Well, dear church family, this evening we continue with our Bible study series in Romans. Previously, I think for our visitors here today, we concluded our Bible study last time in Romans 10, where we considered towards the end the need to preach the gospel of God's grace to all peoples, really, to all peoples, without respect of persons, without partiality. We must preach the gospel to everyone because God has no respect of persons. And that's why we have this approach in this church to not look upon, as it were, the outward but to just trust God when we preach the gospel to all people. Salvation is of the Lord. It is all of his grace and his mercy. It is not of man's works, lest man should boast. This evening our focus will be on Romans 11, verses one through 10. We'll be answering the question in light of Romans 10, has God completely finished with his people, the Jews? That's the question this evening in light of Romans 10. Has God completely finished and cast off the Jews? And I believe, of course, according to our text this evening, according to scripture, the answer is firmly no. God has not completely cast off his people, the Jews. God has a sovereign plan for a remnant of Jews as he does with a remnant of Gentiles, which is according to the election of grace. There will always be a remnant according to the election of grace that will be brought in. Verse 1 presents us with this question. I say then, says the Apostle Paul, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Has God cast away his people? Has he cast away the Jews, the Israelites, according to the nation? God forbid, for I also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. Have God cast away the Jews, says the apostle Paul, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit? He says, God forbid. In other words, God forbids, perish the thought, perish the thought that that would ever be so. If that were so, the Apostle Paul is saying, why am I, an Israelite, converted? Why am I saved? If God has cast off completely his people, the Jews, why is it I, an Israelite, am saved? I say then, have God cast away his people, God forbid, for I also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. If the nation of Israel has been wholly rejected, wholly cast away, I would have been cast away with that nation. That's what the apostle Paul is saying here. I would have been one of the first in line to be cast away with that nation because, of course, he persecuted God's people, didn't he? If all the Jews were rejected, Paul would have been first in line because he persecuted. God's people. And of course Paul, you couldn't get much more Jewish than Paul, the Apostle Paul, who was of the tribe of Benjamin, a Pharisee of Pharisees, studied at the feet of Gamaliel, the famous teacher in Israel, and of course was lived according to the law, a blameless life as it were. So he was a Jew of Jews. And yet he is saying, if God has completely cast away the nation of Israel, if God has completely cast them away, why is it I? I am standing here as one converted, as a saved man. You see here, Paul's individual salvation as a Jew proves the truth of our next verse in verse 2. Look at verse 2. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. The clue really here is in the word foreknew. Verse 2. The Apostle Paul uses the same word in Romans 8.29. He says, for whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son. And this clarifies what the Apostle Paul is saying here in Romans 11. Within the nation of Israel, God foreknew whom he would save out of that nation. And it would be a remnant. And at times there would be a certain amount of people who would be saved, and at other times that remnant may include more. Sometimes it would be hundreds, other times it would be thousands. But that would always be a remnant out of Israel that will be saved. Not all Israel will be saved. It will only be a remnant according to the election of grace. Before even they knew it, God intimately loved and chose a remnant, a remnant of people for himself out of Israel as he has done amongst all nations. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son." The Apostle Paul, as usual, uses scripture to confirm the fact that God has not completely cast away his people, the Jews, but that, in fact, He has always chosen and reserved a remnant amongst them. Look at our next verses, verses two, three, four. What ye not, what the scripture saith of Elias. What does the scriptures, and this is what the Apostle Paul always does to try to convince the Jewish mindset. Of course, he takes us back to the Old Testament Well, what does the Old Testament scriptures say about this particular issue? And this, again, is a very good way of proving scripture. It's always proving scripture by scripture, using the Old Testament and New Testament to confirm the truth of God. It's a wonderful principle that scripture always proves scripture. And the Apostle Paul is using this reasoning. He's taking people back. What does the Old Testament say? What does the scripture say concerning this particular issue? And in particular, in regards to Elijah, how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying in verse 3, Lord, they have killed thy prophets and digged down thine altars, and I am left alone. and they seek my life. And verse four, but what saith the answer of God unto him? So what's God's answer to Elijah? I have reserved to myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Those were very dark days in that history, wasn't it? The days of Elijah. The majority of that nation of Israel were idolaters. They worshipped Baal. Most in Israel did not worship the Lord. They worshipped Baal worship. They were only a remnant of God's people. In so much that Elijah, we see here, Praise, praise to the Lord God saying it's just me Lord. It's just me an Israelite who has left and everyone else in Israel has abandoned you. Everyone else is worshipping Baal and it's just me left. I'm all alone as a believer, as a true believer who is truly walking by faith in your covenant. And what was the Lord's answer to Elijah in that respect? The Lord says to Elijah, no, you're wrong about that. It's not just you. There's still a remnant. There's still 7,000 men reserved. And again, that word is very important. We can skip over these words very easily. But the scripture says, God has reserved Elijah unbeknown to you. And that remnant was a significant remnant. It was 7,000 souls who God had reserved. Now, I don't know if any of you have reserved a table for dinner, but if you have reserved a table for dinner, it means it belongs to you, don't you? You expect to go there and have that table. God has reserved 7,000 souls in Israel. That was his choice. He made that choice to reserve those souls, and it was according to his sovereign free election. It was all of God's grace and sovereign choosing. He reserved those people according to his sovereign grace. And like I said, sometimes a remnant can mean many thousands and sometimes it can just be a trickle of people. And by way of application here, as Christians we may experience at times spiritual loneliness due to the lack of vital godliness and vital saving faith really amongst the professing church of our day. We live in in perilous days at the moment, where nominal Christianity is really at a staggering height. And to be a true born-again believer who loves and is living for the Lord by faith, it can sometimes be a very lonely walk. and we can almost feel like Elijah. But in saying that, we must be careful not to think like Elijah did back then, that it's just us in this part of God's vineyard that loves the Lord. It can sometimes seem like there's only a few of us, but that really can lead to spiritual pride. Grace, we must understand, is not denominational. It's not denomination. Grace breaks through denominations. And unbeknown to us, there can be literally still hundreds and thousands in this very area which can be reserved for Christ, for God. In and around us, some of them still yet to be brought into Christ's kingdom, and some, still many unbeknown to us, that perhaps the Lord will call out of some of these churches that have been completely compromised into true Bible-believing churches. So God has reserved a remnant for himself. They may not be reformed in theology yet. They may be confused about many things in the Christian life. Their faith may be small and timid, and yet they still may belong to the Lord. Like in the days of Elijah, they can still belong to the Lord. They are reserved for God. They belong to Him. And like a leaf on a tree, all it takes is one leaf to make a tree, doesn't it? Just a leaf of faith. Just a mustard grain of faith. It really is a Christian duty, according to 1 Thessalonians 5.14, to support those who are weak in the faith, to seek to build them up in the faith. And so we must be careful not to look down or to talk down to the feeble-minded in the faith, but build them up and encourage them and so fulfill the law of love. And also we must realise, lest we be overly tempted, that the straight gate and the narrow way which leads to heaven has always had few upon it, not many. I mean, the Lord Jesus Christ spoke of this truth in Matthew 7.14 and 15, that the broad way, the broad way, there are many people on that broad way which leads to destruction. There be many, the scripture says, that are on that broad way. And the narrow way which leads to everlasting life. There are few people on that narrow way speaking, obviously, in regards to everyone. So there's always been a remnant. And that should not surprise us. There's always been a remnant according to God's grace. And like I said, sometimes that remnant may be hundreds here and thousands there, but it's always been a remnant. And this was similar to the Apostle Paul's reasoning here concerning Israel. Look at verse 5. Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. There we have it. He says also even so then even back in the days of Elijah when there were only 7,000 in that time then there was only a remnant So many thousand people, comparatively speaking, out of the hundreds of thousands of people, only a remnant then, who were Jews according to the flesh, truly believed. And therefore were only truly Israelites, indeed according to the faith. And he says, even as it was back then, so it is now. So it is in his day. Only a remnant of Jews believed. Only a remnant of Jews were called according to the election of grace. Even so then, At this present time, in the days of the Apostle Paul, also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. The same is true now as it was in Elijah's day, says the Apostle Paul in essence. There is a remnant who do not share Israel's general unbelief concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. There are those who have truly, truly believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and have been saved. There's a remnant that have truly believed in the promise. Why? Because they have been chosen of God according to the election of grace. They are gods. God has reserved them. God has booked them, as it were. It isn't that they have chose God, it is that God has chosen them. And this has always been the case. It is all of God's sovereign grace. Look at verse 6. And if by grace that it is no more of works. Otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace. Otherwise work is no more work." Either the Apostle Paul is saying, you're either completely saved by grace, or you're completely saved by works. What is it going to be? It can't be a mixture You cannot be saved by religious privileges. You cannot be saved by the nation in which you've been born into. You cannot be saved by these things. You're either completely saved by grace or you're not. God is no respecter of persons, in other words. You must be saved completely by God's free sovereign grace. The nation to whom God will never cast off, friends, is that of his elect chosen people out of all nations. That is the nation who God will never, ever, ever cast off. And they are Israelites indeed, because they share the faith of the patriarch, Israel. Don't they? If someone doesn't share the faith of Israel, if they're not walking by faith, can they be called an Israelite? Are they an Israelite indeed if they share not the faith of Israel? Only those really who are born again, who are trusting in Christ, they are the elect of God according to his grace. They are Israelites indeed. You are a true Israelite if you have the faith of Israel. Who was Jacob? Jacob became Israel. He had the same faith as Isaac and Abraham and believed in the promise of God. And so we see this, dear friends. The nation to whom God will never cast off is that of his elect out of every nation, including Israel. They are Israelites indeed. They are the spiritual Israel according to the seed, without the plural, the seed. The seed that would come through the promise made to Abraham. And all those who would believe in that promise of the Saviour, that every nation would be blessed through Abraham's seed, not seeds, all who would believe in Christ would be saved. That would include a remnant out of Israel, and that would also include a remnant, comparatively speaking, out of all the nations of the world. It's all of His grace. It's all of His choosing. Look at verse 7, it confirms this. What then? Israel have not obtained that which he seeketh for, but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded. Israel did not obtain it, election obtained it. God's choosing, God's reserving, as it were. a as we previously thought, Israel did not submit unto the righteousness which comes from God alone. They sought a righteousness of their own. They wanted to get right with God because of their own good works, because of collectively as a nation. And we know that that is not how someone is saved. Someone is saved by justification. by faith in Christ alone, by his grace alone. It is all of the Lord. Israel as a nation never found the salvation it was looking for because Israel did not submit to the righteousness which came from God. but went about trying to establish their own righteousness. But those in Israel who genuinely sought salvation through God's free grace and mercy in Christ were saved. Only those who believed in Jesus Christ as their Messiah and Lord and Saviour were saved. And so you don't even have to ask the question Am I one of God's elect? Because God always makes the promise that if you seek you shall find. If you knock upon the door, the door shall be opened unto you. If you truly seek to be saved, according to God's way, he will save you in Christ. The problem, I think, that we have in the West, unfortunately, is many people treat Christ and Christianity as a backup plan. They are not willing to leave their sin and their lifestyle. And they think, well, I'll adopt Christianity as a backup plan just in case and therefore I'll just do certain things in my life, I'll call myself a Christian, I'll believe in creationism and all these things, but I yet have not submitted to the righteousness which comes from God. I've not truly surrendered my life and yielded my life to Jesus Christ, the only saviour of sinners. And so anyone who wants to be saved can be saved, but it must be done God's way. You have to come as a sinner and you must yield your life, all of your life, to the only Saviour of sinners, Christ. And it is only those, of course, in the UK, it's only those in Israel who acknowledge Christ as Lord and Saviour, can be saved. There's not two churches, there's just one. And that's the Church of Jesus Christ. And it's made up of those who only believe in Jesus Christ as their Saviour. It's all of God's grace. It's all of Christ and it is all of faith. Anything outside of that is still yet lost and blind and cannot be considered a child of God. Anything outside of grace in Christ and by faith cannot be considered a true person or child of God. The Apostle Paul confirms this in his closing In closing, in quoting Isaiah 29, 10, verse 8, and Psalm 69, 22, in verses 9 and 10, which says, in verses 8 through 10, according as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber. These are difficult words. Eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear, unto this day. And David saith, let their table be made a snare and a trap and a stumbling block and a recompense unto them. Let their eyes be darkened that they may not see and bow down their back always. I mean, David and Isaiah would not pass in some circles in terms of eschatology, would they? They would be looked upon and frowned upon Isaiah's quote in verse 8 confirms that Israel's spiritual state as a nation in the Apostle Paul's days was the same in Isaiah's days as well. The same spiritual slumber. They could not see Christ for who he was. They could not hear his voice through the prophets. Through all the types, they were blinded to these things because they sought their own righteousness. They did not submit to the righteousness of Christ through the gospel. And surely this ought to be a reminder to us, really, that spiritual privileges and being religious does not equal being a true Christian. We must be very careful about that. One can be very religious, and we think about the nation of Jews. You have lots of people who are very religious, but many have not submitted to Christ, to his Lordship. Spiritual privileges do not equal being a true Christian. One may avail themselves of spiritual privileges and yet be a complete stranger to God's grace. They cannot know the power of Christ's resurrection. They cannot know of a true relationship with the Lord God in their hearts and be those who are utterly depending upon the Lord every day by God's grace. Privileges do not equal being a Christian. For many, Christianity is more about how they are perceived to others. It's all about what other people think of me than actually about having a true relationship with God. Through the only intercessor between man and God, Christ Jesus, he's the only way, isn't he? He's the only door to heaven. And only through him can we know of that blessed communion and salvation. There's no trusting Friends, for many, Christianity is more, like I said, about what other people think of. There's no trusting in Christ and his finished work upon the cross in a very personal, intimate way for their sins. There's no daily depending upon his grace, upon his word. There's no regular repentance over sins of the heart, sins of motive, sins of thought. There's no repentance over these things. Christianity is just a performance. They have eyes and they cannot see these things. They have ears and they cannot hear the Saviour's voice. They are spiritually blind. And unfortunately you have many people that to this day in Israel and across the world that are in this condition. The Apostles Paul's quote here of Psalm 69, really, and in verses nine and 10 is what they call an impregnatory psalm, an impregnatory psalm. And basically what that means, impregnatory psalms like Psalm 69 and Psalm 109 are psalms when God's prophets cry out to the Lord for justice and righteous judgments against those who oppose the gospel and who oppose God's sovereign will, in particular in regards to salvation. Like David did, like Elijah did, those are called impregnatory psalms, where God's people, whether it be prophets, or God's messengers or God's servants. They call out and they cry for God's justice even upon their own people. David did, Elijah did. They called upon the Lord God and that is a righteous thing that they did. They called upon the Lord and particularly in preventing the gospel and preventing God's word from going out as it were. And that reminds us that there is such an intercessory prayer that we can pray for. If there are people or if there are institutions which are taking us away from the gospel, from preaching the gospel, or are making it incredibly hard for us to preach the gospel, we need to pray about that. In other words, for instance, take the media for instance. If the media and other things are driving people away or undermining the gospel, or if our liberties are being taken away to preach the gospel, we ought to be praying about these things. There is such a thing as righteous judgment over these. David prayed for it. Of course, we're not going to take up arms and these things, but we can pray about them. And in the days of Elijah, the law can do mighty things. But we need to pray, don't we? That those efforts to thwart the gospel, that those efforts to undermine God's word, that they're thwarted. Those institutions, those people who will take people away, who will blind people, who will put a veil, as it were, over their eyes, we ought to pray. that their efforts will be frustrated, like in the days of Esther and like in other days, that their efforts will be frustrated. What a warning really this is to those who try to frustrate God's sovereignty in gospel purposes. It's a great warning, isn't it? Especially to those who are religious. In vain do men really try to stop God's gospel purposes. It's really like a flea trying to stop an elephant in its tracks. It's all in vain, isn't it? God's purposes, God's gospel purposes will continue. Nothing can stop it. It's like a fire and a hammer. It will always continue. And we see this with the Apostle Paul. All the efforts with the Judaizers to stop the gospel of grace, they failed, didn't they? And what did the Apostle Paul do? When they persecuted him in one place, he fled to another place. And the gospel spread more fervently and more widely to other people. What men meant for evil, God meant for good. God's gospel purposes can never ever be thwarted. because God has reserved a people, a remnant of people according to his election. They're his. It's all of his election. It's not of man's choosing. It's all of his grace. Friends, if you and I are, if you are a true child of God here today, you are a remnant according to the election of His grace. God has chosen you. It is not that we have chosen Him, it is that He has chosen us and looked upon us with such love and mercy. He has plucked us out of the world as a brand from the burning. Even the faith that we have, it's a gift of God. Saving faith, indestructible faith, it's all of Him. And if so, dear friends, that's You are a true child of God. Give him the glory. Give him all the glory for your salvation and for the grace that he bestows upon you every day. It's all of him. It's all of his doing. And let us, dear friends, without respect of persons, seek to reach many for Christ, to depend upon his grace knowing He will save whom He will save. He will have mercy upon whom He will have mercy. Let us, dear friends, not look and have a prejudice upon what nation someone comes to, or what background someone comes to, or what colours of skin they have, or anything such other. God chooses according to His free grace, alone, out of every nation, and we ought to do the same. We ought to have that same impartiality and truly go out there and preach the gospel to all and that the Lord's grand purposes in salvation may be known and the Lord will bring his people in. And you know what? They'll be a bit like us here today, out of every nation, out of every tribe, out of every every particular nation of the world. God will draw out his people and we will praise God for his grace for it. Amen. Feel free to contact us at Sovereign Grace Church in Tiverton. Email us at grace2seekers at gmail.com. That's grace2seekers at gmail.com. Alternatively, you can visit our website at www.sovereigngracereformedchurch.co.uk.