Of Jews & Gentiles-Part 2
The Romans Road • Sermon • Submitted
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INTRODUCTION
*Open your Bibles with me to Romans 11
In Matthew chapter 7, Jesus tells us that “you know a tree by its fruits”
A good tree produces good fruit
A bad tree produces bad fruit
And the whole thing is about life
You can look at your life and the fruit you are growing, and you can tell whether you are a good tree or a bad tree
What we are talking about are the works of your life
Are you filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23)
Are you constantly telling other people about Jesus?
Are you teaching others how to be more like Jesus, and demonstrating in your own life?
Do you give sacrificially and intentionally to the work of the Kingdom
Or, are the works of your life focused on something else?
Remember, friends that works will not save you!-You are saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ
Works won’t save you, but if you are saved, there WILL be works in your life
This is because the Gospel always bears fruit!
TRANSITION—> As we return to Romans today, we also need to remember what Jesus said in John 15:1-6
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.
“You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.
“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.
“If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.
The works, the things that you do in your life are proof your salvation, or are proof you are not saved
If you are saved, you will produce good fruit, and you can only produce good fruit if you are saved
Pay attention to this last verse:
Those that don’t produce fruit aren’t really in Christ
Those that aren’t in Christ are cut off, gathered together, and thrown into the fire
As we return to Romans 11, we are talking about Jews, Gentiles, and the Kingdom of God
Last week, we were talking about the fact that
not all of Israel is Israel
God uses everyone and everything for the good of those that are following HIm
That God is faithful to keep His people and His promises
That God saves both Jew and Gentile by grace through faith
And that God uses Jews to save Gentiles and Gentiles to save Jews
And what we are going to see this morning is that the branch isn’t as important as the tree
I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous.
Now if their transgression is riches for the world and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be!
But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry,
if somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them.
For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?
If the first piece of dough is holy, the lump is also; and if the root is holy, the branches are too.
But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree,
do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you.
You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.”
Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear;
for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either.
Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.
And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.
For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?
Pray, invite the church to be seated
*LISTENING GUIDES OUT
We pick up this morning, right where we ended last week, in verse 11
God used Israel’s rejection of Jesus to bring salvation to us Gentiles
And God uses the salvation of us Gentiles to make Israel jealous and to draw them back to Himself
Look at the first few verses with me:
I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous.
Now if their transgression is riches for the world and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be!
But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry,
if somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them.
For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?
The first thing that we need to take note of this morning is related to these things, that
Every purpose of God is accomplished , and His every act fills multiple purposes
Every purpose of God is accomplished , and His every act fills multiple purposes
We look at events in history, and we sometimes mistaken the acts of man as somehow thwarting or messing with the work of God
NOTHING could be further from the truth
As we look at verse 12 here, I love the truth in it:
If God can use failures and shortcomings for glory and blessing, He can use obedience and faithful
Israel’s rebellion accomplished a purpose of God
When Israel returns to the Lord, that too will also accomplish His purposes
In verses 13-15, Paul uses his own ministry as an example:
Paul was sent as an Apostle to the Gentiles, but everywhere he went, where did he start?
starting with Israel both confirmed their rejection and gave them the chance to turn
Then, Paul would go to the Gentiles
As some of them were saved, the Jews often got jealous
Paul was looking for the character of God’s purposes in his own work-reaching the lost among the Gentiles while also drawing Jews to Jesus through jealousy.
God is using all things and all people to bring about good to His people-If this can be true in those that live in rejection and are bound for Hell, it is even more so in repentance and obedience of the saints!
Let’s continue, verse 16:
If the first piece of dough is holy, the lump is also; and if the root is holy, the branches are too.
But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree,
do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you.
You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.”
Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear;
for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either.
The next thing that you and I need to remember this morning is this:
Everyone that is saved, God has rooted in Christ
Everyone that is saved, God has rooted in Christ
Verse 16 gives us a couple of great analogies:
First, there is starter dough
Bakers know that one of the most effective ways to make bread is to keep a bit of the dough from your last batch to make your next one
The whole next batch will be good if the starter good, because it will leaven the whole batch of dough
The most important part is what causes the growth
Secondly, there is the root
Everything in a tree depends on the roots
A good root can overcome a lot of adversity
A tree without good roots will always die
The roots of a tree give life to the whole tree
Jesus Christ, my friends, is the root of life! He is the root of salvation
I have fruit trees in my yard
Oranges, bananas, lemons, tangerines, peaches and pears
But I also have a tree that is special
it is a lemon tree, but it also grows limes
it has had branches from a lime tree grafted into it
And because the Lemon tree has good roots, it grows good limes through those branches
The branches grow different fruit. Good fruit, but different fruit
But it doesn’t matter whether I cut a lemon branch or a lime branch off of the tree
once it is separated, the branch dies:Because what matters is the root
This is what is at the heart of verses 17-21
Because not all of Israel has put their faith in Jesus, there was room for some of us Gentiles on God’s family tree
We haven’t replaced Israel, we’ve just been added to the family tree
There is no room for anyone to boast:
Jews cannot save themselves and We cannot save ourselves
IT ISN’T THE BRANCHES, it is the root of Jesus Christ that gives us life
Christians are not better than the unsaved people around us
We’ve simply been grafted into the one only living root
No one earns salvation-only those who live by faith will be saved
AND NOTICE WHAT PAUL SAYS HERE ABOUT FRUIT-
Verse 21 makes it clear-God isn’t fooled by lip service Christianity
If you are saved, if you are tied to the good root, the good root will grow fruit in your life
And if your belief is not lived out in faith that produces fruit, it isn’t true faith and you aren’t really saved!
Look at the last couple of verse, quickly with me
Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.
And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.
For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?
The last thing that I would have you note this morning is this: that
Anyone can be grafted by faith into the root of Christ-even those who have been cut off
Anyone can be grafted by faith into the root of Christ-even those who have been cut off
I love this thought by Paul: GOD IS KIND AND SEVERE
He cuts off those that reject Him-He lets them have their way, and head towards the death they so desperately want
He is kind to save you and me by grace
AND do you catch the promise here?
Paul talks about the Jews that have turned away and been cut off
He says, it’s not too late!
While there is air in their lungs it’s not too late
Even if you professed Christ, but have lived without faith, without growing fruit, it’s not too late
God cuts the branches from the root so that they will realize that they need Him
And when they do, there is still room for them on the tree
WHETHER YOU ARE A JEW OR A GENTILE, WHILE WE ARE STILL BREATHING, WHILE CHRIST TARRIES, IT’S NOT TOO LATE!
INVITATION:
You can turn to Christ in faith
You can experience the growth that can only come through the root of Jesus Christ
You can be grafted onto His tree today
Let Jesus grow good fruit in you
Jesus is calling you this morning to be grafted into His family
I will be standing right down here who are ready to know what it means to be grafted to the root of Jesus
PRAY