Lord, I swear there's no pain I know there's no danger In that bright world to which I go Welcome to this podcast from Faith Bible Church in Reno, Nevada. Faith Bible Church is a Christ-centered Bible teaching ministry dedicated to bringing the good news of the gospel to the whole world. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. And now, for this week's message from Pastor Alan Battle. Our scripture reading this morning is from Romans 11, verses 13 through 18. Now I am speaking to you Gentiles, and as much then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order to somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous and thus save some of them. For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? If the dough offered as first fruits is holy, so is the whole lump. And if the root is holy, so are the branches. But as 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, do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. This is the word of God. So we're continuing this week in our series in the book of Romans. So let's do a quick recap of where we've been so far. The writer, Paul, introduced himself as an apostle who was set apart for the gospel of God. An apostle is someone who is sent for a purpose. And Paul's purpose was to preach the gospel, the good news. And that good news, he says, was promised in the scriptures that were given to the Jews. Specifically, the promise of the Messiah, the Savior, who would come through the line of the greatest king that Israel ever had, King David. But although the gospel came through the Jews, it is now available to the Gentiles, to whom Paul was especially called to reach. One of the key recurring themes throughout the book is this constant interaction between the Jews and the Gentiles. So far Paul has been coming down on the Jews, but today we're going to hear some hard words for Gentiles as well. The thesis statement For his letter is found in Romans 1, 16 and 17. It says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also the Greek. For in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith as it is written, the righteous shall live by faith. He says the gospel is also for the Greek. He's using Greek here as a shorthand way to say all Gentiles, that is everybody that's not Jewish. This good news is the power of God to save people and that salvation can only be accessed through faith. First he demonstrates in chapters one through three the universal need to be saved showing that all human beings, Jews and Gentiles, are sinners and they stand condemned before a holy God. From the end of chapter 3 all the way to the end of chapter 8, he explains what being saved is. It's being justified. That is, being forgiven and having a right standing with God. Over and over again, Paul points out that the Jews have gotten it wrong. They've been trying to justify themselves through their privileged position as the chosen people. They've been trying to justify themselves through their own works. And they've been trying to justify themselves through keeping the law. But in doing so, They are trapped in endless bondage to the law, which leads only to death. Over and over again, Paul uses those errors to clarify the truths of the gospel. The truths that justification is through the grace of God in which He gives to anyone that He decides, whoever He chooses. The justification is by faith and not works. And the justification sets us free from the law and gives us eternal life. Chapter 8 ends with the glorious assurance that justification is going to keep us safe through time and eternity. Then Paul moves into this new section, chapters 9, 10, and 11 that deal with the problem of the Jewish nation. When Jesus entered into his ministry in the first century, the majority of Jewish people rejected him as their Messiah. It says in the introduction to John's Gospel that he came unto his own, but his own received him not. So what about all of God's promises to the Jewish people? We saw in chapter 9 that there is a remnant of Jews among the greater nation of Israel who haven't forsaken God and haven't been forsaken by God. Then we saw in chapter 10 that anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, Jew or Gentile. And then we saw last week that God has not forgotten his people, the Jews, but he continues to hold out his offer of salvation to them. In today's passage, in Romans 11, verses 11 through 24, we're gonna discover some jealous Jews and some cocky Gentiles. And we're gonna see what God has to say to both groups. First we're going to see God's purpose for allowing the Jews to wander from him. So we begin with another one of Paul's rhetorical questions. Look at verse 11. So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means. Rather, through their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. 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? So these two verses introduce and set up this whole passage that we're going to look at today. First is the question of whether Israel is irredeemable. Are they forever lost? Paul's answer is the same for this as all of his previous rhetorical questions. May it never be, by no means. Other translations say, God forbid, no. And he's gonna elaborate on this later in the passage. But for now, we are given the reasons for why Israel is in rebellion at the moment. It is so that salvation could come to the Gentiles. Jesus warned that this was gonna happen. He warned of it in several places in the Gospels. In Matthew 8, when the Roman centurion came in faith to Jesus, asking that Jesus heal his servant, Jesus foretold of this coming switch from Jews to Gentiles. It says in Matthew 8, When Jesus heard this, this incredible faith of the Gentile soldier, He marveled and said to those who followed him, truly I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you that many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The Gentiles will be welcomed in. And the Jews, who are the rightful sons of the kingdom, they're now banished. In Matthew 21, he gives them a parable and then a straightforward prophecy about the same thing. In the parable of the landowner, the Jews are the vine growers and they're given responsibility to tend the vineyard. But after they kill the son of the vineyard owner, he judges those unfaithful growers and he brings in new workers. And then Jesus cites Isaiah 6, the passage where it says the builders rejected the cornerstone. And then Jesus says in verse 43 of Matthew 21, Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him. The Jews were the builders, but they rejected the cornerstone. And in the book of Acts, this scenario of changing from the Jews to the Gentiles plays itself out five different times in the ministry of Paul. In Antioch, in the first missionary journey, Paul attracted some interest from the Jewish community, but it quickly turned hostile. So it says in Acts 13.45, But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him. And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, it was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you, since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life. Behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. And so the Lord has commanded us, saying, I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth. Same thing happened later in Iconium. The Jews caused such dissension that Paul and his team had to flee the city for their safety. And then on the second missionary journey, they were in Corinth. And again, they went to the Jews first. It says in Acts 18.4, And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks. When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, your blood be on your own heads. I am innocent, for now I will go to the Gentiles. Same thing happened again on his third missionary journey. And then finally, at the very end of the book of Acts, Paul was in Rome. He's awaiting his trial before Caesar. And he quotes the passage from Isaiah 6, the one that predicted their spiritual blindness and their stumbling over the cornerstone. And he declares this, Acts 28.28, Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles. They will listen." I think it's cool how this is how Acts ends and then the next book in the Bible is Romans where Paul is taking this message to the Gentiles. So look at verse 13 back in our Romans passage, Romans 11, 13. Now I am speaking to you, Gentiles. And as much then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous and thus save some of them." Paul reminds us that he really is an apostle to the Gentiles. But the better that he does his job of reaching the Gentiles, the better he can accomplish his other heart's desire. What was that? He told us his heart's desire was that Israel would be saved, that his brethren in Israel would be saved. The more Gentiles that he can bring into the kingdom, the more Jews will see it and be moved by envy and come themselves. And in the end, it's going to bring great benefits to everyone concerned. Look at verse 15. For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? Now, this verse would be easy just to overlook, and we do well, though. to pay close attention to it for a moment. This is one of those arguments that go from the lesser to the greater. And what's amazing is the lesser is nothing less than the reconciliation of the Gentile world. So what's the greater? life from the dead. What does that mean? It can't simply mean people getting saved because that's included in the reconciliation of the world. I believe what he's talking about here is the ultimate reversal of the curse. This is the restoration of all things when Christ returns and creates a new heaven and a new earth. That will be life from the dead. Death will no longer exist. So where does this life come from? It comes through the root of the Jewish people. Romans 11, 16. If the dough offered as first fruits is holy, so is the whole lump. And if the root is holy, so are the branches. So again he's arguing from the lesser to the greater. A little piece of dough used as an offering came from a big lump. And a little branch came from an established tree. These two metaphors are references to the chosen people of God. They were the originators of the gospel that began with the promises to Abraham and continued through Isaac and Jacob and finally through the Messiah who was promised to come through David's lineage. In Isaiah, Messiah is called the root of Jesse. Jesse is David's father. And in the book of Revelation, Jesus is called the root of David. God has not forsaken his Jewish root. He has just incorporated the Gentiles into that root. New branches have been grafted in. Now listen carefully. I want you to get this. I want you to understand this from this passage. There are not two peoples of God. There's only one people of God. And they all come from the original olive tree, from the original root. We are all children of Abraham by faith. So let's move into verse 17. But 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, do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember, it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. So we finally get to the part where Paul calls the Gentiles on the carpet. Don't be arrogant, he says. Arrogance is built into our sinful flesh. We all find ways that we can think that we're better than other people, can't we? When I was in high school, one of my friends moved from Reno to Fallon. And once in a while, I'd go there on the weekend to party with him. And the one thing I remember most about those days is something I'm very ashamed of now. It's not the partying, also that was shameful enough, but it was my arrogance. I really thought that I was better than those Fallon people. Here I was, a 17-year-old hippie, and I thought I was so much hipper and cooler than these country hicks out in Fallon. You know, if I could meet that 17-year-old self today, I would be sorely tempted to slap that arrogant punk. But why would Paul be warning the Romans against arrogance? against arrogance toward the Jews. I believe that Paul was fighting against anti-Semitism that was rampant in the empire at that time. But the roots of anti-Semitism go way back. The Jews have been a special target of persecution throughout most of history. Here's a report from a 4th century BC Greek writer. And it goes back to that stubbornness of the Jews that I spoke of last week. This writer says, the Jews have often been treated injuriously by the kings and governors of Persia, yet can they not be dissuaded from acting what they think is best? But that when they are stripped on this account and have torments inflicted on them and are brought to the most terrible kinds of death, They meet them with an extraordinary manner, beyond all other people, and will not renounce the religion of their forefathers. It's their uniqueness as the chosen people that has caused this animosity toward them throughout all history. Dick and Lynn's son-in-law is an Israeli Jew. And in a conversation that we once had, he asked me one of the most heartbreaking questions that I've ever been asked. He said, why does everyone hate us so much? I mean, he's struggling over this, why? Well, what's the answer to that? The short answer is, is that God is hated by Satan, and therefore God's chosen people are hated by Satan. The spiritual warfare is described in the book of Revelation. This spiritual warfare of Satan's hatred for God's people. In chapter 12, Israel is called the woman who gave birth to a male child who would one day rule the world with a rod of iron. That's Jesus. In that passage, Satan is identified as a dragon, and he desires to devour her child as soon as he's born. But he fails. The child escapes and is caught up to the throne of God. Then Satan is cast out of heaven and he furiously begins to attack the woman who is Israel. Look at Revelation 12.13. And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. And that satanic persecution was common in Paul's day and it remains common to this day. Now that the Gentiles have been grafted into that root, it extends to believers in Christ as well. That same passage in Revelation goes on to say this in verse 17. Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. We are the rest of her offspring. This should cause us to stand with Israel, not against her. So we continue in Romans 11, 19. Then you will say, you Gentiles, branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in, as if we're proud of that. That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief. But you stand fast through faith. 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. So he continues here to warn the Gentiles against being cocky. Do not become proud, but fear. Some read this as a warning that we could lose our salvation. That we could be cut off from the tree. But is this addressing individual Gentiles? I don't think so. Paul's already made the case that there's nothing that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Nothing. And Paul has just been talking about the defection of national Israel. And now he's talking about the Gentiles as a whole. Just as the nation of Israel had been broken off, so Gentile nations are also in danger of mass apostasy. It says in Jeremiah 12, 16 and 17, I don't have this on the screen. It says, and it shall come to pass if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, the Gentiles, to swear by my name as the Lord lives, even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then they shall be built up in the midst of my people. But if any nation will not listen, then I will utterly pluck it up and destroy it, declares the Lord. We've seen this play out in the history of the Western world. The church grew up to the point that all of Europe became known as Christendom. Whole nations became Christian. That doesn't mean that every individual in the nation was saved, but the vast majority of them had access to the gospel. But some nations have been cut off. Today, Europe is the graveyard of Christianity. Thousands of churches stand empty, or are simply museums today, or have been converted into businesses, or into housing, or even more alarming, into mosques. In England, attendance at mosques is expected to exceed attendance in churches by next year. And England is one of the last holdouts Christianity in Europe. In France, in Spain, even in Italy, the center of Catholicism, the faith is virtually dead among the majority of people. I believe that's what Paul means when he says that the Gentiles could be cut off. But I don't want to leave you with a bleak and hopeless picture of I want you to know that the church is flourishing among other Gentiles in Africa, in South America, in China. The church will never die. The gates of hell will not prevail against it. Back to our passage and back to Paul's main point in the three chapters of Romans 9, 10, and 11. That point is God is not done with national Israel. He says in verse 23, And even they, the Jews, 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 off 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? In an astonishing act of grace, God took wild olive branches and grafted them in to a cultivated tree. This is the opposite of what you would expect in horticulture. The wild olive tree in Israel is worthless, producing little fruit. The Gentiles were wild branches that bore no fruit for righteousness. But God has grafted them in, and now they are nourished by the eternal root and are bearing fruit for Him. But how much more appropriate Will it be for the original branches to be grafted back in? Now this verse, these two verses make it sound like this is a mere possibility, but we're gonna see as we conclude this chapter next week, that national Israel will certainly be grafted back in. So, what do you and I do with this teaching this morning? Well, the first and most obvious application is there should not be a hint of anti-Semitism among Christians. Even seemingly harmless jokes about cheap Jews should not be something that we participate in. Those kind of things lead to deeper resentments. God still loves the Jews, and he expects us to also. Secondly, we must not allow ourselves to become cocky. It was due to their superior attitudes and their arrogance that the Jewish branches were cut off. There's no place for that kind of cockiness in the life of the believer, whether they're a Jew or a Gentile. And although this passage does not teach that individuals can lose their salvation by becoming arrogant, We do need to fear nonetheless. Our arrogance will make us repugnant in the eyes of any Jews who observe it. It will turn them away from Christ instead of making them jealous and drawing them to him. Where does arrogance come from? It comes from judging others as inferior to ourselves. We need to realize that we are no better than anyone else. We forget the gospel when we become arrogant. We forget that Christ only died for sinners and we're all a part of that group. There's only one antidote for arrogance. That antidote is to follow Jesus. Our arrogance is destroyed when we begin to compare ourselves to him instead of one another. So I'm gonna close with this from Philippians chapter two, verses three through five. It says, do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only on his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus." I pray that this will be an increasingly true reality in my life and in yours. Let's pray. Father, thank you that your promises stand, that you will never forsake your people. Lord, thank you that you keep us safe in your love and that you will eventually call the nation of Israel back to yourself, that the world might see your glory through them. So give us wisdom, Lord, as we seek to call them back to you. Lord, we praise you, we thank you for the wisdom in your word that keeps us humble. Lord, we ask that you would fill us with your humility, that we might see your face and that we might be your disciples, that the world might be drawn to you. And we ask it all in Christ's name. Thank you for listening to the preaching of God's Word from Faith Bible Church in Reno, Nevada. We hope that it has been an encouragement to you and that the Word of God will fill your hearts and minds as you walk through this world. If you have been blessed by this ministry and would like to make a small donation to help defray the cost of this podcast, just click on the green support button at the top of the webpage. Thank you.