If you'd take your Bibles and turn to Romans chapter 11. So we come to Romans 11, and I want to remind you that this is the conclusion of a larger section, Romans 9 through 11. So everything that we have been learning from chapters 9 and 10 will figure into our understanding of chapter 11. It's a unit. Many people see Romans 9 through 11 as kind of a parenthesis. In other words, you could finish Romans 8 with verse 39, and you could go straight to 12.1 with no trouble at all. But for Paul, it can't be complete unless he deals with what we might call the Jewish problem. First of all, Paul had an intense interest in the Jewish people. If you go back, we're going to read it later. chapter 9 verses 1 through 5, he talks about how he is just brokenhearted that his Jewish brethren his kinsmen, according to the flesh, are rejecting their Messiah. He is also concerned about the people, the Roman Christians to whom he wrote the letter. The Roman church, best we can tell, it started with Jewish Christians, but Gentiles came in. By the time he writes this, there were probably more Gentile Christians in the church than Jewish Christians. How do they relate together? All of those things, but even bigger than those two things, is the whole question of the faithfulness of God. Has God reneged on his promises to his people? Now, we have dealt with this back in chapter nine. You remember in 9.6, he says, it's not like the word of God or the purpose of God is unfaithful. Not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel. And we went through that. And he showed that God's purpose was to select some people out of the larger group. But then the question becomes, does God have a purpose for the nation of Israel beyond the salvation of a few? As we will see, this is the question Paul is taking up in chapter 11. Now Chapters 9 through 11, this is a difficult section of scripture. There are numerous interpretive challenges in this section. I've shared with you this before, but I'll share again. When I came to La Luce as a pastor many, many years ago, the first book that I preached through was Romans, almost. I got through chapter 8 and I quit. Why would you do that? Because I didn't understand chapters 9 through 11, and so I think it was a wise decision. And you say, well, are you qualified to teach it now? Not really. But as we seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit, I trust the Lord will give us understanding and edify us through this section of Scripture. So chapter 11 is a conclusion of this section. This is a grand finale. When Paul finishes, if you want to flip down to the end of chapter 11, when he gets done with this section, then we read this great benediction in verse 33. Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are His judgments, and how inscrutable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor, or who has given a gift to Him that He might be repaid? For from Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen. And we'll come to that passage later. So we begin to make our way through chapter 11. The best way is simply to read the text. So this morning, I want to read the first 16 verses of chapter 11. So here we go, verse one. I ask then, has God rejected his people? By no means, for I myself, I'm an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin, God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the scripture says of Elijah? How he appeals to God against Israel? Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life. But what is God's reply to him? I have kept for myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to Baal. So too, at the present time, there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works. Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace." Verse 7. What then? 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. And David says, let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them. Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see and bend their backs forever. Verse 11. So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means. Rather, through their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. Now, if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean? 13. Now I am speaking to you Gentiles, and as much then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches." Father, this morning, as we begin to work our way through this chapter, we acknowledge from the start, this is not easy to understand. But we are trusting that by your Holy Spirit, you will give us understanding. You will speak to us. You've answered our prayer many times in this regard. We're asking that you continue to do that for your glory and make this applicable to us. Help us to be able to apply it in our own lives. We'll give you the glory in Jesus' name. Amen. So you could look at the sermon this morning as an introduction to chapter 11, but we are going to plunge right into it. So here's the big question. Paul asks it in verse one. I ask then, has God rejected his people? Now as we go through this chapter, it all revolves around that first question. Has God rejected his people? Now when he says his people, To whom is he referring? Who's he talking about when he says, his people? Well, it's very obvious in the context of this whole section. He's talking about the Jewish people. He's talking about Israel. There's no question about this. Let me go back again. I just want to take time to read chapter nine. You can flip back if you like, verses one through five. Paul says, I am speaking the truth in Christ, I am not lying. My conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, that is, the Messiah, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen." This entire section focuses on Paul's kinsmen, according to the flesh, the Jewish people. Paul will go on in the verses following, he'll talk about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the ones we know as the great patriarch. So when he says his people, he's talking about Israel. Has God rejected his people? Now we'll come back to this a little bit later, but that is the central question he's asking. Now, the second thing we need to do is look at the context. of that question. This is one of those places where the context is extremely, extremely important. Why does Paul suddenly ask this question, has God rejected his people? Why is this so important to Paul? There's a huge clue in verse one. He doesn't just say, I ask, has God rejected his people? But I ask, then, has God rejected his people? You could translate it just as well. I ask, therefore, has God rejected his people? So what does this, what is then in the sentence for? Why is it there? It points back to what he has just said. And what has he just said? At the end of chapter 10, I won't go back and read the whole section, but the very last verse. But of Israel, he says, all day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people. He's talking about, notice he says, of Israel, he says. He says of the Jewish people, they are disobedient, back-talking people. In that context, he says, I ask then, in light of the fact that they have refused to listen to God, they've rejected God's Messiah, in light of that, I ask this question, has God rejected his people? You see how it fits together? After the closing verses of chapter 10, It's a very logical question. Does that mean that God has rejected his people? He certainly had every reason to do so. But that is Paul's question. Now, we're going to spend the rest of our time this morning with Paul's answer. And I can't confine it to the verses we're going to look at, but this is where he essentially gives his answer. Has God then rejected his people? The first thing he does, he says, by no means. A strong refutation of the question. By no means, let it never be, no way. Paul says, this question is unthinkable. Who could ever think that God would reject his people? This little thing, by no means, he said, well, that sounds familiar. It ought to sound familiar. It starts back in chapter three, and if I count right, this is the ninth time that Paul has said this. This is Paul's way of saying, don't even ask that question. There's no possibility that this could ever, ever be true. But he doesn't stop there. The next thing he does, as he uses himself for an example, notice after he says, by no means, for I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. Now, you can kind of hear Paul saying, if you want proof that God has not rejected his people, start with me. It's obvious he has not rejected all Israel because I myself am an Israelite. I'm descended from Abraham and I am a Benjamite, a part of the tribe of Benjamin. Ancestry was extremely important to the Jewish people. It was a godly thing. All through the Old Testament, we will see there are times when an Israelite had to prove his ancestry, that he was really descended from Abraham. And so that's what Paul is saying here. He's saying, let me make it clear, I am an Israelite. And he gets specific. He said, I'm descended from Abraham. I come through the tribe of Benjamin. Paul assumes that he himself has not been rejected by God. Again, the context. As you go through chapters 9 and 10, Paul distinguishes himself from his unbelieving Jewish brothers and sisters. He recognizes Jesus as a Messiah. He surrenders to his Lordship, and out of that, he has great love for his fellow Israelites. He prays for them, and he proclaims the gospel to them. Now, if you go a little bit further in this, He says down later, I should have marked what verse it is, down in verse 13, now I'm speaking to you Gentiles and as much then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles. Sometimes that's a way we identify Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles. So Surely God wouldn't choose me, a Jew, to be an apostle to the Gentiles if he had rejected his people, the Jews. And we won't develop that any further, but he's just adding one thing after another. Paul is exhibit A in the argument that God has not rejected his people, Israel. Now, so we talked about how he refutes the question itself, he gives his own example. Now he gives a clear declaration in verse two. God has not rejected his people. So you ask me, has God rejected his people? I say, he has not rejected his people. You can't get any clearer than that. He just states it flat out, God has not rejected his people. He leaves no question about it. Now, let me give you the full part, though, in verse two. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Now, remember this idea of know in the scripture. It's even the same in our English language. There's two meanings to it. Well, in the one, it can mean to know about. On the other hand, it can mean a personal relationship, intimate type knowledge. And we give these illustrations all the time. I could say, I know about, and you give me some name, but I know Rita. I've known her for over 30 years. She is my friend, my sister in Christ. We have a personal relationship. That's the difference. So when he talks about here, God foreknew Israel, he's talking about this kind of relationship. We ran across this word, if you go back to 829, those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed. to the image of his son. So this idea is to know beforehand in a personal relationship kind of way. When he says back in 829, he foreknew, basically he's saying he set his love upon and he chose these particular people, and those that he chose he then predestined to be conformed to the image Christ. Now, let me read it again, verse 2. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Now, you can take this in one of two ways. The first way you can take it is this, God has not rejected his people, the ones he foreknew, those back in 829, okay? Where all through this section, and he develops it in chapter nine, God did not choose all the descendants of Abraham, only those who came through Isaac. God did not choose all the descendants of Isaac, only those who came through Jacob, and so on. in that sense, God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew, those that he had chosen out of the larger nation of Israel. Now that's one possible meaning, but there is another way we can take this. God has not rejected his people the people whom he foreknew, taking the people as a whole. You could translate, God has not rejected his people, the nation of Israel, whom he foreknew. Now, that gives it a totally different meaning. Now, it's certainly true that he has not rejected those individuals out of the larger nation whom he foreknew. That is certainly true. But the question is, is that what Paul means here? Or is Paul here talking about the nation of Israel as a whole. Well-respected Bible commentators will come down on different sides of this question. This idea that God has not rejected those individuals he chose out of the larger nation, he has affirmed this all through chapter 9 and 10. But the question is, why would he say it again? Is he just repeating, or is he developing something new here in chapter 11? So what about the nation of Israel? That is what chapter 11 is all about. Now, I want to remind you God did choose, not just individuals, He did choose the nation of Israel. Okay? How do we know? We read it in the passages that we read this morning. I want to read again, Deuteronomy chapter 7. I'm not going to read all that Chandler read, but I'm going to start in verse 6. In chapter 7, he says, don't make any covenants with these people. Then he tells them why. Deuteronomy 7, 6. For, or because, you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. And he goes on, he says, I didn't choose you because You were more than others. He says, I just chose to set my love upon you. And then even clear in Amos 3, 1 through 2 that Norman read earlier, let me read it again. Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt. You only have I known of all the families of the earth. Therefore, I will punish you for all your iniquities. You only have I, there's that word, known. again. You only have I known, have I chosen, have I set my love upon out of all the families. You take all the other nations. No, I didn't know them in this way, but I've known you and you only in this way. So, you put that together back to Romans 11 now. I asked then, Has God rejected his people? By no means. For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people, whom he foreknew. God has not rejected, and I'm taking it, people will disagree, but I'm taking, he's talking about the nation of Israel. I have not rejected my people, the nation that I call back in Deuteronomy and Amos, where he talks about them. I want you to notice again that Paul does not just say, I am an Israelite. He's very specific. I'm a descendant of Abraham, even a member of the tribe of Benjamin. Paul is talking about physical Israel, the nation of Israel. I mean, that's what this ancestry is about. That's why he gives this. He's not talking about some spiritual Israel here. He is talking about physical Israel. So when Paul says, God will not reject his people whom he foreknew, is Paul talking about the individuals he's chosen out of the larger nation of Israel, or is he saying that God will not reject his people, the nation as a whole, whom he foreknew? I think that's what he's saying. God will not reject. God has not rejected the nation of Israel. Now, the emphasis in chapter 9 and 10 is that God chose these individuals out of the larger nation of Israel. As a matter of fact, if you want to turn back there in chapter 9, he summarizes it all in verse 11. Let me start in 10 to get the context. And not only so, but also when Rebecca had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad, in order that God's purpose of election, literally God's according to purpose election, might continue, not because of works, but because of him who calls. In order to preserve that election, she was told the older will serve the younger." Now, that is the emphasis that we find in chapters 9 and 10. That's the way it's always been, Paul says. God has always been doing this. You just go back to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and you can see it. This selective plan. But now we come to chapter 11, and it's different. Go back for a minute to 927. I just want to emphasize, this is what 9 especially is all about. And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved. This is a selection process out of the larger Israel. This is what Paul was seeing in his day. Most of his fellow Jews were rejecting the Messiah, Jesus as the Messiah. This is what he's seeing. But there were some, Paul among them, who were following Jesus. But then we come to chapter 11. In light of that truth that he's hammered on over and over, he says, I ask then, Has God rejected his people by no means? And then he says in verse two, God has not rejected his people for whom he foreknew or because he foreknew them. Now, when you read later in the chapter, and we're not, we don't have time this morning to go through all these passages. We're gonna get to them, but I do wanna give you a little preview. Go down to verse seven. What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened. The nation of Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. And there's some of this over again, back in chapter nine and 10, but we're not gonna go back there. The elect obtained it, but Israel as a whole did not. Okay, now just keep that in mind. Now go down to verse 11. So I ask. He has a series of questions. So I ask. Did they, that is Israel, stumble in order that they might fall? By no means. Rather, Through their trespass, that is, Israel's trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. Now, if there, that is, if Israel's trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean? So he says, At the present time, it's clear Israel is rejecting the Messiah, but he says the time is coming when there will be a full inclusion. Now, go down to verse 25. Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of 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." He says here in 26, all Israel will be saved. Now, we'll come to this, and there are different interpretations of it, but I do believe he's talking about the nation, ethnic Israel. Now, we don't see it, but he says there's a time coming when all Israel will be saved. So chapter 11 is an advance on chapters 9 and 10. Chapters 9 and 10 are about what God has done in the past in selecting individuals out of the larger nation. But in the future, he says, the time is coming when all Israel will be saved. And we're going to talk more about that later, obviously. So, if we're not careful, we will look at Romans 11 as a rather obscure passage which has little to do with anything of importance. And I can confess there have been times when I've been guilty of that. Sometimes when I don't understand scripture, instead of pursuing it, I just let it go. It's sin. Let's call it what it is. So I'm glad. that when we go through books like this, we are forced to look at passages that may be difficult. So we don't want to ignore Romans 11. That would be a great mistake. This issue of Jew and Gentile, how they relate to one another and so on, this goes all through the New Testament. We find it a lot in the epistles of Paul. And that's part of Romans 11. Even in our day today, if you watch the news, I mean, this is still a big issue. I want to remind you again of the very theme of the letter that I mentioned earlier this morning. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is a power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek, the non-Jew, the Gentile. Are there still Jews in our world? Plenty. Do we, because we're in the 21st century, do we just throw out that part of the verse to the Jew first and also to the Gentile? No. Salvation is for all people, Jews and Gentiles, and we don't want to ignore the Jews. We put great emphasis on how God included all people in his church, Jews and Gentiles. We major on the truth that in Christ all cultural, racial, ethnic barriers have been erased because we are one in Christ. What does that mean for the nation of Israel? Is there any future for Israel as a nation? These are the questions Paul is addressing in Romans chapter 11. Paul presents the grand plan of God for all And as we will see, and as I mentioned earlier this morning, that plan is centered in the gospel of Jesus Christ. It all revolves around the gospel. Jesus was sent. Jesus came because he loved us. And for many of us here, he has made us his own. For some of you, That hasn't happened yet. I want to encourage you, seek the Lord with all your heart. Jesus said, repent and believe the gospel. And that's the invitation that he gives to all of us. And for those of us who belong to him, that applies to us. He says to us as believers, repent and believe the gospel. It's not a one-time thing, again and again and again. Let's pray. Father, thank you this morning for getting us started in chapter 11. Lord, would you give us a hunger, an interest in these truths so that it won't just be Sunday morning for 30 or 40 minutes. But Lord, give us a desire to know truth. Put us in your word, we pray. You know us. We all can say, well, we're busy. We don't have time. We pursue what we love. You know that. We know that, Lord. Now I just give you a little bit of time this morning to meditate on what we've talked about. We thank you this morning, Father, that you have been so gracious to set your love on us who are unworthy. Thank you that the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is sufficient to bring us to you. Thank you that we've been reconciled to you. that we can call you our God. And Lord, I continue to pray for those who are here this morning where that's not true, where there's deception and there are people who think they belong to you and do not, I pray that you would reveal the truth in a powerful way. Lord, as we leave today, I pray that we would go rejoicing that you've revealed yourself and that we can know you. For it's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.