Israel’s Rejection is Not Final

Transcript

GR 2248
7/26/2020
Israel’s Rejection is Not Final
Romans 11:11-16
Gil Rugh

We’re going to the book of Romans and then I want to leave some time at the end. We can’t do questions and answers as we’ve done in the past. We can’t pass microphones and so on. It becomes too difficult to hear in here without using the microphone but I do want to address the letter by John MacArthur on their position on churches meeting in these days. So, I will do that after we work through this portion of Romans 11.

We entered into Romans 11, and we’ve been through the first ten verses. I just want to review those with you. We have a slide with some points that were mentioned. The chapter opened with verse 1, “I say then, God has not rejected His people has He? May it never be!” So first point, just in a review, God has not rejected His people. It is a serious foundational point. We stress it. It would be an attack on His character to say He did because He has committed Himself. We’ve seen that and we’ll be seeing that again as we move further through Romans 11. God has not rejected His people. That’s not one of the answers. Even though chapter 10 ended and verse 21, “But as for Israel He says, ‘All the day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.’” But He immediately follows that up, “God has not rejected His people…” They’ve obviously rejected Him, but He will not reject His people.

Point two, God has an elect remnant in Israel. That’s in verse 2 when He talks about “…His people whom He foreknew.” And when God foreknows something, He foreordains it. Down in verse 5 you have it more clearly stated, “In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God’s gracious choice” or literally God’s election of grace. God has an elect remnant that He has chosen.

Point three, election is based on God’s grace. It is an election of grace. It would resolve a lot of the confusion and problems if we would keep in mind the order of Romans. Where we started out, in the opening chapters establishing that every single person is a sinner, under God’s judgment. God doesn’t have to do anything but leave us to our choices and we would all go to hell, like the angels who sinned. God didn’t intervene to provide a rescue for any of them, a redeemer. Election is based on grace and that’s verse 5.

Point four, grace means election is not based on our works. Verse 6, “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works…” If it were on the basis of works, grace would no longer be grace. So that rules out any idea of foreknowledge, meaning God just looked ahead into the future to see who would believe. And on the basis of what He saw in the future that would be based on our actions, our works, something we did. But since it’s by grace, it is something He did; not on our behalf, not on the basis of works.

Number five, God’s elect obtain God’s righteousness. Verse 7 “What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it…” The elect obtained God’s righteousness.

Point six, the non-elect are hardened because of unbelief. “…and the rest were hardened…” That’s it. That’s the two groups. The elect and the non-elect. We do not believe in a double predestination. Some of reformed teaching, it is which indicates that God elected some to condemnation just like He elected some to justification, salvation. He didn’t have to do anything but dispense justice in condemning the non-elect. It’s where we all were. He didn’t have to intervene to cause them to go to hell. Just like the angels who sinned, it was a responsibility of theirs.

The seventh point, God’s hardening brings insensitivity to truth. Verse 8, “‘…God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes to see not and ears to hear not, down to this very day.’” Verse 10, “‘…Let their eyes be darkened to see not, and bend their backs forever.’” In rejecting truth there is a hardening that takes place. 2 Corinthians chapter 2, verse 15, “For we are a fragrance (savor) of Christ to God...” “…from death to death…from life to life.” And God is sovereign in that.

We’re going to pick up with verse 11. In verses 11 down through verse 24, we won’t get that far, but he’s demonstrating that the rejection of Israel was not final. That begins with verse 11, “I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be!” God has rejected Israel as a nation, not every individual Jew. As we have seen there is a remnant. But the nation, as a nation, has been rejected. We’ll say more about that in a moment, but God has a purpose, an eternal purpose. That is, even Israel’s rebellion and their rejection will be used by Him to give opportunity for the Gentiles to experience salvation. Which in the sovereign plan of God, the Gentiles being saved will be used to cause the Jews to be jealous. That Savior in salvation was originally for us. And so, moved them to want the salvation that they see non-Israelites enjoying. That’s what we’ll see when we get down to verse 26 of chapter 11, “…and so all Israel will be saved...” Again, we’ll come to a national salvation at a point in the future. That does not mean that every single individual Jew will be saved. Just like now there is a national rejection, but individual Jews are being saved. There will come a time when there will be a national salvation and a redemption of Israel even though not every individual Jew will be saved. And we see that in the judgments we’ll be talking about along the way where there’s a judgment for Jews when Christ comes, as well as for Gentiles.

We pick up with verse 11, “I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be!” King James says, “God forbid!” The expression is meganoito. The word God is not in that, but it just expresses something that is not a possibility. It could not be. Now we know they stumbled. Come back to chapter 9. Look at verse 32, “Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, just as it is written, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.’” Israel stumbled. That is an indication of their sin, their transgression. But they didn’t stumble as to fall and never to get up again. That’s the picture. They’ve gone down, but not for the count, we might say. They stumbled over Christ but that’s not a final rejection.

Come back to chapter 11. Look at the middle of verse 11, “But by their transgression…” You can see he uses the word transgression now. We’re talking about their sin as James does in his third chapter, verse 2, when he says, “For we all stumble in many ways.” He’s talking about the various ways we sin. James is going to focus on the sin of the tongue. So here Paul is talking about the Jews. They stumbled, but by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles to make them jealous. So, he uses the word transgression here. I’m talking about the stumble of sin in their rejection of the Messiah. They stumbled all along the way as far as sinning and rebelling against God, but the climatic event was when they rejected the Messiah. It is important that we understand this.

There are those who go back and reinterpret the Old Testament because the rejection of Israel of their Messiah was the great and final sin of Israel that caused them to be replaced by the Church. That is sometimes called replacement theology, the church has replaced Israel. That’s what Paul is saying, No! “…they did not stumble so as to fall...” They are not out. It’s not over for Israel, but it is a time of judgment. “…But by their transgression…” in rejecting their Messiah, “…salvation has come to the Gentiles…” Amazing! This did not frustrate God’s plan, but it was part of God’s plan. God does not cause sin, but His plan includes sin and our sin never frustrates God’s plan. We talk about for us individually, when someone sins against you, they cannot frustrate God’s plans for you. When in God’s grace even our sin does not frustrate the salvation God has provided, and all that He provided for us. That’s our security.

Here are the promises to God as a nation. They provide a way. Come back to Acts chapter 13 just to refresh your mind on some of these. Just before the book of Romans, the book of Acts and the thirteenth chapter. Here you have the apostle Paul addressing the Jews, in verse 44. You can read the context for your own purpose later. “The next Sabbath nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of the Lord. But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and were blaspheming. Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, ‘It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first; (you Jews) since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.” Behold, listen up! “…we are turning to the Gentiles.” So here you see Paul with Barnabas, and the beginning of that ministry that is carrying the gospel out to the Gentile world. The focus will change from being a Jewish focus, to Gentile focused.

Come over to chapter 18 of Acts, verse 6. In this same kind of context, Paul often started his ministry as he went from town to town in places like the synagogue where the Jews were. That was a starting point. You had something to begin with, with the Jews. They had their Old Testament so you could pick up with the Old Testament and show how Christ was prophesied and promised and what happened was consistent and fulfilled Old Testament scriptures. In verse 4, chapter 18, “And he was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.” In the synagogue there would be those Gentile adherents to Judaism if they weren’t full converts. He’s addressing them. “But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, ‘Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.’” So, you see, it’s not just that rejection of the crucifixion of Christ. They persisted in light of the overwhelming evidence of the resurrection of Christ and the testimony given. Their rejection will be accepted as final. We turn now to the Gentiles. Again, individual Jews will be saved but primarily the focus of God for the last two thousand years, has been on the Church; as the Church is primarily Gentile in its makeup.

While you’re here we’ll go to one other reference at the end of Acts, Acts chapter 28. The close of this history of the early church as Luke wrote it, the book of Acts as we have it. Paul has been ministering again, verse 23, “When they had set a day for Paul, they came to him...” Jews, again, there’s an interest here but, if you will, it is somewhat fading and the opposition becomes greater. Verse 23 “When they had set a day for Paul, they came to him at his lodging in large numbers; and he was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets...” You see he’s showing them from their Old Testament scriptures like Peter did on the day of Pentecost ministering to the Jews. You have that starting point. “…from morning until evening. Some were being persuaded...” So again, not every single Jew is rejecting. “…but others would not believe. And when they did not agree with one another, they began leaving after Paul had spoken one parting word, ‘The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers, saying…”

Here we have similar to what he wrote to the Romans that you will keep on hearing, but you won’t understand. You’ll keep on seeing, you won’t perceive. The heart of this people has become dull, their ears don’t hear, they’ve closed their eyes. They don’t want to see the truth. They don’t want to know the truth. Remember we saw earlier in Romans, chapter 10, the problem is not that the Jews didn’t know. They are closed to it. That’s what Paul says here. You have the fullness of evidence. You have the testimony of your own Scriptures which have been fulfilled so clearly. So verse 28, “Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, they will also listen.” So that emphases of the change that we live in now. You see that by the time we are done with chapter 11 how this all comes together. We’re aware of it from other studies of Scripture.

Come back to chapter 11 of Romans. The end of verse 11, “…salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous.” The bringing of salvation to the Gentiles ultimately in the plan of God will be to stir the Jews to jealousy and they realize as God opens their eyes, their foolishness. We have rejected our Messiah. We have been in rebellion against our God and He’s the God of Israel. Jesus is the Messiah of Israel. And then they will call upon Him and there will be that national turning, that we will get to down in verses 25 and following.

Come back to chapter 10, verse 19. Here Paul quoted from Deuteronomy chapter 32, “But I say, surely Israel did not know, did they? First Moses says, ‘I will make you jealous by that which is not a nation, by a nation without understanding will I anger you.’ And Isaiah is very bold and says, ‘I was found by those who did not seek Me, I became manifest to those who did not ask for Me.” And we’re here. The Gentiles that were not part of any that God had been doing in any special way. When you go back to Genesis chapter 12 and on, all the way through the gospels, it’s about Israel. Other nations come into the picture only as they have impact upon Israel. God’s salvation is in Israel. What did Jesus tell the Samaritan woman at the well? Salvation is of the Jews. You Samaritans don’t have any idea what you are worshiping. Salvation is of the Jews and that Jewish salvation has come to us Gentiles because Israel rejected it. That was not a frustration. I hear sometimes we who are dispensationalist and see the unfolding plan of God, they said, oh God had to change His plan. That’s what you think. That’s not what I think! I think this was God’s plan from the beginning. It just wasn’t unfolded clearly to us until progressive revelation brought it to us.

The Church is not revealed in the Old Testament. That does not mean it wasn’t in the plan of God. It means God hadn’t revealed with the clarity it is now. But Paul has mentioned, what did God do? Verse 19, it was in Deuteronomy under Moses, fifteen hundred years before Christ, “‘I will make you jealous by that which is not a nation...” He’s talking about the peoples. Those that don’t have understanding because the oracles of God hadn’t been given to the Gentiles. So that’s the picture here. Now I’ll make them jealous. You have to see this. This is part of God’s plan. Israel is not rejected. The Church hasn’t replaced Israel. The Church has a place in the plan of God. Israel has a place. They maintain their distinction. It’s not that now Israel will become part of the Church as some have tried to make a compromise, and Israel will receive the blessing as a nation by being part of the Church. Individual Jews become part of the Church as Paul did, but the nation as a nation has its specific promises from God.

Come over to Romans chapter 11, Verse 12, “Now if their transgression is riches for the world and their failure is richer for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be!” Or literally, their fullness be? The rebellion of Israel, the sin of Israel, their transgression against God, brought riches. Their failure to believe in their Messiah brought riches to us as the Gentiles. The riches of God’s salvation. We have that! Because Israel failed, Israel persisted to reject their Messiah, God had to change His plan. No! Because in God’s plan He determined that He would bring His judgment on the nation Israel and provide that salvation. It wouldn’t sit on a shelf, basically unused, until Israel came around and responded.

God had a plan to call Gentiles to Himself. There is intimation of that in the Old Testament, not in the context of the Church, but in the context of the kingdom, Gentiles enjoying life in the kingdom along with Israel. But the uniqueness of the Church, Paul tells us in Ephesians 3 is a mystery, something that had not before been revealed but it has nothing to do with God changing His plan. It’s a part of His plan that had not been revealed. You know, with your children, you may have made plans for them for certain things that they have, that they don’t know anything about, because you haven’t told them. And when you finally unfold those plans and they begin to enjoy what you planned for them, oh, I don’t know what happened. My parents changed their mind. Well, it may look like that, but they didn’t change their mind. That was just part of what you had planned, perhaps long ago.

That’s what is with God and the Church and Israel. There’s no change in the plan of God. But think about it. If the sin of Israel that God declared His love for, has brought such riches to us, “…how much more will their fulfillment be…” refers to when Israel as a nation enters into that salvation. If their rejection of that salvation is resulting in great blessings for us what will it mean when they enter into the fullness of those salvation blessings themselves? You know what it will mean? It will mean we can have the kingdom! And we will rule and reign with Christ as the Church and all the promises to Israel will be fulfilled in that kingdom also. Come down to verse 25, “For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery…” Paul is talking about that we’ll talk about the mystery but you’re aware, it’s not something mysterious in the sense of confusing, hard to understand. It is material that could not be known if God did not reveal it. We’ll see at the end of Romans, and we’ll see it in Ephesians 3, we’ll talk about the mystery. They identify it as something not revealed before, but it is now revealed. That’s why we talk about progressive revelation.

Through the Bible God has revealed more and more of His plan. That later revelation does not alter or change the prior revelation but it does clarify it, it may add to it, and so on. So verse 25, “For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery--so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in...” So when the “fullness of the Gentiles has come in” and they have entered into all that God intended for them in their plan, salvation we will be ready for the fullness of Israel, and that’s why in verse 26 he says, “…and so all Israel will be saved…” So that “fullness of the Gentiles,” the fullness of Israel, we’re talking about the same basic thing. When God’s plan of salvation for these two groups, and you note, these two groups maintain their distinct identity. When the “fullness of the Gentiles comes in” and that will be with the Church and God has completed that work with the Church, then we’ll be ready for the fullness of Israel. And that will be brought about with the seven years tribulation and the events that will bring Israel to salvation.

The restoration of Israel is assumed here. Paul doesn’t have any question about the restoration. What will their fullness be? Right now, we are dealing with a remnant. We saw that earlier, in verse 5, “In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant…” so, God’s graciousness. Paul started out this chapter, I’m a Jew. So, God’s still saving Jews and there’s others like me, but primarily it’s a day of Gentile salvation. Think about what it will be when God, all of God’s promises to Israel, about Israel’s salvation will be realized. That will bring us to the kingdom which we are looking for. The thousand years and the eternal phase of the kingdom.

Look at verse 13, “But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles…” So, remember this is the church in Rome. Paul is not in Jerusalem. He’s not in the region of Israel. He’s out in Gentile country. He’s writing to a Gentile city, a church in a Gentile city. He’s not addressing the Jews particularly although he’s writing about them. What he says has application to them and so on. “…I am speaking to you who are Gentiles...” And this was Paul’s appointed ministry. He is the apostle to the Gentiles. That’s important to Paul. “…I am an apostle of Gentiles...” This is my ministry. “…I magnify my ministry….” I glorify it, doxazo, the word glorify. We have doxology, “magnify” it, I glorify it. This is my ministry. Paul celebrated that. What a privilege and honor he had to bring the gospel to the Gentiles. Interesting that Paul, a Jew, would take it to the Gentiles. A reminder, this is salvation that comes from the Jews to the Gentiles. What he’s been talking about, he’s going to remind the Gentiles as we go through chapter 11, don’t get arrogant. Remember this started with the Jews and we are receiving blessings because of the Jews, because of Jewish Messiah.

Paul counted it a privilege and an honor to have been appointed by God to be an apostle to the Gentiles. “…I magnify my ministry,” that word translated “ministry,” my service. We get the word deacon from it. We just transliterate it over, diakonos, deacon. My realm of service. That’s important. Paul magnified it and gloried in it. A reminder to all of us. We’ve seen in the body of Christ that God has appointed all kinds of gifts. We’ll get to that when we get into chapter 12 and he begins to apply this doctrine to our behavior and conduct. We ought to celebrate and glory in the realm of service that God has committed to us. We can see how God has blessed the Church, with all its gifts and diversity, as we exercise those gifts given. They were given to be used, to enable the body to function. Paul celebrates his gift. What an honor! What a privilege to be used of God in this way! Well, if I was an apostle, I’d be glorying in that. No! This is a realm of serving. What higher honor could we want than to be servants of the living God!

Come back to Romans chapter 1, verse 5. We have a long sentence here. We’ll break into it, verse 5, “…through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name sake…” That’s my realm of ministry. We ought to be glad to talk about our realm of ministry whatever it is. This is the realm of service God has appointed for me. Come over to chapter 15 of Romans, Romans chapter 15, verse 16. Come to the end of verse 15 for the idea, “…because of the grace that was given to me from God…” Paul just reveled in this, God’s grace. Something undeserving was given to me. Not just my salvation but “…to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest…” He uses different words for ministering. He has used that word I mentioned, deacon, from it. He uses it of a household servant here, “a minister of Christ Jesus.” He uses it as we get the word liturgy from it. Ministering as a priest, the word priest in it. It will be used of priestly ministry. I am ministering as a priest.

All these realms, he sees it as all comes together, what I am is a servant of the living God. That gives meaning and purpose to my life. I’m not just trudging through in this miserable world of confusion. I am here, called by God’s grace to his salvation. Called by His grace to serve Him “…ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God.” What I’m boasting about is grace. I’m not boasting about me. I want to tell you what God has done for me, what God is doing in my life, what a blessing it is to be used of Him.

Read 1 Corinthians 11. That doesn’t mean it’s all glory on the human side. All the suffering, all the beatings, the imprisonments, the shipwrecks, the hunger, the cold, all that endured, you don’t get that. If you just had a few of these verses you pulled out, you would think Paul just floated along here on a cloud. Remember, he’s beset by bodily weaknesses. Remember, three times he begged the Lord to deliver me. I don’t know if I can keep going on with this. This is hindering me but remember, He’s sovereign. Paul came to realize at the end of that letter to the Corinthians, my weakness doesn’t limit me. It turns me loose to be used in a greater way of God. So Paul has that conception of everything. There are a number of other passages, Acts, Galatians, where Paul just talks about his ministry to the Gentiles. What a privilege that God would call me out from Israel! And during this time of God’s judgment on the nation, I’m carrying the gospel to Gentiles. I’m serving God in this way and then helping those Gentiles who come to salvation to grow. This here is my realm of serving.

Back in chapter 11, verse 13, “…I magnify (glorify) my ministry, if somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them.” You know, it’s a beautiful thing about Paul, he adjusts to God’s plan. He doesn’t always fight against God’s plan, trying to get God to adjust to Paul’s plan. This is God’s plan. I want to be part of God’s plan. I’m His servant. I’m doing His work, His way. “…if somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them.” This is God’s plan. Not to save the nation, they’re under judgment, I accept that. God has revealed the mystery of the Church. I understand something of God’s working in this day is the Gentiles. But I also see, as I am involved in leading more Gentiles to Christ, some of these Jews are going to be moved to jealousy. They’re going to see me. Look at that little Jew who was a Pharisee and now he’s out there talking about a Jewish Messiah and Gentiles are coming in and experiencing God’s salvation. We want some of that. I want some of the Jews.

Paul is not blind to the fact that the nation is under the judgment of God. He has much to say in condemning the Jews, but this is what God’s doing. I want to be part of that. Part of that is carrying the gospel to the Gentiles and I hope some of my fellow Jews then, I’ll “…save some of them.” It’s an interesting way to put it. If I came up and said to someone at Indian Hills, I saved someone today, they’d be quick to correct my theology and say, you didn’t save anyone. But Paul says he did. I want to save some of them. He sees he is God’s servant. He knows he’s not the one who brings about their salvation, but in God’s plan their salvation doesn’t happen without him. That’s what we see. Am I necessary for God to get His work done? Well, that depends on how you define that. Yes and no. Does God need me? No. Could God do everything that needs to be done without me? Absolutely yes.

In His sovereign plan has He determined that He will not do it without us? Yes. Did He appoint the angels to come and carry the gospel? No. Did He appoint the angels to come and do the work of the Church? No. So, yes, we are necessary. We are instruments. We covered that in chapter 10, how shall they hear unless someone comes to tell them? That’s part of God’s appointing. Those that God calls, that God appoints, that God sends, brings the message. We carry out God’s plan for us. I love the way Paul responds. I can see now God is done with Israel. I’m not fighting. I’m not resisting that plan. He told you his burden for the nation, but I’ve jumped into what God told me to do. I’m pouring my life into reaching the Gentiles. He talked about that in Galatians. I accept it. Peter, James, and John, they’ll concentrate on the Jews. I’m going to the Gentiles, but I have a heart for my people. They are my people. Why? Why does Paul have this burden? Verse 15, “For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world…” Look at that. Israel rejected their Messiah. The result is Israel is rejected by God and that results in here we are, Gentiles, the world, all those outside of Israel, again, not excluding every single Israelite, but as a nation. God’s work is going on in the nations. How amazing! It has resulted in the reconciliation of the world. Does it get any better than that?

You’re close. Come over to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. Look at verse 18. “Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation...” What is that? “…namely, that God was in Christ…” the Christos, the Anointed One, a title for the Jewish Messiah. He was “…in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” We come to tell people that Christ came and died so you might be reconciled to God, be brought into right relationship with Him by having your penalty paid and His righteousness credited to your account. “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”

Paul’s doctrine of election did not keep him from begging people to believe in Christ. We think, well, if it’s just out there, they’ll do it or they won’t, they’re elect or they’re not. Paul didn’t think that. We saw his passion as he talked about Israel. Knowing where they are in the sovereign plan of God didn’t keep him from being a driven man. He instructs us on the doctrine of election, but it doesn’t cool his passion for carrying the gospel to the lost and begging them to be reconciled to God. Why? “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” And now we’re working together with God. We’re His servants. We’re here on His behalf. As chapter 6 opens, “…we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain…” “…now is ‘the day of salvation’. It’s ‘the acceptable time...’” Why would you not place your faith in Christ and be saved? Be reconciled to God. What holds you back? That’s the way Paul approached it. Their rejection has resulted in the reconciliation of the world.

Come back to chapter 11. You’re in verse 15. “…what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” That will be when spiritual life is realized, I take it, in fullness. Come back to chapter 6, verse 13. “…and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” So back here at the end of verse 15, “…what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” The rich blessings, the salvation and the salvation of the nation Israel will result in ultimately salvation coming to the world, the kingdom and all entailed in that final form of realizing God’s salvation. It’s beautiful how it all fits together. God’s plan and He progressively unfolded it. Everything! You know the tragedy is that the original disciples were driven to despair when their Messiah was crucified. Peter, I’ll go fishing. They’re hiding out in the upper room, but Christ is alive. He’s raised and this is not a frustration. Then their eyes are opened and they begin to understand. This is part of what God said He was going to do. Now we get further information.

Verse 16, “If the first piece of dough is holy, the lump is also; and if the root is holy, the branches are too.” We’re not going to get into all of this, but this comes from Numbers chapter 15, verses 17 to 21, it’s there in the margin of your Bible. When the first part of the dough was dedicated to God that was an indication that all the dough was holy to the Lord. So, the first piece of it was offered to the Lord and that was to picture the fact that all of it was. What we’re going to do is move in verse 17 to the branches and the olive tree and the grafting in. And the first part was holy so the rest of it is holy. He’s going to be talking about Abraham and the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; they are beloved. When you get down to verse 28, “From the standpoint…” regarding Israel, we are just jumping far ahead, “From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of election (God’s choice)…” as we have it here. But you see “God” is in italics, “…of election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers...”

This comes back to verse 16 and 17, where you have if the first lump of dough is holy to the Lord, the rest of it will be. The branches on the tree and the grafting in and judgment that comes, but this doesn’t change God’s original plan. It will end up as He says and it will go back to the Patriarchs, but the key one is Abraham. And we’ll go back and walk through the promises again, that Abrahamic covenant is foundational, reiterated to Isaac, reiterated to Jacob. But Abraham becomes the foundational person here and it shows the rest of Israel will be holy to God because you start out there. And they were holy to God, just that lump of dough, the original tree, going back to that origin. Nothing has changed the original plan of God. I just can’t understand people that think God has altered His plan for Israel. He keeps taking us back to show how this all goes back to the beginning. Nothing has changed!

They keep writing new commentaries and new material talking about, well this is with the coming of Christ, this is changed. If I owned a publishing company, I wouldn’t allow them to publish that, but that’s another time. So, Israel “…did not stumble so as to fall…” verse 11, which ties to verse 1, “…God has not rejected His people.” You have to go back to the beginning. That’s why we got the first lump of dough. Go back to the original root. Then the rest is holy. God settled that. He can’t reject His people. They are His people. He never can reject them. But they stumbled. Did they stumble to fall and never get up? Meganoito! May it never be! Of course not! How should you be so stupid to ask such a question? No! Let’s go back to the beginning. So, he’s going to take us back to the beginning and it’s a warning to the Gentiles. What do we do in the book of Jude? He reminded us what happened to Israel when they sinned? What happened to angels when they sinned? What happened to Sodom and Gomorrah in their sin? Sin brings judgment. What has happened to Israel? Sin brings judgment. But for Israel God is not done, because He set apart Israel to Himself with that first lump of dough, with the root that began it all. God can’t reject His people and they’re not down for the count. They will be revived and Israel will be saved.

Alright, let’s have a word of prayer. Thank You Lord, for the riches of Your word, the riches of this portion of Your word. Important for us who are Gentiles to understand Your plan for Israel, our place in the plan that You have for the nation Israel, the world that You’ve created, the kingdom that You will establish. Lord, thank You for the riches of Your grace bestowed upon us for how You and Your sovereignty can use something as tragic as the rebellion of Your own people that brings about something as glorious as the salvation of the world. We thank You that Your promises to Israel will not fail and they will be realized as Your people enjoying the fullness of all You’ve promised, and we will witness it all. Bless now as we look into some other matters. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.

Many of you are familiar with John MacArthur. You love him. You love his stuff. When he does something, he puts it out there and then you ask about it. So, I thought I’d address it. He’s come out with something that’s pertinent with the virus, churches being shut down. He has a letter sent out and then a four-page presentation. They are full pages so I will only be reading excerpts from it. I’m sure you can access it from the internet.

“Dear Pastor, our nation has never experienced the government attempting to control the church’s worship as it is doing today in our state and across the nation and these restrictions may well be a portent of more hostility to come.” And we certainly wouldn’t have any disagreement with that at all. “At this crucial moment we have the opportunity to stand on the truth that Christ is the Head and Lord of His church and has delegated His authority to each local assembly.” This is important. “…to each local assembly.” And I agree with John on this. We recognize that each church is an independent church under the authority of the elders that God has appointed. “Churches desperately need clarity and conviction to face the current government intrusion and restriction. Understanding the need, the elders of Grace Community Church have released a statement which affirms what the Lord commands of His church at all times, especially in the face of the impositions of government authorities. I pray that this statement will serve to embolden you to gather as a church in obedience to our great Shepherd.”

And I think maybe, I appreciate John and his ministry, but I think sometimes cross the line. Emphasize the local church, and he’s strong on the local church. He quotes from what has been a part of their doctrinal statement for over forty years. “We teach the autonomy of the local church free from any external authority or control with the right of self-government and freedom from the interference of any hierarchy of any individuals or organizations. We teach that it is scriptural for true churches to cooperate with each other for the presentation and proclamation of the faith. Each local church however through its elders and their interpretation and application of scripture should be the sole judge of the measure and method of cooperation. The elders should determine all matters of membership, policy…” I fully agree with that.

I’ve had major disagreement with some of my pastor friends over this that it is resulted in broken friendships. They cannot have authority in this church and I don’t see myself and our elders having authority in their churches and will not accept them trying to assert authority in our church. And that goes beyond. I have no authority when I have been asked to get involved in other churches near and far. And I have said I am not an elder there. I have no authority there and it’s not my job to criticize the elders or try to overrule them. And I’ve encouraged some who have come to see me from other churches, I encourage you to go back and submit to those elders. Are they teaching anything that is false doctrine? Are they requiring you to do anything that’s unbiblical? Are they forbidding you to do anything that is biblical? Then just what are you doing in this? Why are you here to see me about them? Mind your own business. Go home.

Alright, I’m concerned that this material does not do that. Let me read you the addendum at the end. He concludes this with an addendum. So, before I walk through some of what his statements are here, I want to just express concern about… Let me read you the addendum because this tells why for the more than twenty weeks he says, “We are more than twenty weeks into the unrelieved restrictions.” And this is church, probably all of you know, is in California. And each state, each local community, has their own rules. So he’s under the rules of California. And I, don’t know whether I don’t pay attention except what the news may say about other states, what their rules are because they don’t apply to us. So, his rules apply to them, but he is talking about what they have done for the last twenty-plus weeks.

“The elders of Grace Church considered independently and independently consented to the original government order.” Some of this does not make sense to me. “Not because we believed the state has a right to tell churches when, whether, or how to worship. To be clear,” now note this, “we believe that the original orders,” over twenty weeks ago, “were just as much an illegitimate intrusion of state authority into ecclesiastical matters as we believe it is now. However, we didn’t know how serious the virus would be and we care about people.” He goes on to say and I’m trying not to read everything, it would take too long. “We believe guarding public health against serious contagions is a rightful function…of civil government.” Now if he believes, if they believe, the elders, “guarding public health against serious contagions is a rightful function of…civil government” why would he say that “we believe that the original orders were just as much an illegitimate intrusion of state authority into ecclesiastical matters as we believe it is now?” It can’t be both ways. If you say the government, “civil government.” “We believe guarding public health against serious contagions is a rightful function of…civil government,” and he has indicated the government believed this virus could be very serious, why would you say, “the original orders were illegitimate?” It can’t be both ways. The government can’t have legitimate authority when it comes serious health issues but when they exercise authority in that area it’s “illegitimate.”

I know the world does that. We have illegal aliens who are legally here. We say we have illegal people here who are legally here. They are illegally here, legally. When we do that we are just as much confusing. So I have a concern here. He says, “It is of course legitimate for Christians to abstain from the assembly of saints temporarily in the face of illness or an imminent threat to public health.” Well then at least you could say originally the government thought this would be, and we heard on the news and health officials saying how serious this could be and so on. Why would you say “we believe that the original orders were just as much an illegitimate intrusion of state authority into ecclesiastical matters” unless you mean that the exception to the government’s authority even in matters of “serious contagions” can’t apply to the church. I don’t think they are saying that. Okay, so I think there’s an inconsistency here and that underlies some of what they are saying.

I would have no problem with what they write here if they said, we are writing to you pastors, since John addresses his letter to pastors. “Dear pastor, That, I want to share with you what Grace Community Church, under the leadership of its elders and pastors, has decided to do. And you may want to take these matters into consideration as you consider before the Lord what you believe, as the elders of your church, what you should do.” But in this letter, they imply that if you don’t now do what we do, you are not being an obedient servant of the Lord. Let me read you some. He starts out by saying, this is under the title “A Biblical Case for the Church’s Duty to Remain Open.” And then the subline of that is “Stand with us in support of the biblical mandate to gather for corporate worship.” He goes on to say, “…we cannot and will not acquiesce to a government-imposed moratorium on our weekly congregational worship or other regular corporate gatherings. Compliance would be disobedience to our Lord’s clear commands.” And I think they are free as a church in light of the scriptural considerations, and most of their scriptural considerations I would not disagree with. I would agree. They work through those and generally I would find myself basically in agreement. Now to call other churches to stand with us, with the biblical mandate. Why? Now after over twenty weeks the elders of their church have decided we shouldn’t obey this command and it was “illegitimate” from the beginning, even though it is legitimate for government to do what is necessary in a serious disease or pandemic.

Alright, let me read you some comments here I jotted down. If “…pastors who cede their Christ delegated authority in the church to a civil ruler have abdicated their responsibility before the Lord and violated the God-ordained spheres of authority,” note this, “…as much as the secular official who illegitimately imposes his authority upon the church.” My problem with this is the context he’s talking about here is, are you going to keep your church open or are you going to follow the rules regarding closing or only keeping it partially opened and so on. Well he says if as a pastor you recognize the authority of the government in this area you have “violated” God’s commands “as much as the secular official who illegitimately imposes…authority on the church.” My problem when this goes on, there are many churches and people, they say well if John says that, now I guess our church is not being biblical, because our elders don’t obey God. I think they are denying what they said. They said we believe the “autonomy of the local church.” That means even MacArthur can’t give his decrees for this local church. And I respect John and I appreciate the great ways the Lord is using him. But I think you do damage and undermine the authority of local leaders and people look there and say, well John MacArthur and all his writings and I use his study bible and I use his commentary. And in fact one person who was part of here for a few years and moved to another state told someone who passed it on to me, “they worship MacArthur at that church.” I don’t think that’s true but that’s another day.

Let me read you another comment. “So a discerning church…” Note key words here, “So a discerning church…” We want to be a “discerning church.” “A discerning church cannot passively or automatically comply if the government orders a shutdown of congregational meetings – even if the reason given is a concern for public health and safety.” Well, wait a minute. I thought they said that “we believe guarding public health against serious contagions is a rightful function of civil government.” Now he says, “…a discerning church cannot passively or automatically comply if government orders a shutdown of congregational meetings – even if the reason given is a concern for public health and safety.” I realize each church, that’s why I’m fine if John’s elders want to decide they are not going to comply. They’ll have to decide that. If they decide in California in what they’re doing and the way they’re doing it, we would be out line biblically to do it that’s their local church. But to spread this out so that some people think, I guess our church is not discerning, our elders aren’t discerning, we’re observing it. John wouldn’t say it, if it wasn’t true. And again, I respect him but I’m concerned with these kind of statements.

Let me read you another. “Our prayer,” and I’ll read this one as the final one. “Our prayer is that every faithful congregation,” now again there’s the key word, we want to be a “faithful congregation” just like we want to be a “discerning.” “Is that every faithful congregation will stand with us in obedience to our Lord as Christians have done through the centuries.” And his next line is “The elders of Grace Church” and wait a minute. Wait a minute. We might be a faithful congregation and our elders and leaders decide as we pray, examine our situation, examine what’s going on in our city, examine the restraints and lack of restraints, that it would be proper for us to recognize and obey those rules.

So I get a little disturbed. And I had to go around on this with a professor at, not John’s seminary, this goes back, who had written a book. And I critiqued that book here and he wrote me a letter. Somebody sent him the tape. I don’t need people to stir things up for me. But he wrote me a letter, didn’t think it was right that I did such a critical review of him. But why do you think you can criticize pastors in public and undermine the people in their church’s confidence in their leadership but if I criticize you in public, you’re above criticism. I can’t tell people in other churches in this city what they should do in this matter. They have elders. They have pastors. So, I respect John. I would much rather that they had said this is what we as a local church have decided to do. And they do provide so much helpful material. They just put in here we think that how we worked through our decision might be helpful to you as you work through your decision, but we recognize every local church and their leaders will have to make their decision. I get unsettled because I have enough people who read stuff and get something on the internet then they come “why don’t we do this?” This says “if you are a faithful congregation you’ll stand with them,” don’t we want to stand with John? I want to be faithful to the Word. It seems to me there is a subjectivity to it. They’ve tried to massage it so even when we obeyed we weren’t doing it because we obeyed them but we thought their rule was illegitimate. I haven’t been able to figure out why if this was an illegitimate order, it took you over twenty weeks to decide now we’re not going to obey it anymore because it was illegitimate to begin with. But it was right for you to obey it because governing of civil government has its legitimate for them to have authority. So some of this, I’m just throwing it out there. I know a number of people have already been exposed to this. And I appreciate John. I think a lot of what he works through biblically wouldn’t be any different than what we’ve worked through. We want to obey governing authorities. I realize the spheres of authority. We talk about this regularly. Is this something that we, in light of the Word with good conscience, can obey? We want to if we can. We don’t have people lined up in the parking lot trying to get in. And oh, they’re closing us out of our church. We do have a way to reach those people with the truth right now. I realize, this may be the first step of governmental authority taking over everything. And I’ve visited in a communist country. I understand that. To me it’s a subjective matter that individual churches should decide. If somebody from another church asks what we were doing I’d tell them. Elders, I’ve had contact with elders who have contacted me, not about this matter but about elders. I’m happy to share with them what we do, but I also share with them I’m not going to be responsible for what you do. Our elders won’t be responsible for what you do. I’m happy to share with you what we’ve done in light of how we’ve understand scripture on this point. I’d encourage you to work through that and decide for your congregation what you think you should do. It may be similar to what we do. It may not be. Now where the Scripture, you know, are we going to believe in the virgin birth and the deity of Christ? Of course. This becomes a more subjective matter. And I think we sometimes cross the line from confidence to arrogance. This is our opinion and every discerning church who wants to be obedient to the Lord should follow our leadership. Well, where were you twenty weeks ago? There were churches in the country that from the beginning said we won’t obey this. Why didn’t you follow them? Well, we don’t follow anyone. Well, that’s my opinion on that so let’s have a word of prayer and you can visit, pick up your kids, and head for home. And I can go on vacation.

Thank You, Lord for Your grace. Thank You for Your blessings. Thank You for John and his ministry and the impact of that ministry and that church. And Lord, we appreciate their love for You and the way You use them. And we want to be discerning. We want to be obedient. We want to be wise. We cannot transfer our responsibility given to us as a local church to our elders to someone else. We can learn from others. We can benefit from how we see them handling matters that have a certain subjectivity to them. We want to be wise. We look to You for wisdom. We look at other godly churches, godly people for what they do, but then Lord we’re accountable to You for our decisions. Use us in the week before us. I pray for the days ahead, the weeks, the various men who will minister the Word here. Prepare them, prepare Your people, Lord may it be a rich feast of Your Word. May it be an encouragement and blessing to those who open the Word. We pray that all we do, the days we have, will be faithful to You. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.