Amen. Let us pray. Almighty, gracious father, we, the people who walked in darkness, have seen a great light and we who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death upon us, the light has shined. Illumine now our dark hearts and minds by your word and spirit, we pray that abiding in Christ, the light of the world, we would shine according to his word. When he said of us, you are the light of the world. Amen. Let's stand together for the reading of God's word. Continuing forward in the book of Acts, almost done now. This is our second, probably our second to last sermon in the book of Acts. I'll be reading from verses 17 through verse 30 of chapter 28. Title of the sermon is The Fall of the Jews is Riches for the World. Please listen carefully, brothers and sisters, because this is God's holy and infallible word. And it came to pass, after three days, that Paul called the leaders of the Jews together. So when they had come together, he said to them, Men and brethren, though I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans, who, when they had examined me, wanted to let me go, because there was no cause for putting me to death. But when the Jews spoke against it, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar, not that I had anything of which to accuse my nation. For this reason, therefore, I have called for you to see you and speak with you, because for the hope of Israel, I am bound with this chain. Then they said to him, we neither receive letters from Judea concerning you, nor have any of the brethren who came reported or spoken any evil of you. But we desire to hear from you what you think. For concerning this sect, we know that it is spoken against everywhere. So when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both from the law of Moses and the prophets, from morning till evening. And some were persuaded by the things which were spoken and some disbelieved. So when they did not agree among themselves, they departed after Paul had said one word. The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our father saying, go to this people and say, hearing you will hear and shall not understand and seeing you will see and not perceive. For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing and their eyes they have closed lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn so that I should heal them. Therefore, let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles and they will hear it. And when he had said these words, the Jews departed and had a great dispute among themselves. Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him. And thus ends the reading of God's word. Amen. Amen. Please be seated. So first, let's recall together the eagerness of Paul to get started with his ministry to the brethren at Rome. Few things compare to that joy that fruitful mutual encouragement that we can have, trust-filled, the fellowship and communion of Christians. And Paul had this right there in Rome. But instead of diving into this good and pleasant Christian communion, Paul goes first to the Jews. His faithfulness to his calling, which we referenced before in Romans 1.16, this calling to his countrymen persists to the end, despite their persistent malice towards him in almost every city from the very beginning of his ministry. And when he first addressed the Jews, which we looked at a couple of weeks ago in verses 17 through 20, Paul could have been more direct. He was very meek with them. He could have gone all the way back to about AD 35, about 25 to 26 years earlier at Damascus, where Luke describes the first Jewish murder plot against Paul. And from there, he could have chronicled the decades of Jewish hatred and abuse from Syria, to Judea, to Asia, to Greece, to Macedonia. So his pattern of preaching first to the Jews continues unchanged in spite of what he's been through. And his meekness towards the Jews continues unchanged in spite of what he's been through. About Paul's humanity or his meekness, Calvin says, Paul's humanity was wonderful in that Though he had suffered such cruel injuries of his nation, he studied notwithstanding to appease the Jews which are at Rome, and he excuseth himself to them, lest they hate his cause, because they hear that the priests do hate him. He might well have excused himself before men if he passed over these Jews and turned himself to the Gentiles, for though he had continually in divers places attempted to bring them to Christ, yet they were more and more nettled and exasperated And yet he had omitted nothing, neither in Asia nor in Greece, neither at Jerusalem, which might have mitigated their fury. Therefore, all men would have justly pardoned him if he had let those alone whom he had so often experienced to be of just desperate pride. But because he knew that his master was given of his father to be the minister of the Jews, to fulfill the promises whereby God had adopted to himself the seed of Abraham to be his people, He looketh unto the calling of God and is never weary. He saw that he must remain at Rome, seeing he had liberty granted to teach. He would not that they should be deprived of the fruit of his labor. This initial love and commitment that God through Christ showed to the Jews, and now through Paul, also to the Jews, is really kind of a foreshadowing of the final fruitfulness of the Jewish nation, that God will bring them back He never has revoked his love and his promises to the Jewish nation. So here's some questions to consider along the way today during today's message. Do you understand the historical, spiritual, personal, and the transformational preaching of the gospel to others? That when you preach the gospel to others, you're going to go through these phases with them. Or are you prone to avoid the personal persuasive aspect of preaching where you bring the gospel message in contact with their own souls, their own conscience? Next, while an elevator gospel presentation is reasonable to have on hand that one minute means of presenting the gospel to people, oh, it is not sufficient. How long did Paul set aside to preach to the Jews in Rome? Do you see the importance next? Do you see the importance of knowing the Old Testament in order to preach the gospel? This is why we did a whole year in our Christian Instruction Hour on this topic, looking at the Messiah in the Old Covenant writings, being able to have the confidence to give that Emmaus Road preaching of the gospel like Jesus did. It's what Paul does. Can you give the Emmaus Road gospel presentation, not only of who Christ is and his birth and his life and his death and his resurrection and his ascension and his reign, but how the Old Testament prophesied each aspects of his earthly ministry. Next, do you see sluggishness in your soul toward Jesus Christ? I hope you'll listen today. If so, will you allow today's text to rightly warn you of where that can lead? It's for little people, middle people, and big people, young people, old people, all of us. Do you sense this sluggishness in your soul towards Jesus Christ? And if so, will you allow today's text to rightly warn you? You know, I've said before, we can just so quickly read ourselves as the good guys in the story. Next, do you understand that preaching and teaching the gospel is not just that which concerns Jesus, but it's also called the kingdom of God. We've seen this in multiple places here in Acts 28. And the way to think about this, another question you could ask is, are you able to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and the gospel of the kingdom of God as one coherent message? Do you see that Paul did not set these two against one another. These two were laid out as one coherent message, but it was necessary to use both descriptors to get an understanding of the fullness of what is being preached. And finally, do you have a biblical understanding of God's plan for the Jewish nation? Do you have a biblical understanding for God's plan for the Jewish nation in history, in this world, before Jesus returns? At this point, just by way of reminder, Paul has addressed the Jews of Rome. He's laid out before them his innocence, telling them he was innocent before both the Jews and the Roman authorities. And he's described how he had to appeal to Caesar, not because he had anything against the Jews, but because the Jews had brought these charges against him. And most importantly, the most important thing he said to them, he said, I'm in these chains because of the hope of Israel, which would have meant a lot to them. The concept of the hope or the consolation of Israel is all the way through, the Messiah being the hope of Israel, all the way through the Old Covenant writings. And really, he's in chains to specify it, because Jesus of Nazareth is the foretold Messiah of old. That's what he's saying to them. The Jesus that I have to tell you about, he is the hope of Israel. This is why I'm in chains for this message, because I bring you the message of the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah. So that's where we are. And today we move into the text from there. So what happens first, the Jews agreed to hear Paul. We'll look at that. And next Paul preaches to them from morning to evening, we're told. And then we see this divided Jewish response to the gospel. And then Paul declares Isaiah's prophecy is fulfilled in their unbelief. And then the salvation of God rejected by the Jews and received by the Gentiles as this major closing set of twin concepts that set the trajectory for all of church history from that day forward. And then the divided Jews depart, which also sets the trajectory for what we see happening in the world of Judaism to this day. So first, and then of course, reconsider those questions I've asked you once we get to the end. So the Jews agreed to hear Paul, listen to verses 21 through 23a again. Then they said to him, we neither receive letters from Judea concerning you, nor have any of the brethren who came reported or spoken any evil of you. But we desire to hear from you what you think. For concerning this sect, we know that it is spoken against everywhere. So when they had appointed him a day, took a couple of things to note here. The Jews here in Rome have not heard anything evil regarding Paul. So that's a pleasant providence that God provides for Paul. It's unlike what we see in many other cities, where not only was he met with immediate hatred, but Jews would travel from other cities to be there to provide more hatred. He's in the temple and the Jews from Asia attack him. So there's not a negative sense. God has protected Paul's reputation for these Jews in Rome. That's special. But they do say they're aware that Christianity is spoken against everywhere. And they give Paul an opportunity to explain this because they know he is an adherent to this new sect that is being attacked. So they wanna hear what he has to say about it. That is a good start. God has blessed him with a good start with these Jews. So much so that they set aside a day a full day in their schedule that they give to Paul, they work together, you know how it is scheduling, and they pick a day to listen to what Paul has to say about Christianity. Now, I'll tell you, that's a big deal. Think about people that you know, and you say, let's spend a day looking at the Bible and talking about Jesus. That would be hard to come by in today's world, wouldn't it? From unbelievers. So these Jews, God has worked in them. There's a significant number of the Jews who are willing to listen. And that's a beautiful thing that we see God has provided for Paul. So now we see that Paul preaches to them from morning to evening. Let's look at this text now, 23B, the last part of verse 23. Many came to him at his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the law of Moses and the prophets from morning till evening. So there's some things to note here. First of all, it says many of the Jews attend this preaching day. So there's really good news here that these folks are serious about learning about Christianity. Many of the Jews are curious and they show up, not just a few, and for a whole day. And where do they come? They come to Paul's lodging. Now think about this and compare it to past times. He was exposed, he was vulnerable in past times when he would be preaching, but now he's safer. This is God's providence again, it's his own lodging, and there's a Roman there guarding them. So there's some protection that God provides, and it's in his own space, which is gonna be a much different feel than being in the synagogue or being in the town square. So this is another blessing of God, and we see the influence that God has grown for Paul through these provinces to have him there in his own place. And that would have probably meant something to them to see this protected man in his own place, having an opportunity to preach to them. Next, the text tells us that Paul explains the kingdom of God. What does this word explain mean? Well, this is the facts. Paul is exhibiting to them the facts of the gospel. And this is where we get into the concept of the historical aspect. When we share the gospel with people is to tell them the facts of the life, the birth, the life, the death, the resurrection and the ascension of Jesus Christ and his reign and Pentecostal outpouring of his spirit, the historical facts. So they know the facts of history about the life of Jesus Christ. This kingdom explanation would certainly include the fact that Jesus is reigning and that he has a law and that he is to be obeyed. So the kingdom aspect of it presents these facts also. But he doesn't stop there. He goes on to solemnly testify to the kingdom of God. So for Paul, This meant he was a personal eyewitness. He saw Jesus face to face, which gave him the criteria necessary to be an apostle. And he would have certainly referred to the multitude of eyewitnesses as well. And he would have testified there to the truth of these historical facts that he'd laid out. The miraculous birth, the divine display of power in his life and the humanity, the perfect humanity of his life. His mistreatment by the Jews being turned over to the Romans for crucifixion, even though he was innocent. And then his suffering and his real death upon the cross didn't swoon. He was dead and he was in the grave for the time that was prophesied. And then his dead body was raised up. by the work of God the Father, and he would have told of his demonstration of his life afterwards, of Thomas touching him, of eating the honeycomb, of him coming in and showing his bodily resurrection, and then he would have talked of his ascension. And he would have certainly referred to those Old Testament texts about him coming to the Ancient of Days in Daniel 7, or his coronation in Psalm 2 or Psalm 110. He would have personally testified to all of these things and in a solemn fashion. Like this is a kind of courtroom word that's here. The solemn testimony word has as its root the martyrs, those who witness to the truth in a courtroom or otherwise. Now he goes on from there though. He doesn't stop with this intense presentation of the history of the events and his own testimony to the reality of these historical events. He goes on and he persuades them concerning Jesus. Now this brings in the spiritual and the personal aspect of the gospel. Remember, we've looked at Luke 24, where he talks about the events, and then he references, and the preaching of repentance and remission of sins. This is the spiritual and the personal aspect. We can't stop with historical aspect. We then go on and we talk about the cross as the only place where sins can be forgiven. We talk about repentance, the necessity of repentance, turning away from sin and turning to God. And that in the resurrection power, that's the only place we find new life. When God comes in the resurrection power and gives us faith, he would have explained to them the spiritual reality connected to these historical events. But it isn't stopped there. He goes on to persuade them that they need to take this personally. And this is important in our preaching for our children and for one another or in our daily lives. We need to ask people, do you see what this means for you? Have you believed these historical events? Have you seen that this is the only way to have sins forgiven and live a life of holiness to God? The only way to be delivered from darkness to light. Have you seen this? And have you confessed your sins to God? Have you engaged with God in this fashion? And then to seek to persuade them to do so. If they're willing to engage to you, what are the things that are keeping you from doing this today? Why will you not confess your sins to God and trust in Christ as your savior and as the Messiah of this moment? And hopefully, if God grants a good conversation, you'll get answers to those questions. And you'll be able to work through those objections with them. That's what it means to persuade. So you could see Paul, can't you, in that place saying, do you see Jesus is the Messiah? I've shown you the scriptures. I've told you what he did in his life. There's no one who ever did what he did. He is the hope of Israel. Will you trust him and follow him and obey him as your Messiah? Well, I'm not sure. Okay, all right, what are you not sure about? Let's go through it again. So he's there with them, and he's willing to give time and effort to persuade them. And they were willing to listen. But sadly, some are not. But happily, some are. Some are persuaded, and some disbelieve. And these are the prophesied apostates, the ones who disbelieved, and we'll see that in Romans 11, 17. and we know it from Isaiah 6, and that verse from Isaiah 6 we're gonna look at, it's used throughout the Gospels and in the book of Acts and by Paul in the book of Romans, where this apostasy was prophesied in the Old Covenant, along with the remnant Jews who would believe, and the subsequent reclamation of all the Jews who will eventually come to Christ. So when this happens, Paul tells these Jews that they are right now experiencing, he declares to them that you are demonstrating right now in your life, you who will not believe, this is you. He tells them, this is you. And he quotes Isaiah to them. And here's the text. The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our father saying, go to this people and say, Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive, for the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn so that I should heal them. Now bear in mind, he didn't jump right into this at hour one, right? This is after a full day patiently working through all of their objections. And probably what had occurred is that their objections at this point were irrational. He had demonstrated to them the folly of every one of their reasons not to trust Christ. And they still did not trust Christ. This is what it means. And this is an appropriate use of the word to be stupid. This is the literal meaning of the word. It's an irrationality where because of sin and because of pre-embraced positions and behaviors and beliefs, you are not going to allow certain things to be true. And that's what had happened to the Jews. And so Paul declares as a prophet, so he and Isaiah, they're kind of arm in arm here as brother prophets speaking to these Jews. And Paul, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, just like Isaiah, tells them that Isaiah's prophecy is again fulfilled in this moment as these Jews reject their Messiah. So every time the Jews were doing this throughout the course of the ministry of Jesus Christ, they were fulfilling this prophecy. And they had fulfilled it before when God destroyed them during the time of the Babylonian captivity. So this is something that was happening again. Now, just by way of quick reminder, Isaiah prophesied approximately from 740 to 680 BC, primarily to Judah during the reigns of Isaiah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, so four kings, warning them to repent and return to the Lord, and also declaring God's great mercy and hope in the coming Messiah. It's called the Book of Comfort in that section of Isaiah. So God calls them to repent and warns them of the judgments, and then he says, but look, look, the hope of Israel, look, the Messiah is coming. So many of our Christmas themes come from the book of Isaiah. So let's look now a little bit more closely at the context of this Isaiah quote from Isaiah 6. So I want you to note when I read this that it is received by Isaiah during his vision of the Lord on his throne. We've all, it's a very familiar verse to us where he sees the Lord high and lifted up on his throne. So this is when Isaiah receives this. So this quote, look at it, it is the divinely commanded content of his preaching to the wayward Jews of that time after his intense calling by God. That's pretty interesting, isn't it? Go and preach and tell them you're not gonna listen to me. That's his message. That's the heart of his message. It's so bad that God has said for me to tell you that I'm here to tell you you're not gonna listen. That's how bad it was. But there was a remnant, and we'll see that too. Isaiah is to preach this message, how long? until the land is utterly desolate, but we see that God will preserve a Jewish remnant. And these same themes are true in the time of the New Testament that we're looking at in Acts 28. So I'm gonna read verses one through 13. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne high and lifted up, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim, each one had six wings. With two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, And with two, he flew and one cried to another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out and the house was filled with smoke. So I said, woe is me, for I am undone because I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. For my eyes have seen the king, the Lord of hosts. Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal, which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it and said, behold, this has touched your lips. Your iniquity is taken away and your sin purged. Also, I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send and who will go for us? Then I said, here am I, send me. And he said, Go and tell this people, keep on hearing, but do not understand. Keep on seeing, but do not perceive. Make the heart of this people dull and their ears heavy and shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and return and be healed. Then I said, Lord, how long? And he answered, until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant, the houses are without a man, The land is utterly desolate. The Lord has removed men far away and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. But yet a tenth will be in it and will return and be for consuming as a terebinth tree or as an oak whose stump remains when it is cut down. So the holy seed shall be its stump. We see this is where this prophecy comes from. And we see the context of it, Isaiah being the first prophet who delivered this message. We see Jesus also, and we see Paul as well, bringing the same message to a people with similar sluggish and apostate hearts. So let's look at the details of the fulfilled prophecy at the time of Paul. So the Jews have heard and even seen the Messiah, listened to his teaching, been made aware of the truth of God from the lips of the Messiah himself, but they have not understood or perceived Jesus of Nazareth as the Son of God in spite of seeing his miracles. The Jews have calloused souls. That's how you want to think about this word. They have calloused souls that have waxed fat. That's how the King James says it. Dull hearts is to wax fat with earthly desires. So that's the connection here. A dull heart, a stupid heart is connected to just waxing fat for earthly, worldly thinking, making them unwilling to hear the truth, making them into like beasts, stupid, senseless, and entirely sluggish toward the gospel message about Jesus and the kingdom of God. And so they were broken off. And you too can be broken off if you do the same thing. And this is what we'll see in Romans 11. Thus the Jews in general reject God's salvation and have no path to repentance. They have no way to turn back. This turning that's here, they have no turning available. There's no path of repentance available to them. So therefore there's no way for them or their land or their people to be healed. And God had warned them about the same thing about 800 years earlier when he gave this prophecy to Isaiah. They know this. Think about how dull they have to be. How dull are you? How often do you do the same thing over and over again in spite of knowing? So I want us to see here, note this please, that this dullness of mind concept, it's not just by accident. It's not just because, you know, they're not very smart. No, it is because it is connected to a life that's choked by worldly desires and worldly aims and a focus on things that are not of heaven. It's very important. making them mindful of the things of earth, not the things of heaven. This is how Jesus rebuked Peter, when he said, no, Lord, you cannot go and be killed and crucified. And Jesus said, get thee behind me, Satan. You are mindful of the things, not of heaven, but of earth. So that's what's happening. That's what's happened to these Jews. And it has made them dull and unwilling to listen. And it happens to us too, when we let ourselves get choked out by the cares and concerns of this world. Now I want you to see also that this is nothing new. Paul didn't bring this in for the first time. This concept of Jewish deadness of soul from Isaiah 6 is also quoted in every single one of the Gospels. And it is applied by the writer in each case to explain why the Jews reject Jesus. and also in the Synoptic Gospels, why Jesus chose to speak in parables. So in the Synoptic Gospels, in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, you can see the references there in your notes, when the parable of the sower is delivered by Jesus, he quotes this text to tell his disciples why he preaches in parables. Because the Jews are dull and sluggish of heart. It's a mystery to them. They won't understand it. but the understanding of the parables is given to those whom God has appointed for eternal life. And John references this particular text from Isaiah 6 in a different way, in chapter 12, in reference to the Jewish unbelief that occurs even after witnessing Jesus' miracles. See, God the Father in heaven displayed something that had never taken place in the power of Jesus Christ. to heal and to do miracles like he did. And to disbelieve that is evidence of their sluggish hearts, their preconceived notions. It's like Jesus said, they'll see the dead raised and not believe. Don't think that it's miracles that are able to get you to believe. But do think this, if you refuse to see miracles, it's evidence of how lost you are. We've gotta have the real miracle, the first miracle of the new birth. being born again from above to have eyes to see. Paul had alluded to the concepts as well about four years earlier in his epistle to this very church at Rome. So Paul has already brought this idea up and you can't help but wonder if maybe some of the church members were also present as a part of this conversation, maybe listening in as well. So this wouldn't have been new to them And this is in chapter 11 where Paul explains the past, present, and future for the nation of Israel. And you have to be careful when you read chapter 11 to distinguish between national Israel and spiritual Israel in chapter 11 of Romans. Because Israel as the church is certainly replaced now with the church. It's no longer limited to the nation of Israel. But national geopolitical Israel is a different consideration. Romans 11, 8, Paul wrote, 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. So the people of Israel who were like this are falling away. And I can't help but wonder as well, whether these Jews, it's been, like I said, three or four years, maybe they've heard some of these ideas from the Christians there at Rome, because they had received the letter from Paul. They had read it. And they may have had similar types of conversations with these Jews. And perhaps even some of them had been brought along to the point of believing through the preaching of the Jews there at Rome. So next we see the salvation of God projected by the Jews and received by the Gentiles. And this is two sides of the same coin. The text says, therefore, let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles and they will Hear it. So Paul clearly here connects the Jewish rejection of the gospel with the sending of the gospel to the Gentiles. And this is referenced by Paul in Romans 11. Listen to how Paul puts it when he wrote more fully in the book of Romans. Verses 11 through 24. I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? He's talking about the Jews. Certainly not. But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. So what he's getting at there is they're not completely rejected, there's a remnant, okay? Next, now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness? So that's where I got the title of the sermon. Their failure, their fall is riches for the world, and their failure is riches for the Gentiles. How much more their fullness, and that's pointing to the future. when they're brought back in. Hasn't occurred yet. Now going on, for I speak to you Gentiles and as much as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry. If by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. So the idea is these Jews that are running away and denying Jesus, maybe they'll see the Gentiles coming into the kingdom and be drawn to Christianity. Verse 15, for if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, What will their acceptance be but life from the dead? So you see Paul contrasting the blessing to the world as a result of their falling away, but even more so the blessing to the world when they are accepted, when they are grafted back in in the future. And he calls it life from the dead. I preached extensively on this and we went through Romans 11 and I do again commend to you John Murray's commentary on Romans 11. Verse 16, for if the first fruit is holy, the lump is also holy, and if the root is holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches were broken off, and you being a wild olive tree were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. So he's talking to the Gentiles. He says, look, yeah, the Jews, some of them were broken off, and you were grafted in as a wild olive tree. You get that, kids? So we're Gentiles, and we're experiencing being grafted in. And you know, when you're grafted in, you get the marrow from the vine, just like the original one does. But don't boast against the branches. And he goes on, he says, if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, branches were broken off that I might be grafted in. Well said, that is true. So again, we see the connection between the rejection of the Jews and the acceptance of the Gentiles. The picture here is when you look at this tree, it's like, okay, we gotta break off one branch to find root for the grafted in branches. Well said, because of unbelief they were broken off and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. That's a message for us today. Therefore, consider the goodness and severity of God on those who fell severity, but toward you, goodness, if you continue in his goodness. See, the Jews did not. They were in his goodness for a time and then they abandoned it. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut out of the olive tree, which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will those who are natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree? So if you Gentiles were cut out of the original Jewish tree, okay, and were grafted contrary to your nature into this cultivated Jewish tree, you were taken out of a wild tree and put in a cultivated tree, that's you and me. we should expect that these natural branches would even more so be grafted back into their own tree. And there was a lot of that, there was a good bit of that fruit that did occur with Jews coming to Christ. Paul, an example, the disciples as examples. So there was definitely a remnant of Jews. But what about the future of the Jews? What about the future of the Gentiles at this point in time? What has happened in civilization since that time? Christianity has taken over the world since that time. That's what's happened. Christianity is everywhere in the earth now, and it is proliferating still as we preach the gospel and as the Holy Spirit works in the hearts and the minds of his people. There's a great book by Kevin Swanson on this topic that just goes through the history of the church step by step and shows the expansion of the gospel through all the nations of the earth. This is what has happened. But what about the Jews? What about the Jews? Well, it hasn't been a similar story for the Jews, sadly. There are ministries to Jews. And there's success in these ministries, but by and large, like you look at the nation of Israel now, there's few places that are more hostile to the preaching of the gospel than the nation of Israel. There's few nations, think about it, these are God's people that he promises to engraft back in someday, and they will not allow Christian missionaries to preach and teach there. There's some limited liberty for Christians, but they do not accept missionaries to come in as missionaries to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. So may that change, that'll be part of how we can pray today for the Jews. So what happens here at the end is the Jews who are divided, they depart. The text says, when he had said these words, the Jews departed and had a great dispute amongst themselves. So even the Jews who believed at this point didn't stay with Paul, they left. They stayed with the Jews and they're fighting amongst themselves and they're having a dispute, an argument, a disagreement over the things that they've learned from Paul. So we need to see that this division amongst the Jews serves as the starting place for understanding church history as it pertains to the Jews. Unlike the Gentiles, where the gospel message has proliferated throughout the world in such great fruitfulness, this has not happened so much amongst the Jews. God has preserved a remnant of believing Jews throughout time, even as the bulk of the Jews over history have rejected their Messiah. And I want to say this, the Talmudic Judaism that's in place now is a wicked, evil distortion of biblical Judaism. It is not true Judaism, okay? There are things in the Talmud that are wicked and speak of Jesus and his people in ways that cannot even be spoken aloud. So there's been a great distortion, and it's to be expected, right? You reject your Messiah, What do you think is going to happen to your thinking over time if you double down, triple down, generation after generation after generation, hardening your heart against your true Messiah? So those folks are so far gone that they really don't have a claim to true Judaism at this point in time. But in due time, God knows, in history, I believe the Bible teaches us that the Jewish nation will be saved, brought to faith and obedience toward God in Christ Jesus. Paul speaks of this, I believe, in these verses from Romans 11, moving on, verses 25 to 36. For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. So he wants them to understand that the blindness is partial and the blindness is temporary. The blindness is not to every Jew and the blindness is not forever. The timeframe that he sets there is until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. So there's going to be a work of God, he's telling them in the future, throughout the whole world, that so many Gentiles have come into the kingdom that it's gonna be called the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. There's a lot of debate about that. what that means. But anyway you put it, it means a lot of Gentiles over the whole world coming to Christ at the very least. It goes on. And what's going to happen then is that that blindness, that partial blindness, that temporary blindness is going to begin to come to a close at that point in time. And so all Israel will be saved as it is written, the deliverer will come out of Zion and he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob for this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins. So there's a time coming when Jesus Christ from heaven working so mightily in the people of Israel that he will turn those people away from ungodliness. He will turn the true Jews away from this wicked ungodliness that they are currently living in. So he promises because this is that his covenant with them, the promise that he's made to them going on verse 28 concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. So that's what that was true then. And that is still true now concerning the gospel. They are, they are your enemies, but concerning the election, they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. So there are promises to the nation of Israel that do set them apart as a different kind of enemy towards God's church right now. Verse 29, for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. So God has made a promise to this nation, to these people, and I believe too also for this land that he promised to them, that he is going to give it back to them in the future in Christ. as they worship Jesus Christ and proclaim Him and follow Him as their Messiah. For as you were once disobedient to God, yet now have obtained mercy through their disobedience. So you see, the Gentiles have received mercy because the Jews were disobedient. And now he flips it around, he says, even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you, they also may obtain mercy. That means you and me and other Gentiles, Christians throughout the world, are gonna be bringing the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and the kindness of the true people of God to the nation of Israel in a way with prayers and service that God's going to use in due time to bring them back to the Lord Jesus Christ, where they will say he is our Messiah. We were wrong. For God has committed them all to disobedience that he might have mercy on all. Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out. For who has known the mind of the Lord or who has become His counselor? Or who is first given to Him and it shall be repaid to Him. For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. So I hope that today's message from this text has stirred your consideration of these questions. which I'll go through again. Do you understand the historical, spiritual, personal aspect of teaching and preaching the gospel to others? Or are you prone to avoid the personal persuasive aspect of teaching? And I'll say this, the transformational aspect of preaching the gospel, the changes that we go through, that's a part of the preaching when we present the gospel to people. And it's connected to kingdom thinking. We've probably all got our four spiritual laws type gospel presentation handy. But right now, could you teach and preach for a day from the Old Testament and demonstrate the Old Testament's prophesying of the miraculous birth and the divine life and perfect human life of Jesus and his innocence, and yet he was murdered on a Roman cross. His resurrection, his ascension. Could you do that from the Old Testament, back and forth with the New Testament? Studying the Old Testament, is this a part of your life, considering these things? I think that Sunday school that we did is worth looking through from time to time, going through those scriptures again, referencing them in your mind. Next, as you've listened to today's sermon, you see sluggishness in your soul towards Jesus Christ. What this means is just a general lack of hunger. Do you see just a general, and this is from the youngest to the oldest, do you see just a general lack of hunger to know God in your life? If so, can you see that probably it's associated with too much worldly mindedness and not enough heavenly mindedness, too much focus on worldly pleasures and stability and not enough focus on God's kingdom and his glory and his name being advanced. And if that's the case, I hope that you have allowed today's text to rightly warn you off of that path. And, you know, if you don't know what's going on in your life, but you do sense this coldness of heart, talk to me, talk to other Christians. Let's pray together. Let's go through this together and try to kindle together the Holy Spirit's fire in one another's hearts. Next, are you able to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and the gospel of the kingdom of God as one coherent message? Do you think, do you see that preaching the things concerning Jesus, if you do that, you cannot exclude the nature of God's kingdom from that. because he is the risen reigning king and he has a kingdom with an unlimited jurisdiction and every soul is brought under it and all men everywhere are commanded to repent and his holy law and his word is the standard by which we will all be judged. It's a kingdom mentality when we preach the gospel. Once we were in the kingdom of darkness and death, the kingdom of the devil. and we've been transferred into the kingdom of light and life and power. So often leaving out the kingdom leaves out all of who Jesus is, if we're not careful. You've heard me mention it before, this idea of a truncated gospel that is so prevalent in our world today, for we don't treat Jesus Christ as the risen reigning sovereign of everything. and we don't grant his word every jot and tittle from Genesis to Revelation. So all of God's word to govern all of life. That has to be our mentality when we preach the gospel to someone. We need to explain to them what they're being called out of and what they're being called into through grace. It's an epic adventure of glory that people are being brought into. It's not just, oh, I'm forgiven of my sins and I'm gonna live forever. that we have to have that as a part of the preaching. But brothers and sisters, we've been brought into this epic, glorious process whereby God is reconciling all things to his son. And we're part of it. So we leave that out. We present Jesus as less than he is and salvation as less than it is. Next. And finally, do you have a biblical understanding of God's plan for the Jewish nation. And attached to this, does this impact your prayers for the nation of Israel? It should give us great hope in praying for them. You know, there's only a couple of other nations that are listed in scripture as having some kind of future hope like that. And I'll tell you one thing, one of them is not the United States of America. There is no future promise like that for our nation. Maybe God will do that. Maybe he won't, maybe we'll be lost in the dust heap of history like so many other nations. But Israel has a future, a promised future. So may we remember these things as we pray, especially in today's world as we bump into, there's so many things going on right now about Jewish activities in America and American history and lots of ideas that are out there. Replacement theology is not accurate. So have a biblical understanding of the nation of Israel. Allow that to impact your understanding of what you hear in the news, what you might see here and there talking to people. Don't give way to unbiblical thinking towards the Jewish nation, the Jewish people. Pray for them. They are God's elect, and I believe he's going to save that nation unto himself. Almighty and gracious Heavenly Father, bless us, we pray, Lord, to be like Paul, to be like the Jews who believed, to have faith towards you. Lord, protect us, we pray, from being stupid and sluggish. Protect us from the inaccuracies in our world today about the Jewish nation, that we would not give way to extremes, that we are to applaud them and praise them no matter what, or that we're to hate them and speak ill of them no matter what. No, Lord, bless us to have your understanding of the Jewish nation and what you are going to do there, Lord. Bless these, our fellow human beings, our neighbors in the neighborhood of humanity there in Israel. And we ask you now, Father, that you would save them. and through a glorious work of your spirit to bring a great revival amongst the Jewish nation to where they would call out and say, Jesus is our Messiah. In his name we pray, amen.