The Deliverer Will Come
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Sermon Title: The Deliverer Will Come
Scripture: Romans 11:22-27
Occasion: The Lord’s Day
Date: April 14, 2023
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Scripture Transitions Sermon Title|Quotes |Emphasis
PRAY
Ephesians 1:2 “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Welcome
Recap where we left off:
Metaphors of hope. (v16)
(Dough, First fruits/holy lump holy, root is holy/branches are holy)
No Room for arrogance in the Church because of God’s Mercy. (vv17-18)
The way to crush pride is to fear the Lord. (vv19-20)
The only way to fear the Lord is to embrace God’s mercy.
I have labeled the sermon:
“The Deliverer Will Come”
For this title to really come to life for you, you have to understand that you first and foremost NEED to be delivered. Need To be rescued.
We live in a culture that is being taught that we are relatively good.
The standard of goodness is relative to the next person.
So most people who come to Church or that you confront with gospel, don’t really understand the need for deliverance or rescuing.
They don’t see a need for a deliverer because they don’t know what they need to be delivered from.
So today, we will walk through this passage in four ways to understand why we need a deliverer to come.
We need a deliverer because we are sinners deserving of wrath. (v22)
We need a deliverer because we cannot save ourselves. (v23-24)
We need a deliverer because of the mystery of God. (vv25-26a)
We need a deliverer because our hope for the future depends on it(vv26b-27b)
Let’s pick up where we left off last week with vv20-22
Romans 11:20–22 (ESV)
So do not become proud, but fear.
For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.
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.
First and foremost, what this passage teaches us is that we need a deliverer because we are deserving of wrath.
“Severity to those have fallen” simply means that those who have fallen away from the faith, those who continued in rejection of God And His gospel received the just severity or Just Judgment or just wrath of god.
Someone might ask this morning: why do I deserve wrath and judgment for not believing when I’m a relatively good person. Wrath and judgement seems pretty severe.
Romans 3 answers this question for us:
Romans 3:9–18 (ESV)
For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin,
as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;
no one understands; no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
“Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.”
“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
in their paths are ruin and misery,
and the way of peace they have not known.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Ephesians 2:3 says
Ephesians 2:3 (NIV)
All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
We deserve wrath and not kindness because:
We do not do what God command us. (Righteous/we are not good in comparison to God)
We do not seek after the creator.
We turn from God ways and willfully disobey him.
Instead of blessing God we curse him.
Rather than bringing peace, we wage war against God and others, and thus destroy God’s precious creation.
We do not fear God rather we fear man/ourselves. (our hearts are not oriented towards him.)
So Paul is spot on in Ephesians 2:3 when He says we are by nature deserving of wrath.
We need someone to deliver us from the just wrath of God.
Well friends, God has provided a deliverer for us in his kindness.
1 Thessalonians 5:9–10 (ESV)
For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.
You see friends in God’s kindness..
Romans 5:8–9 (ESV)
God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him (the deliverer) from the wrath of God.
God sent a deliverer to take on the wrath, the severity, we deserve.
Christ shed his blood for all those who would embrace him as the deliverer.
But what Paul is saying here to us in vv20-22 is whether you are a jew or gentile, Whether kindness or severity rests on you today, depends on whether you trust in the deliverer or not.
God in his patience and kindness has held out his hands to Israel, and they have continued to reject Christ and the gospel, and therefore they have fallen into the judgment of God. (Rom. 10:21)
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
But he goes on to say, something interesting to those who profess faith in Christ, He says, Kindness to you…
Romans 11:22 (ESV)
provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.
What does this mean?
Does this mean that Paul is teaching you can lose your salvation? Absolutely not! (we have already addressed last week!)
What he is saying is that the grace of the gospel is not cheap grace.
It’s not praying a prayer than living however you want to live.
Rather, those who accept the gospel never graduate the gospel.
Those who accept the King living under his Kingship.
Those who accept Jesus as Lord live under his Lordship.
Many want Christ as Savior but not as Lord.
But we don’t have the privilege to take one without the other.
It’s either ALL or NOTHING!
Paul says “continue” don’t stop, “continue!”
But the point that Paul is making here in v22 is this:
Faith is not presumption.
Throughout Romans, Paul’s whole argument about the Jews is: Though they were the chosen people, they began to think they were the untouchable people.
They became confident that they were “in” no matter how they lived, simply because they were Abraham’s physical descendants. That is not the case.
So now Paul says: CHURCH, Don’t fall into the same presumption!
He exhorts them to “continue in [God’s] kindness” (11:22).
The only way we know that God’s sovereign love is upon us is that we continue; we persevere in seeking to be like Jesus, until the day we meet Jesus.
If that continuing disappears—if we start to live for ourselves and live in sin, or start to rely on our own performance for our relationship with God—then we will and should begin to wonder if his kindness is upon us, if we were ever chosen. If ever really possessed true saving faith.
BUT HERE IS WHAT SHOULD NOT HEAR ME SAYING AND WHAT WE MUSENT DO:
We must not pit this kind of exhortation against Romans 8:30 (“those he justified, he also glorified”) and the many other passages where Paul insists we are safe in God’s love.
1 John 2:19 (ESV)
They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.
There is no talk of “losing salvation” here, only of the revelation of counterfeits.
For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.
As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”
If we have faith in Christ Jesus, we can have the firm hope of assurance; but we must never be arrogant.
We must never presume on God’s kindness!
Point one application/Question:
As you look to your own life: Are you growing in the grace and Knowledge of Christ or are you presuming on the kindness and grace of God.
Does your life prove that you are the real deal or phony?!
If you are living like a phony and only giving God lip service, and you want to have a real transforming relationship with Christ today, repent and turn your heart to Christ who can and will deliver you, friend.
vv20-22 clearly shows we need a deliverer because we deserve the wrath of God, but vv23-24 show us that we need a deliverer because we utterly unable to deliver ourselves.
Romans 11:23–24 (ESV)
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.
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.
These 4 words describe not only my second point but I believe the way in which God saves sinners:
GOD HAS THE POWER
Friends we desperately need a deliverer because we do not have the power to save ourselves.
We need the power of God to be raised from the dead.
We need the power of God to overcome sin.
We don’t have that kind of power.
We are impotent and God is omnipotent.
God is all-powerful. We are limited in strength.
(Example of me trying to hold myself up the other night playing twister with my children)
God says it this way to the prophet Jeremiah…
Jeremiah 32:27 (ESV)
“I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?
Is there anything God can’t do? Is there anything too hard for God?
Someone needs to hear this truth this morning.
I’m sure there is someone who is here that has looked at their life, and woke up this morning and looked in the mirror, and said to themselves “There is no hope for me, No one can change me, No one can love me, No one can forgive me, No can heal me, no one can deliver me from me.”
And today my weary and broken friend, the word of God gives you truth, and the Spirit says:
“GOD HAS THE POWER”!
Jesus has the power to save you from your sins.
He has the power to give you eternal life
He has the power to make you a new creature.
He has the power to bring peace between you and God.
Jesus has the power to heal you and restore you.
He has the power to break every stronghold of sin in your life.
And Paul here in v23 magnifies God’s power by saying EVEN if Israel continues in unbelief in the gospel, in the messiah, God has the power to work in spite of their unbelief!
God has the power to cut off Israel and to graft them back into trunk of blessing!
God is so powerful that He can work for you even when you are against him.
That’s power.
(Example of tug of war. God wins evertime!)
We must not dare to challenge the power of God.
God does what He pleases.
Paul says in v24, “If God can make the ungodly-godly and place them into a covenant relationship with Christ by His sovereign power, how much more will those whom God commited to and set apart in OT, after His discipline, bring them back into His loving covenant care.”
But I do think that the emphasis here is on a right understanding and belief in God’s power.
If you don’t have a big view and right belief of God’s power, of course you will never believe that God can restore the nation of Israel, and
for that matter, anyone.
(Example of me questioning if God has the power restore Mary from Downtown Sanford. And Adam Cole.)
Here are some questions to ponder:
How have you doubted the power of God lately?
What is causing you to doubt God’s power in your life?
What are a some ways the Holy Spirit can help you can regain trust and faith in the power of God?
So we need a deliverer because we are sinners deserving wrath.
We need a deliverer because we do no have the power to save ourselves
and Now, for my third point: We need a deliverer due to the mystery of God, which has now been revealed through the Apostle Paul."
Romans 11:25–26 (ESV)
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”;
The Apostle Pauls warns us here not to puff up in pride thinking that we are wise in our own eyes in regard to God’s mysterious plan of salvation.
Don’t act as if you have known this mystery.
No, my jewish and gentile friend, you have not known this mystery, because God is for the first time pulling back the curtains here for us, of this mystery.
So, What is the mystery?
Romans 11:25 (ESV)
1. a partial hardening (NOT ALL ARE BLIND/REMNANT) has come upon Israel,
2. Romans 11:25, that partial harding will be removed
Romans 11:25–26 (ESV)
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…
This is what Paul has been talking about this whole time in verses 1-10.
1. God has always had a remnant that believed, that he has kept for himself to give Israel hope that God is still working, he hasn't given up on them, and that there is a future for them.
2. He reveals that this mystery that includes a time where this plan of God for Israel will come to a completion.
Romans 11:25 (ESV)
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.
“until” is a reference to time, and “fullness” indicates a number of completion.
Jewish unbelief will last only until that time when the complete number of Gentiles who are entering the kingdom have come to know the Lord.
There is a certain number and a certain time that God has in His sovereign plan for the salvation of Israel/The Nations.
And when that collection of Gentiles is complete, when the fullness of the Gentiles has entered into the kingdom and the last one has been redeemed, God will gather together the Gentile church to Himself and set out at that point to graft Israel back in.
This is indicated to us, I believe and I know others have different view points on this, but I believe Scripture makes a strong case for this great event call the rapture.
I believe the rapture of the church, where the Gentile fullness is complete and embraced into the presence of God in Jesus Christ; once the gentiles come in (raptured into the kingdom of heaven), then and only then comes the redemption and restoration of Israel.
So, the fullness of the Gentiles, that great event (the rapture of the Church) will signal the beginning of God full restoration of Israel.
That’s the mystery Paul reveals here.
Now I want you to see why a deliverer is so important to this mystery:
Notice the three words at the end of verse 25 that are important…
Romans 11:25 (ESV)
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 (ENTER IN).
This is very standard term for entering into the kingdom of God.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John use this term regularly in the gospels.
Here are some examples:
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.
For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
Luke in the book of Acts…
Acts 14:22 (ESV)
… through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.
Jesus says in John 14:6
John 14:6 (ESV)
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
This mystery reveals to us that we need a deliverer, a savior, will will divinely bring us into His kingdom.
No one is able to enter into the kingdom apart from Christ.
Jesus is the deliverer and the door.
No one come into the father’s glorious presence except through Christ.
Romans 5:1-2 says it this way,
Romans 5:1–2 (ESV)
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
So finally we come to the climax of our passage in verses 26-27, and we see that we need a deliverer because our hope for the future depends on it.
Romans 11:26–27 (ESV)
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.”
Paul quoting Isaiah 59:20-21, says plainly that if there be any hope for future, we need a deliverer that will deliver us once and for all from evil.
We need not just a deliver that will save us from our temporal circumstances, only to find ourselves facing new afflictions, but we need a deliver who is powerful enough to deliverer us once and for all from ALL evil in our hearts and all evil from this world forever.
Do you recall the ending of the Lord’s model prayer in Matthew 6:13
Matthew 6:13 (ESV)
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
One day the Lord will come and He will once and for all, deliver Israel (Jacob) and all who trust in Christ (The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), from evil and all of it’s forms.
This word “Deliverer” here in verse 26 literally means “The strong kinsman who avenges his weaker friends.”
The Strong kinsmen will finally and ultimately avenge the weak.
He will remove all evil from us.
We will be delivered from all sorrow and sickness.
Jesus will deliver us from every fear. (We will be fearless in Christ!)
No more loneliness.
No more injustice.
No more feeling overwhelmed.
No more disappointment.
No regrets.
No worries.
No greed.
No lust.
No envy.
No duplicity.
NO MORE SIN!
He will banish all evil.
What banish means here is that He will turn as away from evil and turn us towards Himself- towards life and goodness and beauty and righteousness and freedom.
The deliverer will not just banish ungodliness from us and takeaway our sins, but Christ will make as whole again.
He will restore us.
We will be truly and utterrly happy.
Jesus called it blessed in the beatitudes. (radiant happiness)
Matthew 5:3–12 (ESV)
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
...Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven,
We get a picture of this blessedness from a reference that Paul uses in verse 25.
We read it at our call to worship:
Psalm 53:6 (ESV)
Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When God restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.
(rejoice literally means to circling in joy/Around the clock, unhindered joy!)
It’s the idea of endless joy as we we feast on Christ as we feast in house of Zion.
Psalm 36:7–9 (ESV)
How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.
It reminds me of the song we will close with today entitled “We will feast in the house of Zion” ,
We will feast in the house of Zion
We will sing with our hearts restored
He has done great things, we will say together
We will feast and weep no more
We need a deliverer because our hope for the future depends on it!
Conclusion:
Maybe your on the fence this morning with putting your trust in Christ, and you are wondering, How can I be sure that God will keep his word if I give him my life today?
Paul answers that in verse 27 by reminder the reader that it was God and not man who made this covenant/promise.
When God makes a promise, He keeps it.
If you go back to Genesis 15:1-21 you will find God’s covenant with Abram.
It’s quite mysterious and awe-inspiring.
It’s in Genesis 15 that God makes a covenant not like any other covenant.
It’s a unique promise.
He says to Abraham,
"Now, Abraham, you get a lot of dead animals and you lay them on the ground, one over here and one over there, half of each on this side and half of each on this side."
In other words, God tells Abram to cut all the animals in half, tells him not cut the birds or all you'll have is a handful of feathers.
He instructs Abram to stick a dead bird on this side, a dead bird on this side and half of an animal here, and the other half here, and another half here, and another half here.
And then He gave to Abraham a divine anesthetic and knocked him out and he went to sleep.
Abram fell into a deep sleep and the Lord Himself like a smoking lamp and a burning furnace passed between those pieces.
If you know anything about the culture of the time of Abraham, covenants were cut by blood.
And when you make a promise to someone you cut an animal in half and you walked together between the pieces of the animal, that is, you were cutting a covenant by blood and swearing to each other to keep your promise.
When God set to make His covenant, He didn't let Abraham go between the pieces, He put him to sleep and went through alone because God was making a covenant not dependent on Abraham but a covenant dependent on His own unchangeable nature.
And when God set out to redeem Israel and all who would trust in Israel’s Messiah, it was to fulfill the covenant which He made with Himself.
To my friends on the fringes, please know that when God makes a covenant with God, nobody's going to break it.
And the redemption of Israel and the redemption of all who trust in Jesus the Messiah is based upon an unconditional covenant that God would bless the people who came out of the loins of Abraham.
And that Abrahamic covenant eventually passed into the new covenant which is equally unconditional and based upon the sovereign purpose and promise of the eternal God Himself, who is unwavering in His ability to keep His promise.
Why can you trust Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior today?
Because when God’s makes a promise He keeps it. Because it’s not based on man but on God. And God is immutable. He does not change his mind.
God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
This is the covenant He made…
Jeremiah 32:40 (ESV)
I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me.
Jesus has sealed this covenant by His own blood. (“When I will take away their sins.” The cross!!)
Hebrews 9:15 (ESV)
Therefore he [JESUS] is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
Jesus has done it.
The deliverer will come.
May the words of Paul to the Thessalonians bring you comfort today and may they draw you to come and know and trust Christ today…
He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
Why do we need a deliverer today?
We need a deliverer because our hope for the future depends on it
What does the Spirit say to us through His Word:
THE DELIVERER WILL COME! AMEN!
PRAY