Why God Hasn’t Given Up On Israel Or You

We walk through Romans 11 and the dramatic story of Elijah to show why God preserves a remnant by grace and how that changes the way we live, pray, and speak. Paul’s opening claim sets the tone: God has not cast away His people. From there, we unpack Israel’s recurring pattern of drift and return as a mirror for our own hearts, then follow Elijah to Mount Carmel where fire falls from heaven, the people repent, and a single threat from Jezebel sends a weary prophet running. That whiplash becomes the lens for a deeper truth: courage fades when we rely on ourselves, but hope returns when we remember God’s quiet work and His seven thousand who haven’t bowed.

We dig into the remnant “according to the election of grace,” contrasting grace and works with Paul’s blunt clarity. If salvation is a gift, it cannot be earned; if it must be earned, it isn’t grace. That distinction isn’t abstract—it’s the difference between a faith crushed by striving and a faith sustained by Christ’s finished work. We talk about how Scripture protects us from spiritual stupor, how idols like approval and comfort sneak in, and why steady habits of prayer and simple witness bear fruit in ways we can’t always see. Along the way, we connect Jesus’ picture of the seed that dies and produces much fruit to a resilient life that chooses eternal gain over short-term applause.

Expect a grounded, practical invitation: keep praying for those far from God, keep speaking the gospel with humility and courage, and keep trusting that hidden faithfulness counts. God’s work often runs under the noise of culture, and that’s good news for anyone who feels alone. If this conversation encouraged you, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs hope, and leave a review to help others find it.

Come On Up is the radio ministry of The Mountain Cross in Waynesville North Carolina. To learn more about us please visit: TheMountainCross.com. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, and we shall walk in his paths.

SPEAKER_02 0:13

Welcome to Come On Up, the radio ministry of the Mountain Cross in Waynesville, North Carolina.

SPEAKER_01 0:20

I have reserved for myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the kneel to Baal. You might think that you're the only one that's truly trusting in the Lord and in the gospel and having faith in him, and everybody else has just gone astray. But be in being courage, there is a remnant. The Lord is working in the hearts of people, and people are responding and coming to faith and standing boldly for him.

SPEAKER_02 0:49

The world can sometimes seem a bit lonely as a Christian. When we're focused on all the bad things that happen by all the bad people, we can feel like there's an unending chore, so to speak, of sharing the gospel and fixing the world. In today's message, Pastor Carl will remind you that even though it may be a small group of people, there are people learning about and turning to the Lord. Your prayers, your consistent speaking of the gospel are working. People are coming to Christ because of you. And now, here's Pastor Carl.

SPEAKER_01 1:28

Well, let's get into a study of God's Word. We're in the book of Romans, and we'll be in Romans chapter 11. Romans chapter 11, if you'd like to turn in your Bibles. At the end of chapter 10, Paul had been talking about his heart for his fellow man, the Jewish nation, who many Jews had come to faith in the Lord, but uh most of the Jewish nation had not. And it's his desire that they would come to faith in Jesus Christ, because that's the only way to be right with God. And yet he would even give his life if that would be possible so that they could come to know the Lord. He would be willing to go to hell forever in order for the Jewish nation to come to faith in Jesus Christ. That is his heart, and that's the context around some of what we're talking about. But at the end of chapter 10, Paul was quoting from Isaiah the heart of the Lord. Um he said, All day long, this is the Lord, all day long I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people. The nation of Israel had this history of walking in the blessing of God and just getting used to life and then being kind of laxadaisical with their relationship with the Lord, getting caught up in the things of this world and and coming to a point of out and out rebellion against God, and then things come and then things go wacky and and that and the nation realizes that they have drifted from the Lord, they repent and God restores them, and that whole cycle goes again and again and again. Israel was set apart as a special people to be an example to the rest of the world. They brought the law, they they were the line through which the Messiah would come. And yet they were also an example to the rest of the world, of the rest of the world's heart. All of our hearts are rebellious against the Lord. We seem to turn, and the Lord is gracious and he's kind and we turn to him, and then for some reason we get caught up again in the things of this world, and we we come to out now, rebellion again, and we realize it and we we repent and we turn back to the Lord. So, Israel, when we look at Israel and how the Lord, uh some of the complaints against Israel here, we're looking at ourselves too. This is a picture of our hearts, the heart of man, and how really hopeless it is except for the grace of God, except for God intervening in our rebelliousness and revealing the truth of our hearts to ourselves and giving us the answer, giving us the gift of eternal life because of Jesus Christ's death on the cross. And that's how we're remained to be part of the family of God, as we're restored into faith with Him because of Him. The unfathomable riches of God's grace and God's glory that that we really can't fully comprehend and grasp, but we've grasped enough to understand that we need help, and he is our help. Amen. So, with that, let's get started in chapter 11. Now, because of that, say, I say then, this is Paul speaking. Has God cast away his people? Certainly not. They've rebelled, they've turned away, and he's upset because they just keep turning from him, but he hasn't. For I am also an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. I mean, he has not said, I am done with Israel, and anybody who is a Jew is just condemned. That is not what God has said. In fact, Paul here is an example of those that have come to faith in Christ out of Judaism. He is of the seed of Abraham, he is of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away his people, whom he foreknew. He knew Abraham, he knew Isaac, he knew Jacob, and he took their faith, their belief in him. Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness. That's what established the Jewish nation is faith in Jesus Christ. And what establishes us in the kingdom of God? Our faith, believing in Jesus Christ. And God knows those who will come to faith in him. And then he comes to this example of Elijah in the Old Testament. Elijah pleaded with God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars, and I alone have left, and they seek my life. And we'll look at a little bit of this story in just a second here, but Elijah felt like he was abandoned. He was the only one that was trusting in God out of Israel. Israel had gone total spiritual harlotry. They've gone after false gods. They went after the God of Baal or Baal or however you want to pronounce it. And he thought, and he's just overwhelmed by it. Lord, what are you going to do? And God's divine response, what does the divine response say to him? I have reserved for myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the kneel to Baal. You might think that you're the only one that's truly trusting in the Lord and in the gospel and having faith in him, and everybody else has just gone astray. But be in be encouraged, there is a remnant. The Lord is working in the hearts of people, and people are responding and coming to faith and standing boldly for him. Well, let's look at this story a little bit. It's from the book of 1 Kings. I really encourage you to go back and read this whole story and study it. You have Ahab, the king in Israel, who really is in Judah, right? He's the king of Judah, but he really came from Israel. And there's more backstory there. He's married to Jezebel. You've heard of Jezebel before. She's just the perfect picture of the Proverbs 31 woman, right? Not completely opposite. They influenced the nation of Israel, which it wasn't hard to do because they had fallen hearts and they loved to drift and they loved to feed their flesh. And they got the whole nation to go and worship Baal. And Elijah was coming and challenging Ahab and saying, Ahab, look, this isn't right. These are the people of God. Their name is Israel. God prevails. And not they are not servants of Baal, and you can't do this. I tell you what, you bring all of your prophets of Baal to the great mountain, and I'll come myself, and we'll each offer sacrifices to our God. And whoever, whoever takes that offering, whichever God receives the offering and eats it up, that is the true God, and the others will be destroyed. You've been wanting to kill me, this is your opportunity. If my God does not come through, you can have me killed. But if your prophets of Baal fail, if my God is the true God, then they need to be slaughtered. So Ahab sent for the children of Israel to be gathered along with the prophets together at Mount Carmel. And Elijah came to the people and said, How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him. If it's Baal, follow him. But the people answered not a word. I could just imagine just blank stares, because they they're really not knowing what to do with this concept. And the Lord even warns us, he says, You cannot serve both God and money, or God and mammon. You cannot serve both God and the things of this world. You gotta make a choice. And so all of the many prophets of Baal did what they could to put their sacrifice on the altar, and they called out to the God of Baal, and uh Elijah started to mock them a little bit. Call a little bit ha louder. I don't think he hears you. Maybe he's taking a nap. Maybe he's going to the bathroom and he's not hearing you. And they just, at the at a certain point, they gave up. And then it was Elijah's turn. And Elijah took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob. Interesting, he took these twelve stones to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, Israel shall be your name. He's coming and he's taking twelve stones with re which represent who Israel is. You had Abraham, you had Isaac, and you had Jacob. Jacob was a surplanter, he was a schemer, and he he wrestled with God. And he finally, you know, got the blessing of God, and God let him go, but he put his his hip out of joint, and now he says, Your name is Israel, which means God prevails. God is the God of Israel. And I'm putting these stones out to represent Israel, which is you, the whole nation that was watching this event take place. Then with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he made a trench around the altar, large enough to hold two sias of seed, two measures of seed. It was a giant trough all around. And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice that Elijah the prophet came near, and he said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that you are the Lord God, and that you have turned their hearts back to you again. With this idea that if we're left to our own devices, we will drift from the Lord. We will go our own way. We will be like the sheep that has gone astray, and we need the Lord to bring us back. Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood of the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. Now, when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and they said, The Lord, he is God, the Lord, he is God. They saw the power of God and they realized that they had gone astray in worshiping Baal, and they came back. And of course, the prophets of Baal were then slaughtered. Well, when Jezebel heard of this, she sent a message to Elijah saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow, about this time. You killed all my prophets, and now so help me gods, not just Baal, but she's calling upon all the false gods. I'm gonna get you killed. And if I don't, then may the gods kill me. And when Elijah saw that, after being so bold for the Lord and seeing the power of God fall, he had great faith. He he proclaimed the truth, he called out the lies, and and the Lord moved, and the people saw and they repented. And then this one lady threatens his life, and what happens? When he saw that message, when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life and went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree, which is like a shrub tree, like a juniper tree. And he prayed that he might die. And he said, It is enough. Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my father's. I have drifted away, I've gone astray. I point out how these people are just a rebellious people before you, and I wonder where are all the prophets that are standing up, and I'm the only one left. And now I've gotten scared by this lady Jezebel, and and I've run. And Lord, I realize what a failure I am. Just just kill me, just take me out because I'm not worthy. And during this same conversation is the time where um Elijah says, you know, I'm the only one left. And the Lord says, I've got 7,000 that have not bowed a knee to bail. And so often, you know, in our lives, the enemy will bring condemnation on us and say, You're not doing enough, you're just as bad as the rest of them. This is where we realize the grace of God and how big it is, and how much we don't realize what we don't know about the grace of God. That even in our failings, he is there with us. And even in our failings, as we're trusting in him, we are part of this remnant that is left behind in order to accomplish his purposes in proclaiming the gospel to the world, let alone to the nation of Israel. So back in our study in verse 5 here, even so then, at this present time, there is a remnant according to the election of grace. There is a group of people that have connected to God through grace. They have trusted in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. And they've been changed. And and and they are they're walking in it. And we may not be walking perfectly in it. I can guarantee we're not walking perfectly in it. But the one who is walking in us and through us and working through us, because we have we have surrendered to the Lord and and the Lord has come to make his abode with us, he is perfect, and he is accomplishing his will in and through us, and it's affecting others. And so it's not, you know, it's it's according to his grace that we are living. Now it's interesting. Let me take a little sidetrack here. I was looking up the word remnant, and in the uh the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, one of the entries for remnant said this: remnant has a special significance in the prophecies of Israel, as denoting a holy seed or a spiritual kernel of the nation which shall survive impending judgment and become the gem of the people of God, being blessed of God and made a blessing. This idea that a remnant of the Jewish nation would make it possible for all of the Jewish nation to eventually come to faith in the Lord. It reminds me of what Jesus said in John chapter 12, beginning in verse 24. He said, Most assuredly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it produces much grain. Of course, Jesus was talking about himself. He was that seed that needed to die. And because it died, it would come to life and bring life to many others. He would be the first fruits of many that would come and to find life and forgiveness in him because of the cross. Then he goes on to say, He who loves his life will lose it, but he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. This is part of applying that seed, being that part of the remnant. It's not about me building my kingdom here on this world. It's about me allowing the Lord to change me from the inside out. So I might even suffer a little in this world, but it's worth it for eternity. He put it another way in Mark chapter 8, verse 36. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul? What had happened to the nation of Israel? They have gotten so used to the things of this world, right? And and even the gods of this world, and they benefited from going astray. We benefit in a strange way by going in the ways of the world a lot of times. But it'll cost my soul. In the Jewish nation, at this point, Paul is burdened because uh he sees them uh heading down this path that's eternal, and he's desiring them to come back, and yet it's the remnant that will help that to take place. It's ultimately the seed of Jesus that would cause that to take place. Are you following? Even so, then, at this present time, there is a remnant according to the election of grace. There have been members of the Jewish nation that have come to faith in Jesus Christ. In fact, the the book of Romans was written to the Jewish believers in Rome, the church that was primarily uh Jewish, but it was also Gentile, and Paul will be addressing the Gentiles in just a minute. And if by grace it's no longer of works, unless grace is no longer grace. If it's a gift, it can't be something that you earn. It's not about following the law, it's about accepting the forgiveness that he gives you and the life that he gives you. But if it's of works, it's no longer grace. Otherwise, work is no longer work. Let's not confuse this thing. If you're trying to earn your way into heaven, it's not grace. And the only way you can get to heaven is by grace. So if you're working your way to heaven, by definition, you are not you're not entering in because you're not entering in by grace. The only way by which man can be saved. Are you following that? I just love Paul. If it ain't grace, it ain't grace. If it's grace, it's grace. If it's works, it's works. Works is not grace, and grace is not works. You got it? What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks, but the elect have attained it, and the rest were blinded. And this is not even a question, this was a statement. Israel has not attained what it seeks. What is it seeking? Israel is seeking God's approval through works, through the following of the law. And yet, we go through the last few chapters of Romans. Paul is play is spelling out the fact that, you know, you could try to follow the law, but you know, if you break one part of the law, you've broken the whole thing. So why do you keep trying to follow the law when you've already broken it? And you've got condemnation coming upon you. The Jews continue to try to live by works. They try to live by their own idea of how life should be in this world. But the elect have obtained it. Those that have have believed the gospel and have been changed, they believe it. They see the truth. Their eyes have been opened, but the rest were blinded. Why is it so important for us to be in the Word? Because this is the revelation of God to us. It shows us how far we are from the righteousness of God. It shows us the answer through the gospel of Jesus Christ. It shows us how to grow in the faith of Christ and to renew our minds, to conform ourselves to the mind of Christ. And if we don't saturate ourselves with the word of the Lord, what we do is we start hearing the other messages that come from the world, that come from the enemy, come from our own flesh that say, no, this is true, this is true. And we start believing a lie, and we're blinded to the truth. Just as it is written, God has given them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear to this very day. Kind of an allusion back to the example of Pharaoh, where Pharaoh hardened his heart again and again and again. God was showing his power to Pharaoh. God was giving Pharaoh an opportunity to repent and turn and accept the true and living God. But Pharaoh continuously hardened his heart, hardened his heart, and at the end, the Lord actually hardened his heart. Here the same way, if you don't want to listen to the truth, okay, go ahead. I'll give you that spirit of stupor, like you're sleeping, like you have no idea what's going on, and you're walking through the light, through the night, thinking that you're in the light when you're in the darkness. But the thing is, they have the ability still to turn, to recognize that they're blind and they're deaf. And we too have that. When we drift aside and we we begin to realize that maybe we're not seeing the Lord the way that we used to see him, the way that he revealed himself to us. We could come to the Lord and say, Lord, forgive me. I have drifted, I've lost sight of who you are. I'm not hearing your voice anymore. Would you open my eyes and open my ears to hear you? And your will be done, not mine, your will be done. David says, Let their table become like a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a recompense to them, their eyes darkened so that they do not see and bow down their back always. This was a psalm that David was writing as he was, you know, glorifying God with his life. He was serving the Lord, he was he was praising the Lord, and everything that he did was focused on giving glory to God. But the people didn't like that. People that are stuck in their sin do not like to see people that are glorifying God with a whole heart because they feel judged. Who do you think you are? And they need to stomp out that light. And they were coming against David, and David's saying, Go against them. This was people from his own nation. They were trying to trap them, and he's saying, Trap, you trap them, Lord, in their blindness, in their desire to live for the world and not for you.

SPEAKER_02 24:07

That's Pastor Carl of the Mountain Cross. We are a group of believers located in Waynesville, North Carolina. We simply teach through the Bible, verse by verse, chapter by chapter. If something you heard today in the book of Romans has you asking some questions, would you get in touch with us? On our website, we have a contact and prayer form that you can fill out. Just go to themountaincross.com and fill out the form. Someone will get in touch with you soon. If this ministry has been a blessing to you and you'd like to find a way to partner with us in the ministry, there's a donate tab on our website where you can give a financial contribution. It's safe and secure for you to give online. We appreciate any donations. Once again, the website to go to is themountaincross.com. The Mountain Cross meets every Sunday morning at 10 a.m. at Smoky Mountain Cinema. We'd be delighted for you to join us there this weekend. In addition to Sunday mornings, we host a Faith Film Night every first Monday of the month. This is a great way to connect with others in the community and to be immersed in content that is spiritually encouraging. To learn more, just search for Faith Film Night on Facebook, and we'll see you at the movies. Thanks for listening today. That brings us to the close of our program, but we look forward to the next time. Come on up to the mountain with us again tomorrow as we seek to learn more from the Lord through His Word. Come on Up is sponsored by the Mountain Cross, a Calvary Chapel fellowship.