Patterns of Salvation & Redemption - Romans 11:1-32
SERMON TRANSCRIPT
How are you guys doing this morning? Doing good? For those doing the Sabbath practice, how's your Sabbath going? Are you resting well? Are you able to find some time to delight in something this week? And I see some thumbs up, that's good. I'm trying to do that. I'm trying to rest well, trying to Sabbath well. I wanna give you guys an update on the Snyder family as you've probably saw Pastor Chris is here. No baby yet, continue in praying as this is, yeah, just the time where we want baby to be here. So please, please continue to pray for Lauren, the whole Snyder family, but yes, and I'm sure in the coming days, we're praying that something will happen. And I also want to let you know that we have a meal train being set up, and so there's a sign up, a physical sign up sheet in the back. If you would like to sign up, we're actually gonna make that digital, and we're gonna send out an email probably tomorrow or Tuesday. So if you, you can sign up there and I'll put you on the digital version, or if you just want to wait, but we just want to bless and support our pastor and their family in that way. So be sure to look at that on your way out. Alrighty, anyone feel, this is just me maybe, anyone feel like they came to a Sunday super rushed and life is just going a thousand miles an hour? Is that anyone? Yeah, okay, I see some. Maybe you're hearing like, man, I am well in my resting phase and it is Sunday on the weekend and I am just grooving. That's great. I'm on the thousand miles an hour, like life is just going. So I'm just ready to breathe and slow down and dive into some scripture today.
Today we're just gonna continue in Romans. We are just gonna be going Romans, Romans, Romans. I hope you are enjoying it and not being dulled to what is happening here, but our each week, our prayer that it's engaging and that God is speaking to you in some new way. So we are going to be in chapter 11 today. Paul in this section is wrapping up his conversation about the fate of Israel. For the last nine, 10 and 11, those chapters, He's been talking about and laying out this argument, and it hasn't necessarily been easy to comprehend, but this argument of what is happening to Israel. Remember that Paul himself is a Jew. He's a Jew that punished and persecuted the early church. He was a high ranking Pharisee that was overseeing the persecution of Christians. And he's on this fast track of being high up in Pharisaical leadership. And so there were the very followers of Jesus that Paul is now encouraging and hoping to grow through his letter are the very ones that he was trying to eradicate at some point. And I say that, that's a whole other sermon, but you get, hopefully you understand some of the feelings that Paul has for his own people as one who thought and was in the position of them. His desire is that his people do not forsake God, but come to see Jesus as their savior, just as he did. He understands where they're coming from, the stumbling blocks that they may have in their minds and in their hearts that are keeping them from putting their faith in Jesus. And he's just trying to lay out this argument, this well thought out letter, so that they could understand. So throughout this passage, we're gonna see that he is filled with hope for the future of Israel, that ultimately they would be saved. Today we're gonna talk about this pattern that Paul talks about, which is a pattern of salvation, not new to Israel, but as Paul will point out, it's been seen throughout all of scripture, the Old Testament, and we're also gonna see how God is a God of redemption. So these patterns here that are developing, pattern of salvation and a pattern of redemption. And Paul's gonna lay out how this is our God, and this is the God that has been since the beginning of time. Let me go ahead and pray, and we'll dive in again. God, just be with us this morning. We are excited to be here together and to gather around your word. And we seek a deeper understanding of who you are and what you do. And so we just pray that you would, through your spirit work in our hearts, draw us into your presence. And may we be encouraged and equipped this morning. We pray this in your name, amen. All right, we're gonna start in the first 10 verses of chapter 11. And these first 10 verses are talking about Israel's past. So if you wanna read along with me, I'm gonna start in verse one. It says, "I asked then, did God reject his people? "By no means. "I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham "from the tribe of Benjamin. "God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. "Don't you know what scripture says "in the passage from Elijah, "how he appealed to God against Israel? "Lord, they have killed your prophets "and torn down your altars. "I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me. And what was God's answer to him? I have reserved for myself 7,000 who have not bowed the knee to Baal. So too at the present time, there's a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace and it cannot be based on works, if it were grace would no longer be grace. What then? What the people of Israel sought so earnestly, they did not obtain. The elect among them did, but the others were hardened.
As it is written, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see and ears that could not hear to this very day. And David says, "May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them. May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see and their backs be bent forever." Paul is making it clear that this has always been the case. And we've talked about this in previous chapters that some Israelites do believe and some do not. In the first six verses, he's explaining those who do believe and he's even using himself as an example. I am a Jew that still believes. And he also references, this has been a pattern of God as we've seen it before with Elijah and the Israelites in the past, this remnant who have believed. He brings up this example of Elijah that we covered a bit in our summer series, these impossible moments. And Elijah's talking to God saying, God, I'm the only one. Elijah, the prophet, the voice of God is thinking to himself, he is the only follower of Yahweh left. And I don't think he's speaking in hyperbolic. I don't think he's like, "God, I know there's some," but I think Elijah is like, "I am the only one. There is no one out here that believes in you." And God says, "No, I have 7,000 that still have not bowed the knee to Baal, but are worshiping me." And this brings us up to say that even in ways that we do not see, the Spirit is always at work. God is always at work in people's hearts. Maybe the evidence, we don't see it yet, But God, and he's done this even in the Old Testament, God is at work. He's establishing a pattern of some who believe, some who don't, and a pattern of redemption and salvation. So Paul is looking to the past and saying that the pattern still pertains to the present, what we've seen in the past, that God, there's always some who believe, that's still true today. There are some who have declared with their mouths and believed with their hearts, to quote from last week's passage, what Paul wrote. Verses seven through 10 talk about those who don't. The Israelites who have hardened their hearts, they have a pattern of sin and rejecting God. And Paul talks about how God has given them to slumber because they were already closed off, a dulling of their spiritual senses because they have a habit built up of turning away from God. So they do not hear or see the truth. Paul has in chapter nine already referenced the story of Pharaoh and hardening his hearts. but maybe you can today, think of people in your life who you know their spiritual senses are dulled. They cannot see, they cannot hear the truth. And sometimes you just wanna shake them. You won't be like, "Hey, how are you not seeing this?" Maybe they're surrounded by it, maybe they're in church or you know that they have heard of God, that God is present in their life. And you see God working, but for some whatever reason, they don't see God working. You just wanna see like, how do you not see this? That was God right there. How do you not understand this? God was at work in that moment.
That's Paul to the Israelites saying, God is all around them. God is working, but he's not surprised that they don't believe. Because again, this pattern has been around, those who believe and those who don't. We think of two Israel's history. If you start with Abraham, the first one of God's promise. And he had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. Ishmael from Abraham's own will and power and Isaac, the son of blessing. And it's not Ishmael that God proceeds with, it's Isaac. And then from Isaac, his two sons, you get Jacob and Esau. And the Bible is very clear that Jacob is the one who God loved and Esau, the one that he hated. It's very strong words. And then from Jacob, we have all those who would believe in the Messiah and all those who would reject the Messiah. So there is a pattern present in God's people and plan seen throughout Israel's history of salvation and redemption of those who don't believe and those who do. And what Paul is referencing here, and he's gonna get, we're gonna further get into is that even those who rejected all long ago, all the descendants from Ishmael, all the descendants from Esau, they now have an opportunity to come to know and to believe in Jesus. And that speaks to the redemptive heart of God. All right, let's find out more about this pattern of salvation and redemption as we continue. Verse 11 says this, "Again, I asked, "did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? "Not at all. "Rather because of their transgression, "salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. "But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring? I'm talking to you, Gentiles. In as much as I'm the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. For if the rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? If part of the dough offered as first fruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy. If the root is holy, so are the branches. Some of the branches have been broken off and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others, and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this, you do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in, granted, but they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith.
Do not be arrogant, but tremble. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God, sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? All right, that's a lot. We got into some gardening stuff right there for a second, which we'll talk about. I just wanna focus on a couple things in this section. Paul is talking about Israel's present. The first 10 verses all about Israel's past. Now we're talking about Israel's present reality in the early church. And the reality is this, Israel's rejection of the Messiah equals the Gentiles opportunity to be saved. Maybe that's not how we would have drawn this up, but this is God's plan of redemption and salvation. Israel's rejection of the Messiah equals the Gentiles opportunity to be saved. And in Israel's present reality, we see a few different things. First, again, that God is a God of redemption. Paul anticipates the thought that maybe Israel is too far gone, did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? And he says no. Rather because they did stumble, salvation was brought to the rest of the world. This is a primary example of God's redemptive plan, turning something so negative and unfortunate, Israel, God's own people rejecting the Messiah, and turning it into God's kingdom glory and gain, which is Gentiles being grafted into the kingdom. Only God could have willed and executed this plan where so much of the world is brought into his kingdom. It's an amazing example of God's redeeming love and grace and heart.
In verses 23 through 24, we see more evidence of God's redemptive heart as he wants Israel to be in the family, to be redeemed. It says that they can be grafted in. That's only something that God who has endless amounts of grace and compassion and forgiveness and kindness can do. How many times do we feel, how many times does it take for us after we feel burned, betrayed or hurt by someone to say, that's enough, I'm kind of done with you, no more. I've been hurt enough and now I'm gonna put some distance between me and you. Now that may be healthy for us, don't get me wrong, that's maybe a good thing. We are finite creatures and we have boundaries and limitations, so that's maybe good. But that also just speaks to how amazing God is that he can be betrayed and hurt and burned over and over and over again. And yet once that person, that Israelite, no longer persists in unbelief, but instead believes God is ready to bring them back in. Endless amounts of grace and love. God wants them to be a part of the family. We get more of this in the next point, which is about grafting believers in. Any gardeners here, anyone who read this and was like, I totally understand what grafting in trees is all about. Yeah? OK. Well, that's impressive to me. That's amazing. I had to learn. I had to research. I was like, what is this process about? I do not know. I'm not often in the backyard grafting my trees together. But I learned that it's about taking a shoot from one tree, a little branch. And you open up. You make an incision and a cut in some other tree. And then you put that one shoot in there. And hopefully it takes, and it'll start growing off of that tree. And there's a bunch of reasons why you can do it to repair a tree. If this section of a tree is damaged, you can hope to mend it by putting some good branches in. Or maybe you just want to have freedom in how your trees are growing and you want to create something. My dad is really into bonsai. He got really into bonsai trees. I don't know if you know those little small ones that look like miniature trees. And so he's been in for about a decade or so. And he's got like 10 good bonsais. And I go with him now sometimes to this bonsai expert over. And we tend to his trees. And he tells us when to wire it, and to shape it, and where to cut it. And a lot of it is just leaving it alone for a whole year. And then you come back, and you have one week of lots of maintenance. And then you don't touch it for a year. But grafting is something that you can do in bonsai. And you can create something. And you can grow a tree in a certain direction. And it's just amazing. It's really cool. And so, Paul is, anyways, Paul is using this metaphor that Israel is this olive tree. And the unbelievers of Israel, those who do not believe Jesus as the Savior, have rejected, who have rejected Jesus, are pruned off, they're cut off from the tree. And then, he's grafting in some. He's making those incisions, he's bringing in other believers, the Gentile believers, and having them be a part of Israel. Now, I just want to be clear, the term "Israel" does not mean that we become Jewish, it means Israel as in the faithful who have put their faith in God.
So in the following chapters 9, 10 and 11, he's been using this term Israel as those who have put their faith in God. And so we become a part of the tree of Israel, those who live by faith. This pruning also may sound cruel, may sound unfair to us, but is God's exercise of justice, and he's perfectly okay to do it, and it's good. And Paul's trying to explain that, that this whole thing, this fate of Israel is actually good in the long run. And good if we back out and see the whole picture, because of what Israel is doing, Gentiles get to come into the family of God. The point is, we as new believers are grafted into the family of God, into Israel, and we must have faith to be on this tree, this tree of life, this tree of the family of God. And if we don't, if we don't have faith, it says in verse 20 that we can be broken off too. This is what God is doing through Israel's present reality. Many of them have rejected Christ, but God is being a redeeming God and grafting Gentiles into the family of God. We'll come back to the grafting analogy later. But the last part of our section that Paul is talking about is a warning of arrogance. He tells the Gentiles who were grafted in, who are part of God's redemptive plan, and maybe they're starting to feel good about themselves in comparison to Israel say, "Hey, man, God's own people don't believe "that I'm here on this tree. "Look at me, this is awesome." He's saying, "You are no better than an Israelite. "Better check yourself." He reminds them that the root supports you, not that you were brought in to be the source of God's work. No, no, no, it is by grace that we are saved. And that means that we didn't do anything to get ourselves onto this tree of life. So don't be thinking all high and mighty of yourself, you Gentiles who are now on the tree of life, but have humility. And he talks about not being arrogant, but trembling. I like this idea of trembling. This term in the Greek is thought of, it's the thought of being afraid, but not just terror, like we're about to be in the Halloween season right now, not that kind of afraid, but it's rather having a proper attitude of awe and respect towards something, often more powerful than you. And in this case, it's talking about God. So tremble before God, have a proper attitude of awe and respect. I think of it, have any of you been to Yosemite? Maybe some of you have been to Yosemite. I love Yosemite and I haven't, it's been a few years, but the part, the whole park is amazing. And it's, you know, the views are incredible. The part that filled me with awe was one of the waterfalls. to Yosemite Falls, and being at the very top, it's very high up, you get up there, you see the whole valley, you see everything, and it's incredible. And it fills me with a certain awe of like, man, God is amazing for creating this. I also don't like heights. I am terrified of heights. And so being up at the top of the falls, my legs are going weak, like 25 feet from the edge. It's very much over there, but I am like more points of contact to the ground. I need like, I start getting lower and lower, but I want to see you over the edge, but I have this proper, I think, a proper view on respect towards what could happen if I am closer to that edge. And I also think of the waterfall itself, and I've touched the water and I feel and hear and see the power of the water flowing down and going over that edge. And I know that one misstep from me, and I could be overwhelmed by something much greater and more and larger and more powerful than I am. And so while there was some fear while I was up there, I also just, it's a proper reverence in trembling, literally trembling, the top of the waterfall.
And I think that's what Paul is talking about, having a spirit of humility while we're on this tree as we've been grafted in, but still trembling, that we are a part of something bigger than us, that we serve a God who is much more powerful and in charge and sovereign, and who has the power to cut us off if we are no longer faithful. having a proper view and attitude and respect for God. In verse 21, he says, "God didn't spare his own people for their unbelief. What makes you think that he'll spare you if you don't believe?" So he gives us, the readers, a warning about arrogance. So, just wanna recap. That was a big section of this chapter, but I just wanna recap again. Israel's present reality, where many of the Israelites have rejected the Messiah, means that the gospel went out to the rest of the world. And we see that God is a God of redemption, that when one believes they are grafted into the family of God, and that we are to have a spirit of humility, not one of arrogance.
And that leads us to the final section of our passage, verse 25. And it says this, "I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited. Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way, all Israel will be saved. As it is written, the deliverer will come from Zion. He will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins. As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake. But as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs. For God's gift and his call are irrevocable. Just as you who are at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, So they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God's mercy to you. For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all. We've had Israel's past, we've had Israel's present, and now Paul's addressing Israel's future. What will happen to them? And Paul believes that many of them will return to God, that many of them will be saved. there will be more faithful Israelites to come, descendants of Abraham who believe by faith, and God will be grafting them back in. He's cut them off, but he will graft them back in. And in the meantime, he anticipates the readers, this early church in Rome, to say, "But why in the future? "Why not now? "Why can't God do that now? "Why does it have to wait?" And Paul again approaches this with explaining the pattern of salvation and redemption, that right now it means that Gentiles, more Gentiles can come into the family of God. Israel has experienced a hardening by God, in part to help Gentiles come to faith. God's redemptive plan and pattern turns to the Gentiles as Israel struggles. He says that the nation of Israel are currently enemies of the gospel. Again, Paul's words can sometimes be very harsh and that we read that now and it's like, man, enemies of the gospel, but it's true. They do not believe in Jesus as the Messiah. But the call from God to be a part of the family remains forever. That call is irrevocable. That call doesn't go away. We talked about God being, God who redeems. So this situation, Israel has turned their back on God.
But God's call still goes out and says, in verse 10 or chapter 10, he was saying, "I hold my hand out to a disobedient and stubborn people." He's waiting and he continues to wait. And the question remains, will they answer? And Paul believes that they will. They will eventually answer the call. Verse 32, everyone, including Israelites, are dealing with sin nature. They are born sinful, bound to disobedience, but that disobedience is an opportunity for God to have mercy. Talk about a God of redemption. Any moment we see, we are disobedient to God, Any moment we see someone else living a life of disobedience, we should automatically think that's an opportunity for God to redeem that situation. Imagine the witness and testimony it will be to see Israel, a nation that has rejected Jesus for so long, finally come to saving faith. What a testimony to God that will be, to God's unending work, faithful covenant to His people. To see a people so entrenched in denying Jesus have their eyes open, their ears able to hear, and their hearts finally aligned with God. I mean, the celebration that will happen on that day. Paul is filled with hope. I want to share a story with you. I grew up in the church, and I grew up at a different church with this family who had a son who was the same age as me. We grew up in elementary and junior high and youth group together. And it was very clear by the end of high school or end of our youth group days that he was not following Jesus anymore with his life. And as many of us went off to college and continued in church, wherever our colleges were, he fully embraced a non-Christian secular lifestyle and has turned his back on faith, knew what he was doing and just went in that direction. Eventually I came back to work on staff and served on the board with his dad and leadership positions with his mom. And so I would hear in times of meeting and prayer requests, them praying for their son. And they say that right now he is not at all interested in faith, but they maintained a relationship with him and they're doing their best to continue to be a witness and a presence of Jesus in his life. And they had broken hearts. There was pain as they would share this and sorrow over the current state of their son, not walking with God. but they still had hope and prayed that one day, at whatever time of God's choosing, whether soon or far in the future, that their son would turn back to God. And right now, still not necessarily, I don't know where he's at with God, but I know this, he's closer than he has been in the past decade. He's closer, he's open, he's listening. His ears and his eyes are not as dull as they once were.
The conversations that he's having with his parents They share that, I mean, they're encouraged that he is partaking even and wants to ask questions. They continue to pray and hope and they believe in a God. They've seen God's pattern and work throughout scripture, throughout history. They know that God can redeem anyone in any situation. And so they're praying that that would be true of their son. And without a doubt, if he ever does fully commit to Christ, I know that there'll be rejoicing, tears of joy, and a huge appreciation and relief of the work that God had done, and evidence that God had never quit working in their son's life. And they continue to hope. I don't know about you, maybe you can think of someone in your life that that story relates to, that there's a person in your life, that that is them. That you are continuing to pray. They're not with God right now, they're not walking with God right now. They know who God is maybe, or maybe they don't, but you're praying and hoping in the God who can redeem anyone that that will be true in that person's life. We have to continue to hope. We know who God is, what he can do. We believe in a God who redeems. I wanna leave you with a few reminders and thoughts of encouragement. The first reminder is that we serve a redeeming God. How can you see a world in a way that highlights God's redemptive pattern? If you see someone, if you know someone who's in a bad place or an unbeliever, instead of judging them where they're at in that moment, maybe at their worst, or just signing off on that that is their fate forever, why don't we pray and hope for God to redeem them? We can be so quick to judge and just say, "Ooh, that person, yikes, too far gone." No, that is not what God is about. That's not the God that was, he sees that and he is hoping and praying that that person will come to him. and we should have the same thoughts. We wanna align our hearts with God and remember that we serve a redeeming God. If God can redeem Paul, who was killing Christians in the early church, and was anti God's own kingdom, and God can redeem him, God can redeem anyone. Whoever you come across, as bad as they might be, view them in God's eyes and see, that's an opportunity for God to redeem. Secondly, a reminder that you can be grafted in.
If you're here this morning and you believe, praise God that you are here as a believer, and you are now on the tree of life, and Jesus is your source, you are evidence of God's redeeming plan, pattern of salvation. And you gotta rejoice and recognize that you are part of the family of God. And if you have not yet declared, with your mouth and believed in your heart, then hear this today, you too can have faith and belong to the family of God. God's heart is that through his son Jesus, you would come to believe, and you can be grafted into the family of Christ. And then lastly, it's a reminder that we must have humility. That warning to the Gentiles also goes out to us. We cannot be arrogant in our faith. So the question for us today is, are you becoming superior in your heart in any way regarding your faith and your relationship with Jesus? When I say superior, meaning, Are you comparing yourself to other believers and thinking you are better than anyone? Do you ever have thoughts like this? Well, I've been here longer at this church and therefore I am entitled to this, this and this. I've been a Christian for more years. So my word and thought weighs more heavily than that person over there. I am so, I don't know if we use on fire anymore. I feel like that was a generational term for being, But maybe I'm more spiritual than that other person, just the way I live my life. So I'm closer to God and yeah, I matter more to God than that other person. Or maybe I know so much more of the Bible. Man, I know my Bible a lot compared to some of these other people. It can be as simple as at least God loves me this much compared to how little God loves that other person. As if God did not love others the same amount. And some of those might have sounded ridiculous to you, but I know for a fact that those are all thoughts that Christians have towards other believers. We can begin to feel superior over others.
And so let's embody Christ, who is the perfect example of humility, and recognize that we are all sinners in need of Jesus. That's our status right there. There's no greater than compared, when we look around, all of us on the same level, we are all sinners in need of Jesus. We sit before Jesus with a sin problem and we all need the same thing, salvation. So have a humble heart. I wanna ask yourself this week as we close, these are some questions for you to reflect on and go and may the Spirit work in you and all of us. Ask yourself this, what is God trying to tell me? Where am I seeing God's redemptive plan being worked out? maybe in my own life or in the life of someone I know, and ask God to continue to give you a spirit of humility in your faith, keeping you humble. The more humble, that's not a humbler, I don't think that's a word. The more humble we are, the more we stay in tune with our need for Jesus. The more superior in our faith we start to become, the more distant we find ourselves from the need, our need for God. We don't think we need Him as much. So remain humble, ask for that humility.