We find ourselves this morning beginning a study of Romans 11, which is a continuation of reasoning that Paul began back in chapter 8.
! And we're not going to get our study of 11 right if we don't understand where Paul has come from.
It could, of course, be argued that chapter 11 is the continuation of reasoning that Paul began back in chapter 1.
But for the sake of brevity, for this introduction to today's text, I'll just remind you as far back as chapter 8.
So, if you will, turn back just a few pages with me to chapter 8 and verse 23.
Now, prior to verse 23 of chapter 8, Paul has spoken of the glory that would be revealed to us,
and then speaks of the creation's eager expectation of this glory, and then says in verse 23,
and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit,
grown inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
So, these Roman Christians, Paul's original audience, and we, the redeemed today, are waiting.
We feel deeply the tension of being redeemed souls living in corrupted bodies,
and we long for the day when all things will be made right.
We recognize there's a tension right now, and we're awaiting the second coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Paul's aim in this last half of chapter 8 is to bring us comfort.
And so, he goes on, beginning in verse 28.
I just don't want you to miss this.
This is so key to the understanding of the rest of 9 and 11, 10 and 11, right?
What is Paul trying to argue for us, those who are in Christ?
And it begins back in 8 and verse 28.
And I'm going to read to the end of the chapter, because I can't not.
It's too difficult. I can't do it.
I have to read to the end of the chapter if I start in 28.
So, listen to what Paul says.
And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good.
Living in this tension right now, all the things that we experience in this life work together for good.
For those who are called according to his purpose.
For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son,
in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
And those whom he predestined, he also called.
And those whom he called, he also justified.
And those whom he justified, he also glorified.
So, God is at work bringing about the holiness of his people to the praise of Christ.
And I would encourage you to go back and listen to the preaching on those verses,
if you don't know what I'm talking about.
But Paul goes on, verse 31.
What then shall we say to these things, right?
These doctrines of grace.
God's sovereign elective purpose in the world.
What shall we say to these things?
If God is for us, who can be against us?
He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all,
how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
Who shall bring any charge against God's elect?
It is God who justifies.
Who is to condemn?
Christ Jesus is the one who died.
More than that, who was raised.
Who is at the right hand of God.
Who indeed is interceding for us.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ.
Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword.
As it is written, for your sake we are being killed all the day long.
We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.
No.
In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come,
nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation would be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Paul desires to root us in the immovable purpose of God on our behalf.
Beloved, this is why we care deeply about what are commonly called the doctrines of grace.
It's why I will preach it until I die.
You need this kind of foundation.
This kind of stability.
You need to know when the storms of trial come, and they will come.
That God has saved you and that God will keep you to the end.
If in fact you're in Christ, you need to know that God accomplished it.
If your faith is to remain immovable, then it must be rooted in the immovable purpose of God for you.
Paul wants you to see this.
But Paul also knows the implications that flow from God's elective purpose,
which is why Paul tells us of his grief at the beginning of chapter 9.
He has questions in his own mind as well.
And praise be to God that under inspiration, he answers those questions for us.
But he says at the beginning of chapter 9,
I'm speaking the truth in Christ.
I am not lying.
My conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit
that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.
Paul was not frozen chosen.
Paul says,
For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ
for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen, according to the flesh.
I wish that I myself were no longer saved, that others might be.
Paul knows that not all Israelites will be saved.
He has seen the broad rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ by Jewish people in his day.
And he is working this out theologically.
For his benefit, for the benefit of the Roman believers, and for ours.
He goes on in chapter 9 and verse 6.
But it is not as though the word of God has failed.
For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel.
The promises made to Israel are still true.
Because the true Israel is not Israel by blood lineage, but through faith.
Paul's theme for this letter gets further developed here and into chapter 10.
We are justified by grace alone, through faith alone,
in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone.
Now I think that that brief overview will sufficiently bring us to today's text.
But just remember that Paul wants his Israeli brothers and sisters
to become his heavenly brothers and sisters.
This is part of his heartbeat through this text.
In Romans 10 and verse 1 he says,
Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.
A lot of people have taken the doctrines we call the doctrines of grace.
And have in fact become cold and unkindly, ungraciously shared them with others.
But notice that even as all of this explanation is going on,
right underneath every bit of it is Paul's desire that people would come to faith in Christ.
So our text for today.
Chapter 11.
Verses 1-10.
Before I read it, let me remind you, beloved, that this is God's word to us,
written for his glory and our good.
And so we would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.
I ask then, has God rejected his people?
By no means.
For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin.
God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.
Do you not know what the scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel?
Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars,
and I alone am left, and they seek my life.
But what is God's reply to him?
I have kept for myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.
So too, at the present time, there is a remnant chosen by grace.
But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works,
otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
What then?
Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking.
The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened.
As it is written, God gave them a spirit of stupor,
eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear,
down to this very day.
And David says, let their tables become a snare and a trap,
a stumbling block and a retribution for them.
Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see
and bend their backs forever.
Our text begins with another of Paul's anticipated objections
to his teaching and an emphatic answer.
We've seen this time and time again in this letter.
The first half of verse 1, he says,
I ask then, has God rejected his people?
And he answers, by no means.
Has God rejected the Israelites?
Paul's emphatic answer is the strongest negative Greek phrase possible.
Some translations, I believe the King James Version,
renders it, God forbid.
It means absolutely not.
Paul uses this phrase 14 times in total in the New Testament,
10 times in this letter,
and this is the ninth occurrence.
For your future consideration,
you may enjoy following Paul's argument through this letter
by noting those occurrences.
Initially, I was going to take us through the entirety of the letter that way,
but time wouldn't allow.
But here they are.
If you care to note them,
you might appreciate doing this in the future.
Chapter 3, verses 3 and 4.
Chapter 3, verses 5 and 6.
Chapter 3, verse 31.
Chapter 6, verses 1 and 2.
Chapter 6, verse 15.
Chapter 7, verse 7.
Chapter 7, verse 13.
Chapter 9, verse 14.
Chapter 11, verse 1.
That's today.
And chapter 11, verse 11.
An objection met with this emphatic answer.
By no means.
So Paul answers clearly here,
no, God has not rejected his people.
And then he proceeds with evidence to back his assertion.
Paul answers this anticipated objection in two ways.
And so if you want a simple outline for today,
number one, as a witness,
and number two, with the word.
Paul answers this anticipated objection as a witness
and with the word.
Now, before we make any forward progress in the text,
I want to address a potential concern.
And you may be thinking,
what does any of this have to do with me?
And that is an understandable thought.
Why should the past, present, and future state of Israel
make any difference to you?
And I will tell you, right now,
we are spending no time today on end times theology.
So, if that's where your brain goes,
it's not what we're doing today.
How is this text applicable in any way to your life today?
Why?
Well, sometimes the passage of Scripture contains within it obvious imperatives.
You should act this way or don't act that way.
You should feel this way or don't feel this way.
think this way, etc.
Sometimes the passage of Scripture contains within it implied imperatives.
It's teaching us something that's true,
and there's implications that come out from that.
Today's text helps us to know how to think,
at least in part, about our God.
How to think about God on this particular issue.
Paul wants us to see that God is faithful to His Word in this text.
Paul wants us to see God's mercy and grace in this text.
And Paul also wants us to see God's judgment in this text.
So, these are things for us to be looking out for as we look through it together.
So, number one, Paul answers with this emphatic no
to this possible objection to what he's been teaching as a witness.
He says,
For I myself am an Israelite,
a descendant of Abraham,
a member of the tribe of Benjamin.
Paul says,
No, God has not rejected His people
because I am one of those people.
And I have been saved by Christ.
We begin to see here that Paul is speaking in totalities.
Has God rejected His people in totality?
No, Paul says,
because I am one of them.
Paul qualifies himself as an Israelite
by saying a descendant of Abraham,
meaning he wasn't a convert to Judaism.
He's of the bloodline of Israel
and as a member of the tribe of Benjamin,
which was one of the two most favored tribes of Israel.
He's saying,
I have true pedigree as an Israelite,
and God saved me.
If anyone could be said to be Jewish,
it would be Paul.
Listen to his own witness to this reality.
Philippians chapter 3,
this is verses 4 through 6.
Here he's making the argument
that there is no reason
to have confidence in the flesh.
But he says,
I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh.
If there is reason, I have it.
If anyone else thinks he has reason
for confidence in the flesh,
I have more.
Paul, by his own account,
was as Jewish as he could possibly be.
Not only by blood,
but also in his devotion and in his zeal.
Considered perfect
and a persecutor of that
which opposed the Jewish tradition
until Paul found sovereign, amazing grace.
This is why he said of himself
in 1 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 15,
the saying is trustworthy
and deserving of full acceptance
that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners
of whom I am the foremost.
Paul knew that he was
an undeserving recipient
of God's mercy and grace.
He deserved wrath,
but God forgave his sins in Christ
and granted him life everlasting
in his Son.
So, Paul says,
God has not rejected his people
in totality
for I am a witness
to the contrary.
There were many other Jews
that were saved in Paul's day.
The church was largely,
early,
made up of Jewish converts.
But he used himself as an example.
Look, God hasn't dismissed us entirely.
He has saved me.
He also answers this objection
emphatically with the Word.
And we see this in the rest of the text,
verses 2 through 10.
I think that a brief aside
is helpful to us here.
Note that Paul consistently reasons
from God's Word.
He is an apostle.
I believe he knows in some measure
that he's writing under inspiration,
but yet he reasons
from God's Word.
And we do well to do the same.
The Spirit of Christ
takes up the Word of Christ
to illuminate our hearts
to the realities of Christ.
It's the tool that's given to us
that's empowered by the Spirit.
In a postmodern world
that is ridden with opinions,
we have something sure.
The revelation of God.
Brothers and sisters,
we should labor to know it.
To have our minds shaped by it.
You need to recognize
that you're being discipled
all the time.
Be sure that you're being led
in the truth.
You should have a worldview
that is Bible-informed
so that everything that comes to you
comes through the Word.
And we should seek to persuade others
with it.
Now, note that Paul
narrows his language a bit
concerning Israel
at the beginning of verse 2
and then in verse 5
to speak of a remnant.
So notice the first half
of verse 2.
He says,
God has not rejected His people
whom He foreknew.
He qualifies it.
Whom He foreknew.
And then He gives us proof
from an episode in the life
of the prophet Elijah
and He summarizes that proof
with verse 5.
So too, also, just like
at the present time,
there is a remnant
chosen by grace.
So a people foreknown
and chosen by grace.
Now the episode
from Elijah's life
summed up by Paul
in two and a half verses
is found in 1 Kings chapter 19.
Paul asks the question,
Do you not know
what the scripture says
of Elijah?
And he presumes,
I think,
that his readers know.
Actually, their mind
is going there.
They may not have
clearly understood it
as they bring this objection,
but their mind
should be taken there.
And perhaps
you don't know the context
here summed up
in two and a half verses.
And so,
turn with me to 1 Kings chapter 19
for some broader context.
I think it will help you
to see Paul's point
this morning.
So 1 Kings chapter 19.
Makes my heart happy
to hear pages flipping
and not it being dialed up
on a phone.
I like those hard copies.
Okay, we're going to read
verses 9 through 18,
but before we do,
you need to know
that this part of Elijah's life
follows the defeat
of the prophets of Baal.
A big, significant event
in Elijah's life
where Elijah proposed
a test of altars
and Elijah's was consumed
from heaven.
If you're not familiar
with that,
oh, please go
and read chapter 18.
God was vindicated
in this episode
and the prophets
of Baal slaughtered
and Elijah expects
that Israel will now
turn back
to the living God.
But instead,
we see at the beginning
of chapter 19,
he finds his life
threatened
and so he flees
to Horeb,
the mount of God.
And at the end
of 40 days
without food,
he is tired,
he is destitute.
The victory
that he thought
was going to lead
to the nation
turning back
to the living God
did not turn out
the way he expected
that it would
and it would seem
that he goes off
and is pitiful
in a cave.
So we'll begin reading
in verse 9.
There he came
to a cave
and lodged in it.
And behold,
the word of the Lord
came to him
and he said to him,
What are you doing here,
Elijah?
God had not commanded him
to go to this place.
He just fled.
God had directed
his every step
up to this point.
But here Elijah
is out on his own.
What are you doing here,
Elijah?
And Elijah says,
I have been very jealous
for the Lord,
the God of hosts,
for the people of Israel
have forsaken your covenant,
thrown down your altars
and killed your prophets
with the sword.
And I,
even I,
only am left
and they seek my life
to take it away.
And he said,
Go out and stand
on the mount
before the Lord.
Now notice here
that there's no record
that he actually does
what he was asked to do.
But it says,
Go out and stand
on the mount
before the Lord
and behold,
the Lord passed by
and a great
and strong wind
tore the mountains
and broke in pieces
the rocks
before the Lord.
But the Lord
was not in the wind.
And after the wind
an earthquake,
but the Lord
was not in the earthquake.
And after the earthquake
a fire,
but the Lord
was not in the fire.
And after the fire
the sound
of a low whisper,
or it could also be translated
a thin silence,
stood at the entrance
of the cave.
And behold,
there came a voice
to him
and said,
What are you doing here,
Elijah?
He said,
he repeats the complaint,
I have been very jealous
for the Lord,
the God of hosts,
for the people of Israel
have forsaken
your covenant,
thrown down your altars,
and killed your prophets
with the sword.
And I,
even I,
only am left
and they seek my life
to take it away.
And the Lord
said to him,
Go return on your way
to the wilderness
of Damascus,
and when you arrive
you shall anoint Hazael
to be king over Syria,
and Jehu,
the son of Nimshi,
you shall anoint
to be king over Israel,
and Elisha,
the son of Shepat,
of Abel Mahalah,
you shall anoint
to be prophet
in your place.
And the one
who escapes
from the sword
of Hazael
shall Jehu put to death,
and the one
who escapes
from the sword
of Jehu
shall Elisha
put to death.
Yet,
I will leave
seven thousand
in Israel,
all the knees
that have not
bowed to Baal,
and every mouth
that has not
kissed him.
Now,
we can speculate
broadly about
what is happening
on this mountain,
but I think
that God
intends to display
to Elijah
the power
of his judgment
alongside
his tender
mercy.
a lot
to unpack.
That's a whole
sermon
from 1 Kings
chapter 19
that could be
preached.
But let's go back
to Romans 11
and look again
at Paul's
summary.
There he says,
Do you not know
what the scripture
says of Elijah?
How he appeals
to God
against
Israel.
He has this
complaint.
And he's saying,
God,
they deserve
your retribution.
Lord,
they have killed
your prophets.
They have demolished
your altars.
I am alone
and left,
and they seek
my life.
And then
Paul asks,
but what is
God's reply
to him?
Now,
if you're looking
at the 1 Kings
19 text,
you see that
judgment will come.
It already has.
The prophets of Baal
have been slaughtered
at the end
of chapter 18.
You see that
there's going to be
further punishment
for the rebellion
of Israel.
But,
Paul hones in
on the end
of that episode.
I have kept
for myself
7,000 men
who have not
bowed the knee
to Baal.
Judgment
and mercy.
Our text
grants us
the benefit
of Paul's
commentary
in verse 5.
He says,
So too,
at the present
time,
there is
a remnant.
Just like
back then,
there's a remnant
today chosen
by grace.
Paul then
clarifies,
which I love,
that God's
choosing has
nothing to do
with works.
It is not
because the 7,000
didn't bow
the knee to Baal
that they are
chosen,
but that they
didn't bow
the knee to Baal
because they
were chosen.
This is the
doctrine of
unconditional
election.
It should
humble us
and it
should
amaze us.
An undeserving
people
saved
by grace.
Briefly plug
tonight's
doctrines of
grace class.
Clay's not
with us this
morning.
He's not
feeling well.
I'm not
exactly sure
what's going
to happen
with that
class.
Yours truly
may be
teaching it.
I don't
know.
But the
planet
amaze us.
A people
undeserving
of God's
grace
and mercy.
Paul goes
on in
verse 6,
but if it
is by
grace,
it is no
longer on
the basis
of works.
Otherwise,
grace would
no longer
be grace.
That is to
say that it
would be
earned.
And it's
not earned,
therefore,
it is
grace.
Now,
having spoken
of the
remnant,
Paul goes
on to
speak of
the
reprobate,
those
Israelites
who will
not be
saved.
Verse 7,
what then?
Israel failed
to obtain
what it
was seeking.
We saw
some weeks
ago at
the end
of chapter
9 and
into chapter
10 that
the problem
was they
didn't seek
it by
faith.
They sought
it through
their works
and not by
the faith
that was
required to
obtain it.
The elect
obtained it,
but the
rest were
hardened.
These Jews
that Paul
here speaks
of were
divinely
hardened,
but this
hardening
is not
unjust.
God
judicially
hardens
those who
harden
themselves.
We need
to be
really clear
about this.
As we
teach the
sovereign
election of
God,
we must
also teach
the
responsibility
of man.
The Bible
teaches
both,
and so
we do
well to
see them
as
non-contrary.
This is
difficult to
do because
we have
very
finite
minds.
A lady
once asked
Charles Spurgeon
how it is
that he
reconciles
the sovereignty
of God
and the
responsibility
of man,
and he
said,
ma'am,
I see no
need to
reconcile
friends.
He
settled
in his
mind.
The two
things
existed
in the
scriptures
and somehow
worked
together.
We need
to do
the same.
We can
readily see
this
interchange
in the
life of
the Pharaoh
of Moses'
day,
this judicial
hardening.
Paul uses
this Pharaoh
in chapter
9 as an
example of
God's
hardening.
Listen
carefully.
You see a
pattern throughout
the beginning
of the book
of Exodus,
but let me
just give
you two
examples.
First,
Exodus chapter
8 and
verse 15.
There Moses
records,
but when
Pharaoh saw
there was a
respite,
that is from
the plagues,
he hardened
his heart
and would not
listen to them
as the Lord
had said.
So,
Pharaoh's thinking
about letting
the people go,
but there's a
respite in the
plagues,
and he hardens
his heart
against God's
message to
him.
Then Exodus
9 and
verse 12
says,
but the
Lord hardened
the heart
of Pharaoh,
and he did
not listen
to them
as the
Lord had
spoken to
Moses.
Divine
judicial
hardening.
Paul is
writing in
Romans chapter
9 through
11 of the
grace and
mercy of
God, but
also of
his judgment.
So,
do not
harden
yourself,
as many
Israelites,
did,
is Paul's
plea to
you.
As he
helps us
to understand
the spiritual
condition of
Israel,
this is what
he would
have us
to see.
He cites
Deuteronomy
chapter 29
and verse 4,
Isaiah
chapter 29
and verse 10,
and Psalm
69
verses 22
to 23
to make
his point
from the
word.
He says
in verse
8,
as it
is
written,
God
gave them
a spirit
of stupor,
eyes that
would not
see and
ears that
would not
hear,
down to
this very
day.
And David
says,
let their
table,
a place that
would have
been a place
of comfort
and rest,
let their
table become
a snare
and a trap,
a stumbling
block and a
retribution
for them.
Let their
eyes be
darkened so
they cannot
see and
bend their
backs forever.
Judgment
on a people
who had
hardened
themselves
against the
grace and
mercy of
God.
Psalm 69
is a psalm
in which
King David
cries out
for mercy
and grace.
He recognizes
that he
deserves judgment
and he
humbly
flees to
God.
So just
listen to a
few verses
in closing
that precede
the verses
cited in
Romans
chapter 11.
Again,
that's
Psalm 69
verse 22
and 23.
This is
Psalm 69
verse 16,
17,
and 18.
There David
says,
answer me,
O Lord,
for your
steadfast love
is good.
According to
your abundant
mercy,
turn to me.
Hide not
your face
from your
servant,
for I am
in distress.
Make haste
to answer
me.
Draw near
to my soul,
redeem me,
ransom me,
because of
my enemies.
So has
God rejected
his people?
No way.
And we're
going to see
further into
our study
of chapter
11.
That's to
include a
greater number
of people.
He's got a
sovereign work
to save
his church
in play.
God is
faithful to
his word.
God is
gracious and
merciful.
faithful.
And God's
judgment
justly awaits
those who
don't flee
to him
by grace
alone,
through faith
alone,
in the
personal work
of Jesus
Christ
alone.
Let's pray
together.
God is