Please take your Bibles once more and turn to the book of Romans. Romans chapter 11. This morning, we'll be giving our attention to verses 22 through 27. Romans chapter 11, beginning in verse 22, I remind you again as God's people that this is the word of our God. Let us give our attention to its reading. Note then the kindness and the severity of God, severity toward those who have fallen. But God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you, too, will be cut off. And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree? Lest you be wise in your own conceits, I want you to understand this mystery, brothers. A partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way, all Israel will be saved. As it is written, the Deliverer will come from Zion. He will banish ungodliness from Jacob. And this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Beloved congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, As we come this morning to Romans chapter 11, I remind you that we have been working our way very carefully through these chapters over these past several weeks, from chapter 9 on through 11. Paul has been building an argument, he's building ultimately to giving God all glory. If you look there at the end of Romans 11, he begins to say, oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God. You see, at the end of Romans 8, he had ended in praise to God, speaking of how nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. And as he turns into Romans 9, he begins to look into the mystery of salvation, the reality of God's electing love. and His sovereignty in salvation. And this brings to the Apostle Paul's mind a number of questions and a number of objections, and we've had the opportunity to trace those throughout these chapters. In chapter 10, Paul focused our attention on the free offer of the Gospel, contrary to the notion that if election is all in God's sovereign will, And therefore, there's no reason for us to proclaim the Gospel. Contrary to any kind of notion like that, the Apostle Paul really charges the Church to be faithful in proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ. And then in chapter 11, he has turned to reconciling this idea. All throughout, he's been talking about the reality that is real. The Old Testament saints They had rejected God and had rejected Christ, and so the Apostle Paul is reconciling God's election, man's responsibility, and the promises that God had made to Israel. As we come to these verses this morning, verses 22-27, I want you to know that one commentator that I looked at, and many others echoed this sentiment, that these are the most contested verses in the most contested section of the most contested chapter in the most contested book of the Bible. Now, I don't say that to sort of prepare ourselves to not understand these verses. No, it is my hope that as we examine these verses together, that we can have an understanding of what Paul's words mean and the implications that they have for us as God's people. Really, the controversy goes around and it begins earlier than this, but it really surrounds verse 26, where the Apostle Paul says, and in this way, all Israel will be saved. There are numerous interpretations to this verse. My hope has been to keep us on track as we look at the Apostle Paul's argument, examining his words, so that when we come to that verse, We will not be faced with dilemmas as though we have to go back and reinterpret everything that we've already done. But with that said, I would be lying to you if I were to try to present these verses as having only one interpretation among even the best and most conservative Reformed scholars. John Calvin with Augustine goes one way, Charles Hodge and John Murray go another way, and Ritterbos and Vos goes still another way. And I named those theologians because they are among those that have had the greatest influence on my own understanding of Scripture. And so to my dismay, as I read through and looked at all the commentaries that I owned on the Book of Romans and looked up even more that I could get a hold of, I found myself being led from one point to another. But this isn't to cause us despair or to set myself off as somehow better than some of these exegetes. No, what I hope that we will understand in the end of these verses is that our interpretation must be in line with the Apostle Paul's words thus far. In other words, any interpretation of these verses that lead us away from the emphasis that the Apostle Paul has given us, his two-fold emphasis of gospel comfort for believers and gospel concern for unbelievers, any interpretation of these verses that would lead us away from those two things needs to be set aside from the beginning. So hopefully, what we'll be able to see is that as we work through these verses, that they hold together and lead us even further into understanding this mystery of God that the Apostle Paul is going to break out in praise about toward the end of the chapter. So we turn our attention then to the verses, beginning with the power of God and the analogy that the Apostle Paul uses. And I draw your attention just briefly down to verse 24. The Apostle Paul says, for if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree? Now, the Apostle Paul is using this illustration throughout these verses in order to remind us of the situation. You see, in the Old Testament, the expectation was that God's people were going to flood in and be faithful to God. God's people were going to wake up you, if you will, and return to the Lord and worship Him. Now, the way that they interpreted that was that the entire nation, every single Israelite who was alive at that time, would in fact turn to the Lord. And then, as they had turned to the Lord, all the Gentile nations would stream in to Israel. These Gentiles would be brought in through Israel. Paul's words here remind us of how radically different the fulfillment was to the expectation. Now, I need to be careful there, because the expectation was clearly off. Because God didn't change His mind. God didn't change His plan. And what the Apostle Paul is seeking to do is to show how from the very beginning, it was God's intention to bring in Jew and Gentile together. To graft them in to the same vine. Or here, the same olive tree. The Apostle Paul wants to underline here the reality, and this is going to become very practical when we turn to chapter 12 and 13 and 14. He's trying to underline the reality that Jews and Gentiles are on the same footing in the church of Jesus Christ. They were all sinners in need of a Savior. They have all come through Christ. And so they all stand together. And this will have a radical impact on how they ought to treat one another These Jews and Gentiles in the same church, though, caused a number of problems, and we're familiar with these. Acts chapter 15, and the question of whether or not Gentiles needed to be circumcised. Galatians chapter 2, and how the Apostle Paul had to confront the Apostle Peter to his face because he had removed himself from eating with the Gentiles when the Judaizers arrived. It seemed in some churches the Jewish believers lorded it over the Gentiles. Other times, it seemed that the Gentile believers lorded it over the Jewish believers. At least, that seems to be a bit of what's going on that the Apostle Paul is responding to here in Romans. But here's Paul's point. It is to remind everyone of the reality of salvation. You are not saved because you made a good choice. You are not saved because you were born into the right family or on the right continent. You are saved because of God's faithfulness. You are saved because you are grafted in to the promises that God made long ago, fulfilled in Jesus Christ. And for the Apostle Paul, this has very important messages for the Jews and for the Gentiles. First, for the Gentiles, and we looked at verse 22 at the close of last week, but I wanted to bring it in this morning to remind us of what we looked at at the close, but also to see how it goes together with Paul's message to the Jews. But in verse 22, he says, Note then the kindness and the severity of God, severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in His kindness, otherwise you too will be cut off. Remember, for those who are here, for those who are not, the Apostle Paul is not positing some notion of being in the church one day and out of the church the next, and in the church one day and out of the church the next. No, as Charles Hodge says, nothing in this language is inconsistent with the doctrine of the final perseverance of believers. For it is very common to speak hypothetically in this way and to say that an event cannot or will not come to pass. unless a requisite means, unless the requisite means are employed. The foundation of all such statements is simple. It's the truth that the one who has ordained or who intends the end, that is the perseverance of the saints, he also ordains the means that is clinging to Christ. And that is what we saw last week as we came to the end. The whole point is not that we stay in because we somehow do better than we did yesterday, but rather we continue in God's kindness. We cling to Christ. And in verse 23 we see Paul's message to the Jewish people. Even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in. For God has the power to graft them in again. And remember, this is the hope of the Apostle Paul that is driving Romans 9 and 10 and 11. It is the desire in Romans 9 that he himself would be cut off for the sake of his people. It is that reiterated desire in chapter 10 as the Apostle Paul desires the salvation of those who were closest to him. In other words, it's a message of hope. The gospel in our own days, that is, the message of Jesus Christ crucified and resurrected for sinners, is sometimes considered anti-Semitic, as though wanting Jewish people to trust in Christ is somehow against their Jewishness. But Paul reminds us of the truth, that is, that Christ is He is the one in whom all salvation is found. It is to Him that all must turn. They must. All people must. Jew and Gentile alike must respond as those Jews did in Acts 2. Brothers, what shall we do as they respond to the message of the gospel that Peter proclaims? Paul's point is that if they do not persist in their unbelief, And God is like the father in the story of the prodigal son, waiting, waiting for them to return. This doesn't mean that someone gains salvation and loses it, as I've already said. This is all from our perspective. God knows those who are His own, and no one can snatch them from His hand. Remember Romans 8, no condemnation, no separation. But Paul's driving point here is the power of God. This is what fuels our prayers for the salvation of unbelievers all over the world. God is able to save those who are his own, whether from among the Jews or among the Gentiles, as Paul himself was evidence of God's ability to draw the Jewish people to himself. And so that's the first point, God's power. Second, this mystery that the Apostle Paul speaks of. He says there in verse 25, lest you be wise in your own conceits, I want you to understand this mystery, brothers. Now, we're faced with a bit of a challenge when we come to these verses. Most likely, if you're following along in the ESV translation as I read from and as I'm looking at right now, you'll have a big break between verse 24 and verse 25. following the word mystery, actually following the word brothers, but mystery brothers, you'll find a colon as though the following is the mystery. And in fact, you probably have a heading of verse 25 that says the mystery of Israel's salvation. Well, I want to remind you, for those who aren't aware of it and those who are, to remind you that things like verses, things like these breaks in paragraphs and certainly the colon and other grammars are not inspired by God. Those are the translator's decision. And we are going to be faced in a moment with a question with regard to particularly that call in there. But we'll come to that. But here we see first that Paul condemns arrogance, lest you be wise in your own conceits. This seems to be the Apostle Paul's concern in verse twenty five. And it makes sense. After all, the body of Christ, the body of those who trust in Jesus Christ, who acknowledge their sin and their need for forgiveness, this is the last place where you should find boasting in oneself. This is what the Apostle Paul confirms in Galatians 6, verse 14, when he says, Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. The Apostle Paul is preparing us for what is to come in chapters 12 and following. He does not want us to be puffed up. He wants us to be humble. He wants us to understand a mystery. So we give our attention then to that part of the verse. I will say this, and I'm going to present it both ways. The mystery either points back or it points forward. The mystery is either that which the Apostle Paul has already said, or that which he is going to say. The way the ESV sets it up is what follows, and so I try to adjust most of my notes in that direction, but I do want to point out that the olive tree imagery, the grafting in of Jew and Gentile into the same olive tree, is just as much of a mystery as what the Apostle Paul is going to say. And in fact, it's in line with the way the Apostle Paul uses the word mystery elsewhere. We think of the word mystery as something that is impossible to understand or explain. It's a puzzle. It's an enigma, a conundrum, a riddle or a secret. But that's not how the Apostle Paul uses the word. The word mystery is only used 28 times in the entire New Testament, and 21 of those times it is used by the Apostle Paul. This is the core issue in his ministry. He was called to proclaim the mystery. This particular mystery, 1 Corinthians 4 and verse 1, he says, this is how one should regard us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Or Ephesians 3, verses 4-6, he says, when you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men and other generations, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. The mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel. See, when the Bible uses, and particularly the Apostle Paul, uses the word mystery, it's not that idea of a puzzle, an enigma, or a conundrum. It is, rather, something that was not revealed in time past, but that God has now revealed it. He has now explained it. And any attempt to interpret Romans 11 in understanding this word mystery must take that into account. Indeed, the Apostle Paul even assumes this in Romans 16, verse 25, when he says, Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages. Now, whether we go forward or backward with regard to the mystery, I believe it's referring to the same thing. It's referring to the reality that in the Old Testament, as the Jewish people were going along, they were not expecting the Gentiles to be grafted in and to be made one people with them. And this is how the Apostle Paul begins to talk about this. He begins with the partial hardening of Israel. Now remember, the hardening of Israel was neither full nor final. That's been the last two weeks of our study together. And Paul himself was evidence of this, as were the thousands in his day who trusted in Christ. And this is what he says, a partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. This partial hardening until the fullness of the Gentiles is an important thing to understand. Remember that earlier in chapter 11, the Apostle Paul wrote, this is verses 7 and 8, 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. For the Apostle Paul and for many other Jewish Christians in that day, the greatest mystery was the fact that Israel had become like Egypt. Remember, we talked about this in Romans 9. In Romans 9, the Apostle Paul showed us that it was Pharaoh's heart that was hardened, and now he applies that to Israel, at least partially. 2 Corinthians 3, verses 14-16. Again, the Apostle Paul writes, with regard to Israel, but their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the Old Covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. So we have this partial hardening that comes upon Israel. It's not full, it's not final, but nevertheless, it's a hardening. And then Paul says, until the fullness of the Gentiles. has come in. And this is where things begin to get interesting in the interpretation of this passage. And I must confess, and I'll use a colloquial term, but I was really geeking out theologically this week as I was studying these verses. There are so much that has been written and so many different ways to understand this. But what does it mean? Is it the case that the Apostle Paul is speaking of some kind of timeline? Once God gets all the Gentiles in, then that He wants, He picks them, He numbers them, and then once they're all in, then He unhardens the Jews and He turns His attention toward them. Is there some future date in which God will be done with the Gentiles and turn all of His attention to the Jewish people? There are some who would say, certainly, yes. However, This would contradict so much of what the Apostle Paul has already written. It would contradict so much of what the book of Romans has been pushing toward. To argue that Paul is here beginning to say that ethnic Israel, that is, simply by being a Jew, all of a sudden receives God's attention, is to ignore what the Apostle Paul has said in Romans 9. Namely, that it is not ethnic Israel that is saved. But only those who are true is real. That is, those who are in the remnant, those who believe in Christ Jesus. It's also to misunderstand or to ignore what the Apostle Paul said in Romans 10, verses 12 and 13, when he says, For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek. The same Lord is Lord of all. bestowing His riches on all who call on Him, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Now, I believe that rather than referring to some kind of a timeline in the sense of first the Gentiles and then we bring in the Jews, which, by the way, would be reversing the Apostle Paul's order earlier in the book, first to the Jew and then to the Gentile, You know, I believe it has reference to the way in which God is working throughout history. That is, until the end, He is bringing in Jew and Gentile together, calling them to Himself until the fullness comes in, and after that comes the end. So there's a sense in which the Apostle Paul is giving a timeline, but it's not the kind of timeline that is often assumed. But rather, once the fullness is in, and I mentioned this last week, we have the fullness of Israel spoken of at the beginning of Romans 11, and then now the fullness of the Gentiles. We have two fullnesses being brought together. And this fullness, and then comes the end, is the way Jesus Himself speaks. Luke chapter 21, beginning in verse 24, Jesus says, and he's referring here, at least in part, to the end. He says, they will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. But what comes after that is the second coming of Christ. For Jesus goes on to say, and there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars and on the earth, distress of nations and perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken, and then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Until the fullness of the Gentiles, until the Gentiles come in, have reference to the very end. And just to sort of underline this, look at verses 30 and 31 of Romans 11. The Apostle Paul writes, and we're going to give our attention more to this next week, but he says, just as you at one time were disobedient to God, but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you, they also may now receive mercy. Not then. Not future. But now everything is ongoing. And so what do we make of the next verse? What do we make of what Paul says here? And in this way, all Israel will be saved. There are various interpretations, and I don't want to spend too much time on them to to get them out there, but I do want to explain them to you just briefly. First interpretation or first option is that all Israel, all Israel, ethnic Israel, is set apart as a separate people. In all ages, they remain the people of God regardless of faith in Christ. Now I think that that interpretation misses the mark. It's so far wide of the mark what the Apostle Paul has been building and teaching us throughout the entire book of Romans. There is no distinction All are lost in sin. All need Jesus Christ. To say that there is one particular people that somehow gets under the requirement of Jesus, or gets through without Christ, is to miss the whole Bible, let alone Paul's argument. Second, this verse refers only to elect Israel throughout all time. That is, the all Israel that will be saved are all those that put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ from the moment of His resurrection until the very end, and indeed, even extending back into the Old Testament. Now, I think that that's getting closer. However, taking the chapter as a whole, and really the whole section, I think that the best way to understand this reference to all Israel being saved is to see it as the fullness of Israel, Romans 11 and verse 12, and the fullness of the Gentiles brought together. And in this way, and by the way, this is where I think the ESV gets it absolutely right. In this way. It's a conclusion to an argument. In what way? Through Christ, bringing together Jew and Gentile, grafted in to one olive tree. In this way, all Israel will be saved. You see, it's not that the church replaces Israel. It's the reality that the church, that Jew and Gentile, is grafted in to the true Israel who is Christ. All are saved through Christ. And all who are saved make up the Israel of God. Galatians 6 and verse 16. And just briefly, Paul goes on to prove his point. He goes on and he says, as it is written, the deliverer will come from Zion. He will banish ungodliness from Jacob. And this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins. My driving force in interpreting the verses as I have has been the Apostle Paul's use of the Old Testament here. He's citing primarily two prophets, Isaiah and Jeremiah. But the interesting thing is he makes a change to Isaiah. You see, those who want to interpret this as future, they say, look, a Deliverer is going to come from Zion. That is, He's going to be over there in Jerusalem and it's going to happen. Except what they miss in that understanding is that Isaiah says that a Deliverer will come to Zion, not from. A Deliverer will come to Zion. Why the change? I believe it's because of this. The Apostle Paul and the Prophet Isaiah are looking at the same event, but from two vantage points. For the Prophet Isaiah, he is looking forward to the coming of Christ. He is the deliverer who will come to Zion. But for Paul, Christ is the deliverer who's come from Zion. Christ has been resurrected. Christ is no longer there in Jerusalem physically. For Isaiah, it was future. For Paul, it was past. And everything for the Apostle Paul will work out from that reality of Jew and Gentile grafted in to the same olive tree. And Jeremiah 31, again, this is what Paul is alluding to here, the covenant with them when he takes away their sins. That is nothing else than the new covenant in Christ. Brothers and sisters, those who believe that this is somehow future are looking for yet another covenant, but there cannot be another covenant except the one made, instituted in Christ's blood that we celebrate, that we rejoice in, that we partake in every week in the Lord's Supper. When Jesus said, this is the new covenant in my blood, he instituted that covenant that Jeremiah prophesied, that Hebrews 8 confirms all of it together. Paul isn't talking about some future moment, but he's reminding us of everything that is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. And this is important to get. If we put all of this into the future, then there's no implications for us. If we say that Israel is some separate, special people apart from Christ, then basically we say that they don't need Him. But if what I've tried to show is true, that all Israel includes elect Jews and elect Gentiles together, brought in together to the same vine, to the same olive tree, then there are great implications for us. There are great implications for us. And Paul is going to get to many of those coming in chapters 12 through 14, but I want to offer in closing just these three quick points. The first is the Apostle Paul continues to stress for us humility. This is the constant refrain for the Apostle Paul. This is there is no distinction. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And therefore, we are only saved through God's grace in Jesus Christ. Some other passages to reflect on perhaps this afternoon is Deuteronomy 7, verses 6-8, and 1 Corinthians 10, verses 1-6. I won't take the time to read them right now, but they both have reference to the humility that we must show because we are saved through grace. Second, not only is there a continued emphasis on humility, there's also an emphasis on evangelism. You see, if what I have said is true, then it is the Church of Jesus Christ that needs to be built up in this world. Not the walls of Jerusalem in the Middle East, not a temple there, but rather the calling of Jew and Gentile, indeed, the calling of all people to faith in Jesus Christ. As we sang from Psalm 22, the ends of all the earth shall hear and turn unto the Lord in fear. You see, this is what is coming true. This is what began to be fulfilled in Paul's day and continues to be fulfilled in our day and will be fulfilled until the fullness of the Gentiles, until the fullness of Israel is saved. The ends of all the earth shall turn. This is why we send missionaries. This is why this church was planted, brothers and sisters, to be a faithful congregation where the gospel is proclaimed. And one last point, and it's one that we can't ignore. It's a reality that we must be faced with. The Apostle Paul knew it. Salvation will not be offered forever. You see, there is a fullness that will come in. There is a day when there will be no more opportunity to repent. There's a day when Christ will return. And history, as we know it, will be over. But as best as we can tell, because we're sitting here, that day is not today. No, today is the day of salvation. And so turn to the Lord, repent of your sin, trust in Him, and be grafted into the Israel of God. Let's pray. Gracious Father.