The Book of Romans XVIII, God and Israel II

Put your hands up, please, and the folks will serve you right away with them. By the way, I hope you're praying for Sherry as she's just traveled down to Kerala to visit the potential site of the Bible Training Center that Abraham Pothin is beginning. And I haven't heard from Sherry myself yet. We still need some over here, folks. I have heard from Tim and Linda Wright, remember them? Amen. Gone but not forgotten, they're in Turkey with the hunters. And they're being challenged. They only have water two or three days a week that works in their house. The rest of the time, they've got to figure out ways to get it. It's quite a challenge living there. Tim says in his letters that they spend most of their day just taking care of survival. And that's something. You've heard me tell my microwave stories. They can spend two and three hours just getting the food, you know, just getting the food. It takes all day to go across town because of the transportation system. But Tim is saying that the Lord is working powerfully in their lives to teach them much about His grace. And they're encouraged because David and Betsy have been a blessing to them and they're seeing the fruit from this Bible Correspondence course. But keep them in prayer. It's not easy. Any time you think that you're suffering, just keep in mind that it can be an awful lot worse. All right. Thanks, Tim. Now, this teaching tonight is sort of the second half. How many of you were not here last week? Uh-huh. Well, let me see those hands again. I mean, really wave them up here. Don't be embarrassed. Come on. You weren't here. All right. Put them down. Thank you. How many were here? That's the majority. Praise the Lord. All right. I am at a disadvantage, though, with those of you who weren't because I'm going to kind of dive in. Let me just give you a brief review here. Romans 9, 10, and 11 are the toughest theological passages just about in the New Testament. We have tiptoed through them with only a few landmines going off. The one on predestination and free will went off. The one about Israel, the Jews, and the Gentiles is about to go off. What we've seen in chapter 10 is God's plan, and we looked at this very carefully last week, God's plan for Israel meant for them that they could not create their own righteousness, but rather they had to take what? The righteousness that God supplied in Christ Jesus. In other words, they couldn't somehow fulfill all the law on their own. They had to have a Savior. And by the way, if anyone ever tries to tell you that the Old Testament is entirely different from the New and the Old Testament people were saved by the law and the New Testament they were saved another way, it really isn't true. Turn to Genesis chapter 15. I want to share with you one of the most important verses that's easily overlooked in the entire Old Testament, but this is right in the very beginning of redemptive history when God strikes His covenant with Abraham, at that time called Abram. Verse 4, Then the word of the Lord came to him and said, This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir. And he took him outside and said, Look up at the heavens and count the stars, if indeed you can count them. And then he said to him, So shall your offspring be. Now take your highlighter, your pen, something, and look at verse 6, Abram believed the Lord and he credited it to him as righteousness. He credited it to him as righteousness. That verse was an entire course for me in seminary because that verse says that it was Abraham's faith that supplied his righteousness. Do you see that? So all the way back when the Old Covenant was struck, all the way back when it all started, when God first called the Jews, that's when the Jews were called, all the way back then it was faith, really, that God was looking for. And so faith is the great link between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. The only difference was that God called the Israelites to obey the laws in a very explicit fashion. But they should have recognized it, but they couldn't do it, so they needed to believe God for their righteousness. And that's what really Paul gets into in Romans chapter 10, he said that they try to create their own based on knowledge, chapter 10, verse 2. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God, they sought to establish their own. And I made quite a point the last two weeks about the fact that people today are still trying to establish their own righteousness. As we said last week, some people say, well, what's good for you is good for you and what's good for me is okay for me. That's my standard. You have yours, I have mine. God says, no, there's one standard. It's perfect holiness. It's righteousness without flaw or blemish and it comes only from one place and that's God himself. And then we said at length last week that God was calling forth a remnant. Remember that word? We all thought that remnant just meant carpet patches, but it doesn't just mean that. What does it mean? It means a subgroup within a larger group. And I made a major point last week that the Bible really is one ongoing process of drawing out a remnant. And I said last week that it's a scary proposition, my brothers and sisters, but there's really a remnant within the church. Most of you here tonight are really part of the remnant of the believers that are in what's called the great church. How many of you know that the last day when Jesus comes back and we have the second coming, that everyone that calls themselves a Christian is not going to quite be there? Who's going to be there? The remnant that believes? That's who's going to be there. And God has been pulling out this remnant all the way back from Abraham to Lot and to Moses. Remember when Moses went out and took the people out? There was just a remnant, really, that made it. In the upper room, think about the New Testament, how many people witnessed Jesus' resurrection? How many? Want to take a guess? How many say 75? How many saw him after he was resurrected? 500? Right. How many were in the upper room? 120. What happened to the other 380? I mean, if you had seen Jesus physically raised and he called a prayer meeting, would you have been there? Hey, no way, brother. I've got my health spa lesson coming up here. Now, that fact, you know, I came across that years ago and that really struck me. Only 120 were in that upper room. Only 120 were baptized in the Holy Spirit. That's a remnant. And I just want you to know that God is calling everyone in this room tonight to be part of that remnant. He's calling... You wouldn't be here if God wasn't calling you to go on and on and on in Christ. He's calling you to go on. And I believe that by His grace, there's a remnant within the remnant. There are those who want everything that God wants to give them. And those who just want most of it, just want the blessing. But let's be very, very clear about this, church. The only people that are going to receive the crown of glory, and I mean the one that just never fades, are the ones who are the remnant. Now, we looked last week and the Bible told us that something happened when the Jews gave up their seats at the marriage supper of the Lamb. In other words, they said, we don't want anything to do with this Savior. What did we say happened? Who took the seat that was at the table? The Gentiles. Let me show you an analogy. Turn to Luke 14, Luke chapter 14. Jesus replied, verse 16, A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, Come, for everything is now ready. But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, I've just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me. Another said, I've just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me. Still another said, I just got married, so I can't come. There's the sorry, isn't that, I mean. The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, Now go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town, And bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame. Sir, the servant said, what you ordered has been done, but there's still room. Then the master told his servant, Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, So that my house will be full. Let's say that. My house will be full. Let's say it a little louder. My house will be full. Let's say it like we really mean it. My house will be full. Now, how many like to say that that's what the Lord wants to do right here? The picture of this is that God is saying that He has set this table, And His own chosen people said, I'm not interested. Do you ever feel like sometimes you share the most precious thing in your life with someone, And they say, I'm not interested. Has anyone ever shared the most important reality in your whole life, And someone said, I just bought five yoke of oxen. I'm not interested. I mean, seriously. Doesn't that hurt you? Boy, it hurts me when someone just kind of laughs. And the Lord says, when the Jew said that, then what did He do? He said, well, go out and get this. Was it the crippled, the beggars, the lame? Who is He talking about there? Us, the Gentiles. And remember last week, I made the point that because the Jews rejected the Messiah, You and I have been given the privilege of coming to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Wow. Now, what I want to conclude on tonight is what then does this mean to the Jews? What does it mean to the Jews? I mean, is it all over for them? Let's put up this outline on the overhead, shall we? Go ahead, Leroy. The mystery of God's plan in bringing the Gentiles into the kingdom of God Was seeking to make the Jews jealous. Seeking to make the Jews jealous. Look at verse 11. Paul says it very, just point blank. Because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. Or jealous, it says. What God is doing when the Jews rejected the Savior, God opened salvation to us. And here's what God was thinking, if I might just presume to know that. Because His word discloses it. He's thinking, well, I'll so bless these Gentiles that the Jews will look at them and say, Wow! My God! And they'll turn from their hardness of heart, from their indifference, And they'll turn and embrace that Messiah. You're saying, well, how come they haven't done it then? Well, how many of you know, some of them have. Some of them have. What group has? Starts with an R. The remnant. The remnant of Jews have. The mystery of God's plan is that He wanted to draw the Jews. Paul says this is a profound mystery. This is unbelievable. God, and here's something, I just, I don't know if you can get your, Let's go and move it down some, yeah. Okay. Paul says, you know, Gentiles, help me to do this. Help me to win my countrymen. This is so profound, look at verse 33. He says, God, I don't understand this, but the depths of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God, How unsearchable His judgments and His paths beyond tracing out. Who has known the mind of the Lord, who has been His counselor? Who has ever given to God that God should repay Him? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. You see, Paul is saying, When the Jews were ripped out of the olive, The branches were ripped off of the olive tree, God didn't just rip them off and throw them down there. Rather, He took some broken off old wild olive branches, Called Gentiles, and grafted them in. Now look at it, He uses these words literally in verses 17 and following. Branches were broken off, verse 19, so that I could be grafted in. Granted, they were broken off because of their unbelief, And you stand by faith. Don't be arrogant, but be afraid, for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you either. What is that saying? It's saying, well, God made room for you by grafting you into the place where the Jews had been and not believing. But don't be proud about it. Don't look with disgust. Now listen very carefully, some of us have a problem with this. Don't ever look with disgust on the Jews. Say, those thankless Jews who don't believe, Because dear ones, the Bible says the moment you get proud, The moment you get arrogant, God can rip you right out of the branch too. Don't be proud, be thankful. Be thankful. Be thankful for what God's done. God's covenant was reviewed, He talked about Abraham, Let's go ahead and put those next ones up. His long suffering. You see, this God that is revealed in these scriptures, He put up with Abraham trying to raise up his own progeny. What did Abraham do? Well, we all know the story. He tried to do it on his own. He put up with the Israelites murmuring and complaining Three days after they got out of Egypt. Three days. He put up with the kings and their debauchery and their incest And all the terrible things that happened to the kings. He put up with the Jews, As they murmured and complained all through the scriptures. But then God in His long suffering heart said, Well listen, I know how much you've hated all this, But I've got one last thing to send to you. And what is it? Well, it's my son. And I know that when I send you my son, I know that when I send you my one and only son, That you'll receive Him. And the Jews, When Jesus came, Rather than receive Him, What did they do? They mocked Him, They doubted Him, They cursed Him, And they finally killed Him. And that's an incredible thing. But God in His long suffering, And here's something I guess, If I can just have your attention to focus in on this. God in His suffering. The most marvelous passage about this to me is, The marvelous truth about this passage is this. Even when the Jews ultimately destroyed the pinnacle of God's revelation, His only son, Even when they stomped on the highest expression of His grace in Jesus, Even the very moment that they were doing that, Paul says here at that same time, God, rather than doing what you or I would do, Which is, hey, I've had it with you. Forget you. I'm going somewhere else. At that very moment, God is already launching a plan. You see? Whereby He can engraft some Gentiles in, Sort of open up the spectrum of salvation. You see what I'm saying? It's kind of like if you drew a line from back here where Abraham was, And all the Jews are going like this, And you get up here to this point, And God says, When Jesus comes and the Jews reject Him, God says, Well then, I'm going to open this thing up like this. And He takes the graph and goes, Woo! And you and I and all the Gentiles are invited in. But does He forget the Jews then? No. What is He really doing? When the graph goes like this, What's He doing? He's making them jealous. Do you see how God's pursuing the Jews? How many of you are catching what I'm saying here? Four of you? Five? Okay. Do you know what I'm saying? In the very process of what seems to be the final rejection, God is already thinking of another way. Isn't that an amazing God? I don't know if I can communicate this. I don't think I am. But God is loving to the point where, even when His ultimate expression, His own Son was rejected, He's already thinking of another way to pull them in. Now, what does that mean to you tonight? Well, I hope it means a couple of things. I hope it means, number one, that if you're feeling kind of lousy about how good of a believer you are, you realize that God never gives up on you. Isn't that correct? He never gives up. How many times that you didn't share the Lord with your neighbor, and you know that, you know, you should have? How many times did you not obey a nudging of the Lord? How many times did you lose this or that? Or demonstrate some ungodly characteristic? And you think, God's given up on me. He might as well, if I were God, I'd be fed up with me. I want you to know, God never, ever gives up on you. Ooh, isn't that something? That's how much He loves you. Now, you see, this can be lost, and I'll quickly draw this to a conclusion. This can be lost, if we read these verses, and we get stuck in verse 26. Let's look at it. Roman numeral 4, verse 26. And so all Israel will be saved. Let's read 25 too. I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited. Israel has experienced a hardening in part, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written, the deliverer will come from Zion, and he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. Is there anybody here, that's not struggled with that verse? Say, I never even saw that verse before. What that verse seems to be saying, is that all Israel is going to be saved. What's going to happen? Are they going to have a big crusade? You know, Reinhard Bonnke goes to Israel. What is he saying? This is very, very important, and apparently, maybe you've not really struggled with this verse. Does that mean that every Jew in the face of the earth, one day is going to say, Honey, I watched the 700 Club, and I prayed with that man. No. What's it mean? Let me give you three alternatives. Did I put these on those outlines for you? Alright. The most popular theory is, the most popular theory is, that one day, and it's likely in the minds of most people, it's the day that Jesus appears in the heavens, all of the Jews who are alive on the earth in that moment, are saved. I mean, they just say, that's the Messiah. That's the one. That's the most popular theory. The problem with that is, is that it does not seem to jive with the rest of Scripture. It doesn't seem to jive with the other parts of Scripture. Anytime you have a difficult verse, you need to always reconcile it with other parts of Scripture. It certainly doesn't mean that all the Jews that ever lived will be saved, because the Bible clearly tells us, that if you die without acknowledging Christ, you've lost your only opportunity for salvation. Alright. The second one, which is John Calvin's proposition, was that all Israel meant all spiritual Israel, which would be you and I, all the true believers. That's Calvin's theory. And he kind of spiritualized that, but it doesn't make sense, since the other nine times the word Jews is used, and here in Romans 9, 10, 11, refers simply to the people of the nation of Israel. Israelites, by birth. So that doesn't make sense. It's kind of like sticking that interpretation in. The third explanation, that I think is probably the most reasonable, is the one that I want to share with you, and that is this. When it says, and all Israel will be saved, it's talking about all of Israel, who are elect. All the ones who have responded, in the same way that the fullness of the Gentiles responded. Do you see that? It says in the same verse, the fullness of the Gentiles, and all of Israel. What God is saying here to me, as I understand this, is that by the same faith, that the Gentiles are saved, so the Jews will be saved, and in the end, I believe there is going to be an opening. There is going to be something that happens, so that the Israelites, the Jews by birth, who have been blinded, will begin to see. How many of you know, when God begins to move in a people group, it just like takes off? I think that's going to happen. I do think that there is going to be some kind of tremendous revival, if you will, in Israel. But it doesn't mean that every Jew living in Israel will be saved. It means that everyone that is elect, just like all the Gentiles that are elect, will come in. Now, I just gave you a quick run down. That could be a three week course in school. But I don't want you to miss the point. Let me end with this. The point is, folks, this God that you love, this God that you call your Father, is the most long-suffering, the most patient, the most wonderful God, that you could ever imagine. And even if you and I have failed, and we have, and even if you and I are living in somewhat of a, you know, less than glorious kind of existence right now, the key to this chapter, Roman numeral five, is understanding the character and nature of God. The key to these three chapters is God. It's not Israel. It's not Gentiles. It's God. Next week, we turn the page, and we begin to look at Romans 12. The last five chapters of Romans are very practical. It talks not theologically, but living in terms of life, everyday life. And that's where we pick it up. But this is what I'm going to say, folks. Romans 12 through 16 will put you under, if you don't know the God of Romans 11, the one who's long-suffering, and patient with sinners like me. And like you. God will never give up on you. And He's not finished with you yet. He's still shaping you. He loves His people. He's not done with them yet. That's the nature of the God that we serve. Let's stand and worship Him, shall we, for the last few minutes tonight. Let's stand and worship this God. Let's stand and give Him our praise and our love together. Hallelujah. Close up your Bibles. I worship you, Almighty God. There is none like you. Scott, come and lead us, would you please? Let's praise the Lord together.