What About God’s Promises to Israel

Transcript

GR 1456
01/16/11
What about God's Promises to Israel?
Romans 11:1-10
Gil Rugh

Today we are in Romans 11. If you've been with us in our study of Romans, you'll know that Romans 9-11 come together as a unit. They are all about the nation Israel. The book of Romans is about the gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the provision of God' righteousness through the finished work of Christ applied to all who place their faith in Christ. But the question comes, what about the nation Israel? God made great promises to the nation Israel. He promised them salvation, He promised them blessings, He promised them a kingdom. But now as Paul writes the letter to the church at Rome it is clearly evident that the vast majority of Jews continue to reject the message of Jesus Christ while numbers of Gentiles are believing in Christ. Paul makes clear down in chapter 11 verse 13, I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. As he writes to the church at Rome he is writing to a Gentile church. There is a strong Jewish influence there, but it is a Gentile church. It is obvious by this point in time that the nation Israel and the vast majority of Jews continue to obstinately reject Jesus Christ and His work on the cross. They refuse to believe in Him as their Messiah and their Savior.

But many Gentiles are being saved. What does this say about the plan of God? Come back to Romans 9. Paul addressed this question early on and set the theme for chapters 9-11. He expressed his burden for the nation and their salvation. Verse 3, I could wish that I, myself, were accursed from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are the Israelites. And it's to the Israelites that belong all the promises of God—the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the Law, the temple, the fathers. And even the Christ is a Jew. What has happened? And he makes clear, verse 6, it is not as though the word of God has failed. We noted that becomes a theme of chapters 9-11. We're continuing to talk about the gospel, about the issue of the gospel as it relates to Israel, and Israel's present condition of unbelief. And you understand what is going on in Israel as Paul writes to the Romans, and what is going on with Israel today is no indication that the word of God has failed, that the promises of God will not be fulfilled. All that is happening is consistent with the plan of God, the sovereign work of God, what God revealed clearly in the Old Testament but was not clearly understood until the Messiah came and a fuller, more complete revelation of God was given. Down in verse 11, what is happening is so that God's purpose according to election would stand, not because of works but because of Him who called. It's God's sovereign purpose in exercising His sovereign choice is what is being carried out in Israel down to this day.

At the end of chapter 9 picking up with verse 30 and following he drew the contrast between the Gentiles and Israel. And in verse 30, the Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness attained righteousness. I mean, the Gentiles couldn't care less about the God of Israel, they paid no attention to Him and made no attempt to please Him. And yet now the Gentiles have found righteousness, the righteousness which is by faith. But Israel pursuing a law of righteousness did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith but as though it were by works. They stumbled over Christ. God's plan of salvation by faith. So Paul unfolded in chapter 10 the issue of faith. Jew and Gentile alike must believe in Jesus Christ to become the recipients of the righteousness that God has provided in Him. And faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word concerning Christ.

Now as you come to chapter 11 Paul is going to address the issue again. Has God rejected His people? This flows out of the discussion particularly at the end of chapter 10 where he talks about the word of God having gone out to Jew and Gentile alike. And verse 20, 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. That was the Gentiles. The church at Rome is an example primarily comprised of Gentiles, the people not seeking God, pagan in every way. But they have found God and His salvation. But as for Israel, he says, all the day I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people. So the situation is as Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 65. The Gentiles not seeking God have found salvation from God through faith in the provision He has made. The Jews remain stubborn and obstinate, even though God has continually reached out to them, graciously calling them, graciously speaking to them. They remain stubborn and obstinate.

That raises the question again, chapter 11 verse 1, I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? You know there are people today who claim that God has rejected the nation Israel. When Israel rejected their Messiah and joined in crucifying Him, leading the way, God's plan and purpose for them came to an end. But Romans 11 says that is not so, it cannot be so. Even the way the question is raised implies the negative answer. God has not rejected His people, has He? And grammatically the necessary answer is no. Paul makes it even stronger—may it never be, magnoito, it's impossible, it cannot be. Whatever has happened, that is not a possibility.

And then he gives an example. For I, too, am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. I'm a Jew and this ___________________. Even in times of judgment there is a remnant in Israel through whom God is working and continuing His grace in preparation for the time when there will be a national conversion, what we will build to in chapter 11 later on.

That question, God has not rejected His people, has its background in the Old Testament where God addresses the issue—can He or will He ever abandon the nation Israel because of their sin. Come back to I Samuel 12. The context here, Israel has sinned. They have sinned against God by rejecting His rule over them and declaring they want to be like the nations of the world around them, they want a king. In verse 12 as they are going to be rebuked and are being rebuked, they told Samuel, we have to have a king to reign over us, even though Samuel says, the Lord your God was your king. So you sinful desire was an overt act of rejecting God's rule as your king. Verse 17, Samuel tells them, then you will know and see that your wickedness is great which you have done in the sight of the Lord by asking for yourself a king. Then verse 19, all the people said to Samuel, pray for our servants to the Lord your God so that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil by asking for ourselves a king. You're right, we sinned again; we've just added another sin to our pattern of sin. And then there is the word from God through Samuel. Verse 22, for the Lord will not abandon His people. That question in Romans 11:1, I say then, has God rejected His people? Abandoned His people? No, the Lord will not abandon His people. Why? They are not so bad after all, they haven't done everything they should but they didn't do everything they shouldn't, either. No. Why won't He abandon His people? On account of His great name. Because the Lord has been pleased to make you a people for Himself. You see it's all about the Lord and the sovereign choice He made. He will not abandon His people on account of His great name. This is in the context of their sinning greatly. And this is not just something unusual but by their own admission they have added this sin to all their sins. But in spite of their sin God will not abandon them, will not reject them because of His great name. Because the Lord has been pleased to make you a people for Himself. You see it was the sovereign act of God that made Israel the people of God. And so to defend His name, His character He will honor His promises, His decision.

Turn over to Psalm 94, look at verse 14. And it's in the context of judgment and so on. For the Lord will not abandon His people, nor will He forsake His inheritance. You'll note again it's His people, His inheritance. He will not abandon them, He will not forsake them. Now there will come a time when He will put them under judgment but He will never disown them.

Turn to Jeremiah 31. This is in the context of the new covenant. Verse 31, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. Come down to verse 35, thus says the Lord who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar. The Lord of hosts is His name. If this fixed order departs from before Me, declares the Lord, then the offspring of Israel also will cease from being a nation before Me forever. Thus says the Lord, if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth searched out below, then I will also cast off the offspring of Israel for all that they have done, declares the Lord. You see the finality of this. Look around, we still have the sun for day and the stars and moon for night. Have we measured the heavens? And the more we measure the more they seem to grow. Has God cast off His people Israel? Impossible, it cannot happen. And you cannot get around it by saying, well He has replaced Israel with the church. That's casting off Israel, that's abandoning Israel and replacing Israel with another people. God says He cannot do that, He will not do it.

So when you come back to Romans 11 and Paul says, God has not rejected His people, has He? That's impossible. And an evidence is that I am an Israelite, I am a descendant of Abraham, I am of the tribe of Benjamin. You understand who we are talking about in the context of chapter 11 when we talk about the people of God. We're talking about Israel, the physical descendants of Abraham, a physical descendant of one of the twelve tribes of Israel—Paul belonging to the tribe of Benjamin. Physical Israelites are in view here. Those are the people that God will not abandon.

The only nation that God ever chose for Himself. So he states in verse 2, God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Repeats with a statement what he said in the question of verse 1. God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be. Verse 2, God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Now what's going on in chapter 11 ties to what he has already said in chapters 9-10. In chapter 9 he talked about the sovereignty of God, the work of God in electing some and hardening others. That's what he's going to develop here in the first part of chapter 11. Going back to the end of chapter 8, he talked about God's foreknowledge, then he talked about God's electing choice in chapter 9. The people that God foreknew are the people upon whom God placed His love, that He chose to be the object of His love. That's the only nation God ever did that to.

The United States of America is not God's chosen nation, we are not God's chosen people, not in the sense we're talking about of a nationality. The nation Israel is the only nation God has ever chosen or ever will choose for Himself. There is only one elect nation, the nation Israel. In Amos 3:2 God said through the prophet Amos, you only, addressing Israel, have I known among all the nations of the earth. You're the only one that I have placed My love and favor upon. If the United States of America were wiped out in a nuclear holocaust tomorrow, it would have no impact or effect on what the scripture has prophesied and promised. If the nation Israel were wiped out tomorrow it would destroy all the promises of the Bible, it would render it worthless.

The devil realizes that. That's why right down to the end his intention is to destroy the nation Israel. When we get to Revelation 12 we are halfway into the coming seven-year tribulation which will culminate with the return of Christ to earth and Satan loses his access to heaven. What is the first thing he does when he is cast to earth? Intensify his opposition to Israel and his attempts to wipe out the nation. Why? Because if he could destroy and annihilate Israel, he could render worthless the promises of God. But it cannot happen. So God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew, whom He chose for Himself.

Come back to Deuteronomy 7:6, for you are a holy people to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. You see how exclusive this action of God is. God has chosen you. That's where we're going, coming back to what he talked about in chapter 9—the sovereign election, choice of God. Israel is unique because out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, God chose Israel to be His own people, His own possession.

Turn over to Deuteronomy 14. The chapter begins, you are the sons of the Lord your God; therefore you don't behave the same way the pagan nations behave. Then he says in verse 2, why? For you are a holy people to the Lord your God. Why are you a holy people to the Lord your God? The Lord has chosen you to be a people for His own possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. Israel is unique. Even under the judgment of God which continues to this day where the vast majority of the nation lives in unbelief and rebellion against the living God, Israel is the nation God has chosen for Himself.

Come back to Romans 11. We must keep clear here, there are two elections with the nation Israel. There is God choosing them as a nation to belong to Himself. Then there is also an election or choice of individual Jews within the nation to come to salvation through faith in the Messiah of Israel and His work on the cross. We must understand those two aspects. The fact that God chose the nation Israel to be the nation that belongs to Him does not mean that every Jew will experience God's salvation. But it does mean that the promises of God to that nation will ultimately be realized in that nation when a surviving remnant of the nation does turn in faith to Jesus Christ. And it will happen at a yet future time. So you keep the national election of the nation and the individual election of the people clear in your mind, things won't get blurred.

So today Israel is a nation living under the judgment of God. They are an unbelieving people by and large. But they are still God's people. That's why in the middle of the coming tribulation Satan will divert so much of his energy in trying to annihilate them even though they are continuing to live in rebellion against God. He knows the promises of God to the nation must be fulfilled for the plan of God to be accomplished as revealed in scripture.

All right, God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew, Romans 11:2 says. Paul has given himself as an example of a Jew who has been saved at the end of verse 1. Now he is going to draw an example from the Old Testament. And what he is going to show is that God's purposes have always included rebellion on the part of the nation as a whole, but His sovereign electing grace continues to select some individual Jews from out of the nation to be a remnant belonging to Him from the nation. And that remnant will continue down until the time when by His grace there is a salvation on a large scale in the nation. And we will come to that further in chapter 11.

So he draws an example from the Old Testament. For do you not know what the scripture says. And just an aside, I've mentioned before. But I'm always amazed when reading these New Testament letters, and a letter like Romans and you can just thumb through Romans and just look at the number of Old Testament scriptures that have been quoted, they are always put in capital letters. He's writing as he says in verse 13, to Gentiles. You know the vast majority of these Gentiles, coming from a pagan background, didn't have any background in the Old Testament. They weren't like Jews like Paul who got saved and had been taught the Old Testament so they could refer back. Here are people who had to learn the Old Testament. And you know what? When they got saved they weren't given a Bible, they weren't given a copy of the Old Testament scriptures to go home and read and study. They had to come together and have a copy read to them. So how much of our New Testament, when you read it, it presupposes you know what the Old Testament says, you know what the Bible says. Some of these with Jewish background would know it, some of these Gentiles who may have been converts to one degree or another to Judaism would know it. But by and large these are pagan Gentiles, saved out of paganism. And yet they are expected, and if you will, required to know the scripture. And so Paul just draws on it and in light of their responsibility to know. You see somewhat how God holds us accountable for His word. If they are accountable to have known the word of God even in the Old Testament which we tend to be less familiar with, how much more accountable are we who have our own copy and should be filling our hearts and minds with it. And we'll be held so accountable.

But verse 2, do you not know what the scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel. Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have torn down your altars and I alone am left. And they are seeking my life. But what is the divine response to him? I have kept for Myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to Baal. It comes from I Kings 19, you might take time this afternoon to read it and refresh your mind.

What has happened, Elijah is living and prophesying in days of great spiritual darkness in Israel. Ahab is king, Jezebel is his wife, consort, the queen. Godless couple who led Israel into paganism and false worship, the worship of Baal. So there comes a confrontation and Ahab is present and the prophets of Baal numbering 400, and Elijah is present. They are going to have a contest before the people of Israel. So Elijah says, make a sacrifice, and you sacrifice your animals. And then we'll step back and you prophets of Baal call on Baal and ask him to light the sacrifice and consume it. And I'll call on the God of Israel to burn up the sacrifice. And whichever God answers is the true God.

And you know the account. The prophets of Baal spend the whole day crying out, cutting themselves and Elijah continues to mock them and says, cry out louder. Maybe he went to the john, maybe he took a vacation, maybe he didn't hear you. And they keep going. And they get no answer. Then comes Elijah's turn and he not only sets up the sacrifice, he has them get buckets of water and keep dumping it over the sacrifice. Nobody is going to say there is spontaneous combustion here. Once the water all gathers around in a puddle, then he calls on God and fire comes down from heaven, lights the sacrifice and burns it up. And all Israel says, yes, the God of Elijah is the God that we want to worship. And then Elijah has them gather up all 400 prophets of Baal for an evangelism conference. And you know what happens to them by your laughing—they are all executed on the spot, 400 prophets of Baal. And then God supernaturally brings rain. And even through Elijah warns Ahab there is going to be a rainstorm, you better head for home. And he goes and prays for rain and it comes after seven times of praying and sending his servant.

You'd think Elijah is on top of the world, he has just won the contest with Baal, destroyed their prophets, has called for rain from heaven and God has answered his prayer. Then Jezebel opens her mouth, sends a message to Elijah and says, God do to me and more so if by this time tomorrow you are like one of the prophets of Baal. In other words I'm going to slaughter you by tomorrow. You know what Elijah does? Says just try it, I'll call down fire from heaven and burn you up, you old witch. No, he doesn't. He is terrified. He takes off on the run, he is so scared he forgets to take any food with him. An angel has to meet him along the way and give him some food. And he ends up at a cave in the middle of nowhere. Then God appears and says, Elijah, what are you doing here? Oh Lord, I'm the only one left. Just me, Lord. We're down to one person who is faithful to you in all of Israel. Everybody else has gone astray.

That's the context here when he says in Romans 11:3, they have killed your prophets, they have torn down your altars. I alone am left, they are seeking my life. Elijah saw himself as the last. God's response to him, verse 4, was, I have kept for Myself. You'll note this, I have kept for Myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to Baal. And you would add women and children to that. But that's a small number compared to how many millions are in Israel at this time, 7,000 plus women and children is still a minuscule number. But it's a lot more than one. What's the point? God is saying, I have kept for Myself. You see who is in charge here, who is sovereign. Things aren't out of control, things haven't gone beyond the power of God's sovereign work. I have kept for Myself by My choosing 7,000 men. Could God have kept 70,000? I assume He could. Could he have kept 700,000? I assume He could. I have kept for Myself 7,000 by His sovereign action. So Elijah you think you are the last man standing. I'm in charge, I've kept 7,000 men for Myself.

What's the point? Verse 5, in the same way then. Here is the connection. It's the same today as it was then. In the same way then there has also come to be at the present time, as Paul writes. And I would tell you it is true today in the present time, there has come to be a remnant according to God's gracious choice. Or literally according the election of grace. That's it. Paul used himself as an example in verse 1. I, too, am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. But he is obviously a believer in Jesus Christ. There is a remnant. There are more, Peter is part of that remnant, John is part of that remnant, Matthew is part of that remnant, and a number of others, obviously. There is right down to the present a remnant. You understand the plan and purposes of God have not changed, they have not been frustrated. Can you understand this was the case back then? Go back to the days of Elijah, what was there? There was a remnant according to the election of grace, verse 5, a remnant according to the election of grace. The same thing as verse 4, I have kept for Myself 7,000. Out of the millions in Israel I have kept for Myself 7,000 men. Paul says that's the same as it is today. There is a remnant. This doctrine of the remnant, a remnant according to the election of grace, God's sovereign choice.

Back up to Romans 9. Here Paul talked about this subject and you can't understand the work of God in the world, you can't understand the work of God in salvation if you don't have some grasp of the sovereignty of God in the world and the sovereignty of God in election. Those who reject the biblical doctrine of election are rejecting the biblical truth of God and render themselves into confusion on a foundational subject. In Romans 9 we talked in some detail about the sovereignty of God in election and what does he say in verse 17? Isaiah cries out. We're back to the prophet Isaiah. Over 600 years before Paul is writing to the Romans the might prophet Isaiah in Israel says, he cries out concerning Israel, though the number of the sons of Israel be like the sand of the sea, it is the remnant that will be saved. The remnant. When God chose the nation Israel He never said He would save every Jew. But He did say He would save a select group of Jews in whom He would fulfill all His promises to the physical nation Israel. The rest will be destroyed in hell.

So it's like a nation that undergoes a devastating judgment. We see in world wars where a nation suffers the loss of huge numbers of its people. And then we'll say, out of the ashes that nation ........ What do we mean? Out of the survivors the nation was rebuilt. It happened to Israel. It will be the physical nation, it will be the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But back in the Old Testament the prophets said it wouldn't be true of every individual in the nation. In fact, it would be a minority of the nation because the nation might grow to be like the sand of the sea but it's the remnant that will be saved. And then verse 29 of chapter 9, Paul said, unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left to us a posterity we would have become like Sodom, we would have resembled Gomorrah.

So the fact that it looks like Israel lives in total unbelief, there are believing Jews today. In our congregation we may have a few believing Jews. God is still saving Jews, but the vast majority of the church is made up of Gentiles. As we'll see later in Romans 11, that's because this is a day when God has directed His saving work in the world to Gentiles. But never lose sight of the fact, He is still drawing to Himself select numbers of Jews.

So this helps to explain ........... Come back to chapter 11. We sometimes talk about the fact there are not many Jews saved, it's because the church is not doing its job. That's not the answer. Not that we should not attempt to bring the gospel to Jew and Gentile alike, but the fact is the Jews are under the judgment of God and He is withholding His saving grace by and large from the nation Israel and selecting but a few from Israel to experience salvation in these days. Because the judgment that He is pouring out on them will get worse. But it will ultimately culminate in the salvation of the nation.

Now when he says back in Romans 11:5, there has come to be at the present time a remnant according to the election of grace, he explains what it means when he says it is by grace. If it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works. Otherwise grace is no longer grace. You ought to have that verse marked, highlighted, put a star beside it and fix it in your mind. That's one of those verses you want to go to. You understand what grace is because Protestants and Catholics alike .............. Let me use the Catholics. They talk about grace all the time, but for them grace includes your works and you cannot be saved by grace alone. But it's a matter of grace plus works.

I spent a little bit of time this week reading some Roman Catholic doctrine on this subject. It is clear. It is confusing because they talk about grace but then they put in the requirement of works. So they have a partial grace. But according to verse 6 there is no such thing because as soon as you put one drop of works you have washed out grace and nullified it. It is either by grace alone or not at all.

This explains the problem in Israel. Israel is trying to be saved by works. They would talk about the grace of God, the Old Testament talked about the grace of God. And they would acknowledge God's grace and His graciousness but they totally nullified it by then making salvation a matter of works.

Back in Romans 9, we looked at earlier. Verse 31, Israel pursuing a law of righteousness did not arrive at that law. Trying by law, works, to become righteous in the sight of God. Why did they fail? Because they did not pursue it by faith but as though it were by works. Many are still confused on this today. There is a movement among evangelicals that we can get together with Roman Catholics because don't we agree on abortion? Don't we agree on homosexuality? Don't we agree that marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman? Those things don't matter. What matters is salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. And if you drop the word alone from any of those it is meaningless. The average Protestant goes to church and will recite creeds, and will sing songs, and will talk about the grace of God. And they think they are saved by doing good works. You can't mix it. Israel tried, Israel believed that homosexuality was sin, Israel believed that marriage was a relationship between a man and a woman, Israel believed that you should do your best to please God and Israel was under the judgment of God, the curse of God. They did not have the righteousness of God. We cannot be confuse on this. If you are confused on the matter of salvation, there is no hope for you eternally. So the idea that we have a lot in common and we'll work out our differences. Paul said we have nothing in common. You nullify the grace of God.

Look back in Romans 4:4, quoting from Abraham. Abraham believed God, God credited it to him as righteousness. We're going back before the Mosaic Law. The Jews were caught up in the Mosaic Law, but this has to do with any kind of works. This was true before there was a Mosaic Law, there is only one way of salvation. Romans 4:4, now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, as grace. But what is due. But to the one who does not work but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited to him as righteousness. And even David spoke to that issue and we covered this when we were back there.

Look down in verse 16 of Romans 4, for this reason it is by faith in order that it may be in accordance with grace. You see what happens. Grace and faith are joined together and you add any works. Well I'm striving because I want to be a good person, I want to be the best person I can and please God so I can go to heaven. You are on the road to hell, you are on the broad road, you've come through the broad gate. There is only one way to salvation, that's by faith. I realize it is hopeless, I can do nothing. I am guilty, I am condemned. All I do is throw myself on the mercy of God. God, I am unworthy, I am undeserving, but I claim your mercy, I claim your grace. May faith is in Christ and Christ alone. That changes a life and we live differently. But it contributes nothing to my being saved. Salvation is by grace through faith.

Back up to Romans 3:24, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. Being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. You see that emphasis, it’s a gift, it’s by His grace, it’s through faith in Christ. That's it. Everything else is false. People get uneasy if you speak against other religions. They are false, they are leading men and women to hell. That's why Paul said anybody who preached another gospel was anathema, cursed to hell. It's not about a matter of being nice, this is a matter of being truthful.

What has happened to Israel? They have missed God's plan of salvation. You see the tragedy of this, the awfulness of their situation. The worst is yet to come because they try to be saved by doing good works, by keeping the Law, by observing the Ten Commandments. And they did not arrive at righteousness. And non-Jews don't either. That's the warning in chapter 11 that we build to. Gentiles, don't be proud. You don't hold your position because you are better than the Jews.

The tragedy of the Reformers like Martin Luther, they thought the Jews deserved to be rejected by God, condemned by God. They deserved every ounce of suffering they ever got because they crucified the Messiah. What a terrible misunderstanding of scripture. Are we any better than they are? Than they were? We are guilty, rebellious, hell-deserving sinners. We need to be careful about being proud. We look around at others and say, I thank you, Lord, that I am not a sinner like these people. We are just like them. The difference made in our lives is that the grace of God has intervened to bring me salvation and make me new.

That's what Paul is talking about. Come back to Romans 11. So another question, we can overview this quickly. What, then? He's going to take what he said in the first six verses. What Israel is seeking it has not obtained—righteousness by keeping the Law as we have seen in the previous verses and at the end of chapter 9 and so on. But those who were elect obtained it. The rest were hardened. Those are the two sides we saw in chapter 9 when we studied that—chosen by God, rejected by God; chosen of God, hardened by God. What's happened in Israel? God has made a selection. What's happening to the rest? They are hardened.

You understand and remember from chapter 9, this is why we go through the scripture in a consecutive way, it builds. He made clear in chapter 9 that God's selection is made from among sinful human beings. This is not, this is not fair, these are innocent people. We dealt with all this in Romans 9. We are dealing with sinful people who deserve condemnation in hell and God is not obligated to save anyone. He does it out of mercy and grace. If He is obligated to do it, He does it out of debt. It's not grace, it's not mercy. If He sends every single human being, whoever comes into existence, to an eternal hell it would be fair, it would be right, it would be just. But in mercy He has reached out to those who are in rebellion against Him and sovereignly chose some for Himself. And He hardens the others. That doesn't mean He causes them to sin.

Back up to Romans 9:18. You can see the sovereignty of God here. So He has mercy on whom He desires and He hardens whom He desires. And of course then that doesn't sound fair. And the answer as we saw it in chapter 9 was, who are you to answer back to God? He does what He chooses consistent with His character. How does He harden? He makes me sin so I'm not responsible, I'm not accountable. Yes, you are. Believe in Him. I can't. Why? He didn't choose me. No, you can't because you won't. Now if you are saved that's a demonstration of God's grace. Why did He intervene and save you? Why did He intervene and save me? It was determined in the councils of His own will in eternity past. How does He harden them? By withholding His saving grace. We saw that in chapter 1. What happens to people in the world who look and see the wonder of creation and the obvious demonstration of God's presence and God's power in the creation? They worship the creation rather than the Creator, they become consumed with their own sin and are turned over in judgment to their sin to greater sin.

I just opened the paper this morning and there is a book review and it's a book by an atheist promoting evolution. Dawkins is the man's name. And a local reviewer is saying what a wonderful book it is. And Dawkins does reserve himself because he does have strong feelings against those who think the scripture should be the answer. How blind can you be? Even apart from the direct revelation of scripture you are accountable for the beauty of creation. And you look at it and it becomes an occasion for you to deny the existence and power of the living God. and then you add to that people who are exposed to the word of God.

And so we go on in Romans 11, verse 8. And we see this series of quotes. Just as it is written, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes to see not, ears to hear not, down to this very day. David says, let their table become a snare and a trap and a stumbling block and a retribution to them. That which ought to be a cause of blessing and prosperity to them becomes the occasion of trouble. Let their eyes be darkened to see not and bend their backs forever under the load and guilt of their own iniquity. What do we have? They reject the revelation of creation. Israel magnifies its guilt. Who had more of the revelation and word of God than Israel? What did they do? Well chapter 10 verse 21, God says all day long I have stretched out My hand to a disobedient and obstinate people. So God gives greater revelation, greater light and man rejects its. This reveals his own sinful condition. And it hardens him. As we've said again and again, something always happens when you are exposed to the word of God.

We use examples, the sun that hardens the clay melts the butter, melts the ice. And it's true. That's what happened to Israel. God withholds His saving grace. What do we do as sinful beings? We continue to reject God, we continue to fight against God, we twist the scriptures to our own destruction, as Peter wrote in his second letter, by trying to make it say something it doesn't say. Why did you hear and believe? Well you are a better person, you were more perceptive, you were more open to the truth than other people. That's a lie. You were every bit as wretched and vile and hard and stubborn as any other sinner ever born. So was I. You know what the explanation for your salvation is? My salvation? For by grace we have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God. Not as a result of works so that no man may boast.

Are we amazed that Israel is lost? No. Are we surprised at their rebellious condition? No. Is that because we Gentiles are better than they? No. We see what happens when the grace of God is withheld.

Turn over to one passage and we're done, II Corinthians 2, and you know this is one of my foundational passages. Verse 14, but thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one an aroma from death to death, that's hardening. Exposed to the truth and rejecting the truth. That's an aroma from death to death, that hardens them. To the other an aroma from life to life. Some by the grace of God exposed to the truth believe because the Spirit of God does a work in their heart and mind to draw them to faith. Some and not others are in the eternal councils of God. That's why Paul said I endure all things for the sake of the elect that they might come to the salvation which is in Christ Jesus.

So this far in Romans 11 we understand that God has not rejected, abandoned His people Israel. His purposes for Israel are being accomplished. He's brought the nation under judgment, tremendous judgment, a judgment that will get far worse. But even in judgment He has manifested grace. There are some Jews who are saved today by the grace of God. That is a reminder that the remnant will someday come to the conclusion, they will comprise the saved nation and there will be a large turning to Him at the culmination of God's plan for Israel in preparation for the kingdom.

We are Gentiles today, we'll see in chapter 11 further on, this is a day of Gentile salvation. How sad that Israel rejected the day of great grace offered to them. How much sadder that we as Gentiles reject that great grace of God today. How sad that you would sit here and hear of the salvation of Jesus Christ and stubbornly and obstinately continue to refuse to bow before Him. What excuse is there? Why would you not cast yourself on the mercy of God? Why would you not say, God, you are right. I am what you say I am, a guilty, hell-deserving sinner. I am unworthy. God, I have been a rebel against you but I claim your mercy, I claim your Son as my Savior. My faith is in Him. I claim your grace. You know what God says He will do? He will save you. Don't be a Gentile who spurns the grace of God, even as Israel has done.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your grace. We are here gathered in your presence as the family of believers today, testimony to the greatness of that grace. That you are a saving God and you save the wretched, the worthless, the undeserving, the hell-deserving. And you are a God of great mercy and great grace. And that salvation is offered to men, women and young people today. Lord, I pray for those who are here. You know our hearts, you know our condition. If there are any who do not know you, may your grace be bestowed upon them and may they cast themselves on your mercy and place their faith in Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.