Life From the Root Connected by Faith

Transcript

GR 2250
09/27/2020
Life from the Root Connected by Faith
Romans 11:18-21
Gil Rugh

We’re going to Romans 11. This is a crucial section, I want to keep in mind as we work through this, and it is especially important in the section that we are in. We are talking about national entities. We are talking about the nation Israel and the Gentile nations. Now what is true of those has certain application to individuals, but you don’t want to get confused. For example, we talk about branches being broken off. We are talking there about the nation of Israel. That doesn’t mean individuals lost their salvation. But reflected is the fact that large numbers of the individuals in the nation are not believers, and it came to a place where the nation will be judged by God even though the individual believers, of course, never lose their salvation. So, what Paul is clarifying in chapter 11 is how the chapter starts out, “…God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! ... God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew.” And that means they cannot lose their place of preeminence among the nations. It is a view that’s being promoted within evangelical circles that Israel has a future, but no different than the other nations of the world have a future. And they would promote that there would be nations, as we move into the kingdom phase of the future, but Israel will be just one among the nations, so they have a place but only in that way. That’s not what Scripture indicates and that’s not what the Scriptures promised. Israel’s unique place as the only nation God ever chose for Himself and the promises given to them will stand and hold for eternity.


We talked about the Abrahamic Covenant. We didn’t move on particularly. We are ready to start with verse 17, but verse 16 talked about the first piece of dough is holy, the lump is also. If the root is holy the branches are also and then you had the picture of the olive tree, branches broken off, wild olives grafted in, and we noted this carries us back to the Abrahamic Covenant and the promises associated with the Abrahamic Covenant. When we get down to verse 28 of chapter 11, “From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice (election) they are beloved for the sake of the fathers...” And we noted “the fathers” are the fathers of Israel, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In connection with looking at the Abrahamic Covenant we looked at it being repeated to Isaac, repeated to Jacob, and then the twelve sons of Jacob become the heads of the twelve tribes. So, he’s carrying us back to that original covenant which even John Calvin said was the first redemptive covenant God made, so he did not hold to some of the covenants of Covenant Theology. He believed the Abrahamic Covenant was the first redemptive covenant. The covenant that made provision for redemption.


In verse 16 he’s talked about, the first piece of dough being holy, the lump is also, and that goes back to Numbers as we referred to. “…and if the root is holy, the branches are too.” In other words, as we go back to the beginning, what is established there will have a continuing effect. So, then we have to talk about how the Gentiles fit into this. Now I want you to note, through this entire section, there is no loss of distinction between Israel and non-Israelites, Gentiles. They don’t get blurred together. Their identity remains. I say that because of the popularity of the idea that the Church has replaced Israel or in some ways the promises to Israel have been changed. No. That’s Paul’s point. The promises to Israel hold. Later revelation will not change prior revelation. It can add to it. It can clarify but it doesn’t change it. God’s promises are not alterable.
We had verse 17, “…if some of the branches were broken off…” and he refers here to Israel losing their position. And some of the branches, as we might say an understatement. We sometimes have a hyperbole, but here it’s an understatement because Israel as a nation has been removed. But the point is not every Jew is lost and Paul used himself as an example at the beginning of this chapter that salvation is still possible for Jews. But as a nation they have been removed from their place of priority in God’s work in the world, in His plan of salvation. And wild olive branches, referring to Gentiles, who were outside, basically, the work of God. We talked about you start with Genesis 12 where you have the Abrahamic Covenant mentioned and then we come through the Old Testament, through the Gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, it’s all about Israel. Other nations come up only as they impact Israel, so some nations are never mentioned in the Old Testament because they don’t intersect with Israel. So, whatever is going on, and God is sovereign over that, of course, but His work of salvation is happening in the nation Israel, and through the nation Israel. Israel is a light in the darkness of the world, but it is primarily not carrying out missionary activity as we have noted, because God’s work was centered in Israel. The nations only have significance as they intersect and are used by God in His program with Israel.


So, “…some of the branches were broken off, and you…” referring to you Gentiles, where he says in verse 13, “….I am speaking to you who are Gentiles.” And I’m an apostle to the Gentiles. “…some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive…” the Gentiles were out there. God’s working through the Jews, the nation Israel, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You didn’t really have value in and of yourself. Wild olive branches don’t produce anything worthwhile. It’s happening in Israel. You “…were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree…” So, Israel’s sin resulted in them being set aside.


Come back just to a few passages. The Gospel of John chapter 8 and this is during Jesus’ earthly ministry. He’s addressing the Jews and their precarious position. They are not what they thought they were. The Gentiles need to learn from this as well as Paul will make the point shortly in Romans 11. In John chapter 8 Jesus is interacting with the Jews and with His own disciples as well. He talks about being a slave of sin in verse 34, “…everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.” Verse 36, “…if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” You need to have a relationship with the Son by faith, that’s key. Come down to verse 33, their argument in this context, “They answered Him, ‘We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say,’ ‘You will become free?’” So, you see the Jewish attitude in the context of what Jesus is talking about. You are not truly free because you have not believed. You don’t have the faith of Abraham is what the substance of this will be about.

Verse 37, “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.” So, they are physical descendants. I’m not arguing that with you, Jesus said. But you’re not truly descendants in the line of the spiritual promises given to Abraham because being a physical descendant was important, but you had to have also the faith of Abraham. Come down to verse 39, “They answered and said to Him, ‘Abraham is our father.’ Jesus said to them…” now you see the transition here. “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants…” You are his physical seed. Verse 39, “‘…Abraham is our father.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham. But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do.” Abraham did not oppose the truth of God. Abraham believed the truth of God. He goes on, verse 41, “‘You are doing the deeds of your father.’ They said to Him, ‘We were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God.’”

Now you see they know there has to be that connection, God as their Father, as well as Abraham as their physical father. “You are doing the deeds of your father.” They said, “‘… we have one Father: God.’” So, you see now the transition has been made to the spiritual issue. When arguing over whether you are a physical descendant of Abraham or not. Verse 42, “Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love Me…’” because I came from God and He sent Me. Verse 43, “‘Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word.’” That is a spiritual issue. Remember when we were talking about Jude earlier today, the unbelievers, the apostates, who had made a profession and they looked in some ways like believers, didn’t have the Spirit. As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2, those without the Spirit of God cannot know the things of God because they are spiritually revealed. Verse 43, “‘Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father…’”

You are a physical descendant of Abraham, but you’re a spiritual child of the devil, and you want to do his desires. And the desires of the ungodly, mesh perfectly with the desires of their spiritual father the devil. And that’s true of these Jews. “‘…He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature…’” He speaks out of what He is, a fallen being. “‘…he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me.’” You’re a child of the devil. You have no ears for hearing the truth. All the impact that the truth has on you is, it irritates you, it troubles you, bothers you, and if it keeps up it can stir then more forceful reactions. What do the Jews say? Verse 48, “‘…You are a Samaritan and have a demon…’” We talked in Jude how the ungodly speak against God. This gets clear, here you are. All the fullness of deity dwells in Him in bodily form, Colossians tells us. We say you are moved by a demon. Does it get any clearer where they are spiritually? You call God in the flesh a demon? Amazing how blind they are! Jesus answers them, “‘I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.’” So that point, here’s where the Jews are.


Come back now to Romans and stop in chapter 9. Paul has already dealt with this. In chapter 9 he made the point that it’s not enough to be a physical descendant of Abraham. It does not mean that there’s not importance and significance in being a physical descendant of Abraham. Of course, it did. There was and there is, but that’s not enough. Verse 6 of chapter 9 of Romans, “But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel...” Israel here being another name of Jacob. Remember, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Jacob’s name was changed to Israel which is where the name comes from. So, when he says that being a physical descendant of Jacob doesn’t make you a true descendant of Jacob, just like we said with Abraham, if you don’t have faith, the faith of Jacob, the faith of Abraham, then you’re not in this line of promise. Because being a physical descendant, Abraham had several physical descendants. Verse 7, “…nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but: ‘through Isaac your descendants will be named.’”

The descendants of Ishmael are not included in those promises. They had to come through the one descendant and Abraham fathered other children, but they don’t pass on the covenantal promises. They may have other promises but the covenantal promises so crucial to what we are talking about come from Abraham, through Isaac, through Jacob. The word of God says, “‘…through Isaac your descendants will be named. That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.” The promise was Sarah will have a child and that’s the one through whom the promise will come. So, the point he is making there is, just because you’re a physical descendant of Abraham and Jews would have to acknowledge that, of course. We don’t consider the descendants of Ishmael for example or any of the other children that Abraham fathered like in chapter 25 of Genesis. No, we’d agree, they’re not in the line of promise. Now what he’s doing is, we’ve established that a physical connection is not enough. And you can have the physical connection even through Isaac and Jacob and still not get the promises because you’re ignoring the crucial factor, the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.


Come back to chapter 11, verse 17. You were the wild, so they broke off the branches because the nation persisted in unbelief. The nation loses their position and the blessings promised and the focus of God’s salvation is no longer there. The wild olive trees, the Gentiles, are grafted in. They became partakers with them of the “…rich root of the olive tree...” You note, they do not replace them. They became partakers with them. Those physical Jews who would believe will inherit the promises, but the nation as a nation has been removed. So, where is he going with this? They partake of the rich root of the olive tree, and we went through the Abrahamic Covenant. It’s the blessings that are promised that enter in salvation, faith in God. That’s always been true. Abraham believed God. God credited it to him as righteousness. Paul stressed that in chapter 4 using Abraham as the outstanding example.


Come back to Romans chapter 4. We’ve got the Gentiles now brought into the picture, not to replace Israel, but if you will, alongside Israel. But with that there is a shift. The branches have been broken off. So even though individual Jews can share in the promise, as Paul gave himself as the example at the beginning of Romans 11, as a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin who had been saved, but it’s not the nation anymore that’s the focus. In Romans chapter 4, verse 12, the sentence here goes on, but it refers to verse 9. “‘…Faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.’” So that’s the foundation, seen first in Genesis 15, verse 6. Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. “How then was it credited? While he (Abraham) was circumcised, or uncircumcised?” Well, just the timelines, Abraham was circumcised in chapter 17. Abraham was declared righteous by faith in chapter 15. So, he was declared righteous before he was circumcised. Circumcision was just the seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while he was uncircumcised.

Verse 11, “…so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised…” Even in that physical act, at that time, the timing of it was part of the sovereign plan of God to indicate that salvation would reach out beyond those physical descendants of Abraham and who are marked off by the sign of the covenant for the nation, the physical descendants, circumcision. So, we are reminded that circumcision wasn’t necessary. There would be provisions for those who weren’t in the physical line of Abraham to receive the blessings. You see God working, and you realize it wouldn’t be until, about two thousand years before Christ, so before the establishment of the Church, before it became clear the significance of what was taking place beyond what is clear there. That’s where later revelation can add to, clarify, but it didn’t change anything. The promises there would be true for the physical descendants as well. He’s the father of circumcision to those who are not only of the circumcision but to those who follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while uncircumcised. You see here there is a provision to be made. It’s seen in the issue of circumcision. It’s seen also in the promises that we’ll see that “in you all the nations of the earth will be blessed.” So, you can be outside the physical line and still get blessings of salvation. The promise to Abraham, to his descendants, that he would be heir of the world, wasn’t through the Law but through the righteousness of faith.


Come down to verse 16, still in chapter 4, “For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants (all the seed), not only to those who were of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, (as it is written, “A father of many nations have I made you’) in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist. In hope against hope he believed….” The stress on faith and in all of this, there is a provision, and Abraham becomes the spiritual father of his physical descendants who believe and the spiritual father of his non-physical descendants who believe, who have the same faith of Abraham.

We use a similar kind of expression today. We’ll say to someone, maybe regarding someone who led you to the Lord, well, he’s my spiritual father. In the sense that he was instrumental bringing the Gospel to you and you coming to faith in Christ. That is what is being pictured here. You’ll note, he doesn’t blur the two. There are the physical descendants but in all of this you can see God making provision for the non-physical descendants and they’ll claim Abraham. Why? Because Abraham is the example and he’s the one that the first covenant that provided for redemption, is given. He wasn’t the first person of faith. We saw Enoch was a prophet of God and would have been a believer back in Genesis 5. But Abraham is the first one about whom it is clearly stated, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness, and with whom God makes this covenant which will encompass Israel and the nations.


Come over to Galatians chapter 3. We’ve talked about how Galatians is very similar to Romans. Sometimes Galatians is called a rough outline of the book of Romans. You have Romans in condensed form, if you will, with the book of Galatians and very similar material. Look in Galatians chapter 3, we’ll pick up with verse 6, “Even so Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘All the nations will be blessed in you.’ So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.” Now you see here God working. Verse 8, “The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith…” So you would know from the Abrahamic Covenant back in the beginning, “‘…All the nations will be blessed in you…’” but you could not understand the fullness of that and how God would carry that out until later revelation came.

That’s what Paul is explaining. We’re seeing the realization of what we just got a glimpse of. Just like the prophet saw the death of Christ on the cross and the reigning of Christ in glory and Peter said they couldn’t put that together. It took later revelation, but it didn’t change anything. Christ would die on the cross exactly as the Old Testament prophet said and He will come and rule and reign in glory just as they said. So, one doesn’t cancel out the other. We want to be careful that we don’t take later revelation and then nullify. That’s what some do. They think, well, Christ came. The Old Testament prophet says He’ll come die and the kingdom will begin. So, we must be in the kingdom. Well, wait. You can interpret prophecy literally, you have to, so let the later revelation clarify. It doesn’t change it. He died just as they said He would. And He will reign physically on this earth with physical Jerusalem as its capitol just as they said He would, but now we have a period here, the Church Age, which was not revealed. So what Paul is saying here, verse 8 of Galatians 3, “The Scripture, foreseeing that God would…” It’s not new to God but He was just giving a preliminary view, a little preview, but you wouldn’t know how that was going to be carried out until later. “‘All the nations will be blessed in you.’” Would be easy for the Jews to think that probably means, that I guess when we have the kingdom the nations will be there, but wait! There’s something even greater than that. We’ll say more about that in a little bit.
Let me see if there’s any other verses I want to jump you to here. Jump down to verse 16, “Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed.” This is important. Seed is singular here. It’s from Genesis 22, verse 18. For some reason they don’t have a marginal note on that, but that’s where the reference is. “…He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as referring to many, but rather to one…” One seed, “…that is, Christ.” Because even in that he focused that promise down and that singular was for a purpose. That all the promises would have to come through Christ for fulfillment because without His provision there would be no salvation. So, you understand, we are explaining here, while Paul is under the direction of the Spirit, how the Abrahamic Covenant now gets unfolded and Christ is the central person. Come down to verse 29, “And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s (seed) descendants, heirs according to promise.” Whether you are a Jew or a Gentile. And in this day and age your nationality is not what is of major importance, but now whether Jew or Gentile, you are part of the Church. Today any Jews that are saved are a reminder that God is not done with Israel. There are Jews being saved. But this is a day of Gentile salvation. We are getting to that in our next study in Romans 11.


Come over to Ephesians chapter 2. Look at verse 11. He’s talked about the salvation of Gentiles, but he’s writing to the church at Ephesus that is primarily a Gentile church. He’s talking about how God rescued them from their lostness. Verse 5, “…even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” That’s why I sometimes say we will be trophies of God’s grace for all eternity. There won’t be any redeemed angels in eternity, but you and I will be there as redeemed human beings because there was no savior provided for the angels who sinned. Only condemnation awaits them, but for us we are testimonies of God’s grace. He’s rich in mercy. Come down to verse 11, “Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called ‘Uncircumcision’ by the so called ‘Circumcision…’” the distinction between Jew and Gentile. And for the Jews that meant the Gentiles, they’re dirty, they’re unclean, we don’t eat with them.

Remember Peter’s problem over that even after he got saved and so on. That’s the circumcision performed in the flesh and the Jews had lost sight of. That’s important. That had a place, but only if it reflected the circumcision that had taken place in their heart by faith. We looked at passages where the prophets said they needed to circumcise their hearts. Verse 12, “…remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, (now note this) excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” That was the condition of the Gentile nations until really the establishing of the Church. That’s where they were, were outside the promises. Oh, there could have been some Gentiles and we have the women in the line of Christ, Ruth the Moabitess, but it’s a Jewish world when it comes to salvation. Look at our Old Testament. The Jews write it. It’s all about the Jews.

Other nations come in as they are connected to the Jews in one way, but salvation is of the Jews. What did Jesus tell the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4? You’ve got your religious system but let me tell you, “…salvation is from the Jews.” You go worship at your mountain, at your place, but “…salvation is from the Jews.” It still was through the Gospels. What did Jesus say to the woman who came to be healed and she’s not a Jew? I can’t give the bread for the children to dogs. You say what an unkind thing to say. That’s reality. The Gentiles are outside. When Jesus sent the disciples out, He said don’t go into Gentile places. Don’t even go to Samaritans. Go to the lost of the house of Israel. But that’s going to change after His resurrection. He tells them to go into all the world. Make disciples of all the nations. That’s new revelation. Israel wasn’t instructed to do that in their history.

So, you see where we were? You Gentiles, we were on the outside looking in. We were excluded. There was a provision in the covenant, but it wasn’t operative yet. Basically, we were outside. But now in Christ that provision becomes operative. Look at verse 13, “But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity…that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross…” That’s the body of Christ, the Church. That doesn’t mean God’s done with the nation as a nation because later promises don’t nullify prior promises. That would leave us all hanging in wonder. Maybe God will write another chapter and write us off. No. The promises of God cannot be revoked. “And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near…” So, the way of salvation is open now not only for Jews, but for Gentiles and we are brought together.

Verse 19, “…you are fellow citizens with the saints, and you are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets…” There we are talking about the New Testament prophets, because the Old Testament prophets didn’t write about the Church. They didn’t know that. They didn’t know that provision in the Abrahamic Covenant included a new entity altogether primarily made up of Gentiles. And you get that when you come down into chapter 3, verse 2. Paul says, I want you to understand “…if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you; (Truth that was entrusted to Paul) that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ...”

What is a mystery in the New Testament? Verse 5, “…which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men…” Not revealed, not made known. “…as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit...” What is the revelation? “…to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel...” So now Paul says in verse 8, “To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.” You know the angels learned about these things by seeing it. They had never had angelic redemption and now we see it reaching out to the Gentiles of the world. This is new material. It ought to be clear to us. We just take the Bible for what it says. It doesn’t say, now this is cancelled. It makes us to understand what is going on.

Israel has been put under judgment. They’ve been broken off as a nation from that place of favor as the focal point of God’s work of redemption in the world and wild olive branches are now grafted in and they are receiving the benefits of God’s promises, the salvation that He has provided. But the nation Israel as a nation isn’t enjoying that. There are more people that would refer to the United States, at least in past days, broadly speaking, as a Christian nation. Nobody ever refers to Israel as a Christian nation. They’re not part of that. What God is doing, this is the picture, we are the wild olive branches grafted in. That’s what he said. And you couldn’t have found that out by reading the Old Testament, so be careful that we continue to take the Bible literally. And now God explains, I’m giving you new revelation. As Paul said, this was not revealed. Look at verse 5, if you are still in Ephesians 3, “…which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets (ones).”

So, now we can go back and reinterpret the Old Testament? I can’t tell you the number of commentators and writers I’ve read on that. Now with the coming of Christ we can reinterpret the Old Testament. Paul doesn’t say that. He says now we’ve got new revelation of what God is doing in the world during this time. Israel, if you will, is on a sidetrack. We sometimes call this a parenthesis. And then those who don’t take prophecy literally say, oh yeah, God had to change His plan. Nobody says that God had to change His plan. He’s now making known, what has been His plan. That’s different than saying He didn’t know. We’re not saying God didn’t know about the Church. He didn’t reveal to us about the Church until Christ came. His death and resurrection occurred, and even then, Peter didn’t get that information, Paul did. Peter will later write in his letter that Paul writes some hard things to understand. Paul had to rebuke Peter. There are things to be learned.


I better bring you back to Romans. Look at verse 18, “…do not be arrogant…” Where are we going with this? “…do not be arrogant toward the branches; (referring to Israel, the Jews, that nation) but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you.” That’s why we went through the Abrahamic Covenant to remind ourselves in our previous study. We’re getting the blessings that come out of the Abrahamic Covenant given to what? The father of the Jews. And we’re getting that blessing, the one who is the seed, the singular of Abraham, Christ, a Jew. We are partaking of the promises that have their origin in the Abrahamic Covenant, “in you all the nations of the earth will be blessed.” “…do not be arrogant…” against the Jews because we’re the Gentiles and we are the central people. “…do not be arrogant...” You are central to what God is doing in the world today in His work of salvation, but that’s part of His plan for you to draw out of that “…rich root of the olive tree,” those promises that will go back to that Abrahamic Covenant. It’s the “rich root” that supports you.

Verse 19, “You will say then, ‘Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.’” Let’s face it. We are more important than the Jews now. They got broken off and we’re grafted in, so we look down on the Jews and sadly church history has some of that attitude. We appreciate reformers for what they brought in clarity of the Gospel, but they were confused about Israel. “‘…Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in…’” And he says, that’s what you say, you Gentiles, in the conversation he is creating here. Quite right! Good point! They were broken off, but let’s not stop there. “Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith…” In Greek it becomes even clearer because the word faith and unbelief, are just forms of the same Greek word. Here we lose a little bit of that. We might say, for lack of faith, “…but you stand by your faith...” That’s what he is saying here. “…Do not be conceited, but fear; (as Gentiles) ...” Why? “…for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either.”

Why did Israel get broken off and removed from that central place? Because as a nation they did not believe in God and that persistent unbelief built to a point where God says, now is judgment time. I’m removing you from that place of favor in my dealing of salvation in the world. I’ll save some Jews, but the nation is under judgment. Now you Gentiles forming the church, you ought to fear lest your unbelief will grow, and you’ll experience the same fate. And that’s where it is going. So, that’s what his point is here. “Do not be conceited, but fear...” They were broken off because they didn’t believe. You stand or were grafted in because you do believe. No faith, your faith, that’s the difference. What happens if the Gentiles move from their faith in God? You think you are better than the natural branches? You weren’t natural to begin with. More acceptable that God would get rid of the wild olive branches that aren’t producing, than He got rid of the natural branches that were producing, because you see the life comes from the root and that’s connected to the faith. “Do not be conceited, but fear; for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either.”

Faith leaves no room for pride, boasting, exalting self. We battle that. We need to be honest. We sometimes look at the sin of the world around us and there’s a certain conceit if we’re not careful. I get so disgusted by what they do. I can’t understand why they do that. We begin to be like the Jews of Jesus day who looked down on those dirty Gentiles and we forget. What are we? That’s where Paul was in Ephesians 2 where he started out, you were just like them. Remember he wrote to Titus too, remind them, they were just like them. So, this arrogance against the Jews. I read the Old Testament and we find ourselves saying, I can’t believe, they’re doing it again. They’re rebelling again. But then we look, are we walking by faith? Is that my life? Be afraid. This is talking about nations, but it has application. You know the evidence of genuine faith is it perseveres.


Here’s another quote. “To trust in God and to be proud of one’s spiritual achievement are mutually exclusive.” Come back to Romans chapter 3. Romans chapter 3, verse 27, “Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified (declared righteous) by faith apart from works of the law.” That’s it. So, it removes any boasting. Have I lost sight of the fact I will be a trophy of God’s grace for eternity because by His grace I have believed? I am no better at heart than the worst unbeliever, but by God’s grace I have been rescued from lostness. Because I worked harder? Because I never got into things other people get into, and besides, I got baptized, and I take communion? Those things don’t have anything to do with it. They are off the track. It’s so important here that the Gentiles do not lose their proper perspective.


Let me read you what one reformed writer, John Murray, wrote. “It is noteworthy that the attitude compatible with and promoted of faith is not only lowliness of mind but one of fear.” He picks that up when Paul instructs them that they shouldn’t be conceited, but fear. Romans 11, at the end of verse 20. “Christian piety is constantly aware of the perils to faith, of the danger of coming short is characterized by the fear and trembling which the high demands of God’s calling constrain.” Then he quotes 1 Corinthians 10:12, “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”

I want to look at a couple of verses with you. Because there is a personal dimension to this as well as the national. Because what happens to the nation? What happened to Israel? Well, it’s the individuals in the nation that no longer trusted, not the nation as a nation trusting. But, when the majority of individuals in the nation don’t trust, then the nation is a nation of unbelief. Look in Philippians chapter 2, verse 12. “So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” We ought to have a proper fear of not trusting God, of not honoring Him. He’s at work in my life. I tremble at the thought that I would resist Him, rebel against Him. You know if that persists over time, it may be revealing a greater flaw that I don’t have saving faith. Remember 1 John, verse 19, “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us…” It’s not enough to start out well. I’m not saying you can lose your salvation, but many have had an initial thrust of emotion and faith and this is going to be my life. Where are they? Sad. Many of them evidence over time that they never really believed and some of them have given testimony to that fact. We ought to fear and tremble.


Come over to Hebrews chapter 4, verse 1. “Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it. For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.” You realize, like Israel, they heard the word throughout their entire life. They were born into it and it never profited them because they didn’t believe. We ought to have a fear of that. It comes up when a situation comes, and some are talking about turning away and we sometimes can do it. Well you find people that want to get away from the truth, they don’t want to believe it, and they don’t want to be hammered by it, so they just look for a more comfortable Christianity. But there is no saving Christianity like that. And maybe they’re revealing where they are. We ought to at least challenge them to take that into consideration. It doesn’t mean that if they’re going to another bible believing church, because they’re going to grow there, that’s fine. We don’t read more into that, but why are people so glad to get away from truth? I want it to be softer. I don’t want it to be offensive. I don’t – wait a minute. Do we believe in the God of the Bible? Let’s fear.


We’ve got to look at one more verse in 1 Peter. You’re close to it in Hebrews, James, 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 17. “If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth…” That doesn’t mean I’m always afraid God’s going to kick me out of the family. I had a fear of my earthly father and those were days of physical punishment and discipline. And I knew if I did not obey him there would be consequences that would be very unpleasant. Do I fear God? Do I fear displeasing Him because I love Him, and I know He will come down on me firmly if I am His child? People claim to have trusted Christ and they’re not living their life anywhere near what God says as one of His children should live. But they come and say, oh no, I know I’ve trusted Christ. I’ve heard people say, I just tell them I’ve trusted Christ. I know I’m not walking with Him, but I have no doubt I’ve trusted Him. Where do you get that? That’s arrogance! That’s not faith. They don’t have a life that in any way evidences that I’m a child of God, but I know I’m saved. There’s no salvation there. Something’s wrong. So, this is the fear.


Come back to Romans 11, verse 22. We wrap this up. He wants us to note two things. Don’t forget either one. “Behold then the kindness and severity of God...” You ought to underline that because if you don’t have a perspective on both you don’t have a biblical perspective. People will say oh God is love and that’s what they want to talk about. You can talk to the world about God if you talk about love. As long as you’re talking about love. What the world needs now is love. Yeah, we are good with that. “Behold now the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness…” The Jews have experienced the severity of God. The Gentiles are experiencing the kindness right now. The worst is yet to come for Israel. I know we’re talking about peace in Israel and all this. The peace that comes to Israel will be the foreboding of disaster. There’s severity in God dealing. “Behold the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off. And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.” And that’s where we are going in the next verses which we will pick up next time.


God’s judgment will fall. The day of Gentile salvation will conclude. It doesn’t mean that no Gentiles will be saved after that, but the focus changes and God is going to graft Israel back into that place of favor in His work of salvation in the world, and then all Israel will be saved. Prior to that the believers in the Church will be raptured out of this world leaving behind an apostate church that now more fully serves the devil in bringing about his purposes in attempting to overthrow the purposes and plans of God.
Remarkable God’s work! We don’t want to take Him for granted. We’ve been believers, many of us for many years. I don’t want to get lax in that initial passion, in honoring the Lord. I want to please Him. I don’t want my life to be like getting on cruise control so that we let other things absorb our life. Saving faith is persisting faith. The just will live by faith. In the context the way that is used, it includes our initial salvation, but it includes our life.

I don’t want to have any other kind of life than the life of faith, trusting God, submitting to His will, striving to obey Him. That’s what we were talking about in Jude. Paul could write about it in prison in Philippians 4, verse 11, “…I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.” Because my contentment comes from my trust in God and He’s sovereign over my life. That’s a life of faith. Israel lost it as a nation and they still live under the judgment of God. Do not forget that. That does not mean we do not love the Jews. We love the nation, we grieve for their suffering, but the worst is yet to come. I can’t save them or rescue them from that. We still present the Gospel. We realize as Gentiles, this day will close as well. I want to take every advantage there. We get to that in the next verses.


Let’s pray together then I have some other things to share. Thank You, Lord, for Your word. Thank You for its riches. We are blessed beyond what we can grasp. We have the treasure of Your word. By Your grace the Gospel has been presented and we have believed it. Lord, we are privileged to live it out as the world deteriorates and it seems sometimes to go from bad to worse. It is proceeding to judgment. That should not discourage us, dismay us, or anyway shake our faith in You. It means we must be resolved to walk by faith trusting You for what is best for us day by day. Which may mean greater pain, greater difficulty, greater hardship, but whatever it is, it will not shake our faith in You and Your sovereign purposes. We look forward to all You have promised for those who love Christ. May we live it out in the days of this week. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.


Related to what we were just talking about, I got an email from an old friend, but we haven’t had contact for years. We lost touch and he sent in an email about the peace agreement that was signed between some of the Arab nations with our President negotiating that. And he sent an email asking, “Does this mean that our President is the anti-christ?” Thought maybe I would want to address that. I thought even as I watched that, no, that’s not the fulfillment of those Scriptures. But what it struck me as, this is almost like a preview of when someday the leader of the western world alliance, the revived Roman empire, negotiates a peace for the nation Israel which will mark the ushering in. Turn to Daniel 9. For most of you it’s familiar, but there may be some of you that are not that familiar with it. If you can’t get to the book of Daniel, you can write the reference down and get it later. It’s in Daniel chapter 9 and this begins with verse 24. That passage which we keep referring to as “the seventy weeks of Daniel.” This is where it comes from. Seventy weeks is literally seventy sevens; they are seven-year periods, so it’s a week of years, not a week of days. And we have that last seven-year period. And you have that break, really have verse 26 and verse 27. We’re coming to that last week and you’ll note verse 27 of Daniel 9, “And he…” this coming little horn of Daniel, who is the beast in Revelation chapter 13, who is going to sign this agreement. We call him the anti-christ. “…he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week…” referring to Israel. That’s a week of years so that marks that seven-year period. So, while I don’t think that agreement here is occurring now, we see that desire in a leader in the western world negotiating peace for Israel. Isn’t it amazing how that matters? If you haven’t done it lately get out the map and look at Israel. I figure you could just not include it and it wouldn’t seem to make any difference when you look at the map of the world, but Israel is the apple of God’s eye, and He’s made promises regarding that nation so you can’t escape it. So, I did think it was. I want to be alert what is going on in the world. We see lawlessness getting worse. I watched a little bit of a history program where one of the drug lords in Mexico was trying to take over the nation. He just ordered the killing of policemen, and hundreds of policemen will die. Brings down an airliner because he thought the President was on it. And now we see lawlessness in our city. We thought, did you think this would happen a year ago? Could you imagine that they’d be doing this in the street? Lawlessness!! So, you look around and we don’t want to be, oh what do I want to say, oh this is the fulfillment, here it is! No. But we see the world moving toward what the Bible says is going to take place in the last days. Concern about peace in Israel, lawlessness getting worse, things we as believers want to be alert and aware. Paul told the Romans, now is our redemption nearer than we first began. Well, that was two thousand years ago. How much nearer are we to it today? If Paul thought they ought to be living on the edge of expectancy, but that’s true for any generation. So, if the Lord would come this evening would we be saying, I’ve been expecting You, and been ready. I’ve been living as though You were going to come, and here You are. No surprise. I’m pleased. I didn’t know if it would be for sure, but it doesn’t catch me off guard because I wouldn’t change anything if I knew it was tonight.


Alright. In light of what’s going on, we have a little booklet in Sound Words and by the time I mention it to you, the 2 or 3 that are probably left there might be gone, but we can get more. You might find it helpful and enlightening in what is taking place in our own country and it has impact around the world. Critical Race Theory. If you don’t know what that is, you would benefit from the booklet. I thought about talking about this and when I went to Sound Words, they had a booklet on it. And I said, I’ll just recommend the booklet. Here it is. What is Critical Race Theory? And what is driving it? And you see the underlying opposition to God and anything He has revealed. We are aware of that, but you might find this little booklet helpful. “Critical race theory, which was birthed in the 1980’s by lawyers and social activists, has to do with seeing people from a critical perspective as belonging to specific identity groups (e.g., whites, blacks, lesbians, feminists, genders) whereby each group is categorized as either ‘oppressor’ or ‘oppressed.’” This gets built out of that and we see that, and it ends up one group is the oppressor then the other group is the oppressed. Then you have what is called “intersectionality.” They come up with all these words, so you have to go find out, because this critical race theory only developed in the 1980’s. Well, by the 1980’s I was already middle-aged, so I’m really looking forward to the coming of the Lord. You have to know what intersectionality is because all these groups that are dealing as specialty groups that are oppressed intersect with one another, and that then enables them to join together and you’ve seen this in some of the things that come out. All the oppressed! And it just increases the lawlessness and the breakdown of society and someday we will be glad for the greatest of the conservatives, the anti-christ, who comes up and puts it all together and can bring order. Whew! We’ve been looking for him. But we won’t, because we will have been raptured out. And that’s why a few weeks ago I just reminded you that whatever the options in the world, it’s a world over which Satan has authority, so we don’t want to think that the next election will solve it. Although I want to be honest. I pray that the Lord will provide the leader that will, if it is within His plan, enable us to continue to have the peace that provides the opportunity for us to present the Gospel. Paul told Timothy to tell them that’s what they ought to pray about regarding leaders. Don’t get so absorbed in that. There’s no final solution in whoever gets appointed to the court or whoever gets voted in as President. But these are the days, we have the days of opportunity. If we don’t take advantage of them, what are we praying for? Lord, pray that we will continue to have peace so that we can present the Gospel that we don’t bother presenting now because since we have peace we have so many other things going on, we don’t really have much time for that. And that’s the drift that goes. Remember when God told Israel when you enter the land and you have prosperity, don’t forget Me, the One who gave you prosperity. And we find more and more, I fear, the drift of the church in our own country. More and more shallow, more and more indifferent to serious consideration of truth, well what will that bring? Ultimately, it will bring the removal of the believers, the true church, from the earth and the final dealing with God. More of that will come out as we proceed in Romans. I can’t open to you for questions and won’t be able to do that now. But if you do have questions or comments, you can submit them, and as you text them or email, I’ll try to address them along the way, if I can. If not, I’ll just put them in my ‘forget it’ file because I can’t answer it.

Let’s pray together. Thank You, Lord for a good day. What a day of blessing it is. We’ve been able to come together as Your people to worship You, to sing praises, to study Your word together. We have no real fear of opposition, of punishments. Lord, we are blessed in this day with the liberty we have with truth. We want to live faithfully and not be distracted by the noise of the world, the fears of the world, the things that absorb the world. Lord, all this is passing and will come a time when we look back and it was nothing. Those things which seemed so great, so overwhelming were not of much importance. May we live faithfully. May everyday be a day when we trust You, for whatever You choose to bring into those days of our lives. May our light shine in the darkness wherever we are. We commit ourselves to You, in Christ’s name. Amen.