Take your Bibles and be turning to the book of Romans chapter 11. Romans chapter 11. We are making great progress. We've only been going through Romans for about 15 months, and here we are in Chapter 11 already, just flying through. What a joy it's been to share this great book together. Let's stop before the Lord. Father, thank you so much for your Word. Thank you for the songs that we have sung that remind us of the truth of your Word. Christ's death on the cross for us, his coming again for us. Father, we long for that day and look forward to it. Pray, Father, now that as we look into your word, your Holy Spirit will teach us and encourage us that we might be stronger in our walk with you as we look forward to the coming of Christ for us. Thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. We want to... Yeah, I don't know where that's coming from. I want to just do some background stuff first before we get into Romans. I want to remind you that theology matters. Theology matters. Whether we're talking about any current events, like the issue of abortion, like transgenderism, theology matters. What the Bible says is important, and it makes a difference what we think about those issues based on what God's word says about it. We need to study the word and study it carefully and be able to enunciate and explain clearly why we believe what we do the way we do. And we need to be able to back it up from scripture. I'd like to suggest to you that theology matters, but prophecy matters, too. Some people think, oh, prophecy, you know, people just divide over that. You know, you can't tell what's going to happen because everything is different and looks different in scripture. I guess I can't move around. Prophecy is important. Much of the Bible was prophetic when it was written, and much of that has not yet been fulfilled. So, eschatology matters. Eschatology is the study of last things. It's a special focus of prophecy. Some prophecies related to Christ's coming, those have been fulfilled. Eschatology looks at last things. The doctrine of what's going to happen at the very end of time. What's going to happen? It matters. And there are lots of different views about that, and they come to different conclusions based on their presuppositions and how they approach scripture. One of the most prevalent views in Christianity, broad Christianity, is on millennialism. The A in front of it means not. Millennialism means thousand years, millennium. Amillennialism says there's not going to be any time, thousand year reign, where Jesus is going to be reigning here on earth in a physical body, reigning over a literal physical kingdom here on earth, centered and focused on the nation of Israel. Amillennialism says that's never going to happen. When Jesus comes back, that's just the end of everything, we go into eternity. There's another view, known as postmillennialism. This was kind of prevalent before the World War I. The idea of postmillennialism is that the church is going to so improve the world that the world is going to get better and better and better until finally, after a long period of paradise, Jesus will come back because we made the world fit for him. World War I dealt a serious blow to that, but there was a revival leading up to World War II, which dealt another serious blow to that. And it scrambled for a while, but there's been a resurgence in post-millennialism thoughts. And my question is, how's that working for you? How are we doing in this process of making the world better and better, preparing it for Jesus to come back? How's that working for you? We hold to the view which is known as pre-millennialism. The pre means before. So pre-millennialism believes, first of all, there's going to be a millennium. Jesus is going to reign for a thousand years. If you want to know where we get that figure, Revelation chapter 20, verses 2 through 7. Six times in those six verses, Revelation 20, 2 through 7, six times it says a thousand years. Some things happen at the beginning of the 1,000 years. Some things happen for the duration of the 1,000 years. Some things happen at the end of the 1,000 years. And some things happen after the 1,000 years. That leads me to believe that probably this period is going to last 1,000 years. God says it's 1,000 years six times in six verses. How much clearer could he make it? We believe Jesus is going to come back because the world's not going to get better and better. In fact, left to ourselves, we would make it worse and worse. And that's what we see happening. If there was no other chapter in the Bible but Romans 11, we would still have plenty of reason to be premillennialists. Romans 11, in my mind, deals a death blow to not only amillennialism, but postmillennialism. Because it says God is going to re-establish His work with the nation of Israel. God is going to re-establish His work. Now let's back up and review a little bit. Romans chapters 1 through 11, the theme of this whole section is justification. And Paul deals with this theme in five cycles. The first cycle establishes the universal need of justification for all of sin, and falls short of the glory of God. The second cycle establishes the only means of salvation, of justification, and that's faith in Jesus Christ. Chapters 5, 6, and 7 deal with benefits of our justification. We have peace with God, we have hope, we have a standing in grace, on and on and on through chapters 5, 6, and 7. Chapter 8 then picks up more benefits of our justification, especially security. Then chapters 9, 10, and 11 deal with, well, wait a minute. If we're secure, if God's promises to us can be counted on, what about God's promises to Israel? Israel has been set aside. Israel is not fulfilling the promises from God at this point. How can we trust God for our promises if Israel couldn't trust Him for theirs? And so chapters 9, 10, and 11, Paul deals with that exact issue. Each of these cycles has two parts. First of all, Paul makes a positive presentation of the truth of that cycle, and then he poses a section of Hippophora where he poses and answers questions related to what he has just taught them. that structure meticulously through these first 11 chapters of his persuasive argument concerning justification. Once we get to chapter 12, he's going to drop it. He's going to use a different format. But in chapters 1 through 11, he follows this format religiously. So the chapters 9, 10, and 11 deal with the setting aside of Israel. The first section is chapters 9 verses 1 through 13. where Paul talks about, gives a positive encouragement about setting aside Israel. He talks about his grief over Israel. He talks about God's blessings for Israel. And then he gives the explanation. Not all Israel are Israel. Not all Israel are those who are descended from Israel. Wait a minute, Paul, what do you mean? Well, God chose. Isaac, not Ishmael. They were both descendants of Abraham, but God chose Isaac, not Ishmael. God chose Jacob, not Esau. So there are specific individuals that are chosen by God to be the benefactors and recipients of the blessed promises. That's the presentation. Then he begins the Hippophora section. Verse 14, there's no injustice with God, is there? This is where Jacob talked about yesterday. Paul interjects, meganoita. May it not be. Perish the thought. Don't even think about it. Meganoita is the Greek phrase. Just in case you're impressed by Greek phrases. There's no injustice with God, is there? How could you even consider such a thought? Verse 18. Why does he still find fault? For who resists his will? Well, if God is sovereign, then how come he gets to judge anybody if he's sovereign? Then the end of chapter 10, what shall we say then, or the end of chapter 9? Gentiles attained righteousness, but Israel did not? Why? And that goes on into chapter 10. Chapter 10, verse 18, surely they've never heard, have they? Well, Paul goes on to explain, sure, their voice has gone out into all the world. The heavens declare the glory of God, the earth declares His majesty. God has not rejected His people, has He? Meganoita! May it never be! Don't even think it! And then this last question, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? Meganoita! Can't be! Don't even think it! This is the development of the book. And so Paul here in Romans chapter 11 is talking about the setting aside of Israel. Let me read through this first section, verses 1 through 10, just quickly, so it'll be familiar to us. Jacob dealt with verses 1 through 6 last week, and we'll cover that just briefly and then move on. Romans 11.1, I say then, God has not rejected his people, has he? Meganoita! May it never be, for I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Or do you not know that the passage says, what the passage says, what 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 am seeking my life. Elijah says that two different times to God. It's like he has his speech rehearsed. I'm sure he'd been out in the desert going over this, and I alone am left. What is the divine response to him? I have kept for myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to Baal. In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God's gracious choice. But if it is by grace, it is no longer in the basis of works. Otherwise, grace is no longer grace. What then? What Israel is seeking it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened. Just as it is written, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes to see not and ears to hear not down to this very day. And David says that their table become a snare and a trap and a stumbling block and a retribution to them. Let their eyes be darkened to see not and bend their backs forever. When we look at verse 1, we're confused. Verse 1, I say, then God has not rejected his people, has he? But you skip on down, verse 15, for if their rejection is a reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be? So now we seem to have this conundrum. Either God has rejected his people or he hasn't. And in our English translations, most of them, you have the same word used in both verses 1 and verse 15. There are different words in the Greek. The word in verse 1 has the idea of a strong pushing away, repudiating, rejecting. It's used in Acts 13, 46, when Paul is preaching in a synagogue in Antioch, and the Jews rejected his teaching. That's the word that's used here. They rejected it, they pushed it away, they repudiated it. The word that's used in verse 15 is a different word. It means to throw away from or push away from. It's only other uses in Acts 27, in the midst of the storm, Paul assures him there'll be no loss of life, no pushing away of life. God has rejected his people in a sense, but not ultimately rejected them. So let's talk about it as God setting aside his people. God setting aside his people. If God rejected them, if God cancelled his promises, then we have a problem. We have a problem. The problem is with our conception, it's not with God. There are promises in the Old Testament that God is not going to forget his people. Keep your finger here, go with me to 1 Samuel 12. We may have looked at some of these verses before, either with Jacob or me. 1 Samuel 12. Israel has just made a terrible error. They have rejected God for being king over them, and they've said, give us a king like all the nations. So in chapter 11, God said, okay, you want a king? Here's your king, Saul. What a great king he was. So the people have just rejected God from being king over them. If God was going to say, okay, that's it, I've had it, enough. I'm done with you people. He'd have been very justified in doing that. Look at chapter 12 with me. What is God's response? Verse 22, 1 Samuel 12, 22. Again, the context makes this clear that if God had a right to reject the people and cancel his promises, This would have been one of the occasions when he could have done it. And nobody would say that he was wrong or unjustified. Verse 22, 1 Samuel 12. For the Lord will not abandon his people on account of his great name, because the Lord has been pleased to make you a people for himself. It didn't matter what Israel did. There were two issues here. God's name is testimony. was at stake. God had chosen them for His name, and it didn't matter what they were going to do, they were going to be His chosen people. And because of that, He's going to discipline them when they disobey Him. So you've got the name of God, His great name, because the Lord has been pleased to make you a people for Himself. God's name, His reputation is at stake, but also His Word. Can God's Word be trusted or not? Go to Jeremiah 31 with me. We've been dealing with this. Jacob's been dealing with this in Wednesday evenings. Talking about the New Covenant and the role of the Holy Spirit in the New Covenant. Jeremiah 31. Remember the context, Jeremiah. The weeping prophet. He prophesied just before and through the fall of the southern kingdom of Judah. The invasion by Babylon, the carrying away by Nebuchadnezzar of the best of the people. Jeremiah was there at that time. And again, God was justified in that. But does that mean God's going to cancel out His promises? verses 31, chapter 31, 31 through 34, you have the probation of the new covenant. But look at verse 35 with me. After God gives the new covenant promises to Israel, thus says the Lord, who gives the sun for light by day, the fixed order of the moon and stars for light by night, that stirs up the sea so that its waves roar, the Lord of hosts is his name. If this fixed order departs from me, declares the Lord, this fixed order of the sun rising in the morning, okay? The fixed order of the moon and the stars by night. If this fixed order departs from me, declares the Lord, then the offspring of Israel shall also cease from being a nation before me forever. How many of you expect the sun's gonna stop rising in the morning? And the stars are gonna stop rising in the evening? If that happens, then there's a chance that Israel's promises by God could be canceled out. But as long as those things are still happening, God's promises are sure. He gives the same thing later in chapter 33, Jeremiah 33, the last two verses. Verse 25, thus says the Lord, if my covenant for day and night stand not, and the fixed patterns of heaven and earth I have not established, then I would reject the descendants of Jacob and David, my servant, not taking from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But I will restore their fortunes, and I will have mercy on them." So whatever it is God is doing with Israel, they're still his chosen people. He still has future plans for them. They're not enjoying the benefits of those promises right now, but that doesn't mean that he won't. So let's consider going back to Romans 11. The setting aside of Israel is only partial. It's only partial. Jacob dealt with this last week, and I'm gonna take his three points and add one to it. How do you know it's partial? Well, argument one. Paul himself, verse one. God has not rejected his people, has he? May it never be, for I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham of the tribe of Benjamin. Paul says, look at me. I'm example number one. I'm a member of God's blessing right now. God has not rejected his people. Proof number two. God foreknew them. Jacob suggested last week that God's foreknowledge has to do with him knowing in the head of time. I would suggest I think it means more than that. I think God's foreknowledge is a result of his having chosen. You won't take time to turn there. First Peter chapter one, verse 21. Jesus is called the one who was foreknown. Was Jesus just foreknown because God knew he would come? Or was Jesus foreknown because God chose the Son to be the one who would come and be incarnate? I believe it has more to do than just knowing ahead of time. Proof number three, the 7,000 in the day of Jeremiah. Proof number four, the present remnant. The setting aside of Israel is only partial. There are still believers. among the nation of Israel, physical Israel. There are still believers among them. Secondly, the setting aside of Israel is God's gracious privilege. Verses five through seven, in the same way then there has come to be a present time, a remnant according to God's gracious choice. God has chosen that there would be a remnant of Israel. God has chosen that there will always be believers among the nation of Israel. Maybe not a majority, maybe not a large number, but there will be believers among Israel. Jacob, do you know how to turn the other mics back on? The button near the top? OK, that should have brought the other mic back on. I'll just turn this one off, because I think that's what's causing the static. Unfortunately, that means I'm a little stuck behind the pulpit now, for better or worse. Okay? There's a remnant because God has decided there will always be a remnant. God's gracious choice. And that's his right. He's sovereign. We need to get the idea out of our minds that we're God. Somebody said the most profound realization he ever came to is that there's a God and it's not him. When we come to realize that, we'll stop complaining about some of the things that God does because we'll realize He's God, not me. And He has determined that there's going to be a remnant among the nation of Israel. It's His sovereign choice. Furthermore, the fact that there would be a remnant was foretold in the Old Testament. Paul quotes here from Isaiah 28, God gave them the spirit of stupor, eyes to see not, ears to hear not, down to this very day. And then from verses 9 and 10, he quotes from Psalm 69. Let their table become a snare and a trap and a stumbling block and a retribution to them. Let their eyes be darkened to see not and bend their backs forever. That's God's judicial hardening against the nation of Israel for their rejection of him. God says, okay, you want to reject my good plan for you? You get to suffer the consequences of that rejection. You see, choices have consequences. Choices have consequences. These are not the only passages that talk about God setting aside. Keep your finger here and go back with me to Deuteronomy 28. Deuteronomy 28 is toward the end of Moses' life, toward the end of the wandering, 40 years wandering in the wilderness. Chapter, oh, I can't go away. Chapter 28 is divided into two parts. Verses one through 14, God says, if you obey me, this is how I'm going to bless you. 14 verses. And then from verse 15 on through the end of chapter 28, God says, but if you disobey me, this is what's gonna happen. And guess what? They disobeyed him. So guess what? Exactly what God said would happen, happened. So we go into chapter 29. God talks about some of the historical events, how God brought them to the point where they are. So we get into chapter 30. Verse one, so it shall be when all these things have come upon you, the blessings and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind in all the nations where Yahweh your God has banished you. God says, I know what's gonna happen. Here's what you'll do, here's what'll happen if you obey me, here's what's gonna happen if you disobey me. I know you're gonna disobey me, so I'm going to cause you to be scattered among the nations. But when you do, You will return to Yahweh your God, verse 2, and obey Him with all your heart and soul according to all I command you today, you and your sons. Then Yahweh your God will restore you from captivity and have compassion on you and will gather you again from the peoples where Yahweh your God has scattered you. If your outcasts are at the ends of the earth, from there Yahweh your God will gather you and bring you back Yahweh your God, verse 5, will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed and you shall possess it and He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers. I believe initially that regathering is going to occur in unbelief because then look at verse 6. Moreover, Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants to love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul in order that you may live. God promises, you're gonna disobey me and I'm promising you I'm gonna be faithful to my promises that if you disobey me, this is what's gonna happen. But in the end, however much you've disobeyed me, I'm still going to regather you to myself. I'll bring you back from all of the nations where I have scattered you. I'll bring you back into your own land. and I will circumcise your heart." So he'll bring them back, I believe, in unbelief, and then he will restore them to a faith relationship with him. We'll see that later when we get back into the rest of Romans chapter 11. Go back there with me, please. Romans 11, God setting aside of Israel. Next thing we see, verse 11, is not fatal. I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? Meganoita, may it never be. He uses two different words here. They did stumble, but they haven't fallen flat. I think about that as I was walking last September, we're out for a walk, and I stumbled, but I fell, fractured my collarbone. There's a difference between stumbling and falling. Falling is serious. Stumbling, while it can be a problem, is not so serious. When Paul says, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? He's emphasizing the fact that God's not through with Israel yet. They haven't fallen out of his favor. They've only been set aside for a time being. And God's going to restore them and begin working again. with them. The word stumble is used in James chapter 2 verse 10, talking about stumbling by breaking the law. Chapter 3 verse 2, stumbling by your tongue, stumbling with your words. Falling is used over 80 times in the gospel in Acts, it's usually used of literal falling down. Acts chapter 5, Ananias and Sapphira, you remember the story? Ananias came in, Peter said, did you sell the land for this much? Ananias said, yeah, that much. He fell down. He's talking about something more serious than stumbling. A few hours later, Sapphira came in. Sapphira, did you sell the land for this much? Yeah, that was the amount. She fell down. Falling is serious. Stumbling is not so serious. Israel has stumbled in disobedience and rebellion against God, but has not fallen down in a fatal fall. Israel is not currently enjoying the blessings of their relationship with God, but they have not been revoked. Those promises and blessings have only been put on hold. They did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be. For by their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make them jealous." Because of God setting aside Israel, He is now giving blessing to the Gentiles. You know who that is? That's us. We as now members of the mostly Gentile church are receiving blessings because God's working with us primarily now. Not that he's totally forgotten Israel, not that he has set aside the promises, but he set them aside for the time being and now he's bringing blessings to the Gentiles. This question in verse 11 seems to be Something like, well, is the stumbling of Israel only bad? Is there anything good to see in this? Paul quickly answers, it isn't all bad. Look at the good that has come about it. When he talks about by their transgression, it's a singular word. It could be looking at all of the disobedience of Israel as a lump sum category by their transgression, rejecting God, rejecting his word, rejecting his commandments. Or it could be looking at that ultimate rejection when they stood before Pilate and said, we will not have this man to be king over us, crucify him. Rejection of Christ. Either way, that rejection was very serious. How could anything good come out of that? Well, Paul's quick to add, because of the setting aside of Israel, there's a church these days. The church didn't exist before Acts chapter two. The church didn't exist in the Old Testament. Sometimes those people that hold to an amillennial system of theology will talk about the church in the Old Testament. or the church in the gospels. I have bad news for them. There wasn't any church in the Old Testament. The church didn't exist in the gospels. The church was born on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came. The church couldn't have existed before that because the church didn't have a head until Jesus ascended to heaven and was placed as head over all things to the church. Because of God's rejection of Israel, he is now dealing equally with men and women from all nations and tribes and tongues and people. Instead of Israel being the channel of God's blessing to the world, the church has taken over that responsibility. Keep your finger here and go with me to Isaiah 49. Isaiah 49. First one starts out. Listen to me, O islands, and pay attention, you peoples from afar. Yahweh called me from the womb. From the body of my mother he named me. He has made my mouth like a sharp sword, and the shadow of his hand he has concealed me. And he has also made me a select arrow. He has hidden me in his quiver. Talking about God's special dealings with Israel. Look at what he wanted Israel to do, verse six. He says, is it too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel? I will also make you a light of the nations so that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. For thus says Yahweh, the Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One. God chose Israel because God wanted there to be a spokespeople. God wanted there to be a number of people that would be announcing the glory of God to the world. Remember when Solomon built the temple and he was giving the prayer of consecration to the temple? He said, God, when people hear about your great name and they pray to this temple, then please hear their prayers, for they will hear about you. How are they gonna hear about the great God of Israel? Through Israel. Israel was to be the light unto the nations. Is that true today? Is Israel the light of the nations today? Who is? Jesus said to his disciples, let your light so shine among men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Philippians chapter two, Paul talked about putting away bitterness and anger so that others might see your life. They might see the light of your life and glorify God. The church is now taking over that responsibility to be the enunciators of the world to God. We are the ones who are to spread the news about the great God. Not Israel anymore, it's the church's responsibility. We're the chosen people. Israel is called the servant of Jehovah. Who's a servant of God today? Back in Romans 1.1, Paul introduced himself as a bondservant of Jesus Christ. We're God's servants. Israel has been set aside. They're no longer the servants to God. We are. Israel is not any longer the light of God to the nations. We are. Somebody once said, if you were the only Bible that somebody ever read, what would they find out about God? Our lives are to show forth the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. How are we doing? How are we doing shining forth the love of the Lord Jesus Christ? That's our responsibility. That's our blessed privilege. Ephesians 5.8, Paul says, you were formerly darkness, now you are light in the Lord. People want spiritual light, where are they gonna find it? We went to the, Linda and I walked over to the Highland Square Street Fair yesterday afternoon, just for some relaxation. Ended up locating a man who was lost and confused. Was over a mile away from home and he didn't know how to get home. So we went and walked a mile out of our way to take him to his home to make sure he got home safely. Why? Because that's what Jesus would do. Because that's what God would have wanted us to do. But as we were going past the booths, there was a booth where you could get your fortune told. And you could either have them read your poem or they would give you your fortune through tarot cards. And I'm thinking, You people don't have a clue. You are walking in darkness. We are to be the light of the world. You want to know the future? Read the Bible. You want to learn about Jesus? Read the Bible. But God doesn't expect unsaved people to read the Bible. We're commanded to. We are to be the Bible to them. We're the ones to share the gospel with them. Just as Israel was to be the light to the nations of the glory of God, the church is to be that today, in every nation, in every nation. Again, Ephesians 5.8, you were formerly darkness, now you are light in the Lord. What contrast could be stronger than that? The difference that God made when he saved you, He took you not just out of the darkness, that's 1 Thessalonians 1, He transferred us out of, or Colossians, out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His dear Son. Not just you were in the kingdom of darkness, you were darkness. You were darkness. Now you're light. Live like who you are. Walk as children of light. 1 Thessalonians 5, for you're all sons of the light and sons of the day. So what does this have to do with Israel? Israel has been set aside. But God is now working with the church for a purpose. It's intended to move Israel to jealousy. Provoke them to jealousy. Paul says this twice. Verse 11, by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles to make them jealous. Verse 14, if somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them. God wants the Jews to look at the church and see God blessing the church and think, that's supposed to be me. God wants to use the church to provoke Israel to jealousy so that Israel would come back to a relationship with God that God intended them to have. How are we doing with that? Are we living a kind of life where people see the blessing of God in our lives? Sometimes Christians can be big complainers. And I understand, things aren't the way they're supposed to be. Things aren't the way they're gonna be. But beloved, for the believer, things are so much better than they could be. God wants to provoke Israel to jealousy. He has another purpose for that. I'm gonna hold that for next week. We're gonna try to get the rest of the way through chapter 11, except for the final four verses next week. So we're gonna pick up the pace a little bit. But I want you to understand, God's not through with Israel. And if there was no other chapter in the Bible but Romans chapter 11, we could still be confident of that, because this chapter is so clear about that. God's not done with Israel. Just as his promises to Israel will be fulfilled, his promises to us will also be fulfilled. You can trust them. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. Thank you for the clarity of it. Thank you for the power of it. Thank you for the truth of your word as we trust your word and the promises you've given to us. Thank you, Father, for explaining it so clearly to us in Romans chapter 11, even though some have struggled to understand Romans 11. It's so clear to those of us who have the proper perspective. Thank you so much, Father. We pray for our visiting time now, and as we head downstairs for the meal, we just pray your blessing on our fellowship. In Jesus' name, amen.