17 declares that saving faith, the
faith that saves the soul, the faith that brings us into a saving
knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, comes by hearing the Word of
God. In verse 18, Paul asks this question,
Have they not heard? Have they not heard? Yes, verily,
their sound went into all the earth, their words unto the ends
of the world." Now that's a quotation from Psalm 19, verse 1 through
4. Turn over there if you will.
Psalm 19, verse 1 through 4. What David is saying is this,
that the power of God and the wisdom of God and the glory of
God is revealed to every creature. by the things that God has made,
by the heavens. In Psalm 19, verse 1, the heavens
declare the glory of God. The firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech,
and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech
nor language where the voices of these preachers are not heard. That is, the sun, the moon, the
stars, the sky, the things that are These all declare the glory
of God and show His wisdom and His power, and there's not a
speech on earth nor a language on earth where the voice of God's
creation is not heard declaring the wisdom and power of God."
And here's the quote, "...their line is gone out through all
the earth, their words to the end of the world." Now, the last
four verses of Romans 10 are dealing with four things. First
of all, the preaching of the gospel, the preaching of God's
presence and power to the Gentiles or to other nations besides Israel. That's what he's dealing with.
Secondly, he calls to our attention Old Testament prophecies revealing
or foretelling this gospel being preached to the Gentile. And
then thirdly, he tells us that Israel is or should be aware
of this, that God is going to preach the gospel to other nations.
And then he talks about the rejection of Christ by the Jew. Now, verse
18 shows us that the gospel is preached to all nations, not
just to Israel, not just to the Jew, as many of the Jews expected
and as many of them thought and as many of them believed. But
the gospel is not for the Jew only. It's for every nation and
every tribe and every kindred and every people on earth. And
that's what verse 18 is saying, that they have heard the word
of God has gone forth to every nation. No speech and no language
where the gospel or the word of God or the glory of God has
not been revealed. Now verse 19, did not Israel
know this? Well, they should have known
it because he quotes here from Moses. And this quotation is
taken from Deuteronomy 32, verse 21. Moses said that God would
provoke Israel to jealousy by them that are no people. Meaning
by that, not the people of God, not the national people of God.
They're not Israel, they're the other nations. God says through
Moses, way back in Deuteronomy, that I will provoke Israel to
jealousy by them that are no people. He's talking about us,
the Gentiles there. And by a foolish nation, a nation
that was strangers and aliens from the commonwealth of Israel,
and by a foolish nation I will anger them. Moses prophesied
that. And then Isaiah, being very bold,
and this is a quotation from Isaiah 65, where Isaiah declares,
God said, I was found of them that sought me not. I was made
manifest unto them that ask not after me." Here's Israel going
about their ceremonies of religion and seeking righteousness by
the law. And here are these other nations
that sought God not and made no pretense of knowing God or
seeking God. But he says, I'm going to be
found of them. I was made manifest unto them
that ask not after me. That's the Gentile. But to Israel,
Isaiah said, all day long I have stretched forth my hands unto
a disobedient and a gainsaying people. So God cut them off. Now then, chapter 11 deals with
several things. I'm going to give you a bare
outline, then we'll get into verse by verse. First of all,
chapter 11 deals with the rejection of the Jew by God. God has cut
them off, there's no question about that. God has cut them
off. But secondly, Paul shows that
this is not a universal reprobation. It's not universal. Though a
greater part in his day, and I believe an even greater part
in our day, but the scripture quoted from the Old Testament
shows and Paul's own experience shows that this is not a universal
hardening. It's not universal. And then
Paul deals with the design of God in cutting Israel off. God
has a purpose for cutting Israel off. And then, fourthly, in chapter
11, Paul exhorts you and I not to insult Israel, but to walk
humbly in the grace of God, for he foretells the conversion of
the Jew in the future, and what the conversion of the Jew is
going to mean to the Church. And then last of all, he closes
with a salute to the sovereign will and wisdom of God Almighty. Now, that's an awful lot, but
let's look at it, beginning with chapter eleven. Now, in chapter
ten there, the latter part of chapter ten, God declares through
Moses and through Isaiah that the gospel was going to be preached
to other nations, that he was going to have a people that were
not Jews. They were going to be Greeks and Gentiles and Romans. There were going to be people
from all over the world. And Paul said Israel should have
known this. It was in their Scripture. God prophesied how that he would
raise up a people and he would provoke Israel to jealousy and
he would anger them by calling out a people for his name among
those who didn't even seek him. didn't even ask after him, but
to Israel, he said, I stretched out my hand and no man regarded,
and therefore God cut them off. God judicially blinded Israel,
and that's the condition in which we find Israel today, blinded
by God, totally blinded and totally deaf to the gospel. But now verse
1 of Romans 11 asks this question, I say then, hath God cast away
his people? Now, after reading the above
verses, Paul knows that someone might get the idea that God has
cast all of Israel off permanently, and there's nothing more for
the Jew. And you'll find a lot of people who think that, that
when Christ came down here as a Jew and walked in human flesh
and preached the gospel, and obeyed the law and died on the
cross, and the apostles went to the Jews. He came unto his
own, and they all received him not. And they went to the Jews
with the gospel, and the Jewish nation said, We won't have it. They rejected it, and Paul said,
Well, we turn to the Gentiles. And then the Jews were hardened
and blinded and cut off, and a lot of people believe that's
the end of the Jews. That's all. I don't, and I don't think the
Bible teaches that, and I know Paul didn't believe it, for he
said, hath God cast away his people? And he answers it two
ways. First of all, he answers in his
usual way, when something was especially distasteful to him. He said, God forbid. Paul is
one of the only writers in Scripture who uses that term. But he uses
it frequently, and every time that something He believes is
contrary to the gospel and contrary to the word of God and distasteful
to him. When he answers it, he just says,
God forbid. Has God cast Israel off permanently? Is God through with the Jew?
Paul said, God forbid. And the second answer he gives
is this. I'm a Jew. That's what he says. I'm a Jew.
I'm of the seed of Abraham, straight from Abraham. I'm of the tribe
of Benjamin. I'm an Israelite," Paul said.
And God saved me, he said. God has saved me, and not only
saved me, but God made me a minister of the gospel. It's certain that
this casting off of the Jew is not universal. It is not universal
because Paul was a Jew. And there were many Jews converted
after Paul. I would say many, but there were
quite a few. So it's a cutting off, and it's a casting off,
and it's a blinding, but it's not universal. Now he asks the
question again. God hath not cast away his people
whom he foreknew. That's verse 2. Now let me make
this observation. The apostle goes on to answer
the charge Has God cast off the Jew? Is God through with the
Jew? Does God have nothing for the Jew in the future? Paul goes
on to answer that charge by explaining who he means by the people that
God hath not cast away. Namely, God has not cast away
either among Gentiles or Jews those whom he foreknew. those whom he foreknew." Now,
in a sense, all mankind are God's people. They're created by him,
they're supported by him, they're maintained by him, they have
their living and being through him and in him, but all mankind
is not foreknown. The Scripture says in Romans
8, whom he foreknew, he predestinated, he called, he justified, he glorified. And here it says, God hath not
cast away his people, whether in the camp of the Jew or the
Gentile, he hath not cast away his people whom he foreknew. Now though the Jews were the
people of God distinguished from other nations, and you know that's
true and I do too, the Jewish nation was God's nation. distinguished from all other
nations as a whole. To them were given the prophets,
to them were given the ceremonies, to them were given the tabernacle,
to them were given the prophets. They were nationally chosen people,
but all of them were not foreknown in the sense that the Apostle
uses the word here. because many of them, you know,
perished in the wilderness. Only some went into Canaan. So
God hath not cast off his people whom he foreknew. There is a
people in every age foreknown, loved, called, and redeemed. Their number may be small, but
these will never be cast off. And then he illustrates that.
The number may be small, but God always has a people. He has
a people among the Jews. He has a people among the Jews
today. He had a people among the arraignment in Paul's day.
He had arraignment in the days of the minor prophets. He had
arraignment in the days of Elias, as you'll see here. In verse
2, look. Do you not know what the Scripture
says of Elias, how he made intercession to God against Israel? Here's
Elias praying to God. And not praying for Israel, he's
praying against them. He's not praying for them. He
says, Lord, they've killed your prophets, they've torn down the
altars, they've profaned the altar, and I'm alone, and they
seek my life. He thought he was the only true
worshipper left. I don't know where he was when
this took place, but I've known a lot of fellows who've been
here. I'm the only one who believes that God's sovereign. I'm the
only one who believes that Christ is the Savior. I'm the only one
who believes the truth of God. I'm all alone. That's what Elias
was saying. I'm all alone, Lord. These people,
Israel, have torn down your altars, they've killed your prophets,
and I'm by myself. Look at verse 4. What was the
answer God gave to him? God's answer was this. I have
reserved to myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee
to the image of Baal. Elias was God's prophet in that
day, but Elias didn't know these seven thousand. Elias was the
most important prophet of that day, but he didn't know these
seven thousand. Elias was the man whom God used
in his day, more than any other man, but he didn't know these
7,000. So Paul the Apostle starts here
and he says, has God cast away his people? God forbid. I'm an
Israelite. God has saved me, God has called
me. There are not many of them, but
I'm one. I'm of the tribe of Benjamin. I'm the seed of Abraham.
God has not cast off his people whom he foreknew out of any nation. whether it's Jew or Gentile.
Why, he says, back in the days of Elias, the prophet of God,
the most important prophet of God, the greatest prophet of
God, who thought he was alone by himself, got down one day
and prayed against Israel, like Jonah did. Kill them, Lord. I'm
the only one that's left. Why, they've destroyed your altars
and they've killed your prophet, and I'm by myself. And God came
to him and said, Elias, you're not alone. I've got 7,000 men. 7,000! I think the Apostle's purpose
here, and we need this, the Apostle's purpose here is to show that
when we think the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ and the cause
of God and truth are at their lowest ebb, when you and I think
that, And we usually measure everything by our own experience.
The Lord has some people all over this world. He never cast
away his people whom he foreknew. And a lot of sincere men are
often wrong in their limitations of the kingdom of God. We want
to limit it to our own circle. We want to limit it to our own
school of theology. We want to limit it to our own
knowledge, fellowship. And Elias did that. And God said,
Now, Elias, I've got seven thousand men that have never bowed their
knee to Baal. God hasn't cast away His people
whom He foreknew. He knows them. We don't know
them. There's no way that we can know them. Even so, verse
5, Paul says, even so at this present time. Also, and he's still talking
about Israel, is people whom he foreknew, there's a remnant.
That's a small group, compared to the number of people who live
on the earth, there's a remnant according to the election of
grace. Paul's talking about his time,
in the time of the Apostle, at that time, and in every time
God has a people, not just one, though Paul was only one, And
this rendement is according to the election of grace. It's not
according to man's will. It's not according to man's work.
It's not according to man's choosing. It's according to God's will
and God's work and God's choosing. He will call out his people. Now verse 6 says, And if this
election, this foreknowledge, is according to grace, then it's
certainly not of works, otherwise grace is not grace. Now let me
make this comment. If the salvation of the Lord
is by the grace of God, as it is, for no other reason can be
given for your salvation or my salvation other than God had
mercy on us and God chose us and God was pleased to reveal
Christ to us, If it is by the grace of God, as it certainly
is, unmerited, unearned, unsought, Paul said, then it's not in any
way of works. Otherwise, grace is not grace. He means by that grace is not
grace if it's not completely free. If grace is centered in
any way by human works, it's not grace. It's got to be totally
free. If election is of grace, then
it's not of works. Otherwise, grace has got to go
by another name. Then he goes on, he says, but
if salvation is by works, it cannot be of grace. Now, most
preachers in this day are pretty able to mix grace and works. That's
what they do. They make a fine mixture of it.
But Paul says here that his election is by grace, it's not of works,
otherwise grace has got to choose another name, because grace is
not grace unless it's totally free from all works. If it is
by works, then it's not of grace, otherwise work is not work. There cannot be a mixture. These
are totally opposite. It's either a free gift of God,
salvation is, or it's a result of our works which make it a
debt. Verse 7, what then? Israel, that is the Jew, hath
not obtained that which he seeketh for. What did Israel seek for? Carnal Israel sought acceptance
with God. That's what they were seeking.
That's what they were seeking. That's what Cain was seeking.
when he brought the fruits of the field. That's what the high
priest was seeking when he slew the bullock. That's what the
young mother was seeking when she brought the turtledoves or
the lamb. That's what Israel was seeking.
Israel did not obtain what they sought for, what they seek for,
acceptance with God. That's what you're seeking, what
I'm seeking. What did Israel seek? They sought life. eternal
life. They didn't obtain it. What else
did they seek? They sought righteousness. Israel
hath not obtained that which he seeketh for. That's what Israel
was seeking. That's what all religious people
are seeking. Acceptance with God, eternal
life in heaven, and righteousness before the law. That's what all
religious people are seeking. Why didn't Israel find it? Turn
back to Romans 9. They sought it the wrong way.
Romans 9. Now listen. Romans chapter 9
says this. Verse 30. What shall we say then? The Gentiles, which followed
not after righteousness, have obtained righteousness, even
the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed
after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law
of righteousness. Why? Wherefore? Because they
sought it not by faith, but as it were, they sought it by the
works of the law. That's the problem, and that's
what Romans 11, verse 7 is saying. Israel hath not obtained that
which he seeketh for, acceptance with God. Why? They sought acceptance
with God on the basis of the law. They sought eternal life
by what they did for God, not what God did for them. They sought
righteousness by obedience to the law, and righteousness does
not come by the law. Now look at the next line. But
the election Those whom God foreknew. Those whom God did not cast off.
Those whom God will not cast off. Those whom He hath chosen
in Christ. Those whom from the foundation
of this world He hath set His faction upon. They attained.
Look at it. But the election hath obtained
it. Obtained it. Didn't earn it, they obtained
it. Paul said, I obtained mercy. It was the free gift of God.
Now, if it's of grace, it's not of work. If it's of work, it's
not of grace. But the election hath obtained
it, the election among the Jews, and the rest were blinded. And the rest were blinded. Or,
they were left in their blindness. You don't have to blind a man
who's already blind. You just leave him in his blindness. leave
him in his ignorance. That's where they were left.
They were left in their ignorance. They were left to strive after
acceptance and strive after life and strive after righteousness
by the carnal ceremonies of the law. They were left in their
ignorance. They sinned willfully against
the light and they were further blinded by being left in their
blindness. Turn to 1 Peter 2. Here's a scripture
that you ought to read in connection with that statement right there.
And I'm saying to people in this day, if you seek after acceptance
with God in your works, you won't find it. You won't find it. If you seek after righteousness
by your religious deeds, you won't find it. But the man who
seeks it not through those channels will find it in Christ when it's
given to him as a free gift of grace and revealed to his heart. And God may pass by a striving,
working, serving, religious Pharisee and pick up a drunk and show
him the gospel. That's what made these Jews so
mad. Why, they said, these Gentiles have never followed after righteousness.
These Gentiles have never been to the temple. These Gentiles
have never offered sacrifice. These Gentiles' forefathers sacrifice
their babies to evil God. We've been diligently serving
God all the days of our lives from our ancestor, Abraham. And you mean they've got righteousness
and we don't? Exactly, Paul said. Israel hath
not obtained what he seeketh after, because he seeks it by
the deeds of the law, not by faith. The Gentiles are saved
by faith, by the grace of God. Look at 1 Peter 2, verse 7, unto
you therefore that believe, he is precious, Christ is, because
he's your wisdom, your righteousness, your sanctification, and your
redemption. He is your righteousness. He's
precious to you, Christ is. He's everything to you. To you
that believe, not to you that work, you that believe. Not to
you that are striving for acceptance by the Lord, to you who believe,
he's precious, but unto the disobedient, Why, he is a stone which the
builders disallowed, and he is made the head of the corner,
and he is a stone of stumbling to them, and he is a rock of
offense to them, even to them which stumble at the word, being
disobedient." Watch this next line, "...whereunto also they
were appointed." Everything is in the purpose of God, even the
rebel. "...even the wrath of man shall
praise the Lord." God is going to get glory from giving His
mercy, and God is going to get glory in the expression or manifestation
of His justice. And everything is in the purpose
of God. Look at verse 8. It talks about
Him being judicially blinded. It quotes Isaiah 29, 10. According
as it is written, God hath given to Israel the spirit of slumber,
eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not
hear. even unto this day. Turn to John 10. Let me show
you an example of that. Now this is an example of that
right here. They were judicially blinded.
Their eyes saw no beauty in Christ. There was no beauty about Him
that we should desire. And their ears heard no good
news in the gospel. Listen to John 10, verse 23. And Jesus walked in the temple
in Solomon's porch. And the Jews came round about
Him, and they said to Him, How long are you going to make us
doubt? If you be the Christ, if you're
the Messiah, tell us plainly." And Jesus answered them, I told
you. But now a deaf man, you can talk
to him all day, he's not going to hear you. And you can show
a blind man, but he's not going to see. He thinks he sees, but
he can't see. He thinks he hears, but he can't
hear. Having ears, they hear not, and
eyes, they see not. That's the world around us. They
can't see the beauty of Christ. They can't even see their own
need of Christ. And Christ said, I told you,
and you didn't believe me. The works that I do in my Father's
name, they bear witness of me. But you believe not. because
you are not of my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep
hear. They hear. Their ears have been
touched by the Holy Ghost, and they hear not the voices of the
world, they hear the voice of God in His Word. And my sheep
see. Their eyes have been anointed
by the Spirit of God, and they see Christ. But these These religious
Jews, God, verse 8, Romans 11, God gave them the spirit of slumber,
eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not
hear. And Paul said it's true to this day. If you don't believe
it, you scout around a little bit, you'll find many believers
in many nations. But you won't find many in Israel. They're religious. They're more
religious than any other nation. I was listening to this Goldy
Meir, one of the leaders of Israel, and the other fellow that's one
of the biggest leaders, when they celebrated their 25th anniversary. And this nation, officially, took the Word of God and read
from the Old Testament and offered prayer on their anniversary celebration."
Even America doesn't do that. England doesn't do that, but
Israel does. They're religious people. But read verse 9. Look at this. And David said,
"...let their table become a snare, or be made a snare." What is
the table here? Well, I believe it's the Passover
table, Passover feast, which they observed every year. Passover
feast taught of and pointed to Christ. But they couldn't see
Christ in that feast. And I think it also might refer
to the altars, to the laws, to the scriptures, to all of these
things in the Old Testament dispensation. And rather than these sacrifices
and these feasts and these holy days serving their given purpose
to lead the Jew to Christ, these very means because the Jews made
them the end, became a stumbling block. You see, there were supposed
to be stepping stones that led them to Christ. And these stones
became the end in themselves, rather than Christ the object
of faith and the end of these things to lead us to Him. And
they're stumbling all over these stones. They're stumbling all
over the me. And they were left groveling
in the dust and the mire and the dirt around all of these
so-called means. And God says, verse 10, Let their
eyes be darkened that they may not see, and bow down their back,
refers some people believe, to bondage and captivity by other
nations throughout their existence. All right, now here's a verse
I know you want to look at, so we're going to take the time
to do it. Have they stumbled that they
should fall? And here's the question. Have
they stumbled that they should continue always in this fallen
condition? Now that's what Paul's asking.
Is this all for the Jew? Does God have nothing for them?
Have they stumbled that they should permanently fall? What's
his answer? God forbid. No, sir. But rather, Through their fall,
salvations come to the Gentiles. Now, the gospel was first preached
to the Jew, but it was rejected, it was contradicted by the Jews. The apostles then turned to the
Gentiles who, by the grace of God, received the gospel. Now
I want you to turn to Acts 13. Please take your Bible. And turn
to Acts 13, and this is one of the first instances when that
took place. Acts 13, verse 44. And the next
Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word
of God. But when the Jews saw the multitude, they didn't want
these Gentiles in the church. They didn't want these Gentiles
in the family of God. They didn't belong there. The
family of God was a Jewish family. And when they saw the multitude,
they were filled with envy. And they spake against those
things which were spoken by Paul, what Paul preached. He preached
Christ, contradicting and blaspheming. And then Paul and Barnabas waxed
bold and they said, It was necessary that the Word of God should first
have been spoken to you Jews. But seeing you put it from you,
and you judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, we turn
to the Gentiles." Boy, you and I ought to read that verse every
day and thank God for it. We ought to underline those five
words, we turn to the Gentiles. Thank God He didn't have to. Boy, if you and I had lived back
in the days of Jeremiah, we wouldn't have been in the family of God.
If we'd lived back in the days of Moses, good possibility we
wouldn't have been in the family of God. But Paul said, we turn
to the Gentiles. Verse 47, "...for so hath the
Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the
Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation to the ends
of the earth." Now watch it. And when the Gentiles heard this,
salvation has come to the Gentiles, they were glad, and they glorified
the word of the Lord. And as many as were ordained
to eternal life, they believed. They believed. The election hath
obtained it. God has not cast away his people
whom he foreknew. Well, let's go on. He says, have
they stumbled that they should fall permanently? God forbid.
But rather through their fall, salvation comes to the Gentiles
to provoke them to jealousy. Now here is what I believe. In
the latter day, maybe you and I will live to see it. I don't
know. Something is happening over there. I don't know what.
But Paul is teaching that in the latter day, this jealousy will serve a good cause, for
the Jew is going to see, God's going to give him eyes to see,
the Jew is going to see what he's lost in rejecting Christ. He's going to see what the Gentiles
have gained by receiving Christ. And this jealousy is going to
so provoke them that they're going to come to the Savior.
I believe that. Look at the next verse, and this
seems to indicate it. Now, if the fall of the Jew be
the riches of the world, that is, if through their fall and
their blindness the unsearchable riches of God's grace has come
to us Gentiles, and through a handful of Jews, that's right, a handful
of Jews, a few men, apostles, God turned the world upside down.
He says, if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and
the decay or loss of them, the riches of the Gentiles, he said,
boy, you just wait till they come back to God. How much more
their fullness. If God threw a handful of Jews,
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, Paul, if God turned the world
upside down Think what this small rendement of men has meant to
us, to the world, to Germany and Switzerland and France and
Spain and America and England. What will the blessing be to
us when a nation of Jews are born again and when their converts
number the sands of the sea?" And they began to proclaim the
glory of their Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. I think that's
what he's saying here. It seems to me you can find no
other comment. If the fall of them, the casting
off of the Jew, the blindness of the Jew, be the riches of
the world, and the diminishing of them be the riches of the
Gentile, how much more their fullness, think what their fullness
is going to mean to us. And look at this next verse.
I speak to you Gentiles, Paul said, inasmuch that I am the
apostle of the Gentiles. I magnify not myself, I magnify
my office. If by any means I might provoke
to emulation them which are my flesh," that is, the Jews, and
I might save some of them. Here is what I want to get to,
verse 15. He uses the same argument, "...for if the casting away of
them be the reconciling of the world." You think what a revival
came to the Gentiles when there were just a few Jewish converts,
just a few, when the Jews were cut off, when they knew nothing
of their Messiah. And he goes on and says, "...if
the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what
shall the receiving of them be? But life from the dead." Now,
two comments about that. Number one, it's going to be
like a dead body being raised when the Jews who rejected Christ
and knew not Christ, who have no life of God, suddenly become
evangelists. suddenly become preachers, suddenly
become missionaries, suddenly become worshipers of the Lord
Jesus Christ whom they have despised and rejected and nailed to a
cross and cried, let his blood be on us and our children. But
I think the application here is this. There's going to be
a real revival in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ like
life from the dead. John Gill says, when the Jew
comes to God, There's going to be a reviving of the Gentile
church, which to a large extent is a dead, lifeless thing. And
when the Jew comes back to Christ, it's not only going to be the
Jew's life from the dead, but all over the world, where the
people of God, they're going to have their faith strengthened
and their faith confirmed, and there's going to be a true revival
of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our time is up. We'll pick up there, verse 16,
next Wednesday night, the Lord willing.