Romans 11

There is Hope

Romans 11

There is Hope for Israel, the church and you.

I would like to continue with our series on the book of Romans.

This book is considered Paul’s masterpiece, a very well-constructed summary of Christian Theology.

Considered by many one of the most important books ever written on the Christian faith.

Today we are on chapter 11, of the book of Romans.

Today let’s talk about Hope.

Because of the war, Israel and Gaza has been a topic in our homes churches and daily life, there are many questions and different viewpoints, some very valid others totally miss guided,

what are we to expect ?

I believe the Lord has some answers for Israel, the church and you.

Last 2 weeks we talked about Romans 9 and 10 we understood Paul’s love and compassion for his people, with the clear understanding that God is sovereign that He is the one who created us and call us, not because he saw this great master piece in us, just because He could.

Rom 9:15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

Rom 9:16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.

His desire is that all people, Jews and gentiles are saved

1Ti 2:3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,

1Ti 2:4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

1Ti 2:5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

But our choices matter, your acceptance of God’s gift will land you in Heaven or Hell.

Rom 10:11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”

Rom 10:12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.

Rom 10:13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Out of these Chapters, we come out with topics like Election, Predestination supported by (Calvinism, French Theologian John Calvin), Free will (Arminianism, Dutch theologian Jacob Arminius }, and we have all these great debates and disputes among the intellectuals and pseudo intellectuals in our churches. Not here at Mokuaikaua other churches.

I thank God For those who just came to Christ, what a breath of fresh air they are, they are just interested in praising God because they are born again, they just found out that God loves them, and their desire is to share Christ with all their family and friends.

But I came across this great quote from Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones.

I am a Calvinist; I believe in election and predestination; but I would not dream of putting it under the heading of essential. I put it under the heading of non-essential… You are not saved by your precise understanding of how this great salvation comes to you. What you must be clear about is that you are lost and damned, hopeless and helpless, and that nothing can save you but the grace of God in Jesus Christ and only Him crucified, bearing the punishment of your sins, dying, rising again, ascending, sending the Spirit, regeneration. Those are the essentials… While I myself hold very definite and strong views on the subject, I will not separate from a man who cannot accept and believe the doctrines of election and predestination, and is Arminian, as long as he tells me that we are all saved by grace, and as long as the Calvinist agrees, as he must, that God calls all men everywhere to repentance. As long as both are prepared to agree about these things I say we must not break fellowship. So I put election into the category of non-essentials. Martyn Lloyd-Jones.

Men’s salvation is through Justification by faith.

When I began to work on the title of this message I went with What does Romans 11 mean for Israel , the church and you? I end up with

“There is Hope”

Let’s pray

The Remnant of Israel

Chapter 9 Paul was looking into the past , 10 the present , 11 is about the future.

1 Hope for Israel.

Rom 11:1 I ask, 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.

Rom 11:2 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?

Rom 11:3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.”

Rom 11:4 But what is God's reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”

If you remember the prophet Elijah had just humiliated king Ahab and 450 prophet’s of Baal, he mocked them, he asked them if their god was real, the great God of Heaven, let him sent fire from heaven and consume the offering the two bulls, they cut in pieces, and were offering as a sacrifice, If his God was the real one let fire come down and he even asked them to fill the place with water 3 times so it was overflowing, God came through proving him right, and he killed by sword the 450 prophet’s of Baal.

But as soon as Ahab return to his house and told Jezebel she was not happy she sent a message to Elijah.

1Ki 19:2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.”

1Ki 19:3 Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.

After that he went under a broom tree where he prayed to die but the Lord sends an angel and feeds him, at mount Horeb in a cave the Lord speaks to him.

When God confronts Elijah, asking him what he was doing there? Elijah thought he was the only one left, but God lets him know that seven thousand were preserved by the Lord, they had not bowed their knees to Ball.

Rom 11:5 So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.

A remnant chosen by grace, was not everyone, only those who believed in the word of God.

People like Simeon who recognize Jesus in the temple and Anna

Luk 2:25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

Luk 2:28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

Luk 2:29 “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word;

Luk 2:30 for my eyes have seen your salvation

Luk 2:31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,

Luk 2:32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”

This is the first time Simeon sees Jesus, and he recognizes him.

And Anna the prophetess who was old.

Luk 2:38 And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

These are the faithful ones God has on His side. The remnant.

Rom 11:6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

Rom 11:7 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened,

Rom 11:8 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.”

God gave them a spirit of stupor, paralysis, put them in a coma, to this very day.

Rom 11:9 And David says, “Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them;

Rom 11:10 let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs forever.”

Their own sins, and choices put them into this place.

2 There is Hope for the church.

We have been grafted in

Rom 11:13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry

Rom 11:14 in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them.

Rom 11:15 For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?

Rom 11:17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree,

Through grafting, strong roots and tasty fruit can be combined in one tree.

Our Heavenly Father stripped away our carnal, sinful bark through our savior’s sacrifice and inserted us inn, grafted us into good roots, Jesus Christ.

Rom 11:18 do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.

Rom 11:19 Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.”

Isa 60:21 Your people shall all be righteous; they shall possess the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I might be glorified.

Rom 11:20 That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear.

3 Hope for You.

Rom 11:21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.

Rom 11:22 Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.

Rom 11:23 And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again.

Rom 11:24 For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.

The Mystery of Israel's Salvation

Rom 11:25 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.

Is not a final rejection

Rom 11:26 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”;

Rom 11:27 “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”

Rom 11:28 As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers.

Rom 11:29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

This is a mystery, we can’t explain

Rom 11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

Paul was overwhelmed

Rom 11:34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?”

Rom 11:35 “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?”

Rom 11:36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Israel is a nation persecuted like no other, and they still remain, a wonderful proof of the ineffability of God’s word

Many are discourage about the condition of Israel and of the church, take home this encouragement today,

God will fulfill his word, God’s amazing promises will come to pass and His plans will bring Glory to His name and you are a part of it.

There is Hope

For Israel, for the church and you.

Have you asked Jesus to be the Lord of your life?

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Joh 3:16

To receive Him we need to accept Him as God’s son, repent from our sins and a life of selfishness, asking Him to be your Lord and savior, not that you deserve it, but is a gift from God.

If this is your desire today, please repeat this prayer after me?

Heavenly Father I’m sinner, I’m sorry for my sins, I’m willing to turn away from my sins.

I receive Christ as my savior,

I confess him as Lord

from this moment on I want to follow and serve him,

in the fellowship of his church,

In Jesus name. Amen!