[Transcript may not match broadcasted sermon word for word, and contains extra material that was cut from the broadcast due to time constraints]

       Today we arrive at Romans chapter 11, which is actually the last chapter in this three part trilogy, so to speak, that the Apostle Paul has spent discussing Israel, and how they are estranged from God. Yes, Paul has been lamenting how his Jewish brothers and sisters are separated from Christ. And he, like so many of us do, wanted them to come into personal relationship with God. It’s such a shame it seems that those who should be so close to God—who have no reason not to be—are yet so far from him. They have been blinded by Satan, believing his lies which has led to their hearts being hardened. That was the case during Paul’s day, and unfortunately, that largely continues in our day and age.

       So, since this is a bit of a longer chapter, let’s spend today and next week on it and finish up this three part trilogy. Turn in your Bibles, or tap in your Bible apps on your mobile devices, to Romans chapter 11. Starting in verse 1, we read: “I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin.”

       The first thing I want to note here is that God didn’t promise that he would save all his people, that is, all the Israelites. I imagine most of us would agree they all have the chance, they all have equal opportunity to know God through Jesus Christ, but we understand that a lot of them aren’t going to make that choice. Paul points out the important point here that it’s not God’s fault they’ve rejected him. That’s interesting to consider. Two chapters back, in Romans chapter 9, Paul said that it is God who chooses those who are to be his, and that he even hardens the hearts of some. So, how is it then that God does not choose some, and even hardens the hearts of some, and in that same line of thinking Paul states here, “I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means!” Obviously, in a way we really cannot understand I don’t think, this means that the human’s choice and will does play some kind of part in that decision making process for salvation. We aren’t robots which were pre-program for a certain destination, a specific destiny. Somehow, someway, we do have a choice, and that works in conjunction with God’s choice.

       Paul’s defense to prove that God hasn’t rejected his people is the fact that he himself is Jewish, and yet, God has specifically chosen him. We know that all twelve of Jesus’ closest disciples were Jewish. The whole New Testament, with perhaps the except of Luke, was written by Jewish authors. Surely, God hasn’t rejected his people. Jesus even told the Eleven, right before his going back into Heaven, in Acts chapter 1: “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (v. 8). He told them to go to the Jews first before the Gentiles. And we are aware, if we read through the first third of the Book of Acts, that many Jews come to faith in him, though they had rejected the Messiah and crucified him on the cross. They were being saved even though they had said collectively, “His blood be on us and on our children!” (Matthew 27:25, ESV).

       Verse 2: “God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” But what is God's reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.”

       Paul kind of pulls us back here into the Romans chapter 9 line-of-thought. That line-of-thought is that it is actually God who calls those who are to be his. That’s the way salvation really works. So, God called and will call the Israelites “whom he foreknew.” Paul didn’t say, “God has not rejected his people at all.” He said, “God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.”

       Interestingly, the example of Elijah is brought up here, and it’s a great example and encouragement for those who are fellow preachers and teachers of God’s Word, and even for those who are evangelists. This example of Elijah shows a man who is discouraged at the lack of response among those whom he was preaching to. I believe we are often concerned that people aren’t responding to the Gospel nowadays—that the world now is so evil human beings aren’t interested in God anymore. But look at this example of Elijah from the Old Testament. He thought folks during his time weren’t responding either. It was a grave concern on his heart. And yet, God had reserved from himself individuals who were saved—a total of 7,000 in this instance. Might feel like a lot or it might not. The point is that God was still saving people. And he is still saving people today, whether they be Jews or Gentiles.

       Satan will try to paint the picture that people aren’t coming into saving faith in Christ. And I think part of the problem lies with us—since we believe things should look a certain way. I have personally seen God working in people’s lives as a result of my ministry—my teaching and preaching—but at times it hasn’t looked as I thought it would. Namely, with some the work as been slower in progress; individuals have been learning at turtle speed when I was expecting rapid speed. But the great thing is, is that God is working in people’s lives! That’s a great thing, and a thing to be very encouraged by. At the end of the day, who cares about the speed—God is working and lives are being changed, howbeit for some perhaps little by little. But I’ll take it. I want individuals to be helped, to really experience new life.

       Paul reiterates here the fact that those Jews who are saved, the remnant, the ones who have come into faith with Christ, they have been saved by God’s grace, and they are not depending on their works to get them to Heaven. He wants his readers, again, to understand who is actually saved. It is those who have and are trusting in Christ, and not anyone who is trusting in works. A big stumbling block for the Jews, and even for some Christians.

       Verse 7: “What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.” And David says, “Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them; let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs forever.”

       As I mentioned a little bit ago, Israel didn’t accept the truth. They rejected the Messiah. They hardened their hearts. If fact, Paul quotes Isaiah here, in saying that “God gave them a spirit of stupor.” That’s what happens at the moment individuals reject the truth. That’s what happens when we reject the truth. God gives people over, like Romans chapter 1 talked about. So, the Israelites, in having heard the truth from the Lord Jesus Christ himself, and not to mention the prophets who came before him, have decided not to believe them, but rather to embrace error. Not only that, but they have persecuted those who tell the truth, like Christ himself, or the author of this epistle. They persecuted the prophets of the Old Testament, such as Elijah, who we talked about a minute ago.

       However, the Israelites are not the only ones subject to the spirit of stupor, but it’s also true that Christians themselves, churches as a whole, can reject truth from God which causes them to come under a spirit of delusion—a demonic influence from Satan. And I’m not talking about who you may think I’m talking about. I’m talking about churches that you may think are okay, one’s that seem like they know and have the truth, and yet, God has placed them under a spirit of delusion. Because they have trusted in themselves, that they know better, that they can do it themselves, as the Israelites have done, God has blinded their eyes that though they think they see, they really don’t see; though they think they understand, they do not understand. When a person or group of people is under that spirit of delusion, they don’t even realize they are in the wrong. What’s worse, they believe they are in the right, and they cannot then see the forest for the trees.

       On a regular basis, I examine myself to make sure there is nothing in my life that I am continuing to accept of which is in fact not true. It’s important for us to embrace the truth—no matter what the situation in our lives—so that the power of God can freely flow. What we roll over inside ourselves about varying situations in our lives matters greatly. It’s significant for us not be thinking things that aren’t true. We discussed in Romans chapter 6 how unbelief can stop God’s power from flowing in our lives. Perhaps today that is at the heart of some of your own problems. If God has showed you something and told you to believe what he’s said, then it’s important to do that lest you yourself come under a deluding spirit. If God gives you over to a spirit of delusion, you will begin to believe things about yourself, about other people, about life situations of which are not true. Unbelief is a serious problem.

       Let’s consider a couple examples to understand this better. A woman who believes she is too overweight when she actually isn’t can stop eating the right amount of food. She looks at pictures of herself and Satan whispers to her, “You’re too fat. You need to lose weight.” And she keeps rolling those thoughts over and over in her head, comparing herself with other lady-friends. She begins the process of losing weight based on a lie—that she is too fat. And she goes along continuing to diet and cut back when she shouldn’t, and before long, she is too underweight. And if she continues to believe the lie, she will eventually get sick and may even end up in the hospital as an anorexic. For a second example, consider a pastor. Perhaps he’s been working hard at his church work, delivering sermon after sermon, week and weak. And he’s not going much feedback from his sermons. He’s not seeing people at church respond to his messages. Well, Satan is surely going to tell him in his mind that he’s not having any effect and that he might as well give up. And if the pastor starts to accept his lies, like, “No one’s being helped by your sermons,” and “Your sharing of the Gospel isn’t doing any good. Those who don’t know God aren’t believing what your saying,”—if the pastor believes lies such as those, Satan can shut him down to the point where he may give up serving altogether. Recall, Jesus has said to all of us, “If they kept my word, they will also keep yours” (John 15:20, ESV). That’s a promise. You can take that to the bank. God’s Word is true.

       It is amazing how we can be persuaded by all kinds of lies in different parts of our lives, all of which aren’t true and can if fact damage our lives greatly if we believe them. We can have the idea a certain person doesn’t like us, when that’s not true. It may be they just don’t know us well or are different from us. We can believe that we’ll never succeed at our job, our career. And believing a lie like that can actually cause a person to sabotage themselves because of the falsehood they’re believing. If the person would only believe they are good and can do better, they would. A person can believe he or she will never be married, and surely with that false belief, they probably won’t be. They’re not going to act right when the time comes due to what they believe. Thoughts influence our lives—there’s no doubt about it, whether they be negative for bad, or positive for good. The only way we can overcome Satan and his lies, is, yes, simply by following the model Jesus has provided for us—speaking God’s Word out loud and believing that instead of the lie. Whatever your problem is, whatever lie you are combating, go to the Bible and find a verse that says the opposite, and speak that to yourself daily, and watch God change your thinking, and then your life.

       We understand that the Israelites trust the lies about Jesus, and they became so convinced at the lies presented to them that they said at his trial, ““His blood be on us and on our children!” (Matthew 27:25, ESV). What a horrific mistake! They in fact called a curse upon themselves. It was some forty years after they said these words that Jerusalem fell into Gentiles hands. Of course, I’m talking about the destruction of Jerusalem that occurred in 70 A.D., the one that Jesus had prophesied, remember, in saying “there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down” (Matthew 24:2, ESV). David prophesied this, and we see it in today’s text: “Let their table become a snare and a trap.” The destruction by the Romans occurred at Passover time. Hence, the Israelis table in fact became a literal snare and a trap for them. They sat down to eat, but in fact they were in big trouble. Their curse was fulfilled--it had its fulfillment. No, friends, we must dispel lies with God’s truth, and believe his truth, lest we fall under a curse ourselves.

       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!”

       We can bring to mind the verse we studied a few weeks ago: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28, ESV). Well, this here is a perfect example of that. Through Israel's rejection of the truth, God has brought saving faith in Christ to all other peoples—everyone else in the whole world. Not only is this an incredible thing—that anyone now can come into right relationship with God—but also it has served to make the Jewish people jealous of God’s prosperity toward the Gentiles. I mean, consider how much the Christian church has been growing by the hand of God. Whether you consider the growth of the early church, the times of Roman Catholicism and it’s growth, or Martin Luther and the outgrowth of protestant churches all over the Western Hemisphere, or the Catholic churches dominance today—whatever you consider—it all serves, and has served, to make Israel a jealous people. Yes indeed. Israel is just a small nation in the middle-east. Yet, God has preserved them there, and will continue to do so until the fullness of the church-age has come.

       Take note of the pattern in these verses. We thought about in Romans chapter 8 how God can bring good out of bad situations, as he did here with Israel and the Gentiles. We might say that the only way for God to bring his ultimate good is to allow, or permit, bad things to happen. Whether that be for a nation, like in this case, or for us individually, I do believe that sometimes God sits back and allows bad to come to pass in order that he might do something even better in the future. The text states that Israel's failure meant riches for the Gentiles. As individuals, we often let regret settle in after we make a mistake. Have you ever considered that without that mistake, you’re life couldn’t be as good as it is now? What makes mistakes last is when a person refuses to let go of the mistake and instead allow God to work, or to see and recognize the good that God has brought about as a result of the mistake. Take, for instance, the example of the boyfriend who doesn’t treat his girlfriend right. Maybe he’s too involved in work, and he doesn’t spend enough time with her. And one day, she leaves him. Now she’s with another guy, and seems happier than ever, and all the guy who lost her can think about is how stupid he was. It could be, though, that the neglectful guy will find a better suited match for him down the road, and he will be happier than ever. But, if he’s stuck in the past with regret and unable to press forward, just think how he could miss God’s goodness for the future. He could miss out on what God has in store for him as he refuses to let go of the past.

       Notice the phrase hidden in verse 12 which says, “failure means riches.” Failure means riches. Frame that. Remember that. Let regret go. Don’t love regret, fellowship with it, and abide in it. Sure, it’s going to take discipline of your mind. I know from personal experience. It’s a continual, daily process. Everytime a regretful thought comes to your mind, you have to immediately let it bounce off. And how do we do that? By thinking about anything else. By not sitting around and rolling over whatever it is. And where does the assurance to do that come from? Well, it comes from trust in God. When we place our trust in God, and know that he does and will take care of everything for us in our lives, that calms our spirits and allows us to have peace and flat out rest. If you read or watch the news, and think that everything that happens in the news can or will happen to you, you might as well forget it. Just because something could happen doesn’t mean it will happen. I get so tired of Christians who say, “Well, that could happen.” You know, a lot of things could happen. I could be driving home from work and an asteroid the size of trash dumpster could hit my Mustang and I could veer off into the ditch, my car explode, and I could be dead. Yes, it could happen; it’s theoretically possible. A lot things are, folks. But realize how many make it home from work safely—the number is far, far greater.

       Verse 13: “Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch 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. 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 firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.”

       Paul had a love for the Gentiles. Definitely so, for that was God’s call on his life. And yet, Paul also had a great love for his fellow kinsmen in his original faith—the one that he had left as people often do and come to Jesus. They have a great love and longing for those whom they were friends with, for those whom they knew, often family members, from before they were saved. They have a longing that they would come to Jesus. We can recall that the Lord Jesus confronted Paul at the time he was traveling on a roadway to Damascus. What an incredible call that was for Paul. He saw Jesus with his own two eyes. The person he had been persecuting, the individuals he had been coming against since they followed this individual, that Person was now calling Paul out for what he was doing. What a shocking truth and revelation that must have been for Paul. I wonder, at the moment Jesus said to him, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting”, did Paul have any anger? What was his initial reaction in learning this epic truth? The truth is, we really don’t know what thoughts were going through his head at that moment. We’ll have to ask him when we get to Heaven.

       Preachers love to quote the verses when Paul said he becomes all things to all people. In this case, Paul tells us that he magnifies his ministry in order to make his fellow Jews jealous. Wow, that’s definitely interesting. I wonder how that would go over in our day and age. There may have even been those who were his fellow brothers who would try to call him out for being dishonest. Who knows? Paul, though, actually said that this drew them in. How is that? Review this comparison to think about. I have noticed that among a group of single guys that if one guy gets a girlfriend within that group, what happens? Well, then two or three other guys go out and get a girlfriend. That jealousy sparked by what the first guy did prompts the other guys to do the same thing. So, considering that, Paul’s hope was that when his fellow Jews saw the Gentiles accepting Christ and gaining all that has to offer—his hope was that Jews would take notice and want the same thing.

       The good news today is that Paul said when Jews do accept Jesus, whether that be now or whether that is in the future, whoever from the Jews accepts Jesus, it will be like dead persons coming back to life—literally so to speak. Paul is so confident here that at least some of his fellow brother and sister Israelites will come to saving faith in Christ. And in light of this, we also should be confident and remain confident at the moment we are shining our lights before others. Our lives are going to have an impact on others for the kingdom of God. Individuals around us are going to accept Jesus. If the Jews who rejected Jesus can do so, as Paul states, then surely the many Gentiles most of us are around on a daily basis can do the same. If you’re discouraged that this or that person can’t or won’t accept Christ, that there’s no way, you’d better think again. God is calling people into his kingdom. Just because it may look like evil has increased in our world, this doesn’t mean that God has decided to stop saving people. Not by any stretch. So, be encouraged and of good cheer.

       The whole earth, literally so to speak, is waiting for the fulfillment of God’s promise to David, at which time all of Israel will be in right relationship with God. This doesn’t mean every Jewish person will be saved; unfortunately not. Paul discussed this in Romans chapter 8. He said, “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God” (v. 19). Not only are some Jews being saved right now, and not only will there be some saved during the Tribulation period, but the whole earth will be set aside for the Jewish people during the 1,000 year reign of the Lord Jesus Christ on the earth. There will be truly peace on the earth—and this happens during their time. Truly, the Israelites bring salvation to the physical earth.

       As Paul says for us, we realize that the Jews of old had faith in God. Whether you bring to mind Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David, Elijah, or any of the lesser ranking Jews, many of old believed in God and are with Jesus right now. Recall, Moses and Elijah came down to the earth for a brief moment on the Mount of Transfiguration and talked with Jesus. If a lot Jews back then believed, the many can believe now, and we know that many will believe in the future. There is great hope in Paul’s writings here. All of us should be encouraged.

       Indeed, anyone out there today who is Jewish can come to know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. You can come to him right now—right where you are at. See the truth, and turn to Jesus. Trust in his sacrifice on the cross and resurrection from the dead to give you new, everlasting life, just like he gave your ForeFathers. Just as they are with him now, so I encourage you to come to him today. Have what the church has. Don’t be left out. Don’t sit from afar only wishing you had peace. Take that peace to be yours today in Jesus Christ. And if you’re a Gentile today, who doesn’t know Jesus, he is calling you now to come to know him. Go to God today and accept the truth.

-Daniel Litton