Okay, today we'll continue our
Bible study in Romans chapter 11, and we want to try to look
at verse 7 down to verse 15 of Romans chapter 11. Let me make
these remarks by way of introduction. All through our study of the
book of Romans, The Apostle Paul has been declaring in very clear,
plain, and bold terms that salvation is of the Lord. As we often say,
from election to glorification, salvation is all of God's grace
alone, through faith in Christ alone, and certainly found in
the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember from studying Romans
chapter 3 where I said that this is one of my favorite verses
being justified freely by His grace through the redemption
that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's not of Him that will
it nor of Him that run it. Romans 9, 16, but of God that
shows mercy. Now this is a message of the
whole testimony of Scripture and what the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ declares unto us, that salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is accomplished by
Christ alone, not by Him and us, but by the Lord Jesus Christ
alone. He said it is finished and it
is true. Salvation is accomplished completely
from beginning to the eternal consummation to the glory of
God, all of Christ. Now, having said that, look at
the question that is asked here in verse seven, Romans 11 verse
seven, what then? What then, what's the conclusion,
the right conclusion then? What then, Israel hath not obtained
that which he seeketh for. They sought salvation by the
deeds of the law. They didn't ever obtain salvation
by the deeds of the law, did they? Has God ever justified
a sinner by the deeds of the law? Not according to the book
of God, but the election hath obtained it. Now we know From
reading what it says here in verse 5, there is a remnant according
to the election of grace. But election hath obtained it.
There is an election unto salvation. And then the rest were blinded.
The rest were hardened in their sin. The rest were left to die
in their sin. What is the right conclusion?
Let God be true and every man a liar. What is a right conclusion? Shall not the judge of all the
earth do right? Whatever he does is right. Israel,
that nation of people, never at any time accomplished salvation
by the works of the law. by their deeds or by the ceremonies
of the law, not one time ever. If you remember back in chapter
9, look back over there, 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 faith, the righteousness of Christ, but Israel which followed
after the law of righteousness had not attained to the law of
righteousness. Wherefore, because they sought
it not by faith, but as it were the works of the law, for they
stumbled at that stumbling stone, and we know that's the rock of
offense, the rock of ages, the Lord Jesus Christ. The election
of grace hath obtained it for those Jews who were chosen unto
salvation, but never did they obtain salvation by their deeds. No sinner, mark it down, underscore
it, double line, no sinner has ever been saved by what they
have done. No sinner has ever obtained salvation
based upon something they have done. It says here, election
has obtained it for God's people among the Jews, but the rest
were hardened, blinded in their sin, hardened in their sin and
left to their own wicked will, which is always away from God. Look at verse eight. As it is written, and this is
from Isaiah 29 and from Isaiah chapter six, according as it
is written, God had given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that
they should not see, ears that they should not hear, unto this
day, it was true in Paul's day, true in our day too, unto this
day, all the blindness of heart, wicked unbelief is all, all their
blindness of heart and wicked unbelief is according to the
will decree and the eternal purpose of God unto this day. Remember he works all things
after the counsel of his own will. Now I want to read those
two scriptures that are quoted in that verse, Isaiah 29 verse
10. I'll just read them to you, don't
turn. For the Lord has poured out upon you the spirit of deep
sleep. And that's what the Lord said,
they love darkness rather than light. And then from Isaiah 6,
9 and 10, go and tell this people, hear ye indeed, but understand
not, and see ye indeed, but you perceive not. Make the heart
of this people fat, make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes,
lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears,
and understand with their heart, and convert and be healed. God has sent them hardness of
heart. Remember he said, I will have
mercy on whom I will have mercy. I will harden whom I will harden. Now, he quotes another scripture
in Romans 11, verse nine and 10. David said, not only did
Isaiah say, but David also says, Let their table be made a snare,
a trap, and a stumbling block, and a
recompense unto them. Let their eyes be darkened that
they may not see, and bow down their back always." Now, that
quotation comes from Psalm 69. Verse 22. Remember Psalm 69 is
one of the Psalms of the cross along with Psalm 22. Let's find
Psalm 69 and I want to show you something here that precedes
that quotation. Psalm 69. Begin reading at verse
20. Psalm 69. Again remember this
is the Psalm of the cross. Verse 20, reproach hath broken
my heart. And this is the Lord speaking
of Christ crucified. I'm full of heaviness. I looked
for some to take pity, but there was none. And for comforters,
I found none. They gave me also gall for my
meat. And in my thirst, they gave me
vinegar to drink. This is prophesying what would
happen to Christ. That their table become a snare
before them. And that which should have been
for their welfare, it became a trap. Let their eyes be darkened
that they see not, and make their loins continually to shake. Pour
out indignation upon them. Let thy wrathful anger take hold
upon them. Let their habitation be desolate,
and let none dwell in their tent." Now, this is the Lord praying
against those people. against those reprobates in that
day. Now, Romans chapter 11 verse
11, I say then, hath they stumbled that they should fall? Well, they have fallen and they
have stumbled. But what the question is being
asked here, is there no possible way that God will not show mercy
to some of his people among those Jewish people? Have they fallen
to such a state that God cannot save them by his grace? God forbid,
God forbid, but rather to their fall, is come unto the Gentiles through
their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles for to provoke
them to jealousy. God even uses the wickedness
of men to further his own purpose. The Jewish nation as a whole
stumbled and are fallen from seeking salvation by the grace
of God in Christ. There's a veil over their eyes
to this day, but not forever. They're not beyond the powerful
reach of the grace of God to save some of them among those
people. By their fall, by the sovereign
will of God that was purposed and used of God to the fervent
of the gospel being sent to the Gentiles to provoke or to stir
them up, to see that salvation is in Christ. You remember back
in chapter 10, verse 19. We ran into that here in Romans
10, verse 19. But I say, did not Israel know?
First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that
are no people and by a foolish nation will I anger you. God
got their attention by showing mercy sinners, Gentiles, and it provoked
them to jealousy. We have an example of that in
Acts chapter 13. You remember Paul came to that
city preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? And those
Jews at first, when they saw the embracing of salvation in
Christ, when those Jews saw the Gentiles wanting to hear more
of that message and receive that message of salvation by grace,
remember, they started speaking against those things. And Paul
said, it was necessary that the word of God first be preached
to you. But seeing that you put it from yourselves, lo, we turn
to the Gentiles. And when they heard that, as
many as were ordained to eternal life believed the gospel. You
can read Acts 13, 44 through 48. But now, look at verse 12,
Romans 11, verse 12. Now, if the fall of them be the
riches of the world, through the fall of them, we see the
riches of God's grace magnified, don't we? We even see that in
the fall of Adam. In the fall of Adam, what do
we see? We see God out of that fallen, ruined race, the Lord
showing mercy, richly unto a multitude of sinners, he's chosen unto
salvation. Now if the fall of them be the
riches of the world, were the riches of his grace, and the
world there he mentions is his elect among the Gentile world,
and the diminishing or decay or loss of them, the riches of
the Gentiles, How much more would their fullness be? Now, stay
with me here. Now if, or since it is true,
the stumbling and sin and failure and the rejection of the Jews
brought blessings of the Lord's rich grace of the gospel to the
Gentiles through the preaching of the gospel, through the preaching
of the gospel, Gentiles were blessed to the preaching of the
Word. Just think what a great blessing it would be and how
much more if it pleased the Lord in the fullness of time, in the
fullness of bringing in the elect of God among all the Jews be
brought in at one time to the fullest of the extent of God's
mercy. Just think how that would be
a greater blessing. Remember the Lord used 12 Jewish
men, I'm including Paul, not Judas. God used 12 men, sinners
saved by God's grace who were Jews to turn the world upside
down. What if he brought in 12,000
more? and made them like the apostle Paul. Oh, what a rich
blessing that would be to this world, would it not? Remember
in Acts chapter 17, talking of those apostles, he said, these
men have turned the world. These are the men who turned
the world upside down and now they've come to our city. Wouldn't
it be marvelous? if the Lord in his mercy and
one day this is going to happen God is going to save all his
elect among the fullness of his elect among the Jews when that
day happens I don't know but one day it will happen and it
will be a blessing to so many people look at verse 13 for I
speak to you Gentiles I speak to you Gentiles inasmuch as I
am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify my office. I honor my office. Now who made this man named Saul
of Tarsus? Do you remember he said I was
a Pharisee, a Pharisee? At one time he hated the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember one time he went
out of his way, not satisfied to just punish those and persecute
those Christians, believers in Jerusalem. He got special permission
to go all the way up to Damascus up in Lebanon to find those who
were calling on the name of Christ and to committing them to prison
and eventually even unto death. But Paul points to himself as
an example of what he's talking about. He was a Christ-hating
Jew who now by the grace of God was made an ardent lover and
believer of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and a preacher
of the gospel. You remember in Ephesians chapter
3, he said, there was much grace given to me that I should preach
unto the Gentiles the exceeding riches of his grace. Now you think how the Lord used
that one man and how he traveled all around in his in the known
world of that day, even all the way to Rome, all the way through
Asia Minor, down in Judea, all through that area, this one man
preached the gospel to many, many people, and this day, to
this day, we are still receiving the blessings from that man's
ministry. Now, I just think if the Lord
raised up a hundred more like Paul, or a thousand more like
Paul, what blessing it would be to this world today. Paul
was a preacher of the gospel. He said, I'm determined to know
nothing among you, but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He
said, we preach not ourselves, but the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh,
may God be pleased to raise up some men in our day and send
them forth with this message of the gospel. What a blessing
it would be to God's elect among the Jews and the Gentiles. Now
look at verse 14. If by any means, I love that
word means. God uses means. He has ordained the end, right? But he's also ordained the means
to arrive at that end. If by any means I may provoke
to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of
them." You remember Romans 9.1, Romans 10.1, Paul fervently prayed
for those people. He said, I wish myself a curse
from Christ for my brethren, for Israel, that they might be
saved. that God might save some. Now,
here's one of the translations that I look at often. It's called
Young's Literal Translation. If you have that Bible CD program
that I've given to many of you, you can find that translation.
On verse 14 it says, If by any means I shall arouse to jealousy
my kinmen, or my own flesh, my kinfolk, And by God's grace,
some of them come to the knowledge of Christ. That is, by the means
God has ordained. What is the means God has ordained? Well, the Lord Jesus Christ was
a lamb slain before the foundation of the world, right? What happened
in time? In the fullness of the time,
God sent forth his son made of a woman made under the law. You
see what God has purposed in eternity, he brings to pass in
time. And the means that God has used, and not only the blood
and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, his glorious resurrection,
but it means he also has used to call out his elect. How do
you know anything about the gospel of Christ anyway? Did you just
dream that up one night? Did you have some special vision
down by the creek bank one night or one day? How did you find
out anything about the gospel of Christ? God sent a gospel
preacher. Faith comes by hearing and hearing
by the word of the Lord. You see God has predestinated
the means and God has predestinated the end. Now I've had people
that want to argue with me and say, well, if God's elected a
people, Christ died for those people, and God the Holy Spirit
is gonna regenerate those people, why don't we just close up all
the church doors and why don't we just go home? God's already
got it all done. Yes, he has. But he's also ordained
a means to call out his people. It plays God to the preaching
of the gospel. They'll call out his people.
That's why we make much of the means. When we meet here together,
it's not for the entertainment of the flesh, is it? It's not
to entertain the children. Children have enough entertainment.
It's not to entertain us adults. We have too much entertainment
now. We meet here together. Every time we meet, we take the
word of the Lord and we teach, thus saith the Lord. Precept
upon precept, line upon line, here a little, there a little.
God has promised to bless his word. He said, I'll send it and
it will prosper wherever I send it. It will not return to me
void. Of his own will begat he us with
the word of truth. You see, true faith is born of
right knowledge. True faith is born of the true
gospel. True faith doesn't come from
listening to the lies of men. You'll never arrive at the truth
by listening to lies. It's like trying to drive from
Pikeville, Kentucky to Los Angeles, California, and listen to, if
you ask somebody for direction, then they say, well, the first
thing you need to do is head east. I'll never get to Los Angeles,
California going east unless I can drive my Ford through the
ocean, come all the way around on the other side. You see, you'll
never arrive at truth through lies. You remember that scripture
over in 1 John where it says, no lie is of the truth? Truth is truth, lies are lies.
Now, that's why we make much of preaching the true God Sovereign,
holy, eternal. Now, one more verse. For if the casting away of them,
that is the reprobate among the Jews, be the reconciling of the
Gentiles, God was in Christ reconciling Himself, reconciling the world
unto Himself, what shall the receiving of them be? but life
from the dead. Isn't that what salvation is?
Life from the dead? He has raised us from the dead. Now, here is what he is saying. Consider this, if the casting
away of the Jews, that is the stumbling and the rejection of
Jesus Christ by the Jews, for the most part, they said away
with him, crucify him, we have no king but Caesar. If that rejection
of the reprobate Jews brought the means of the gospel, brought
the means of the gospel of reconciliation to the Gentile world, his elect
among them. What would their salvation be
but life from the dead? Is that not what salvation is?
how God raises sinners from the dead, not just an outward reformation,
but dead men brought to life in Christ. He that hath the Son
hath life. You remember John 17, verse two,
where the Lord described what eternal life is. This is eternal
life that they might believe thee the only true God, Jesus
Christ, whom he has sent. As the Father raiseth up the
dead, and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom He
will. For if the casting away of them
be the reconciling of the world, what shall be the receiving of
them but life from the dead? Let's find this one scripture.
I've got a couple of minutes left. Find 2 Corinthians 5. He mentions this reconciliation
here that we have in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 18. And all things are of God. Now you can't run too far with
that. All things are of God. Creation, salvation, providence,
all things are of God who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus
Christ and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. What
is this ministry of reconciliation? What does it involve? To wit,
that is, namely is this. God was in Christ, reconciling
the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and
hath committed unto us this word of reconciliation. This word
of reconciliation is peace has been made with God through the
blood atonement of Christ, verse 20. Now then, we are ambassadors
for Christ as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you
in Christ's stead. Now be you reconciled. God's
reconciled in Christ. Now lay down your shotgun. Lay
down your enmity. 4, verse 21, God made him to
be sin for us. That is God made Christ to be
sin for us. He is a spotless lamb of God
who knew no sin, had no sin, did no sin, that we might be
made the righteousness of God in him. What a tremendous verse. Blessed is that man to whom the
Lord imputed righteousness without works.