Rom 11-Gods Remnant

| God’s Remnant! Romans 11:1-10

November 11, 2007  1I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.  2God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel:  3“Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me”?  4And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”  5So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.  6And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.7What then? What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened,  8as it is written: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day.”9And David says: “May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them. 10May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.”PRAYScripture Memory:Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Romans 11:33(NIV) Intro:Grace and works – God’s judgment and our responsibilities – faith and disobedience… Last Week:1. What about the Jews? (vv. 1-5)This Morning:2. What about grace? (v. 5)3. What about hardened hearts? (vv. 6-10) Last Week:Did God reject his people? (v. 1)Seven reasons Paul gives to show that He did not reject His people (Romans 9-11) (James Boice):1.  Paul distinguishes between national Israel and spiritual Israel.Between the visible church and the invisible church… His point: membership in the visible Jewish nation does not guarantee salvation… 2.  God had previously revealed that not all Israel would be saved and that some Gentiles would be The fact that Israel, as a nation, was set apart for God, with many precious promises based on their lineage, does not translate into every Israelite being saved.More on that this morning…3.  The failure of the Jews, who rejected Christ, to believe was their own fault, not God’s. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, preferring their own attempts at righteousness to that which is by grace through faith.We will look at this more closely this morning when we look at vv. 6-10.Once again, though, we were reminded that rejection of God is a choice we make, not based upon what we do NOT know, but upon what we DO know… 4.  Many Jews (i.e. Paul) HAVE believed. What makes a person a Jew?Paul is also reminding us, here, that just because Jewish people (or others) are often particularly resistant and even antagonistic to the gospel, they are not beyond the grace of God… 5.  Even in the worst of times, a remnant has always been preserved. The theme of a remnant…God always has a remnant, and the remnant is often much larger than we can see or might think. 6.  The salvation of the Gentiles, which is now occurring, is meant to arouse Israel to envy and thus be the means of saving some of them. “God is using the day of Gentile salvation for the good of Israel, since it is through God’s work among Gentiles that Israel is being stirred from self-complacency and lethargy, and some are being saved.” James Boice 7.  In the end all Israel will be saved. “While in the providence of God Israel’s sin and unbelief have been used to open up the way for the Gentiles, now the conversion of the Gentiles will lead to the conversion of the Jews.” Leon MorrisThis does not mean that all Jews will be saved. It means that all those whose names are written in the book of life will be saved. The spiritual Israel, the invisible church… This Morning:Two Groups of PeopleTwo Paths People TakeTwo groups:A remnant chosen by grace (vv. 4b-6)Others that were hardened. (vv. 7-10)Two paths: (v. 5-6)GraceOrWorksTwo destinations: (Heb. 3-4)Entering God’s restOrHardness of heart & spiritual blindness 1st Group:A Remnant Chosen by Grace (vv. 4b-6)“I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”  5 So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.  6And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.Their Path: GraceTheir Destination: God’s RestF   A RemnantThe “leftovers” – (cartoon)That which remainsSeveral Hebrew words express the remnant idea: yether, “that which is left over”; she'ar, “that which remains”; she'rith, “residue”; “pelitah, “one who escapes”; sarid, “a survivor”; and, sheruth, “one loosed from bonds.” (Holman Bible Dictionary)The remnant doctrine was so important to Isaiah that he named one of his sons Shear-Jashub, meaning “A Remnant Shall Return” (7:3).Amos, Hosea, Micah, and Isaiah all spoke of a remnant. They prophesied that only a few would survive judgment events, basically because they repented and rested their future on the compassion of their Lord. (Holman Bible Dictionary) To be a part of God’s remnant is to be included in the number of those who have been spared God’s judgment, to be among those who are recipients of His grace F   Chosen by GraceThese two words must go together…If God does not choose by grace…If God does not choose…v. 6 – If by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace. |   | An either/or…The only path that can bring ANYONE to God is grace. F   The Destination: God’s Rest – His Sabbath Heb. 4:1-3 – 1Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. 2For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. 3Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said.The gospel is of no value unless it is combined with faith.Ø    Faith is not mere intellectual assentØ    Faith is not merely saying the right things (talk is cheap)Ø    Faith is not a feeling.Ø    Faith is an act of the will which enables us to act in obedience to the revealed will of God.Ø    Faith is a choice we make to take God at His Word and to act on it. 2nd Group:Others that were hardened. (vv. 7-10)7What then? What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened,  8as it is written: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day.”9And David says: “May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them. 10May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.”Their path: worksTheir destination: hardness of heart & spiritual blindnessThere is no doubt that the Jews are a unique people. They can trace their lineage back thousands of years to one man, Abraham. It was into the Jewish tribe of Judah that the Son of God was born. God was a Jew Hughes, R. K.The question: Does God harden people’s hearts and then judge them for it?They were hardened as a judgment for their unbelief. Hughes, R. K. From an observation of the setting of the quotations, it is clear that God did not give his people deaf ears to mock them any more than he gave them blind eyes to taunt them. What was involved was a judicial punishment for failure to use God-given faculties to perceive His manifested power and to glorify Him. Everett Harrison Their path: works (v. 6)If by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.This is our natural inclination…The gospel is a stumbling block to those who are not a part of that remnant chosen by graceFoolishness to the non-religious& a stumbling block to the religious (1 Cor. 1:23)… Their destination: hardness of heart & spiritual blindness (vv. 7-10)7The others were hardened, 8as it is written: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day.”9And David says: “May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them. 10May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.” To better understand the relationship between this and the judgment of hard hearts and blindness…Heb. 3:7; 3:15; 4:7b (Ps. 95:7b-8 / Ex. 17:5-7)       “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.”Heb. 3:12-13 12See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. Their destination: hardness of heart & spiritual blindnessHeb. 3:11 & 4:3 & 5. (Ps. 95:11 / Num. 12:20)“So I declared on oath in my anger,       ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ Heb. 3:19 – They were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.Heb. 4:6 – Those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience.The two keys to hardness of heart and spiritual blindness: Unbelief  & Disobedience – which inevitably show themselves in various forms of works…When we refuse to believe the gospel…, Ø    We doubt God’s love for us…Ø    We try to stand in our own righteousness…Ø    We lower God’s standards to that which is do-able…Ø    We are critical of others who do not live according to OUR standards…Ø    We rationalize and attempt to justify our own disobedience… Summary / Review:Two Groups of People / Two Paths People TakeTwo groups:A remnant chosen by grace Others that were hardened. Two paths:Grace or WorksTwo destinations:Entering God’s rest or Hardness of heart & spiritual blindness Matthew Henry’s commentary on Ps. 95:7-11Christ calls upon his people to hear his voice. You call him Master, or Lord; then be his willing, obedient people. Hear the voice of his doctrine, of his law, and in both, of his Spirit: hear and heed; hear and yield. Christ’s voice must be heard to-day. This day of opportunity will not last always; improve it while it is called to-day. Hearing the voice of Christ is the same with believing. Hardness of heart is at the bottom of all distrust of the Lord. The sins of others ought to be warnings to us not to tread in their steps. The murmurings of Israel were written for our admonition. God is not subject to such passions as we are; but he is very angry at sin and sinners. That certainly is evil, which deserves such a recompence; and his threatenings are as sure as his promises. Let us be aware of the evils of our hearts, which lead us to wander from the Lord. There is a rest ordained for believers, the rest of everlasting refreshment, begun in this life, and perfected in the life to come. This is the rest which God calls his rest. A Truth to Remember: Grace and works are mutually exclusive. We must choose which path we take to God.A Challenge to Consider:Grace, which is received by faith, always shows itself in obedience and repentance. Is there clear evidence of God’s grace at work in your heart and life?One thing I heard this morning was… |