WEBVTT 00:00:02.319 --> 00:00:07.200 The first time you read Romans 11, it raises a whole bunch of questions in your mind. 00:00:07.360 --> 00:00:09.759 Maybe today's the first time you've ever heard Romans 11 read. 00:00:09.839 --> 00:00:12.800 And Tammy blitzed through, and you're like, boy, there's just a lot of questions. 00:00:12.880 --> 00:00:14.320 I'm not sure what to do with all that. 00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:18.320 It reminds me of a time when I visited my brother while he was in college. 00:00:18.640 --> 00:00:22.000 He studied chemical engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. 00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:26.000 And I would go and visit and ask him about his classes, and he'd start to roll through some of the classes. 00:00:26.079 --> 00:00:28.800 He said, Well, I got calculus, and I'm not gonna ask you about that. 00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:30.960 And uh he said, Well, I got organic chemistry. 00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:32.479 I said, I'm not gonna ask you about that. 00:00:32.719 --> 00:00:34.240 He said, Well, I've got physical chemistry. 00:00:34.320 --> 00:00:35.840 I thought, that sounds simple enough. 00:00:35.920 --> 00:00:37.359 I'll ask you about that. 00:00:38.399 --> 00:00:43.520 The chemist in the room know that was one of his hardest classes, and he's like, Yeah, that was that was a mistake to ask me about this. 00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:45.200 So he tries to explain it to me. 00:00:45.359 --> 00:00:48.240 And he gets through about four sentences of explanation. 00:00:48.320 --> 00:00:49.600 I am totally lost. 00:00:49.759 --> 00:00:52.079 And he says, uh, okay, Justin, let me try this. 00:00:52.240 --> 00:00:56.560 I'll just read, like, from the syllabus the little abstract, like three or four sentence overview. 00:00:56.719 --> 00:00:57.600 He reads that. 00:00:57.920 --> 00:00:58.799 Not much help. 00:00:59.039 --> 00:01:00.240 Still don't really know what's going on. 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:01.679 He says, Well, it's kind of like this. 00:01:01.759 --> 00:01:05.040 And he tells me, gives me this analogy, which was reasonably helpful. 00:01:05.120 --> 00:01:06.719 I'm like, okay, I got at least an idea. 00:01:06.879 --> 00:01:12.959 And he says, actually, this thing we're working on, your iPhone wouldn't work without this thing happening the way it does. 00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:16.079 Okay, well, now I'm more intrigued than I was before. 00:01:16.159 --> 00:01:31.120 And he goes on, and I wouldn't say I totally wrap my mind around it, but I did grow to appreciate his intellect, that he could get it, and I grew in appreciation that it really mattered in the real world, and that I could understand some of it, even if not all of it. 00:01:31.439 --> 00:01:33.120 That's kind of Romans 11. 00:01:33.519 --> 00:01:43.760 You're supposed to grow an appreciation for God's intellect, he's higher than your ways, it really matters in the real world, and you really can grasp much of what's going on here, even if you can't get 100% of all of it. 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:45.280 That's the basic idea. 00:01:45.439 --> 00:01:52.239 In fact, uh in 2 Peter 3, Peter wrote and said, Our brother Paul is hard to understand sometimes in his writings. 00:01:52.400 --> 00:01:56.000 And I'm pretty sure he was reading Romans 11 when he wrote that. 00:01:56.239 --> 00:02:18.240 Um so if you're new with us this morning and you're uh just kind of getting jumped into the book of Romans, here we are in the middle of this book where Paul wrote to the church at Rome, and it's a church of both Jews and Gentiles, and it's a politically and a culturally and a religiously kind of charged atmosphere, and they're asking, how do we relate to each other? 00:02:18.560 --> 00:02:24.319 So sometimes Christians read Romans 11 and they're looking forward at like a future tense, what's God's plan for Israel? 00:02:24.400 --> 00:02:29.439 And that's very much a part of this, but for the first audience, this was a church unity question. 00:02:29.599 --> 00:02:34.080 How do we relate to each other as Jews and Gentiles in the same church? 00:02:34.319 --> 00:02:51.680 And what Paul's been saying throughout the book of Romans is many things, but one of them is that through the gospel you receive the righteousness of God, so that your primary identity is no longer an ethnic identity, but have you received the gospel, the righteousness of Christ, or have you not? 00:02:52.159 --> 00:03:02.960 He says that through the gospel, you are now secure in Christ, and you are no longer defined by your sin or by your suffering or by your circumstances. 00:03:03.439 --> 00:03:06.879 That's great news if you're in Christ, if you've received his righteousness. 00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:12.719 There's a new identity that is received, not achieved, is what we might say. 00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:27.599 What Paul's saying is if you're in Christ, you've been liberated from the rat race that the rest of the world is chasing, trying to achieve their identity and find a definition of themselves through their achievements or through their suffering or through some part of their circumstances. 00:03:27.680 --> 00:03:29.599 He says, No, you've got a footing in Christ. 00:03:29.680 --> 00:03:33.120 It's far more secure than anything this world offers. 00:03:33.759 --> 00:03:37.360 But then the question comes, well, what about Israel on the whole? 00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:47.439 If you're saying we have this secure identity in Christ, because all throughout the Old Testament, God's people, the Jews, the Israelites, they seemed really secure, but a lot of them rejected as well. 00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:50.960 And if they weren't secure, then maybe we're not secure. 00:03:51.280 --> 00:03:54.400 So if you've got your copy of the Bible open, that's a good thing to do. 00:03:54.479 --> 00:04:00.479 If it's not open, please reopen to where we were, I think it said page 890, somewhere around there, Romans 11. 00:04:00.639 --> 00:04:06.319 Um, but the last verse of chapter 10 is helpful to look at as we come to 11, just finding our bearings here. 00:04:06.479 --> 00:04:09.280 Here's what it reads: this is Romans 10, 21. 00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:16.000 But of Israel, he says, all day long I've held out my hand to a disobedient and contrary people. 00:04:17.360 --> 00:04:19.839 This is okay, Israel has rejected God. 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:24.160 The natural question, if Israel's rejected God, has God therefore rejected Israel? 00:04:24.399 --> 00:04:27.279 Look at verse 11 or chapter 11 and verse 1. 00:04:27.439 --> 00:04:30.160 I ask then, has God rejected his people? 00:04:30.560 --> 00:04:31.680 By no means. 00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:33.120 Emphatic no. 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:34.480 Really? 00:04:34.639 --> 00:04:35.680 Why is that? 00:04:36.399 --> 00:04:43.600 And what he's told us is that God's people are a spiritual people, not an ethnic people. 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:51.519 In other words, ethnic or political Israel is not the same as spiritual Israel. 00:04:51.920 --> 00:04:57.360 And yet at the same time, God is not done with ethnic Israel either. 00:04:57.600 --> 00:05:01.839 Now, how that fits together is a mystery, and they're going to explain some of it, and we'll get into that. 00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:09.839 But what I want to do is give you the main idea of Romans 11, and you might even say the whole of Romans 9, 10, and 11 could be go together in this one sentence. 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:12.720 Here is the main idea of Romans 9, 10, and 11. 00:05:12.959 --> 00:05:21.920 The whole history, the whole trajectory of human history is the magnification of the mercy of God. 00:05:22.639 --> 00:05:30.560 The whole trajectory of all of human history is the magnification of the mercy of God. 00:05:31.199 --> 00:05:34.720 God's plan in accomplishing this is remarkable. 00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:36.160 It is complex. 00:05:36.399 --> 00:05:39.439 It must drive us to worship as we get to at the very, very end. 00:05:39.519 --> 00:05:44.560 Paul wraps up the whole thing, and he ends in a song of praise. 00:05:44.959 --> 00:05:51.439 And so at the end of our service there, we're going to sing the doxology because that's how you're supposed to end when you get to the end of Romans 11. 00:05:52.720 --> 00:05:54.879 But there's a lot of explaining along the way. 00:05:54.959 --> 00:06:01.360 And so, what I want to do is I actually want to start with the application this morning before I do any explanation from the passage. 00:06:01.600 --> 00:06:04.319 What is the purpose of this in your life? 00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:08.879 It helped me when my brother said, This part of physical chemistry helps your iPhone work. 00:06:09.120 --> 00:06:10.720 That helped me get the dots connected. 00:06:10.879 --> 00:06:12.639 I want to do a similar kind of thing with you. 00:06:12.800 --> 00:06:16.560 Four words of application that we're supposed to take away from Romans chapter 11. 00:06:16.639 --> 00:06:18.079 Number one, zeal. 00:06:18.319 --> 00:06:20.720 Zeal specifically for evangelism. 00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:27.040 That God has a mind-blowing plan to save both Jews and Gentiles. 00:06:27.680 --> 00:06:29.680 That they would see his mercy. 00:06:29.839 --> 00:06:32.879 It would be magnified through it being proclaimed. 00:06:32.959 --> 00:06:45.439 And so to align your heart with God's heart is that you too would have a zeal for people to hear about Jesus who don't yet know about Jesus, that God's mercy would be magnified through your life. 00:06:45.680 --> 00:06:47.439 Number two, hope. 00:06:47.839 --> 00:06:59.360 Hope is one of the major applications of this passage, that God is working where you can't see it, when you don't know about it, and in ways that you cannot understand. 00:07:01.120 --> 00:07:06.240 And we often suffer from what I might think of as like a spiritual blurry vision. 00:07:06.480 --> 00:07:25.920 And through the scriptures in Romans 11, God gives us glasses to put on and to see, oh, I really am working, with the promise one day of a full LASIK surgery, where you've got 2020 vision again, and you can see everything that God was doing throughout history, even while we suffer from some blurry vision on this side. 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:28.639 It gives you hope to keep going, trusting in the mercy of God. 00:07:28.800 --> 00:07:45.439 Third application word: humility, zeal for evangelism, hope, but humility that we see in Romans 11 that God is bigger and more powerful and wiser and just far beyond our comprehension than even we can comprehend. 00:07:45.680 --> 00:07:50.800 Now that's kind of a mind-blowing thing to say, he is more beyond your comprehension than you can comprehend. 00:07:51.519 --> 00:07:52.800 Good luck figuring it out. 00:07:52.879 --> 00:07:55.040 I'll let you chew on that over a lunch today. 00:07:55.279 --> 00:07:58.000 But humility, let me just remind you of this, and C.S. 00:07:58.079 --> 00:07:59.439 Lewis is helpful here. 00:07:59.839 --> 00:08:04.240 Humility is not thinking less of yourself. 00:08:04.399 --> 00:08:07.920 It's not a constant self-deprecating kind of thing. 00:08:08.240 --> 00:08:11.279 He said humility is just thinking of yourself less. 00:08:11.600 --> 00:08:24.240 That your eyes, your mind, your heart is just drawn to something different, and you see that God's mercy has been magnified throughout the whole trajectory of human history, and that captures your heart, and that captures your mind. 00:08:24.399 --> 00:08:26.800 And I just have less energy to be focused on myself. 00:08:26.879 --> 00:08:28.160 That's what humility is. 00:08:29.439 --> 00:08:34.720 When God's mercy is magnified in your heart, that produces humility because you see that most. 00:08:34.879 --> 00:08:37.039 Fourth and finally, worship. 00:08:37.440 --> 00:08:40.320 Zeal, hope, humility, worship. 00:08:40.639 --> 00:08:51.440 When you see that the whole trajectory of human history is the magnification of the mercy of God, brothers and sisters, it drives us to a sense of awe and wonder and gratitude and falling down. 00:08:51.519 --> 00:08:53.360 You might even say bowing down. 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:13.279 They're bowing down in a proverbial kind of way, saying, I don't know what just happened. 00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:15.200 I don't know how you did that. 00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:17.279 I know I certainly can't do it. 00:09:17.440 --> 00:09:20.159 We'll probably never see a shot like that again. 00:09:20.399 --> 00:09:22.639 And it is worthy of worship. 00:09:23.600 --> 00:09:26.879 You see what God's doing and magnifying his mercy throughout all human history. 00:09:27.039 --> 00:09:29.519 The point is to say, God, I don't know how you did that. 00:09:29.679 --> 00:09:30.879 I don't know everything you did. 00:09:30.960 --> 00:09:37.759 I don't know if I'll ever get to see anything else like that act in my life, but it is worthy of laying all of my life down. 00:09:38.159 --> 00:09:44.240 Some 75 years ago, there was a preaching debate in some seminaries over in the UK. 00:09:44.399 --> 00:09:54.159 And uh the two schools of thought, one school, the preacher said, the job of the preacher is to fill the mind of the people with doctrinal knowledge so they can know who God is. 00:09:54.399 --> 00:10:02.000 And the other school said, no, the point of the preacher is to fill people with practical application so they can know how to live for God. 00:10:02.399 --> 00:10:08.960 And there was one preacher, Martin Louie Jones was his name, and he came in, he said, You're both right and you're both wrong. 00:10:09.519 --> 00:10:17.120 He says, the main goal is not to give information, nor is it to give application points. 00:10:17.360 --> 00:10:21.120 The main goal of a Christian sermon is that it would lead to worship. 00:10:21.360 --> 00:10:39.440 Because a lecture gives notes to be taken down, a motivational speech inspires you to get going, but a Christian sermon by the power of the Spirit changes your heart to say, I will fall down in worship, and I will not just in a proverbial sense bow down to a golfer, but with all of my life I will lay it on the altar. 00:10:39.600 --> 00:10:42.399 That is why Romans 12, 1 starts. 00:10:42.639 --> 00:10:51.759 Therefore, brothers, in view of the mercies of God, present your bodies, all yourself, as a living sacrifice. 00:10:52.639 --> 00:10:54.559 That's what it's supposed to lead to. 00:10:54.960 --> 00:10:58.480 Zeal, hope, humility, worship. 00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:06.320 Now let's get into explaining a little bit so you can start to see how it's supposed to produce those things in you. 00:11:06.480 --> 00:11:12.480 The key question of Romans 11, we already read, it's in verse 1, is has God rejected his people? 00:11:12.639 --> 00:11:16.639 Yes, they rejected you, 1021, but have you rejected them? 00:11:16.960 --> 00:11:17.840 11.1. 00:11:18.480 --> 00:11:21.840 And we'll see in four points how God answers that question. 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:26.559 The first thing he says is that God still has a remnant chosen by grace. 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:30.480 God has a remnant chosen by grace. 00:11:30.639 --> 00:11:32.799 This is basically the first 10 verses. 00:11:33.039 --> 00:11:36.559 Paul says, nope, we know God hasn't rejected his people, and he gives a few kinds of evidence. 00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:39.279 He says right out of the gate, he gives a personal example. 00:11:39.440 --> 00:11:43.200 He says, Well, I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham. 00:11:43.360 --> 00:11:47.440 So God hasn't rejected all Israel because I'm an Israelite and I'm following Jesus. 00:11:47.600 --> 00:11:48.799 Personally, you can see this. 00:11:48.960 --> 00:11:53.919 And then he gives a theological kind of example in the beginning of verse 2. 00:11:54.159 --> 00:11:59.039 He says, God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. 00:11:59.440 --> 00:12:01.919 Here we are back to the doctrine of election. 00:12:02.080 --> 00:12:09.600 To foreknow means not merely to know what someone would choose, but rather to love beforehand, to set his love on them. 00:12:09.759 --> 00:12:12.720 And so Paul says, God hasn't rejected his people. 00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:19.360 You see, in my own life, you see, theologically, we know that God has set his love on them and his promises will never break. 00:12:19.600 --> 00:12:24.000 And then he says, let me give you another example from the history of the Bible. 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:29.919 This is at the end of verse 2, and really through verse 4, he starts talking about this guy named Elijah. 00:12:30.080 --> 00:12:32.159 He's referring to 1 Kings 18. 00:12:32.639 --> 00:12:35.759 Maybe you're not super familiar with that section of the Bible. 00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:37.200 So here's the basic idea. 00:12:37.440 --> 00:12:40.639 Elijah shows up on the scene and he's a pretty wild dude. 00:12:40.799 --> 00:12:48.559 Like you imagine a guy with a duck dynasty beard, a guy with this, you know, kind of like a vest coat that's made out of like camel hair. 00:12:48.720 --> 00:12:52.639 He's got this giant like leather belt on. 00:12:53.440 --> 00:13:01.120 If it was like, you know, the 1980s in a movie, you would have him eating raw eggs out of a blender for breakfast, and you'd call him Rocky. 00:13:01.279 --> 00:13:03.120 Like he's just showing up doing wild stuff. 00:13:03.279 --> 00:13:04.879 He's raising people from the dead. 00:13:04.960 --> 00:13:07.440 He's working these incredible miracles. 00:13:07.679 --> 00:13:14.240 There are these false prophets from a false religion, and they're demanding child sacrifice. 00:13:14.399 --> 00:13:15.919 And so he takes them up on a mountain. 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:25.759 They have this epic throwdown where God calls down fire and Elijah kills on the spot 450 of these false prophets who are demanding child sacrifice. 00:13:25.840 --> 00:13:27.759 Like it's an incredible moment. 00:13:28.720 --> 00:13:34.000 And then the queen gets wind of it, and she's not happy at all. 00:13:34.159 --> 00:13:35.200 She's a wicked queen. 00:13:35.360 --> 00:13:36.960 She starts trying to kill Elijah. 00:13:37.120 --> 00:13:42.879 He runs for his life after the greatest spiritual mountaintop experience he ever could have hoped for. 00:13:43.120 --> 00:13:46.480 He's totally discouraged, totally distraught. 00:13:46.720 --> 00:13:49.279 He even prays, God, would you please kill me? 00:13:49.519 --> 00:13:52.559 It would be better that I would die than keep going. 00:13:56.559 --> 00:13:58.320 I'll just pause here for a second. 00:13:58.639 --> 00:14:03.759 Maybe you feel that way regularly, or perhaps today, or you did recently. 00:14:04.879 --> 00:14:08.720 Notice God intervenes in Elijah's life and he comes to him. 00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:11.120 And he's not mad at him for feeling bad. 00:14:11.279 --> 00:14:14.000 He says, No, let me come and show myself to you. 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:17.360 And what God tells Elijah is remarkably simple in a lot of ways. 00:14:17.440 --> 00:14:19.360 He says, Hey, Elijah, here's the first thing, buddy. 00:14:19.519 --> 00:14:21.440 Why don't you just slow down and take a nap? 00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:25.120 Sometimes that's the most spiritual thing you can do. 00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:26.320 Jesus did that. 00:14:26.559 --> 00:14:29.120 And then the second thing is he bakes him a cake. 00:14:29.360 --> 00:14:31.919 He says, Here, have a cake to eat. 00:14:32.480 --> 00:14:41.200 And then he reveals himself and he speaks to him and he promises Elijah is going to come and he invites Elijah to receive his grace. 00:14:41.279 --> 00:14:42.960 He says, Elijah, I'm still working. 00:14:43.200 --> 00:14:49.600 Actually, Elijah, you feel like you're the only one, and the king is going to kill you, and you're totally on an island, and God's done with you, and God's done with the world. 00:14:49.679 --> 00:14:56.480 He said, Actually, Elijah, there are 7,000 of my own prophets who have not compromised at all. 00:14:56.720 --> 00:15:00.480 I'm doing a work far greater than anything you could ever imagine. 00:15:00.559 --> 00:15:02.320 I have a remnant, Elijah. 00:15:02.480 --> 00:15:03.440 I'm still at work. 00:15:03.519 --> 00:15:04.480 I know you can't see it. 00:15:04.639 --> 00:15:06.159 I know you're totally discouraged. 00:15:06.320 --> 00:15:08.159 You wish that your life would end. 00:15:08.879 --> 00:15:10.480 I'm working, Elijah. 00:15:10.639 --> 00:15:12.080 Don't lose sight of it. 00:15:12.799 --> 00:15:17.919 And so Paul cites that, and you look at verse five, and here's how he continues on. 00:15:18.080 --> 00:15:23.840 He says this so too at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 00:15:30.080 --> 00:15:33.679 Sometimes we forget there's a remnant chosen by grace. 00:15:34.559 --> 00:15:39.120 Sometimes you get yourself in a difficult situation where living for Jesus is hard. 00:15:39.360 --> 00:15:43.919 Maybe you feel all alone at a public school and there aren't other Christians around you. 00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:46.000 Like, how do I follow Jesus here? 00:15:46.320 --> 00:15:49.759 Maybe you have a hostile work environment. 00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:52.399 It's difficult to follow Jesus here. 00:15:53.279 --> 00:15:58.639 Maybe you've just under been under all kinds of spiritual attack and you feel isolated and alone. 00:15:59.120 --> 00:16:00.320 What does God say? 00:16:00.639 --> 00:16:06.879 He says, So too, at the present time, there is a remnant chosen by grace, and I'm still at work. 00:16:07.279 --> 00:16:08.000 Let's keep reading. 00:16:08.159 --> 00:16:08.559 Verse 6. 00:16:08.720 --> 00:16:12.639 But if it's by grace, it's no longer on the basis of works. 00:16:13.120 --> 00:16:17.759 Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace. 00:16:18.720 --> 00:16:25.919 Boy, one of the things Paul wants us to see over and over is that grace is one of the most beautiful things you could ever see in all the world. 00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:28.080 Grace is beautiful. 00:16:28.559 --> 00:16:30.320 Would it capture our hearts? 00:16:30.639 --> 00:16:34.559 He says God's salvation is not on the basis of ethnicity. 00:16:34.879 --> 00:16:44.639 It's not on the basis of you being good enough for God, working hard enough for God, not on you being smart enough to figure it out among all the world religions and go choose God. 00:16:44.720 --> 00:16:46.879 It is sheer grace. 00:16:48.080 --> 00:16:51.840 Like we just sang, undesired, undeserved, unsought. 00:16:52.639 --> 00:16:54.639 God shows up in grace. 00:16:55.759 --> 00:16:56.960 And he always has a remnant. 00:16:57.039 --> 00:16:58.159 This is how God works. 00:16:58.480 --> 00:17:04.880 He's always doing something behind the scenes that we don't see about, always working in ways that we don't see. 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:12.480 And he says, even in ethnic Israel, there's a remnant, a spiritual remnant, that I'm doing something in. 00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:14.240 Let's continue in verse 7. 00:17:14.480 --> 00:17:15.359 He says, What then? 00:17:15.440 --> 00:17:16.799 What do we make of all this? 00:17:17.119 --> 00:17:19.440 Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. 00:17:19.680 --> 00:17:23.200 The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened. 00:17:24.400 --> 00:17:27.920 Now he doesn't answer the question fully here, but why were some hardened? 00:17:28.160 --> 00:17:43.519 In chapter 9, verse 32, what we're told is that the ones who were hardened pursued the righteousness of Christ, the righteousness of God, pursued a right standing with God according to works, not according to grace. 00:17:44.960 --> 00:17:54.799 So what this means for us today is that as Christians, there's absolutely no room for a sense of superiority in any way, shape, or form. 00:17:56.079 --> 00:17:58.480 You're no better than anybody else. 00:17:59.200 --> 00:18:05.680 There's no sense in trying to keep up the appearances, putting on the Sunday best, the Sunday smiles, the Sunday any of that. 00:18:05.839 --> 00:18:12.640 Just be who you are and say, I am just one blind beggar who stumbled in some bread and I'm handing off that bread to somebody else. 00:18:14.240 --> 00:18:25.680 Park said, for us to be a church that is saved by grace and shaped by grace means many things, but one of them is we can be quick to confess our sins. 00:18:25.920 --> 00:18:30.079 Not in a general sense, like, yeah, I'm a sinner, you're a sinner, we're all sinners. 00:18:30.319 --> 00:18:42.160 But you show that you've been saved by grace and shaped by grace by confessing specific sins, specific ways I've fallen short today and this week to one or two that are close to me. 00:18:42.319 --> 00:18:53.839 I'm reminded of the famous preacher, Charles Spurgeon, in London, who said, Hey, Christians, when somebody says something bad about you, when they believe terrible things about you, don't worry at all. 00:18:54.079 --> 00:18:56.480 You're a lot worse than they think you are. 00:18:57.440 --> 00:18:59.839 So don't sweat it if they think lowly of you. 00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:03.599 Christian, somebody else thinks lowly of you, you think lowly of yourself. 00:19:03.759 --> 00:19:04.960 Don't sweat it. 00:19:05.279 --> 00:19:06.880 You're worse than they think you are. 00:19:08.640 --> 00:19:13.359 Grace is a beautiful thing because your identity isn't shaped by what you do or what you don't anymore. 00:19:13.440 --> 00:19:16.559 It's by what Christ has done and what you can receive. 00:19:17.039 --> 00:19:20.799 This pushes us to a difficult question of what to do with our guilt, though, doesn't it? 00:19:21.519 --> 00:19:24.799 Because everybody in the world faces some degree of guilt, some more than others. 00:19:24.960 --> 00:19:26.960 Our consciences are wired in different ways. 00:19:27.119 --> 00:19:29.599 How do we deal with our guilt? 00:19:29.920 --> 00:19:33.680 Some try just to minimize it and push it away, say it's not that bad. 00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:44.240 Others try to numb it, perhaps through pleasure, perhaps through some form of drug usage or uh scrolling. 00:19:44.319 --> 00:19:45.759 I mean, that's that's the new drug, right? 00:19:45.839 --> 00:19:47.759 You just scroll it away. 00:19:48.319 --> 00:20:00.640 Others try and deal with their guilt through various forms of uh adopting their body image so that when I look in the mirror, the physical person I see, I can at least like what I see if I don't like what's on the inside. 00:20:01.279 --> 00:20:04.000 There's all kinds of ways we try to address our guilt. 00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:09.599 And what Paul is saying is here, the only way to really speak to your guilt is through grace. 00:20:10.160 --> 00:20:16.400 Sheer unmerited favor from Christ that you receive what you didn't deserve, and he gives to you. 00:20:16.559 --> 00:20:19.119 And God still has a remnant chosen by grace. 00:20:20.480 --> 00:20:21.440 And that's really good. 00:20:22.559 --> 00:20:23.920 He's not rejected as people. 00:20:24.480 --> 00:20:31.680 Here's the second thing he says not only does he have a remnant chosen by grace, he's working through Israel's rejection. 00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:35.440 Number two, God is working through Israel's rejection. 00:20:37.920 --> 00:20:43.920 The remarkable, remarkable part of God's plan is that even their rejection is part of his plan. 00:20:44.799 --> 00:20:46.400 So, verse 11, let's continue. 00:20:46.480 --> 00:20:49.359 He says, So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? 00:20:49.519 --> 00:20:50.799 By no means. 00:20:51.279 --> 00:20:57.279 Rather, through their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles so as to make Israel jealous. 00:20:57.519 --> 00:21:06.319 Now, if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean? 00:21:06.720 --> 00:21:08.400 So track the logic here. 00:21:08.640 --> 00:21:15.039 Israel disobeyed, so God brought salvation to the Gentiles, even though they didn't deserve it. 00:21:15.200 --> 00:21:17.519 And this made Israel jealous. 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:22.319 Not bad jealous, like uh, what's that song, like Winning Jesse's girl? 00:21:22.480 --> 00:21:28.079 Like, not that kind of jealousy, like good jealousy, like I'm supposed to have that thing. 00:21:28.240 --> 00:21:43.920 So the the principle, you might you might think of it this way: imagine you're on a family road trip and one of the kids in the back has the Nintendo Switch and starts yelling at the other kid, and they're being a jerk to them, and the parents realize that there's kind of look, kids, trust me on this. 00:21:44.079 --> 00:21:47.599 We always know there was always two people who were wrong. 00:21:47.839 --> 00:21:49.839 It was never just your sibling. 00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:52.160 Like we we know that as parents. 00:21:52.400 --> 00:21:59.519 But the parents look back at the kid who was wrong at the moment with the switch, and they take it away and they give it to the other kid. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:03.200 Which we also know was in the wrong and undeserving. 00:22:03.680 --> 00:22:05.440 And what is the first kid doing? 00:22:05.920 --> 00:22:07.039 That's not fair. 00:22:07.279 --> 00:22:10.880 And then they realize whether it's fair or not, I really want that thing back. 00:22:10.960 --> 00:22:13.279 So I'm gonna start doing what I'm supposed to do. 00:22:13.440 --> 00:22:14.880 Well, that's the idea for Israel. 00:22:15.039 --> 00:22:17.759 Like, well, we want that salvation. 00:22:17.920 --> 00:22:20.079 Let's be jealous of that, is what God says. 00:22:20.160 --> 00:22:23.359 And by giving salvation to the Gentiles, it makes them jealous. 00:22:23.519 --> 00:22:30.640 It drives them to belief so that they would then receive the blessing that they wanted to motivate disobedience. 00:22:31.119 --> 00:22:35.119 And so the Israelites' unbelief led to Gentile salvation. 00:22:35.279 --> 00:22:42.799 Gentile salvation led to Israelite belief, which leads to a greater blessing for the rest of the world. 00:22:43.119 --> 00:22:44.799 Now that's a complex plan. 00:22:44.960 --> 00:22:48.480 I think God's playing checkers and I'm stuck playing chess sometimes. 00:22:49.839 --> 00:22:54.960 But the idea of being made jealous actually has a purpose here. 00:22:55.039 --> 00:22:58.240 And I don't want to think about this for what it means for our lives today for just a second. 00:22:58.480 --> 00:23:00.240 Christian, can I ask you this? 00:23:00.880 --> 00:23:07.039 Do you delight in Jesus so much that it makes others in your life jealous? 00:23:10.160 --> 00:23:14.079 Like I want to have the kind of joy that that person has. 00:23:15.440 --> 00:23:19.119 I want to have the kind of contentment that that person has. 00:23:19.599 --> 00:23:25.839 I want to live with an open generosity of time, talent, and treasure that that person has. 00:23:26.559 --> 00:23:28.880 Because here's what I think happens. 00:23:29.119 --> 00:23:42.720 As the public square becomes more secular, then there becomes a pressure on us as Christians to not express our delight in Christ as aggressively or as uh openly. 00:23:44.160 --> 00:23:46.960 Like here's what this looks like, even you know, tomorrow. 00:23:47.119 --> 00:23:48.640 Hey, what'd you do this weekend? 00:23:48.880 --> 00:23:52.079 Somebody says, Well, we went and did such and such fun thing. 00:23:52.480 --> 00:24:00.160 Well, I tell you what, I had the opportunity to go to church and I was so encouraged by what God is doing through the people at Parkside. 00:24:00.400 --> 00:24:01.759 I just left it Sunday afternoon. 00:24:01.839 --> 00:24:02.960 I was like, Are you kidding me? 00:24:03.279 --> 00:24:06.079 Our God is so merciful, it was amazing. 00:24:08.079 --> 00:24:20.559 Now that's not the normal conversation, I don't think, but we're pressured to talk about the other things that are actually delightful, actually joyful, actually, actually life-giving. 00:24:21.279 --> 00:24:24.079 My mind goes to Paul and Silas in the book of Acts. 00:24:24.319 --> 00:24:24.640 Right? 00:24:24.720 --> 00:24:28.079 They're in prison, it's not a good situation, middle of the night. 00:24:28.400 --> 00:24:29.200 You still up, buddy? 00:24:29.279 --> 00:24:30.319 Yeah, I'm up, you still up? 00:24:30.400 --> 00:24:31.440 Yeah, I'm still up. 00:24:31.680 --> 00:24:33.599 What do you want to do? 00:24:33.839 --> 00:24:34.640 I want to go to sleep. 00:24:34.720 --> 00:24:36.240 All right, I've been trying that for a couple hours. 00:24:36.319 --> 00:24:36.799 What do you want to? 00:24:37.039 --> 00:24:38.160 All right, let's sing a song. 00:24:38.400 --> 00:24:40.880 Silas says to Paul, Paul, which song you want to sing? 00:24:40.960 --> 00:24:42.160 Let's sing by grace alone. 00:24:42.240 --> 00:24:44.160 And he starts quoting from Ephesians 2. 00:24:44.240 --> 00:24:46.000 And Silas's like, buddy, you just wrote that one. 00:24:46.079 --> 00:24:47.279 You're quoting yourself. 00:24:47.519 --> 00:24:50.079 And uh he's like, it's still a good one. 00:24:50.480 --> 00:24:55.039 And they start singing in the middle of the night with people around. 00:24:55.440 --> 00:24:58.160 And what's the Philippian jailer come to them and say? 00:24:58.640 --> 00:25:00.319 Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 00:25:00.480 --> 00:25:03.359 How do you have joy like that in these circumstances? 00:25:04.079 --> 00:25:12.079 Christian, do you delight in Jesus so much that it makes others jealous and they want to know about this Jesus who has shown such mercy to you? 00:25:13.279 --> 00:25:21.359 See, the goal that Paul's driving at here is as you receive God's mercy, you'd put it on display, and others would want to know about the mercy. 00:25:21.599 --> 00:25:32.240 But there's a danger along the way in freely giving this mercy as well, that the the kid in the backseat with the Nintendo Switch, he looks over to his sibling and goes, sticks his tongue out. 00:25:32.400 --> 00:25:34.799 No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, I've got the switch now. 00:25:35.279 --> 00:25:35.839 Right? 00:25:36.079 --> 00:25:36.799 That happens. 00:25:37.039 --> 00:25:38.160 Parents, that happens. 00:25:38.319 --> 00:25:39.359 Kids, we know. 00:25:39.599 --> 00:25:39.920 Okay. 00:25:40.160 --> 00:25:42.160 Verse 17, let's keep reading. 00:25:42.400 --> 00:25:43.920 Don't be proud, that's the point. 00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:45.359 Don't be arrogant. 00:25:45.680 --> 00:25:57.920 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, don't be arrogant towards the branches. 00:25:58.319 --> 00:26:03.920 If you are, remember, it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. 00:26:04.559 --> 00:26:07.839 So Paul goes to this horticultural example. 00:26:08.160 --> 00:26:11.599 I'm no horticulturalist nor am I master gardener. 00:26:12.160 --> 00:26:29.839 But apparently, what can happen with these olive branches is you can cut off one of the branches and then take a wild branch that doesn't go on the olive tree, graft it in, and the wild branch grows, and it actually causes the root tree to start growing even more. 00:26:30.079 --> 00:26:32.559 This really happens with olive trees in the Middle East. 00:26:32.640 --> 00:26:37.279 Like it's not a make-believe thing, it really happens over there, which is still kind of crazy to think about. 00:26:37.839 --> 00:26:49.599 So the olive tree is the overall people of God, and the natural branch is ethnic Israel, and the wild olive shoot that's grafted in is Gentiles. 00:26:50.319 --> 00:26:54.079 And God's explaining how He's working through Israel's rejection. 00:26:54.319 --> 00:27:01.119 Now, theologically, we need to pause here because there's a couple of really key things I'm not gonna linger on, but we need to at least make comment about. 00:27:01.680 --> 00:27:06.559 This section of the Bible clearly shows us that the church doesn't replace Israel. 00:27:06.720 --> 00:27:09.759 They're grafted into one tree, one people of God. 00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:19.039 It also shows us that the church is not this like parentheses within God's larger plan that God's gonna move on from. 00:27:19.599 --> 00:27:19.839 Right? 00:27:19.920 --> 00:27:28.079 So that kind of way of thinking, that the parentheses thing, if you've seen the left behind movies or read any of the books, that's kind of the idea that undergirds those. 00:27:28.160 --> 00:27:39.519 And that's not exactly accurate either, because what we clearly see is there's one tree, one people of God, and God miraculously grafts in the Gentiles into it. 00:27:39.759 --> 00:27:42.319 The application point that's being driven here is humility. 00:27:42.400 --> 00:27:45.440 Don't be arrogant, like the kid with the video game. 00:27:45.759 --> 00:27:47.839 Verse 20, Paul continues pushing this. 00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:54.160 He says, They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through your faith. 00:27:54.400 --> 00:27:59.200 For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. 00:27:59.440 --> 00:28:09.599 Note then the kindness and severity of God, severity towards those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. 00:28:12.559 --> 00:28:24.000 Now, one of the questions that emerges in Romans 11, especially from this section, is saying this Does this mean, Justin, does this mean, Apostle Paul, that you can lose your salvation? 00:28:24.480 --> 00:28:31.519 And the answer is no, it doesn't mean that, because the natural branches that were cut off never had faith in the first place. 00:28:32.000 --> 00:28:35.119 And the rest of the scripture helps us to understand this. 00:28:35.359 --> 00:28:42.480 Philippians chapter 1 and verse 6, Paul says, He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus. 00:28:42.720 --> 00:28:44.640 If he started it, he's gonna finish it. 00:28:44.880 --> 00:28:59.680 John chapter 10, verse 28, Jesus says, I give eternal life, I will never let it be lost, I am holding my kids in my hand, my sheep in my hand, and they can never be taken out of my hand. 00:28:59.920 --> 00:29:05.119 Romans chapter 8, Paul says, There is nothing in all creation that can separate us from the love of Christ. 00:29:05.359 --> 00:29:10.240 And if you're in creation, then you can't separate yourself from the love of Christ either. 00:29:10.559 --> 00:29:15.440 But the question still comes up: well, what do we do with people who make a profession of faith? 00:29:15.599 --> 00:29:20.160 They look like they're in the faith, they look like they're following Jesus, and then they walk away. 00:29:20.640 --> 00:29:22.640 It looks like they were cut off. 00:29:22.880 --> 00:29:26.240 And 1 John 2.19 is a helpful passage here. 00:29:26.480 --> 00:29:31.680 What uh this is precisely the question that's being answered in 1 John 2 and verse 19. 00:29:31.839 --> 00:29:40.319 And what John says when he writes that, he says, they went out from us in order to prove they were not of us. 00:29:40.720 --> 00:29:45.440 So they may have looked the part for a while, but they never truly had faith. 00:29:45.599 --> 00:29:49.519 What we're talking about here is the doctrine of eternal security. 00:29:49.759 --> 00:29:53.440 Perhaps you've heard it described as once saved, always saved. 00:29:53.680 --> 00:29:57.759 That is not a false statement, but it's not the most helpful statement. 00:29:57.839 --> 00:30:05.279 If you're trying to capture the whole of what the Bible says, including Romans 11, we would say once saved, always following. 00:30:06.000 --> 00:30:09.200 If you're truly saved, you will always be following Christ. 00:30:09.440 --> 00:30:13.759 It's not a kind of get out of jail free card where you can go live however you want. 00:30:15.279 --> 00:30:20.240 The fruit of your life reveals whether there's truly a root of faith. 00:30:20.640 --> 00:30:26.319 And some will say, yes, Justin, but I prayed a prayer when I was a kid, and I got baptized when I was nine years old. 00:30:26.720 --> 00:30:34.240 I would simply say, friend, the proof of saving faith is not sincerity at the start, but endurance over time. 00:30:35.039 --> 00:30:41.519 God is not saying you must be perfect and never sin, it's direction of your life, not perfection of your life. 00:30:41.839 --> 00:30:42.079 Right? 00:30:42.240 --> 00:30:43.279 So you got to get both of those. 00:30:43.440 --> 00:30:47.599 The fruit tells you what's in the root, and it's direction over perfection. 00:30:48.960 --> 00:30:52.720 You come all the way around and you're still wondering, perhaps, can I lose my salvation? 00:30:52.799 --> 00:30:54.160 It feels open-ended to me. 00:30:54.319 --> 00:30:56.799 Why does God give these direct warning passages? 00:30:56.960 --> 00:30:59.279 The book of Hebrews has them all over the place. 00:31:00.400 --> 00:31:04.480 And I think here's why we have many of the warning passages, including this one. 00:31:05.599 --> 00:31:11.839 If you are secure in Christ, his love for you can never be lost, your salvation can never be lost. 00:31:12.000 --> 00:31:13.519 Now that is theologically true. 00:31:13.599 --> 00:31:18.319 And if it is true, then what's one of the ditches we're gonna have to look out for? 00:31:18.720 --> 00:31:20.400 Passive Christianity. 00:31:20.640 --> 00:31:22.160 I said, I don't have to work at this. 00:31:22.319 --> 00:31:23.039