's
making a correspondence with the riches of the Gentiles the
Gentiles have become rich and This is going to result in Israel's
what? fullness Do you guys see that? The riches of the Gentiles are
gonna result in Israel's fullness. Now this brings us to our second
part in our outline, the fullness principle. Do you guys see that?
The fullness principle. Now some of you were with me
when we went through the book of Ruth. And when we went through
the book of Ruth, you understood that we were dealing with, once
again, an analogy of spiritual realities, the redemption that
is in Christ. The book of Ruth is a book of
redemption. The primary character is Boaz. The heroine of the book
is Naomi. And the hinge pin or the link
between Boaz and Naomi is Ruth. Naomi represents the Old Testament
church. She's the Jew. Ruth represents
the New Testament church. She's the Gentile. God and his
providence brought those two together in order for both of
them to experience the fullness. Go with me back to the book of
Ruth. I want you to see this. Go back to Ruth chapter one.
I want to make sure you understand what Paul understands and what
I understand about God's economy of the transfer of stewardship
from the Jews represented in Naomi to the Gentiles represented
in Ruth in order to integrate both Ruth and Naomi in the person
of Christ represented by Boaz. In the book of Ruth, I want you to look at chapter
1, verse 16 through 22. Are we there? Ruth chapter 1, verse 16 through
22. Now let me give you the context so that you can get this. Naomi
had a husband. His name was Abimelech. He was
a Jew. Naomi was a Jew. They were Jews
from Bethlehem of Judah, where our Lord was born. Naomi's husband, Abimelech, whose
name in the Hebrew means God is King, made a foolish mistake
of leaving Bethlehem because they were suffering a famine
and going down to Moab. Now we've learned that Moab is
false religion. God said Moab will never enter
into Israel to the 10th generation because it trusted in its own
riches. Jeremiah 48. So here's a bill
like down in Moab because it didn't believe he didn't believe
that God would sustain him in the midst of the famine Although
the Bible said that God would take care of his people in the
midst of the family that God would provide and satisfy her
for his people in the midst of famished times in the midst of
famished times we get to find out the faithfulness of God and
In the midst of famished times we get to find out how weak or
how strong our faith is isn't that right? Often in famous times,
we'll find out how sinful we are. In famous times, you'll
find out how easy it is for you to incline yourself to operating
out of the flesh in order to survive. In famous times, that's
what happened to Abraham. In famous times, that's what
happened to Isaac. In famous times, that's what happened to
Judah. In famous times, you and I are
tested. Will we wait on the Lord to provide for us manna from
heaven, or will we seek to provide for ourselves our own resources? So that's what Abimelech did.
Now, when he went down to Moab, guess what happened? He died.
Now, as him and his wife Naomi had gone down to Moab, he had
two sons, Malon and Killion. Both of those boys married women
of Moab, Ruth and Orpah. And over a process of time, they
died as well. Now we go back to our lady study
last night, dealing with the Sadducees who talked about women
marrying husbands and husbands dying. You guys remember that? Why? Because in the context of
disobedience, God doesn't bless with life. He allows the wages
of sin to wreak its havoc. And the wages of sin is what?
And so what happened for Abimelech, because he had leaned upon his
own understanding, he didn't acknowledge the Lord in all his
ways. He didn't trust him. He started to operate in the
flesh. God allowed him to die. So now Naomi has left a what? Widow. Well, she would have been
fine if her two boys had ever lived. If Malon and Killian had
lived, she'd have been fine because they would have had to take care
of mom. But Malon died and Killian died. This is what left Naomi
as a true widow. Now, Naomi is what we call desolate. Are you hearing me? Not only
is Naomi desolate, but her two daughter-in-laws are desolate.
The one, Oprah, who kissed her and then took on off back to
Moab. The other is Ruth, who claimed
to her and went back to Bethlehem. Because Ruth and Naomi will stand
as a grand picture of the integration principle that we're talking
about. Are you hearing me? So we start in verse 16 of Ruth
chapter 1 with this language as Ruth and Naomi are headed
back to Bethlehem. And Ruth said, entreat me not
to leave you because Naomi said you need to stay home, stay here,
get married, and start over. Your husband's dead and you don't
need follow me back to my homeland. She says, entreat me not to leave
or to return from following after you for wherever you go, I will
go and wherever you lodge, I will lodge and your people shall be
my people and your God, my God. See the parallelism? You see
how that even though she was a Gentile in the flesh, she was
a Hebrew in the spirit. Do you see what I'm getting at?
You see how then the Old Testament is a foreshadow of the New Testament
and that God gives us emblems and pictures and predictions
of the in-gathering of the Gentile believers into the body of Christ
represented in the Old Testament church? That language is New
Covenant language. To say that I'm God's and God
is mine is to embrace New Covenant terminology. That's what God
said in the New Covenant. I will be their God and they
will be my people. And this is something that's
remarkable because what had happened with Ruth is she had heard the
gospel from Naomi and believed it. Now notice what it goes on
to say. She said, wherever you die will
I die and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me and more
so if anything but death part thee and me. Do you see how bound
Ruth was to Naomi? These two have become soulmate
because what God is teaching is that the true Israel would
be made up of men and women from every nation, kindred, tribe,
and tongue, and that there would be no distinction that is to
say a Jewish distinction and a Gentile distinction. Am I making
some sense? Notice how it goes on because
I want to make sure this foundation is given to us before we go back
to the Apostle Paul's argument. When she saw that she was steadfastly
minded to go with her then she left speaking unto her that is
naomi So here's the journey. So they too went until they came
to bethlehem. Do you see that? And it came
to pass when they would come to bethlehem that all the city
was moved about them and they said is this naomi And she said
unto them call me not naomi Call me mara For the almighty had
dealt what very bitterly with me Now, Naomi represents national
Israel, and national Israel was dealt with very bitterly by God
because of its rebellion and disobedience. In fact, the Lord
Jesus' mother was named Mary. It's a Greek derivative of the
Hebrew word mara, which means bitter, because the quintessential
bitterness would take place by Christ's death on Calvary Street,
which would sever national Israel from God order for him to do
a grander purpose now notice what it goes on to say and she
said well look at a verse 21 she says I went out what this
is what Paul is talking about please get it I went out full
I went out full she said and the Lord has brought me home
what now what does she mean that she went out full she had a husband
and she had children, which means she had a covering and she had
provision. It also meant that she was married
and she was fruitful. To be full then is to be in covenant
with God, to be married to God, to be fruitful in bearing children.
Am I making some sense? She says, I went out full, but
I've come home empty, which means I have no husband and I have
no children. I'm desolate. That's the condition
of national Israel today. And that's the condition of the
whole human race outside of Christ. Barren and fruitless. Do you know that the first assignment
that God gave the human race was to be fruitful and to multiply
and replenish the earth? And that's why he made them male
and female in the image of God created them because he set up
mankind as a great type of Christ in the church. God is a fruitful
God. God is a fruit-bearing God. God
is a multiplying God. And anyone that's connected to
God must be fruitful and multiply. That's what Jesus said in John
15. I am the true vine. You are the branches. Any branch
in me that does not bear fruit, God cuts it off. The ones that
do, He purges it, that it might bear more fruit. Why? Because
God is glorified in the fruit-bearing process. Am I making some sense? So what Naomi says is, I'm in
a situation where I'm empty. She's exactly where God wants
her to be. She's exactly where God wants
her to be. She comes back empty. That is, she doesn't have a husband.
She doesn't have children. She doesn't have a covering.
And what little resources she had from her husband, she loses. Now her whole livelihood is predicated
upon the success. her daughter-in-law do you see
how God has said I'm gonna see to it that national Israel receives
his blessings through the New Testament Church because Ruth
the Moabite who ostensibly should not have had any privileges given
to her because she was a Moabite. She should have never been brought
into the covenant. She should have never married
into the Jewish line. And even after the boy dies,
Malon dies, the prospect of Ruth marrying again into a Bethlehemite
family is completely remote. If it wasn't for the providence
and sovereignty of God, Ruth would have had no chance to get
in because of the law. The law said no Moabite should
ever enter in. But God was doing something all
throughout the history of physical national Israel, and I have shared
this with you over and over again, and that is He's always been
bringing Gentiles into the church. He was always inserting Gentiles
into the church. He was always bringing Gentiles
into the church. Rahab the harlot and Tamar was
a Gentile and Ruth now is a Gentile. And there were constant insertions
of Gentiles into the Jewish family because God was foreshadowing
the real fullness of the church, which was not exclusively Jewish,
but Jew and Gentile. Do you guys see that? He was
always doing that. He was always doing that. This
is where you're going to hear the next part of the message.
Our Lord's first message when he goes back to Nazareth, they
want to throw him over the cliff. Because he says God overlooked
many of you Jewish people just to save a Gentile widow and a
Gentile leper called man. I'll develop that on Sunday.
But the point is, when you read your Bible carefully, you can
see the gospel running through all the scriptures. You can see
it. And so here in our context, notice
what it goes on to say. So they returned, verse 22, and
Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, which returned out
of the country of Moab, and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning
of harvest. And we developed that. If you want the series,
it's wonderful. You can search it out for yourself. If you go
over to the fourth chapter now, I want you to see this in the
fourth chapter. What happens in the fourth chapter is remarkable.
I'm in Ruth chapter 4. I'm going to read verses 13 through
17. And this is interesting. What has happened in the fourth
chapter is in God's providence and sovereignty, Ruth has run
across Boaz. In the providence of God, Ruth
is working for Boaz. Boaz notices her. Boaz falls
in love with her. Ruth is instructed by Naomi as
to what to do. So they're already collaborating.
The Old Testament Church and the New Testament Church are
already collaborating. And Boaz is a great representation
of who? Jesus. He's the kinsman redeemer. So the Old Testament Church tells
the New Testament Church what to do to get the man. we'll see this when we get to
Romans chapter 7 so little sister Ruth does exactly what mother
Naomi does because mother Naomi has has received all of the what
we call all of the necessary information by which Ruth would
be able to lawfully and successfully accomplish the transaction Naomi
Representing national Israel has been in existence for 2000
years from Abraham to Christ. She has the laws. She has the
promises. She has the prophecies. She has
the covenants when you and I as the New Testament Church want
to have a fuller comprehension of those things that has to do
with Jesus. We go back to Naomi. Don't we?
We read the Old Testament as we read the Old Testament. We
see what God demanded in terms of law and righteousness and
sanctification and sacrifice and we are instructed by Naomi
as to what God requires in a relationship with the Lord Jesus. So Ruth
does exactly what Naomi does and Boaz falls in love with her
and marries her. And here's what the women say
in verses 13 through verse 17. And this is a prophetic language
that fully underscores what we're trying to set forth in our Roman
study. Look at it again in verse 13. So Boaz took Ruth. Do you see that? And she was
his what? Now mind you guys, I want you
to get this. Let me back up because I want to make sure you get this.
Ruth was in the same condition that Naomi was when they came
back to Bethlehem. They were both empty. And that's
why I said earlier that Just as the Jews outside of Christ
are under the curse and under the wrath of God, and they are
sinners, so are the Gentiles. Everyone outside of Christ is
barren. Everyone outside of Christ is
under the curse. Everyone outside of Christ is
under the wrath of God. This is why it's so very important
for us to understand that the condition that national Israel
is in is simply the condition of the whole human race. They're outside of Christ. That's
Paul's argument. God has condemned them all as
under sin, that he might have mercy upon all. You guys see
that? Israel has no preeminence over
the Gentiles. They're lost sinners just like
Gentiles are, and they need the same remedy that Gentiles do.
It would therefore be wrong for the New Testament church to treat
the Jews as some special people when the Jews need the same thing
that Gentiles need. And that's Christ. Am I making
some sense? This is so very important. So
what happens to Ruth is she gets a hold to the kinsmen redeemer,
the kinsmen redeemer gets a hold of her. And here's the prophetic
language. This is wonderful. So Boaz took Ruth. And she was
his wife. And when he went in unto her,
the Lord gave her conception and she bare a son. Now, not
only is she married, she's being what fruitful. Do you know when
she married that boy, Killian? They didn't have any children.
Why? Because they were in disobedience. Why? Because by the works of
the law, no flesh shall be justified in God's sight. As long as you're
trying to get right with God by the works of the law, you're
a legalist. You can never bear fruit as a legalist. Fruit-bearing
is the work of the Spirit of God in our life, which is a consequence
of Christ accomplished redemption given to us by faith apart from
the works of the law. To be fruitful means you got
to have a relationship with the true and the living God according
to grace. Grace is what makes us fruitful,
not religion. not self-righteousness, not good
works. You're not fruitful because you
let your hair, you know, grow long as a woman or you don't
wear slacks or, you know, you don't smoke and you don't do
this. You're not fruitful because you observe religious rules and
regulations. Are you hearing me? You're just
a religious dead man. That's what Jesus called Israel.
You are graves upon which men walk and they don't even know
it. You are white walled supplicants. You have no life in you whatsoever.
You appear before men to be righteous, but God knows that you're full
of wickedness. That's religion, folks. Am I
making some sense? That's religion. So when Naomi
came into contact with Boaz, life took place because God blessed
the union dignity. Now, will you notice this? I'm
sorry, when Ruth came into contact with Boaz, life took place because
God blessed the union. She bare a son. Now will you
listen to the next three verses? And the women said unto who? Not Ruth! Now watch this, because I want
you to see the connection. I know some of you are lost,
but if you hang in there, you'll learn the gospel. Listen to it.
And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the Lord, which hath
not left you this day without a what? That's a husband, folks. That's a husband. They knew what
they were saying. Listen to the language. That
his name may be famous in Israel. And he shall be unto thee a restorer
of your what? Now this is what Paul is saying
in verse 13 of Romans chapter 11 when we get back there That
the fall of Israel resulted in the the riches of the Gentile
and if the casting away of Israel be the salvation of the Gentiles
how much more so the Returning of Israel be life from the dead
You'll see that here in a moment Paul understands the argument
He sees that what happened to Naomi was because of her connection
to Ruth, she's going to live through Ruth vicariously because
she's Ruth's mother-in-law by virtue of Boaz, who is the life-giving
fullness. See, when Boaz married Ruth,
he had to bring under the auspices of his household Naomi too. This
is what Paul is saying. God has a purpose for the fall
of Israel. But Israel doesn't get in without the church. Am
I making some sense? Now listen to it. So they said. And he shall be to you a restorer
of life and a nourisher of your old age. For your daughter-in-law,
which loved you. Which is better to you than seven
sons. Have born him. Now look at verse
16 and Naomi took the child Laid it in her bosom and became nurse
unto it and the women Her neighbors gave it a name saying there is
a son born not to Ruth Naomi and They called his name Obed
he is the father of Jesse the father of David the father of
Jesus Got it Go back to Romans chapter 11. Let's develop this
now The blessing of the fall of national
Israel was the integration of Israel into the reality of the
promises through the church, because that was God's purpose.
And so the apostle Paul says for us over in verse 13 and 14,
these words, are we there? For I speak to you Gentiles,
Romans 11 verse 13, for I speak to you Gentiles as much as I
am the apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my office. If by any
means I may provoke to emulation or jealousy them which are my
flesh them which are my flesh and might save some of them for
if the casting away of them that is national israel be the reconciling
of the world that is of the gentiles what shall the receiving of them
be but what life from the dead life from the dead life from
the dead paul understood that What must take place is the fullness
had to be engaged. She calls the Gentiles, those
who receive fullness. And then he says also that Israel
would have a fullness to back over in verse 12, the latter
part, how much more so their fullness up in Romans chapter
11. I believe it says it again also
concerning the Gentiles. until the fullness of the Gentiles
be brought in. Let's see here, verse 25. For
I would not, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery,
lest you should be wise in your own conceit, that blindness,
in part, has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles
be come in. Do you see that? So what the
Apostle Paul is getting ready to develop, as I try to set it
forth in the Old Testament language, is that the church represented
by the Gentiles has entered into a fullness. They have entered
into a fullness. Look in your outline, because
here's the question now. In your outline, the riches and the fullness. Do you see that? What is the
riches and the fullness that the Gentiles entered into? What's
the answer? You know it. It's Christ. I shared this with you before
many times. You're going to always get the answer right if you just
say Christ. You may not know anything. You may not even know
the context. What's the answer? Christ is the answer. That's
right. Jesus is the fullness. You know, you can just close
your eyes and shoot the arrow and just say Christ and you're
going to hit the bullseye. Christ is the fullness. And this
is very important. I use the analogy in this. Here's
a Mexican analogy. Sometimes this is also your Spanish
analogy that Jesus is like the pinata. You know what the pinata
is? It's the big old package with all the candy in it. Once
you strike that package and get it to bust open all the goodies
come out in Christ is the fullness of God head bodily and you're
completing him He is the fullness. He's the fullness you guys remember
what we said the fullness was We talked about the word pleroma
pleroma Pleroma is very important. I'm gonna be taking taking you
to a few verses to understand underscore that it's in your
outline pleroma means to have all the furnishings and It means
to be completely resourced. It means to be adequate, and
it means more than that. Not only to be adequate, but
it means also to be rich. When the Bible says in Psalm
20, For verse one, I believe the earth is the Lord's and the
fullness thereof. The idea is that everything that's
necessary for life to exist is in the earth. The fullness of
the earth is for the resources of the people. And when we say
that Jesus Christ is the fullness of the Godhead bodily, what we're
saying is everything a sinner needs, he finds in Christ. So
now go to Colossians chapter two. I want you to see that again.
And I wanna just deal with this term fullness briefly so that
we can understand this. Paul is using the term fullness
and riches in order to underscore what the New Testament church
has in Jesus, what you have in Jesus, and what I have in Jesus.
And that word fullness, pleroma, is used several times by the
apostle Paul in the book of Colossians as well as in the book of Ephesians.
In Colossians, the apostle Paul says this over in verse 19 are
we there chapter 1 verse 19 for it pleased the father that in
him that is Jesus should all fullness dwell do you guys see
that it pleased the father that in
Jesus all fullness dwell go to chapter 2 verse 9 are we there
for in him that is Christ dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily and because of that look at verse 10 and you are complete
in him which is the head of all principality and power do you
see that go to the book of Ephesians go to Ephesians chapter 1 I want
you to see this the Apostle Paul uses this term
once again this is remarkable the way he uses this term here
in Ephesians chapter 1 he's talking about the resurrection of Christ
After he talks about us having an understanding of those things
that we have in Jesus over in verse 17 He says I'm praying
in chapter 1 of Ephesians verse 17. I'm praying that the God
of our Lord Jesus Christ the father of glory May give you
given to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge
of him see God has to teach you Christ and God has to reveal
to you the fullness of Christ and God doesn't make plain to
you all that Christ is I guarantee you won't find him sufficient
for your life And so what Paul said to the church at Ephesus?
Which was also struggling with the same battle that Colossi
was struggling with and that is Gnosticism and legalism He
said I'm praying that God would show you just how full Christ
is So that you can enter into that fullness now, here's what
he says look at verse 17 verse 18 I'm sorry that the eyes of
your understanding be enlightened that you may know what is the
hope of his calling and what the what riches of the glory
of his inheritance in the saints what he's saying is I want you
to know your inheritance I want you to know what you have in
Christ If you pay enough attention to the contract, you will see
all of your privileges and all of your blessings, as well as
your responsibilities. But you have to want to know
exactly what you have in Christ. And I want you to know, Paul
says. So I'm praying that God opens your understanding. And
here's what he says. And what is the exceeding greatness
of his power towards us, who what? according to the working
of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he raised
him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in heavenly
places far above all principalities and powers and might and dominion
in every name that is named not only in this world but also in
the world which is to come. You know what Paul just did?
I'm trying to help you not get trapped by the Gnostics again
God has given him a name that is above every name, not only
in this world, but the world to come. The assumption then
that there's something greater than Christ is a total misnomer. You guys see that? So when you
have Christ, you have reached the pinnacle of God's blessings.
Now notice what he says. Verse 22. And he has put all
things under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things
to the what? Who is his body? Watch this the
fullness of him Which filleth all in all? That's wild You know
what Paul just said to me. I am part of Christ's fullness Everyone Who was in Christ is
part of Christ's fullness If you're in the body of Christ
if you're part of the Church of Christ if you're a member
of his body You are a partaker of the fullness of God Do you
see that you need to meditate on that need to think that through
because really this is the secret to enjoying life in Christ being
able to discover by virtue of study and pursuit of God's glory
and the revelation of Scripture all that you are in him and All
that he is for you This is what gives you work Everything that
I am Christ was for me and everything that he is, I am in him. Do you guys believe that? That's
what it means to be in Christ. To be in Christ is to have everything
that Christ has. I'm an heir and a joint heir
with him. Isn't that what the Bible says?
We are heirs and joint heirs with Christ, which means you
and I have become inheritors of the promise. See, now this
is just a lot of jargon for people that's not serious about Christ.
Am I making some sense? See, a lot of people don't really
care about this terminology. All they want is their bellies
full. They want healings. They want this and that. Those
are all poultry things. The way that God sees his elect
in Christ is as kings and queens and priests and prophets and
rulers over this universe. They are seated in heavenly places
where Christ Jesus always have been. Always have been. but are
effectually by the work of the Spirit of God. God sees me seated
with Christ. He sees me ruling with Christ.
He sees me reigning with Christ. Isn't that what the Bible says?
I'm going to get into that in a moment when I talk about the
riches and the fullness because Paul uses that term a lot. Something
happened to Paul when God saved him on the Damascus road. Something
happened to him as he began to search the scriptures for somewhere
around 14 years and began to lay the gospel out to the New
Testament church. He somehow tapped into the fullness of Christ
and he's trying to let the church know that they have the same
fullness that he has. So why are we so beggarly and
why are we so despondent and why do we walk around as if we
are spiritually broke? Because we're ignorant of our
inheritance. Isn't that right? That's really what it is. That's
really what it is. I think it's Romans chapter 8
that says, if God spared not his own son but gave him up for
us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us everything? Isn't that right? And the Bible
says again in Matthew 6, 33, seek ye first the kingdom of
God and his righteousness and all this other stuff will be
added. Your heavenly father knows what you need. Isn't that what
he said? And so I think it was Jesus that was saying in one
of the gospels, he says, if you pray, not seek and ask, God will
give you the Holy Ghost. That's what he said. If you ask,
he will give you the spirit. Why the spirit? Because the spirit
brings you into immediate contact with God. He is the immediate
eminence. When we go to dealing with the
attributes of God in our systematic study theology class, we'll deal
with the eminence of Christ. The Father is transcendent. No
one has ever seen the Father. The Son is the only one who has
revealed Him. But the Son has come and gone
now. We only comprehend Him by faith because of the imminency
of the third person. The presence. The presence of
God, by virtue of His Spirit, allows us to understand the Father
through the person of Christ. Am I making some sense? Without
the Spirit of God, all of this is mere propositional truth that's
out there beyond our reach. But the Spirit of God makes the
Gospel a reality in the heart and the soul and the mind and
in the life of the believer. The Spirit of God enters into
us. He teaches us. He persuades us. He transforms us. The Spirit
of God does that. The Spirit of God takes the things
of Christ and makes them real to the believer. He is the immediate
contact with God. You guys got that? I want to
stress that they're so very important. So, what Jesus says to his children
is, you ask God for what you need. And the Spirit of God is
the immediate paraclete. The paraclete is the one that
walks right alongside of you. See, we were talking last night
in the women's study about the Pedagogue the the steward the
teacher who trains the child up in his inheritance and drops
him off when he's mature and an adult So that he doesn't need
the the training wheels of the legal system anymore. That's
why for true believers We're not under the law. We're not
under the law as true believers in any sense whatsoever You guys
get that We're under the influence and guidance and pedagogue of
the Spirit Because the Spirit is what God promised to not only
be with us, but be in us to make us like Christ Am I making some
sense? So this is radically important.
The Spirit of God is the Apostle of Jesus as Jesus was the Apostle
of the Father. So in order to know the Father,
you got to know the Son, but in order to know the Son, you
got to have the what? Spirit! Am I making some sense? This
is critically important for us to know. And so Paul talks about
this. He talks about this. We then being the fullness. Now,
go back to your outline. Riches and fullness. Plutus means
riches. Pleroma means fullness. This is a phrase that was taken
out of the book of isaiah isaiah chapter 60 verses 1 through 12
So this is not just a new testament concept the old testament foreshadowed
the riches of the gentiles I just want to read a few verses And
then I want to read a few verses in the new testament. Then I
want to go I want to break into for a few moments not fully The
concept that's given to us in romans 11 of the olive tree. So go to isaiah chapter 60 in
isaiah 60 we have a prophetic word concerning the The reality
of christ and its finished work and the fact that god would bring
the gentiles into the blessings of the gospel Verses one through
three of isaiah 60 says arise and shine for your light has
come And the glory of the lord is risen upon you for behold
the darkness shall cover the earth gross darkness the people
But the lord shall arise upon you and his glory shall be seen
upon you That's verses one and two. Are you with me? Who is
that talking about? I told you to answer. All right. Think about it for a moment.
Is Christ the glory of God? Is Christ the light that lighteth
every man that comes into the world? Now notice what it says
in verse three. And the Gentiles shall come to
your light. And kings to the brightness of
your rising. Lift up your eyes round about
and see all they gather themselves together. They come to who? thy
son shall come from afar thy daughter shall be nursed at your
side you shall see and flow and and then shall you see and flow
together and your heart shall fear and be enlarged because
of the abundance of the sea here is the sea metaphor of the gentiles
shall be converted unto thee The forces of the Gentiles shall
come unto thee. The multitude of camels shall
cover thee. And the dromedaries, these are
camels of Midian and Ephah, all they from Sheba shall come. They
shall bring gold and incense and shall show forth the praises
of the Lord. Do you know verse six has two fulfillments? One
is the fulfillment that took place when our Lord was born
and the Magi came from Persia and Babylon with gold and frankincense
and myrrh. And it was a foreshadow of the
Gentiles coming in. Do you guys see that? Your son
shall come from afar. Now notice what it goes on to
say the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together into the
rams of Nebo shall minister unto thee and they shall come to thee.
They shall come up with acceptance in my altar and I will glorify
the house of my glory. Who are these that fly as the
cloud and as the doves of the windows surely the aisles The
Isles are a synonym for the Gentiles shall wait for me and the ships
of Tarshish first to bring thy sons from far the silver and
the gold with them unto the name of the Lord thy God and to the
Holy One of Israel because he hath glorified thee and the sons
of the strangers shall build up thy walls and their king shall
minister unto thee for in my wrath I smote you but in my favor
I've had mercy on you Therefore, your gates shall be open continually. They shall not be shut day nor
night, that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles
and that their kings may be brought. For the nation and the kingdom
that will not serve thee shall perish. Yea, those nations shall
be utterly cut off. And so the language is developing
the idea that because of what happens at Calvary Street, the
Gentiles will flow into Jesus. Paul understood this. He called
this the mystery that was hidden in ages past. Go with me to a
couple of other verses. I want you to see this. The riches.
Here's some interesting language in Proverbs, chapter eight, verse
18. Bear with me for 10 more minutes. Proverbs, chapter eight,
verse 18. If you read in your own times,
the Proverbs, particularly Proverbs chapter eight, you are dealing
with a, the imagery of wisdom and the imagery of wisdom in
Proverbs eight. And I'll deal with this when we get into paterology
as we deal with paterology. Um, the imagery of a Proverbs
eight is wisdom personified as a woman, but Proverbs chapter
eight is a messianic proverb describing the relationship between
Christ and his father. The Bible explicitly tells us
that Jesus is our wisdom Isn't that right? First Corinthians
chapter 1 verse 30 and so in Proverbs 8 verse 18, listen to
what he says riches and Honor are where with me yay durable
riches and what? Righteousness now who's talking
Christ is talking look at verse 12 I wisdom dwell with prudence
and I find out knowledge of woody inventions and Verse 14, counsel
is mine, sound wisdom, I am understanding and I have strength. Verse 15,
by me kings reign and princes decree justice. By me princes
rule and nobles, even all the judges of the earth. I love them
that love me. Got it? And those that seek me
early shall what? Now notice that this is really
as a personification of the Lord Jesus. The Bible tells us over
in verse 22, the Lord possessed me in the beginning of his ways
before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting
from the beginning or ever the earth was. This is why John said
in John chapter one in the beginning was the word and the word was
with God and the word was God. When there was no depth, I was
brought forth. when there were no fountains
abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled,
before the hills was I brought forth, while I was Yit. While
as Yit he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest
parts of the dust of the world. When he prepared the heavens,
guess what? I was there. When he set the
compass upon the face of the depth, when he established the
clouds above, when he strengthened the fountains of the deep, when
he gave to the sea its decree that the water should not pass
his commandments, when he appointed the fountains of the earth, then
I was by him. And that's what John meant when
he says, and the word was with God. Then I was by him as one
brought up with him and I was daily his delight. This is my
beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. Watch it now. Rejoicing
always before him, rejoicing in the habitable parts of the
earth. And my delight were with the what? This is wild because
the father's delight is the son and the son's delight is his
people. He says, I am the father's delight. And the heavens opened up and
he made that known, right? But Jesus has a love for his
people. And that's why he came. Are you
hearing me? His love went two directions.
His love was for his father and his love was for his people.
The only reason you and I are saved is because of the love
of God in Christ. I'm using this language to help
you see that wisdom is personified in the person of Christ. And
the Bible is very clear about this terminology. Riches and
wisdom are His. Go with me now to Proverbs chapter
13 verse 8. I want you to just deal with
a few more verses now. And you can read in your own time the
verses that are in the outline. I give them to you because I
know some of you might just be moved to read your Bible. But
some of you won't and that's okay. Proverbs chapter eight,
chapter 13, verse eight. Are we there? Listen to what
it says here. Proverbs 13, eight. Now watch this now. The ransom
of a man's life is his what? Now stop right there. What is
the ransom of a man's life? You get the answer right now.
Come on, get the answer right. That's right. Don't mess that
up. The son of man came to give his
life a ransom for many. And what God is saying is this.
Christ is the ransom of sinners. And what revenue is it to have
the Son of God be your ransom? There is no wealth that compares
to the ransom of the soul of a sinner by the second person
of the blessed Godhead. You can't put a number on that.
But those are the riches of redeemed sinners and their riches is Christ
Do you see how the proverbs that set up? I just wanted you to
see that I want you to know that if you study your bible carefully
As we were sending our in our uh study both in the men's meeting
and in the women's meeting The bible is clear precept upon precept
line upon line here a little there a little god is saying
the same thing From genesis to revelation christ is everything
to god. He's everything for god's people
Christ is the message of this book. Do you guys see that? Jesus
is the message. So when Jesus said in Psalm 40
verse 7 in John 5 39 low I come in the volume of the book is
written about who me. That's what he meant. You're
searching the scriptures and you think in them you have eternal
life, but they are they which testify of who? That's right. Now look at Proverbs 22 verse
4. We're headed back home. I just
want you to see these verses so that you can know that when
Paul was developing the argument of riches and fullness, he derived
his argument from the Old Testament scriptures, which substantiates
the same truth. Proverbs 22. By humility and the fear of the
Lord are what? Honor and what? That's right
by humility and the fear of the Lord are riches honor and life
All of these three are synonyms for the Lord Jesus Christ is
our richest crisis our honor and crisis our what? Crisis our
life now go with me to Isaiah 45 3 we're headed back home right
now. Isaiah 45 God says the same thing here in Isaiah chapter
45 verse 3 and Then we're headed to the New Testament a little
bit and then I'm just gonna open up Open up the olive tree analogy
and then we'll develop it next week. Isaiah 45. We're headed
home. Isaiah 45 Listen to the language
this year is prophetic concerning the Persian King Cyrus Who stands
for us as a great type of Christ all Kings? All Kings in the Bible
wicked Kings and good Kings all Possess that office that represents
the one king of kings and lord of lords you guys got that Even
though in their persons, they may not represent the character
of jesus in their office. They do every king Every priest
every prophet points to the king the priest the prophet jesus
The office is what's important The person may or may not be,
according to the context, applicable, but the office is. So King Cyrus
was a Persian king that God had prophesied hundreds of years
before he came. And the Bible says in verse one
that thus said the Lord to his what? Don't you know that's the
word Mashiach? That's the Messiah. To Cyrus,
whose right hand I have what? That's the language of the Father
and the Son. To subdue nations before him.
And I will loose the loins of kings to open before him the
two-leaved gates. And the gates shall not be shut.
Do you know what he's just saying here? He's using the metaphor
of the temple which was closed down all the time that Babylon
had destroyed it to the Medo-Persians. That through Cyrus, who is the
anointed, who's at God's right hand, he would open the temple
permanently. All that happened as we go through
the books of Nehemiah and Ezra we're going to deal with, but
it's actually a foreshadow of the true temple, which is the
church of Christ, which is open to guilty sinners through Cyrus,
who points to Jesus. Can you see that? Now, if you
don't understand the gospel, you'd never see that. If you
didn't understand the gospel, you'd never see that. If you
didn't understand that the grid to interpret scripture is Christ
himself, you'd never see that. See god doesn't mind even using
pagan kings to glorify his son Ephesians chapter 1 verse 11
everything is working together after the council of his own
will And what that means is god is using everything in this world
to glorify his son and to save his people Now listen to the
language I will go before you and make the crooked places straight
I will break in pieces the gates of brass and cut us under the
bars of iron I will give you the treasured darkness and hidden
riches of secret places that you may know that I the Lord
which called thee by name and the God of Israel now go with
me to Colossians chapter 1 now this is God talking to a Gentile
King about promises that he would grant him on a temporal physical
level which foreshadowed the blessings that God would give
Christ because of what he would accomplish at Calvary's tree.
When Jesus died on Calvary's tree and rose again on the third
day, he had actually inherited all things. And the treasures
of darkness that are referred to in Isaiah 45, the treasures
of darkness there, you know what that is? That's you and me. The treasures of darkness that
are given to Christ are sinners chosen in Christ, guilty, hell
bound sinners chosen in Christ before the world began. You and
I are the treasures of darkness. Well, we were darkness before
we were light. Did you know that? Ephesians
said that, but we were also God's treasure. Did you know that?
So while I'm darkness, I'm God's treasure too. I'm dark, but I'm
God's treasure. And so are you. Colossians chapter
1 no This is true because you read in Matthew chapter 13 where
it talks about the man that went out to the field and found a
treasure And he hid it in the earth and for joy of it. He went
and sold everything he had to get that treasure That man's
not you that's Christ The treasure is the church Christ came looking
for us. We didn't come looking for him.
And if we found him, what could we pay to get the price? I Am
I making some sense? All these folks talking about
selling everything to get Jesus. You broke, what you gonna pay
to get Jesus? Now we're still dealing with
what we call a man-centered interpretation. When the interpretation has you
being the chief subject, it's a flawed interpretation. You
didn't seek Jesus. You didn't find Jesus. You didn't
pay for Jesus. Jesus sought you. He found you.
He paid for you. Am I making some sense? It's
very important to know. Now, notice what Paul says over
in Colossians chapter 1 verse 27. He speaks about this mystery
over in verse 26, after exalting his office as a minister to the
Gentiles. He says, even the mystery which
had been hid from ages past and generations, but now is made
manifest to his saints, to whom God would make known what is
the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles. What
is it, Paul? Christ in you, the hope of glory. Do you see it? What is the riches? Christ in you, the hope of glory. All right, I just want to open
up Romans because our time is up. I just want to open up Romans
chapter 10 verse 16 and 17. I want to call your attention
to it and we'll develop this next week. He calls our attention
to another metaphor and I'm going to give you time to do your own
research and read the verses and see if you can fill in the
slots and write in the proper terminology. What is the olive
tree? What is the first fruits? Who
is the seed? What is the lump? What is the root? What is the
branches? because he's getting ready to deal with a metaphor
that is critical to understand. If you give a wrong definition
to these different parts of the metaphor, you will have a wrong
interpretation. All right, so now listen to what
he says, I'm in Romans 11, verse 15, for if the casting away of
the nation of Israel be the reconciling of the world, that is the Gentiles,
what shall be the receiving of them but life from the dead for
This is what we call a purpose clause. It's a clause that connects
two statements, the previous statement. With the forthcoming
statement, and it has a purpose for now, listen to it. If the
first fruits be holy. The lump is also holy. And if
the root be holy, so are the branches. And if some of the
branches be broken off. And you being a wild olive tree
were grafted in among them and with them partakers of the root
and fatness of the olive tree. You see what he just did, he
just developed an immense metaphor of the olive tree. And he was
particular because this is the Holy Spirit now being very particular. If you get the assignment right,
you'll understand the glory of what he is saying. He's doing
what we said. He's reaching back into Naomi
to teach Ruth about what Ruth has inherited from Naomi. You understand? He's teaching
the Gentiles what they have inherited in Christ because of the promises
of the Old Testament. but he's using the metaphor of
the olive tree because this is a standing metaphor that runs
from genesis to revelation and if you do your research you'll
be able to keep up with me next week and we'll understand the
gospel but you don't do your research you just have to listen
and bob your head say that sounds right pastor All right, let's close in prayer.
Father, we thank you for your time. We thank you for your word.
We thank you for your truth as it is in Christ. May it sink
deep down into our soul. Take root downward, bear forth
fruit upward. For therein are you glorified. As we go our way, give us traveling
mercies. Take us home safely, Lord, and
put our heads upon our pillows. Prepare our hearts to worship
you on Sunday in spirit. And in truth, we pray in Jesus'
name, amen.