I mean, we're blessed in so many ways. The pastor even has an outline in front of him and maybe a note or two. What a good morning so far. Having the opportunity to share together with the Lord's supper, the Lord's table. This is something that we Uh, we do frequently once a month, the first Sunday of the month. And, uh, we look forward to that time together. It's, uh, something that the Lord himself commanded us to do. Um, so this morning we will, we'll have word of prayer here in a moment. Then, uh, we'll dig in here to the word. Um, But I want you to know a couple things just before we get started. First of all, what we preach from this pulpit, not only this Sunday, but every Sunday, Sunday night, Wednesday, is the word of God as best we can and leaning on God's wisdom and the Lord's spirit And we preach it because we believe it. And so I want you to know that I'm not standing here as just a preacher, but a preacher who believes the word. And then second thing is, I think it's helpful for you to know that it's preached because You know, I care about your soul. I care about where you spend eternity. And we think that God has all the answers. Contrary to popular opinion, the Lord has the answers. And all we need to do is open up the word, ask God for guidance and wisdom, and he'll bring the answers, the answers concerning eternity to our hearts, and then we respond. So we want to preach with a response, with a view toward a response. I trust that we'll always be receptive to the word and that if there's one here today that is not sure where you would spend eternity, we pray that God would open the eyes of your heart, that you would see Jesus for who he truly is, the Son of God, the one way of salvation, that you would throw off of your life, any attempt at self-righteousness, and that you would embrace the righteousness of Jesus, and that by faith in Him, He would impart that righteousness, the righteousness you need, the perfection you need to your life, and that you would be saved. That's the goal. That's the prayer. That's the hope. So let's bow for prayer. Father in heaven, We thank you again for what we have already experienced. The songs that have been sung. Joyful tunes to you, oh Lord. And then the word that has already been read. And then what you're going to say to us here in the next few moments. Lord, we thank you in advance. We thank you beforehand for what you're going to do. And we do pray specifically for that one or those that are here that have never embraced Jesus as Lord and Savior. We pray that today would be the day, Lord. So give them a receptive heart and bring your word and all the resources of heaven to bear on their life this morning. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. So we'll get going this morning. Point one. We're in Romans 11 except for this first point that is tied to that chapter. As you know, we're studying through Paul's letter to the Romans. This is a significant work and it's longer than most letters that you and I have either written or had the pleasure of reading. It's a long letter and it talks about salvation. In fact, I believe this is Paul's treatise on the kingdom of God and what that kingdom is like in our experience as a spiritual kingdom, but a kingdom nevertheless one day that will be consummated into a full physical kingdom. And so this morning we'll begin with point one, just because we have questions does not mean that God does not have answers. So God has answers. In fact, he has all the answers. We start off in Romans chapter nine and verse six. This is the question in verse six that causes Paul to launch into this section of scripture from chapter nine to chapter 11, to the end of chapter 11. The question is right there in verse six of chapter nine. He says, but it is not as though the word of God has failed. for they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel. So the question the people had was, in looking at the grand scheme of God's economy and what God wanted to do throughout the years, throughout the ages, looking back, the people are looking at this and saying, well, it looks like this project, this Hebrew project, God calling Abraham, God raising up a nation of Jews, God revealing himself to the Jewish people. We read about it a while ago back in, even in Exodus. But the people in Paul's day, the Christians there in Rome are looking at this and they're going, it looks like that project failed. God made promises to them. God had hopes and dreams and desires for them. But the people would say from their vantage point, it looked like this was a massive failure because not many of the Jews were saved. In fact, on the whole, the Jewish people rejected Jesus. And if you want to take it a step further, the Jewish people, especially the leaders, the religious leaders, were the ones who instigated the crucifixion of Jesus. And so the people are just asking a pretty obvious question. Paul, you've just written about all the promises that God would bring to a Christian, to someone who believes in Jesus. How do we know those promises would stand? Because the promises to the Jews, it looks like that didn't work out so good. That's the question. And Paul gives three chapters to answer that question. But what we need to know is this, just because we have questions about God's work, in the world, whether past, present, or future, doesn't mean that God doesn't have the ultimate answer. Now, He may not always choose to reveal that answer to us, but it's important for us to believe within our heart of hearts, within the core of our very believing being, that God has the answer. And not only does he have answers to our questions, and he's big enough to answer those questions, but that God is genuine and God is loving in his response to us, even when our questions reveal doubt. So, who in the Bible had questions? Well, one name that comes to mind is Job. Remember Job? Job had some questions about God's activity because some things landed on Job's doorstep. And he's a believer in God. And he's got questions. You remember that? Remember Job asking God about his activity in the world and God, what? God has the last word. He always has the last word and here's what we do and I think this gets in the way of his involvement in our lives when we do this as believers. And we do it all the time. We are calculating people. And so, whether we were good in math or not, we tend to look at things going on in our lives and we say, one plus one equal two. God, this happened, then this happened, and because that happened, it must mean this. And we draw conclusions about God that He never intended us to draw about His activities. And that's what's going on in this portion of Scripture. That's what's going on with these Gentile believers questioning God about His work among the Jews. They were saying, this was true, this is true, this is what that looks like, therefore it equals this. Therefore God may be unfaithful, therefore God may be not true to His Word. Perhaps it's this, perhaps it's that, but they're asking the question. I want to really caution all of us today against that kind of mentality. Especially when the conclusion brings you to a place that you're in conflict with the Word of God. Here's what we do. This happened and this happened. Therefore, God must, He must not care about me. He must not know I'm even alive on planet Earth. And that goes against what the Bible tells us. The Bible tells us that God watches over His own. The Bible tells us that God is what? He's good. He's the creator of all. Why wouldn't He tend to our needs? He formed it all. He made it all. It was all His idea. Why would He not know you're alive? He is the all-wise and all-knowing God. But we make conclusions that are opposite of faith. And I want to caution us against that. Because in all likelihood, you're here this morning. You're listening to the Word of God. That in and of itself shows God's care for you. God cares about your soul. God cares that you hear the truth. God cares that you open the Bible. God cares that you have fellowship with other brothers and sisters in the church. I mean, there are subtle hints, if you will, about God's care for you. And yeah, you may, you're facing struggles, you're facing some challenges, maybe health, maybe family relationships, maybe other things, maybe job related, maybe, who knows? I mean, the list goes on. But don't look at that and conclude, God is unfaithful to me or God has forgotten about me or God doesn't care. God does care. That's why we need to be in the Word of God. That's why you need to hear this preacher say, God does care for you. God is on your side, believer. And don't buy the lie that he's not. So just because we have questions, and we do, why did that happen? And what was the timing of that all about? Some of us ask, why were we raised in the home we were raised in? Why were we raised the way we were raised? Just because we have questions does not mean God has answers. It just means possibly He hasn't chosen to disclose the answers to us. But whatever you do, do not conclude that He doesn't care. Well, life's been rough. Well, it'll get rougher without Jesus. Can I say that? Life's been challenging. It's been uphill all the way. Well, it'll get worse without Christ. And some of you just need to, you need to forsake the futile way of living that you're presently engaged in, and you need to let Jesus be Lord of your life. You need to give Him the reins, give Him the control, and He will lead you straight to glory. But your way will lead you away from glory. I'm reminded, before we leave this point, I'm reminded of another guy who had questions all the time. Remember the Apostle Peter? I mean, he had been, Jesus had rebuked him, Jesus had, I mean, Jesus really tried to work with this Apostle Peter, and at the very end of the ministry, when Jesus is about to be taken up, Peter asks this question. What about John? I mean, we're always asking, well, what about John? Well, it was like, Jesus, this isn't what he exactly said, but like, what about John? Peter, you need to be concerned for you. And there are some of you in here today and you are not concerned enough about your own soul and where you will spend eternity. You need a concern for your own soul. Just like Peter needed to mind his business, his spiritual business, not being so concerned about John's business. Why? Because Jesus has it all in hand. Jesus has it in hand. Jesus was in charge of that. Point two, just because the Gentiles are included in God's plan, plan of salvation, does not mean that Israel is rejected. Now here we get to Romans 11, proper verse one. Paul says, I say then, God has not rejected his people, has he? And then notice, may it never be. So how does that, how do we kind of walk that out? Well, you can walk it out this way. Anybody that says that God rejected the children of Israel need to read Romans chapter 11 and verse 1. God has not rejected Israel. And in fact, Paul doubles down on it. He says, he asks the question, then he says, may it never be? No, never. And he says, for I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. So it's more correct to say Israel rejected her God. It's more correct to say that Israel's leaders her kings, her prophets, and yes, even her priests. turned their backs on the Lord and embraced the worldly culture, the worldly and what I call the wily culture in which they live. And they tried to bring the religions of the whatever, the Amalekites, the whoever's, and mix it with their own worship of God. And that doesn't work. So it's more accurate to say that Israel rejected her God than it is to say God rejected Israel. God did not reject Israel. God reached out to Israel. God raised up prophets to the people of Israel and their hearts were hardened. Point number three, just because the Jewish multitude were not saved, does not mean that none of the Jews are saved. You see, those people are looking around and they're saying, wow, what happened to the Jews? It doesn't look like there are any of the faithful around. And then Paul gives us an example here. Let's look in verse two and following. This is very interesting. You know, we might ask this question, was the Jewish project a complete and utter disaster? And the answer to that is no. Let's read about it. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Or do you not know what the scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? So Elijah was a prophet of God. He was a true prophet of God. So this is what he said, Lord, they have killed your prophets. They have torn down your altars and I alone am left and they are seeking my life. Notice what he said, and I alone am left. So in Elijah's day, Elijah's looking around and he's saying, this is a complete and utter failure. The Jews are not believing. God's altars have been torn down. The prophets have been killed. And Lord, I'm left. I'm alone. I alone am left. And they are seeking my life. So Elijah's thinking, I don't have long either. But what is the divine response to him? And here Paul quotes the Old Testament. He's telling us what this response was. What did God say to Elijah in that time of need? This is what he said. God said, I have kept for myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to Baal. In the same way then, there's also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God's gracious choice. So the reality was, while the people looked around and they didn't see a lot of faith among the people of Israel, God says, here's what the truth is. The truth is there's a remnant. The truth is Elijah isn't the only one. There is a remnant of people who still trust God. And that's important for us to know because this wasn't readily apparent to the people in that day. But God had to reveal it. He had to show Elijah. Elijah, you're not alone. You're not the only one of faith. There are many more. It kind of reminds me of our day. There are people who think, well, the devil's side's winning. More people are flocking that way than flocking toward God's side. And there's just not many of us left. Listen, you never know what God's got in mind. And the truth is, none of us are aware of the numbers. But there are many people who have faith in God in our day. You are not alone. We are the people of God, the family of God. And we're not, we're not, we've not been called to engage and live for God on our own in this day and time. And then let's see where, uh, yeah, I want to conclude with this last point. Um, Just because this project with the Jews, that God revealed himself to them first in salvation history, just because it looks like it's a failure, doesn't mean that there's nothing that we can't learn from the Hebrews. In other words, we can learn from the children of Israel. We have a lot to learn from them. Even though they didn't embrace Christ as a whole nation, there is much to be learned from them. And I want to read verses 17 through 24 here. And this is the lesson that God, through Paul's mouth, brings back to the Christians. He says, but if some of the branches were broken off and you being a wild olive were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree. Here's his word. Do not be arrogant toward the branches. In other words, Gentile believers don't be arrogant toward those Jews. But if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you. In other words, we read the Old Testament. The Old Testament is about God's work among the Hebrews, among the Jews. Verse 19, Paul anticipates what they will say, what the Christians will say. Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in. To be grafted in just means to become a believer in Jesus. And he's using this illustration of a tree with branches. Some of those branches have been broken off. Many of those, that represents the Jews who were unbelieving. But the Gentiles were grafted in. God turned to the Gentiles. This is the day of the Gentiles to believe. The Word of God goes forth. It's the opportunity for people of the Gentile persuasion to be grafted in in order to become believers. He says, branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in. Quite right. They were broken off for their what? Unbelief. See again, it wasn't God who was unfaithful. It was the children of Israel who were unfaithful. But listen to what he says. This is very interesting and strong and something we should pay attention to. He says, but you stand by your faith. That's a good thing, right? We're not a people of unbelief. We stand, we're in the tree by faith. That's what he says. He says, you stand by your faith. And then look at this next line. Do not be conceited, but fear. So he's saying when you look back and you look at God's activity among the Jews, And, you know, you can kind of think, well, that didn't work out too good for most of them because they didn't believe. They were hard-hearted. They were darkened in their mind, in their understanding. They were accommodating to the world. All those things. And it didn't turn out well for them. He says, don't be conceited just because you believe. You believe in Jesus. You love Jesus. You didn't turn out like the Jews back then. But he says what? Don't be conceited. What are we supposed to do? Fear. Fear? Did you expect to hear that at this point? I didn't expect to hear fear. Fear? Why would you bring up fear? Well, because he's got a good reason to bring up fear. Listen to what he says. Don't be conceited. Gentile believer, don't be conceited when you consider the failure of the Jews. For if God did not spare the natural branches, that's the Jews. He will not spare you either. What's that mean? I'll tell you what it means. There's no partiality with God. You ever want a picture of fairness, just look at God Almighty. I mean, we are a people in this world, we are constantly harping on the unfair world we live in. And what do we want? Justice. We want fair play. We want a level playing field. We want that in all aspects of our society. That's what everybody says. Listen, there's only one who deals impartially and who levels the playing field, and it's God. It says, for if God did not spare the natural branches, if He did not spare unbelieving Israel, He will not spare you either. Gentile Christian, look at this in verse 22. Behold then, So the Christians there in Rome, they've been looking at it one way, and Paul's saying right here in verse 22, I want you to behold something. Open your eyes and behold this. See this. Understand this. Behold then the kindness and severity of God. Both of those are true of God. His kindness is ultimate. His severity is ultimate. His kindness toward the faithful, His severity toward the unfaithful. Behold then the kindness and severity of God to those who fell, severity, but to you, God's kindness. If you continue in His kindness, otherwise you also will be cut off. And this is an aspect of our salvation that we do not bring up a lot, but God expects of his people to do what? To persevere in the faith. Perseverance. Never, never give up. We read about it a while ago in the Lord's Supper. What did he say? Jesus is sharing the bread and giving the cup, and right after he gives the cup, he says, there's one among you that's going to betray me. And we know that Judas turned his back on Jesus. Drinking that cup, that cup is, as Jesus says, it is a covenant. It is as a contract. It is an agreement between the person who drinks of it and Jesus who commanded the drinking of it. And it is binding. We would do no other than to continue with Jesus, to continue, as Paul says, in his kindness. And he says, otherwise he also will be cut off. And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, look at this, will be grafted in. For God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree? What do we learn from the Jews? This is what we learn in closing. Jesus came to them. Jesus came to us. And what's interesting is not one of us in this room could make that happen. It was out of the heart of God the Father that he would send God the Son into this wicked earth to live without sin and then to sacrifice himself as an offering for sin. to become that Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world. Secondly, Jesus came to accomplish His work for the Jews. Jesus came to accomplish that same work for the Gentiles, that we would be saved. That we have the testimony of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And we receive that work. We receive the living Lord Jesus. And he accomplished that work. And anyone, even today, who would look to Christ and believe and confess, you would be saved today. Your salvation is as near as these words of the gospel. Thirdly, we learn that Jesus is with all who trust him. Now he's not here physically, but he's with all who trust him. How? He is with all who trust him in the power and the person of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit resides in every believer. And that Holy Spirit represents Jesus Christ in our lives. He is with all who trust him. John 16, verse 7, Ephesians 1, verses 13 and 14. And we persevere. The resources of heaven help us to persevere. The Holy Spirit working in our lives helps us to persevere. The Word of God helps us to persevere. The fellowship of the saints helps us to persevere in Christ. And then finally, we learned it. Jesus will come to take us to heaven so that we will be with Him. That's what we learn. Don't neglect, so great is salvation. Today, you have an inclination to believe in Jesus. You have an inclination to believe in your heart, confess with your mouth that He is Lord. I want to encourage you to do that. We have these connect cards in the pockets of the chairs. And this morning, if you are here and you want to talk more about salvation, you have questions about salvation, please indicate it on that connection card. You can leave it in your seat following the service. We'll look at those and we'll be in touch with you. But do not neglect the salvation of the Lord. And do not be satisfied with a compromising life. Do not be satisfied with a life that is kind of like the attitude towards spiritual things is take it or leave it. We don't want that. We want to take it. We want to incline ourselves to spiritual things. Let's stand. We'll have a song of praise to God in closing.