Romans chapter 11, and I want
us to read the first seven verses. Keep your Bibles handy if you
would. I want to turn to some places. But let's begin reading
in Romans chapter 11 and verse 1. I say then, hath God cast
away his people? God forbid. For I also am an
Israelite of the seed of Abraham of the tribe of Benjamin. God
hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Want ye not,
know ye not what the scripture says of Elijah, Elias, how he
maketh intercessions to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have
killed thy prophets. They dig down thy altars, and
I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer
of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven
thousand men who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.
Even so, then, at this present time also there is a remnant
according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then
it is no more of works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace.
But if it be of works, then it is no more of grace. Otherwise,
work is no more work. What then? Israel hath not obtained
that which he seeketh for, but the election hath obtained it,
and the rest were blinded. So often we see in the Scriptures
these two things associated together. You'll notice this as you read
through the Old, but especially the New Testament. We have the
natural, and we have the spiritual. We have natural Abraham. We have carnal Abraham. Abraham
had two sons. One was Ishmael, and the other
was Isaac. And he loved both of his sons,
and he prayed for them. We also see spiritual Abraham. Natural Abraham had two sons,
but spiritual Abraham had only one son. The scripture says to
Abraham, take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, and offer him
for sacrifice. He had only one son. Spiritual
Abraham did. Abraham had two seeds. He had
a natural seed and he had a spiritual seed. The natural seed of Abraham
inherited the promises of Canaan. They inherited that temporary
land and the temporary promises. But the spiritual seed of Abraham,
they have an eternal inheritance. There are two circumcisions. You'll see this in Romans chapter
2. There's an outward circumcision
that's in the flesh, and then there's a circumcision of the
heart and of the spirit. There's two Jews. There's a natural
Jew and there's a spiritual Jew. There's a natural Jew who is
a Jew naturally, born of Jewish parents. And there's those who
are inward Jews, who are born not of the flesh, but of the
Spirit. And in Hebrew, in Galatians chapter
4, we're told of two Jerusalems. We're told of a natural Jerusalem,
a physical Jerusalem, which is in bondage with its children.
And then we're told of a heavenly Jerusalem, which is free. You are born of that Jerusalem
which is above, which is the mother of us all. And it is this
natural Israel that Paul is speaking of here in verse 7. Israel hath
not obtained that which he seeketh for. Natural Israel has not obtained
that which he seeketh for. What did they seek for? Well,
look in chapter 9 and look in verse 31. Romans 9.31, but Israel,
Israel after the flesh, natural Israel, which followed after
the law of righteousness, they have not attained to the law
of righteousness. Why? Because they sought it not
by faith, faith in Christ, but as it were by the works of the
law, for they stumbled at that stumbling stone. And in chapter
10, Paul prayed for them, didn't he? He prayed for Israel, that
they might be saved. For he said in verse 3, they
being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish
their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto
the righteousness of Christ. The righteousness of God. What
did they seek after? Righteousness. But they never
attained to righteousness. because they sought it by the
law and not by faith. Paul makes this statement here
in verse 7 that may lead some to think and ask this question
when he said, Israel has not obtained righteousness. Israel
is ready to perish. So if you read statements like
that that he often makes, there was no wonder people thought
within their minds, then has God cast Israel away? And that's
what he asks up here in verse 1. I say then, hath God cast
away His people? Has He cast away natural Israel? Are none of them going to be
saved? Are all of them lost without exception? And then he says,
God forbid. And then he proves that God hasn't
cast away all of natural Israel, for he says, I also am an Israelite. I'm of the seed of Abraham and
of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away all of
Israel. But then in verse 2, he uses
this word to prove who God's real people are. Who is the people
that he's saving? Look what he says in verse 2.
God has not cast away His people which He foreknew. Now if you're familiar with the
book of Romans like Brother Wayne is, you've seen this word before,
haven't you? Those He foreknew. Look back
in chapter 8. I want you to hold chapter 11.
Just look back at a couple of pages and look back in chapter
8 and look at verse 29. Look and start out here in verse
28. Look here at what he says. We
know that all things work together for good to them that love God.
To them who are the called according to His purpose. Now here's God's
eternal purpose concerning salvation. For whom He did foreknow. Them He predestinated to be conformed
to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among
many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate,
them He called, and whom He called, them He justified, and whom He
justified, them He also glorified." Who is God's people? He's going
to save His people, Paul said. He's not cast away His people
whether they be out of the Jewish nation or the Gentile nation.
But who are those people? Those He foreknew. Now notice
how the Apostle Paul says this here. He doesn't say those He
foreknew would do certain things. that Ephor knew that they would
repent, or Ephor knew that they would come, or Ephor knew they
would believe, it doesn't have anything to do with God's foreknowing
what they would do. But foreknowing them. Ephor knew
them. He told Jeremiah, he said, before
I farmed you in the belly, I knew you. Only God can foreknow a
man. And you can say here too, this
word foreknow, it has two parts. It means to know beforehand,
but that word knew, K-N-E-W, is a very intimate word. It means
to love. An intimate relationship with
Adam knew Eve, his wife. And she conceived. But he didn't
love her until he looked at her. God brought this woman to him
and he looked at her and he loved her. But only God can love a
man and provide for that man before the man is ever born.
God foreknew His people. And what did He do for them?
Well, He predestinated them to be conformed to the image of
His Son. And these people are distinguished.
They are distinguished people. It doesn't matter what nationality
they're taken out of or what race or culture or sex. They
come from all nations under heaven. And God will never cast them
away, Paul said. Whether they be out of the natural
Jews or the Gentiles, they're His people whom He forgave. And what the Apostle Paul here
has proven in these verses is that God has always had a remnant. even among natural Israel. There
was a time when poor Elijah couldn't see this, could he? Remember
what he got himself in trouble? And boy, he had stood against
the prophets and they slew the prophets of Baal. And then he
got so full of energy about it all, he ran for miles all the
way back to the city. And he got there and Jezebel
said, I'm going to kill you before the sun comes up in the morning.
And it scared him to death. And he started looking around
and he said, My soul, there's nobody left but me. They killed
all of God's prophets and now they're going to kill me. And
he got scared and he fled. He had a difficult time believing
what the Apostle Paul said here, that no, Elijah, listen, I have
reserved to myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee
to the image of Baal. Aren't you thankful, brothers
and sisters? And isn't this a source of joy to you that all your misgivings
and all your ignorance and all your doubts and all your fears
does not alter the eternal purpose of God? Isn't that wonderful? Oh, it's over with. That's what
this great prophet said. Man, we've had it now. Let's
throw in the towel and run for our lives. This thing is finished. Aren't you glad that God's eternal
purpose doesn't depend even upon a great prophet like this man? If anything could change the
eternal purpose of God, it would be all my fearing and all my
doubting. And I'd do it. But my fearings
and my doubtings and my misgivings and my misjudgments of Him and
what He's doing and what I know about Him, it doesn't change
His eternal purpose. Even at this present time, there
is a remnant according to the election of grace. The trials
of God's people, the rage of God's enemies and the gates of
hell will never prevail against God's eternal decree of election. The foundation of God standeth
sure, having this seal, listen, the Lord knoweth them that are
His. He knows them. I love the way
he says it here in our text in chapter 11 and verse 4. What
saith the answer of God to him? Here is what God said to him.
I have reserved to myself seven thousand men. Elijah, you don't know it. You
don't even have any idea what I've done. And you think you're
the only one that's left. But let me tell you something.
My purpose is not dependent upon you. This is what I've done.
I have reserved to myself. I will be worshipped in the earth.
I will have a group of men that will not bow to the image of
Baal when everybody else is bowing. I've done this work. I have reserved
to myself 7,000 Amen. And God's got them today, isn't
He? He has a remnant still among the Jews, and He has a remnant
among the Gentiles. And I tell you, sometimes we
just don't know where in the world He's getting them. But
there is. We was looking at a little picture back there on the, where
Lance Hillary is over in Papua, New Guinea, and we saw the Samson
sitting there in front of that old hut, and the little naked
baby back there behind him that most of you didn't see. I've
got such a perception about these things. I dig in the background,
you see. I went in the background to see
what was behind the old statue. Ain't it amazing over there in
that culture? What would you think if we had
little naked babies running around out in the yard over here? Well,
we'd say, get that kid some clothes on, wouldn't we? They'd think
nothing about it over there. What a culture, what a wild culture
that is. But you know something? The Lord's
reserved some of those people He's got His people over there.
I reserved them. Oh, there's none of us left.
Well, He's got them somewhere. And if there's no more here in
this country, He'll take them from the jungle somewhere. He's
reserved them, hasn't He? He's reserved them to pardon.
I will pardon those whom I reserved. He's ordained them to life, and
brothers, they shall live. He's chosen them to salvation,
and they will be saved. I have reserved. I tell you,
if I believed that the continuance and well-being of the church
was dependent upon me, I'd despair, wouldn't you? I would despair. And that's what happened to this
man. Oh, I've held it up as long as
I can. I've got this thing and held it up together. I can't
do it anymore or it's going to fall apart. I beg your pardon.
Poor Elijah is long gone, ain't he? And didn't change a thing.
Paul's gone, and Spurgeon's gone, and Calvin's gone, and Luther's
gone. And the work goes on. Why? Because I have preserved to myself. There's been times in the history
of the church where men threw up their hands and said, well,
that's it. That was the last stand. We're gone now. And just
about that time, God sent a revival. That's the way He is, isn't it?
I have reserved to myself. And even at this present time
there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And in verse 7 Paul says, The
natural Israel has not attained what he seeketh for, that righteousness,
but the election hath obtained it. The election hath pertained
it. The elect, the remnant of all
ages have obtained the blessing. How can we be sure of that? How
can we be sure that all the elect will obtain the blessing? Those
heavenly blessings, righteousness and faith and life and hereafter
life eternal, how can we be sure of that? Because it depends wholly
upon sovereign free grace. That's what he says in verse
6, isn't it? If by grace, then it must be sure. If it's by works
and grace, then I'd stand in doubt of it. But he says it's
by grace, then it is no more of works. Otherwise, grace is
no more grace. But if it be of works, then it
is no more grace. And otherwise, it's either of
one or the other. It's of works, then I'm in doubt
of all of us. But if it's of pure and sovereign
free grace, it's sure to all the seed if it's of grace. The election hath obtained it. And notice this now, the rest
were blinded. We very seldom see these two
things together in the Scriptures, election and the rest. We know
there isn't any election. We know when it took place, before
the foundation of the world. God hath chosen us in Christ
before the foundation of the world. But here He deals with
the rest. If there isn't an election of
grace, then there's got to be a rest in it. If there's a remnant,
there's got to be others. If there's those who He's chosen,
then there's got to be those He passed by. And that's what
the Apostle Paul said here. And that's why I say you very
seldom see these two things together. The election and the rest. But we have these things. We
have an Abel. We have the elect. And we have
a Cain, don't we? The rest. We have an Isaac. the elect. We have a Nishmael,
the rest. We have a Jacob whom God loved. We have an Esau whom God hated. We have sheep and we have goats.
We have tares and we have wheat. There are two distinct people
in this world of all ages and they go under these two names,
the election and the rest. And God has made a distinction
between these two people before the foundation of the world.
The election and the rest. Let's look at the rest just for
a moment. The rest. The rest. I want you to look
over in Jeremiah chapter 6 right quickly. Jeremiah chapter 6. There's a word that we sometimes
use, and some throw it around as though it means nothing, but
it's reprobate. Have you ever heard of that word
reprobate? And somebody's mad at somebody,
or they want to accuse them of something, they say, you reprobate.
But as you study that word in the Scripture, it has different
meanings. Reprobate concerning the faith,
that means they have no faith, their faith is false. Reprobate
concerning judgment in Romans chapter 1. Reprobate concerning
good works. The void of good works. So you
have to look at this word wherever you see it in the context. And
whatever you see the context means, that's what the word means.
Here it means rejected. Look at it in Jeremiah chapter
6 and look in verse 30. Jeremiah chapter 6 and verse
30. Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the Lord hath
rejected them." Reprobate silver. Why do they call them that? Because
it means rejected. The old Puritans, if you've read
very much after the Puritans, boy, they were strong on the
doctrine of election. And I have a book by John Bunyan
called Reprobation Asserted. And he deals with this subject
of the rest. And they called the rest, the
non-elect, they called them reprobate. And it wasn't a term of reproach. It was just a defining verb.
It means rejected. When God chose Jacob, he rejected
or passed by Esau. So that's what this word here,
reprobate, means. And somebody says, Bruce, we
shouldn't even talk about these things. We shouldn't even be
talking about it. Talk about election, but don't
talk about those that God passed by. Well, He said, Reprobate
silver shall men call them. So we have permission to talk
about these things, don't we? We should talk about these things.
Reprobate silver shall men call them. Now, if this makes you
proud, if this makes you boastful, and you look down your nose at
somebody I'd sort of be afraid of you. I'd sort of fear for
your position. I really would. Because I'm telling
you, here is a truth, here is a fact that strips us, that humbles
us, that humiliates us. We see these little shirts today
talking about, you know, there's no fear. You know, no fear. I saw these t-shirts, especially
young teenagers wear, and they said, I'm the captain of my fate. I'm the master of my soul. And
I've often looked at them and thought, man, you're neither
one of those. You're neither one of those. You're not a master
of your fate. Your destiny's already been fixed. It's already been fixed. You're
either one of God's elect and He's chosen you to come to Christ
and you'll share and you'll believe on Him and you'll be saved and
you'll cleave to Him in heaven at last. Or God has passed you
by and He's going to leave you in your sins and in your hardness
of heart and to the devil and you'll die lost. But whichever
way it is, it's fixed. It's fixed. And for men to say,
I'm the captain of my soul, when the devil is. The devil is the
captain of a lost man's soul. He calls it his goods. He keeps
his goods until a stronger one comes in and pulls him out and
takes the rule himself. No man is the captain of his
soul, and he's neither that or the master of his fate. And a
man that would look upon election and the rest and make him proud,
man, he's not studied the Scriptures about this situation. God has fixed these things in
His eternal purpose, hasn't He? And you know why He's done it?
So these men will take off this proud, arrogant shirts and stomp
them under their feet and humble themselves and tremble before
God who has fixed men's destiny. Listen to Ecclesiastes chapter
3 verse 14. I know that whatsoever the Lord
doeth, it shall be forever. Nothing can be put to it, nor
anything taken from it. And that's said about His decrees. He's fixed it. And nobody or
nothing can change that. And He doeth it that men should
fear and tremble before Him. Reprobate silver, shall men call
them. Not only has there been a distinction
made between the persons of the elect and the rest, but there
is a distinction also in how God treats them and what He gives
to them and withholds from the others. The election hath obtained
it. The rest were blinded. See, there is a distinction between
the persons themselves. He foreknew them. He chose them.
There is. There is also a distinction with
what He gives them and what He withholds from them. God obviously
gives to the elect what He withholds from the rest. The elect obtain
gracious blessings of God in Christ. They obtain all the means
that comes with those blessings. They hear the gospel, they believe
the gospel, they repent, they come. The Word is made effectual
to them. But these blessings are reserved
for the elect themselves, for a certain number of people that's
called the election. The Scripture says as many, that's
the limit it is, Those He foreknew. Them He predestinated. All that the Father giveth Me
shall come to Me. There is a number which no man
can number. And they are set aside to this
blessing. And that number cannot be diminished
and it cannot be increased. Christ has a body and that body
is made up of the elect of God. And no reprobate. will ever be
taken into that body. The election makes up the perfect
body of Jesus Christ. And if a reprobate sinner should
be brought in and put into that body, it would deform the body. God has set the members, every
one of them, in the body as it has pleased Him. Let me show
you that over in Matthew. Look at Matthew chapter 13. Matthew
chapter 13. And look in verse 10 and 11.
Matthew chapter 13 verse 10 and 11. Look here what the Lord Jesus
told His disciples in verse 10. Matthew 13. And his disciples came and said
unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? And Jesus answered
and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the
mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given."
See the distinction? Not only a distinction between
the persons, the election, and the rest, but now a distinction
in what God gives to the elect and withholds from the rest.
Unto you it is given. To them it is not given. Boy, this really comes right
down to the nitty-gritty to prove if you believe in grace or not.
If you believe you deserve something or you don't believe you deserve
it. Well, it comes right down to that, doesn't it? The Lord
Jesus was praying one day and He said, Father, I thank You
that You have hid these things from the wise and prudent and
You have revealed them unto babes. You have hid them from the rest. You have revealed it unto the
election. Why did He do that? Even so,
it seemed good in Thy sight. God does things because they
seem good in His sight. Did God do the rest any harm
when He passed by them? No. He didn't do them any harm
and He didn't mean them any harm. He never made them sinners, did
He? He never made them sinners. He's never done any injustice
to them. Friend, I do thee no harm. Is
it not lawful for me to do what I will with my own? That's what
it is, isn't it? We send away any claims we have
on God. Now everything that we have comes
by way of grace. It's His. And is He not doing
right? Is He not allowed to do what
He will with His own? If we earned it, if it was ours,
then it would be different. But we send away any claims.
And now, if we're ever saved, He must give us everything that
pertains to salvation. Can He be charged with injustice
because He gives it to one and withholds it from another? Nobody
deserves it. Oh, but somebody will say it's
not fair. It's not fair. It's not fair for God not to
give a man something that he don't even want to begin with.
That ain't fair. Can a man complain that he's
not forgiven of his sins while all along he tramples under his
feet the blood of Christ? Will a man complain against God
for not predestinating him to be conformed to the image of
Christ while all along he despises His image? Complain? Complain that God hasn't chosen
him? Hasn't chosen him to give him
light when all along he loves his darkness? A sinful man by his actions calls
upon God every day of his life. Depart from me! I don't desire
the knowledge of your ways. And he curses God. for not giving
him what he don't even desire. Man's an unreasonable creature,
brothers and sisters, is he not? He is an unreasonable creature.
He complains against the goodness and graciousness of God for not
choosing him to those blessings which he despises. And when they're
preached to him, he turns a deaf ear to them and says, No, thank
you. God did the reprobate no harm
in passing by him in his election. It just means God more or less
leaves him to himself to be blinded. Blinded by sin, blinded by Satan,
blinded by this world and its temporal advantages. And by these
means they fit themselves to eternal ruin. And on the Day of Judgment this
will tell. Nobody will rise up on the Day of Judgment and say,
I'm going to perish because I'm among the rest. That will never
happen. You know why men perish? Men
don't perish because God left them in His election. Men don't perish because God
passed them by. Depart from Me, because I never
chose you. That's not what He said, is it?
Depart from Me, you workers of iniquity. I never knew you. I never knew you. One more passage of Scripture
in closing. Look on in Matthew chapter 25. God distinguishes between the
election and the rest. The body of Christ is made up
of the election. No way the rest could enter into
that body. God gives to the election what
He withholds from the rest. And this inheritance, look who
it's for in Matthew chapter 25 and verse 31. When the Son of
Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with
Him, Then he shall sit upon the throne of his glory, and before
him shall be gathered all nations. He shall separate them one from
another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And
he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on
the left." There's that distinction, isn't it? you from the foundation of the
world. Reservations have been made for
the election. Reservations have been made for
the election. You know why the rest cannot
inherit this heavenly place? There's no reservations. There's
no reservation. You go off somewhere and you've
called ahead of time and you've made a reservation. And you've
got your name on that? And I go there and I say, my
name's Bruce Crabtree, I've got a reservation. They look down
through there, no sir, you're not on here. But Greg's name
is on there. Greg's name, not yours. Not yours. There's many mansions in the
Father's house, but they got names on them. And every one
of them, election, election, election. This is prepared for
you, you who are the blessed of My Father. You were blessed
when He chose you. You were blessed when He gave
you to Me. You were blessed when I came
and was your surety and took your sins and put them away.
You were blessed when I called you and put My graces in your
heart. And you're blessed now. Come,
you're blessed. I'll be blessed by my Father.
But there's the rest here too, aren't there? The rest of them
are mentioned here too. What about the rest of them?
We talk about the surety of salvation for the elect. That's the beautiful
side. That's the good side. There's
the dreadful side. The surety of damnation for the
rest. I said it this morning. What
does God have to do to damn a man? Leave him alone. Just leave Him
alone. And here He has them on the Day
of Judgment. Look what He went on to say in verse 41. Then shall He say unto
them on His left hand, Depart from Me ye cursed, and to everlasting
fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. You're cursed. That's the rest,
isn't it? You're cursed. What was it made
the distinction on this day, on this great day? Was it not God had already made
it? Everything else was just the effects of the distinction
that had already been made. And He worked it and brought
His purpose to pass in it. I've set these aside for blessings. I've left these to themselves.
See what they do. These I've prepared this kingdom
for, and I'm going to prepare them for the kingdom. Them I've
left to themselves. Let's see how it fares with them. I don't know of anything more
stripping than this blessed truth. I tell you, it humbles me. It
just kicks every prop out from under me. And just about the
time I'm laying at His feet, He shows me I have an interest
in Him. I have an interest in Jesus Christ. I believe on Him. I trust Him.
He's mine. Therefore, I'm elected. I can
believe I'm one of His. And these blessings await from
me because they're in this nutshell of God's eternal decrees and
His purposes. Oh, men will cuss you, men will
cuss you and find fault and misrepresent God's election. I hate it. I heard Brother Mahan say one
time his dad, before the Lord saved his dad, he used to come
home on Sunday evening and he said he'd stomped him through
the house and was so mad, hitting the coffee table. That's sorry,
pastor, I hate to hear about election. I just hate to hear
about election. Why don't he quit preaching on
election? What will people think of it on the judgment? Men may despise it here, but
what will they say about election on the Judgment Day? Come, ye
blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you. What will they give them that
day to be among the election? All cursed here. Misrepresented
here. But what will you think on that
day of it? That is a fallen humanity's only
hope of being blessed of God is His gracious, eternal purpose
in election. And I have given up on everything
else and just cast my soul, lock, stock and barrel upon Him. Lord, save me or I perish. The election and the rest. Oh, I hope every one of you are
among the election. Oath ain't a soul here among
the rest. And I hope you spend your time before the throne of
God making sure of it. Making sure of it. And here's
where it begins to have the assurance that I'm one of His. I'm trusting
the Son of God alone. I'm trusting Him alone. for my
eternal salvation. God bless His Word.