Restoration, Israel’s Future – Part 2

In Romans 11:1, Paul asks a question. He says, “I say then, Hath God cast away his people?” I want you to notice a second question in Romans 11:11. “I say then, Have they stumbled…,” that is, the people of Israel, the Jews, God’s people, “…that they should fall?” Two questions are asked in verses 1 and 11, has God cast away His people? That is, is God finished with the Jewish people or the nation of Israel? And, in verse 11, “I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall?” The answer in verse 1 is, “God forbid.” The answer in verse 11 is, “God forbid.” The answer there is perish the thought. It would be in the modern vernacular, “No way, Jose!” That’s stretching it a little bit, but that’s what he’s saying. He’s saying, “No way! Absolutely not! Perish the thought!” The idea that God would cast off His people, that is, Israel, and they should fall without God ever restoring them. What we’re looking at in Romans 9, 10 and 11 is what theologians call dispensational truth. By that, we mean how God works with people at different periods of time in different ways. In the Old Testament, the people of Israel were under law; now, we’re under grace. During the tribulation, there will be a time period of God’s wrath being poured out on the Christ-rejecting world, but Israel will be restored. During the millennium (the thousand-year kingdom reign of Jesus Christ), there will be a theocratic reign of God upon the earth.

As we approach this election in just a few weeks, I vote for Jesus Christ. Don’t you? I’m not saying that I’m not engaged, I’m not praying, and I’m not going to vote. By the way, I don’t think you should say, “Well, I don’t like either one of the candidates. I’m not going to vote.” You ought to at least vote for the lesser of two evils. You ought to vote your Christian conscience, and you ought to be concerned about the Supreme Court, abortion, and marriage. Those moral issues should be our priority, not economy but moral issues. I’m not saying that either one of the candidates is the savior of the world. Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, and it’s He that we’re looking for to come again and establish a perfect world. Amen? But, until then, we need to be engaged.

In this section we find we’ve moved from condemnation, Romans chapters 1-3, to salvation, end of chapter 3-8, and now we’re in chapters 9-11 of Romans which is vindication. There are different titles you can give to the sections of Romans, but you have Condemnation-The Wrath of God Revealed, the whole world guilty before God; Salvation-The Righteousness of God Revealed, how we’re justified by faith in Jesus Christ, sanctified or made holy, and preserved or kept in Jesus Christ, Romans 8; and now Romans 9, 10 and 11. Again, I want to explain these three chapters form a unit. In these three chapters, what we have is: Divine Sovereignty (Romans 9), Human Responsibility (Romans 10), and God’s Merciful Purpose (Romans 11). In these three chapters we see: The Wisdom of God Revealed. The question is: Has God thrown away or put aside or cast off Israel as His chosen people for the church, the Gentiles and Jews, one body in Christ? Has God cast off the Jewish people or will God once again work with Israel as a nation? The answer is: God has not cast off His people whom He has chosen. There is a future plan and restoration for Israel as a nation.

In Romans 9, we have Israel’s past election. God chose them. In Romans 10, we have Israel’s present rejection, they rejected their Messiah Jesus Christ. In Romans 11, we have Israel’s future restoration. In order to remember those three chapters, Israel’s election, Israel’s rejection and Israel’s restoration, it is not an accident that Israel has returned to the land, been born out of the past, and become a nation again. No race of people has ever been able to maintain their national identity without a homeland for two thousand years. For almost two thousand years the Jews were exiled from the land of Israel. In 1948, Israel was born again. They became a nation. It wasn’t an accident. It’s all part of God’s master redemptive purpose. God is going to use them again, and the Bible tells us this seven years of tribulation that is yet future for mankind is going to be primarily for Israel, to bring them to repentance so they will see the Messiah when He comes back in His second coming. More Jews will be saved in the seven years of tribulation than at any time in human history. Christ, their Messiah, will return and set up the kingdom of God on earth, the Messianic Kingdom, the Davidic kingdom, for a thousand years which will flow into the eternal state.

I probably gave you more information than I should have, but Israel is key. Israel is important, and God’s not through with them. There is a lot of anti-Israeli sentiment and antisemitism in Christianity and its history, and it’s on the increase once again today. That’s crazy because especially as Christians the Bible says God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever, Jew or Gentile, believe in Him should not perish but might have eternal life. There is no basis at all for a Christian, or anyone else for that matter, to be antisemitic or to hate the Jewish people or any race of people. God created all mankind equal in His sight—red, yellow, black and white all are precious in His sight. Amen?

God does have a plan for Israel. You need to keep these three groups separate—Gentile nations, the nation of Israel, and the church. Those are three groups that God deals with in different ways, at different times, and you have to keep them distinct and different. Gentile nations like Babylon and Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome; the Jewish nation of Israel, God’s plan for them; and the church, made up of Jew and Gentile, God’s plan and purpose for them. Asking those two questions (verses 1 and 11), we saw last week in verse 1 Paul is personal proof that God is not finished with Israel. (I’m just going to recap.) In verses 2-6, Paul gave the historical proof that God called Elijah and King David, and the Scriptural proof in verses 7-10, where he cited two scriptures, Isaiah 29 and Psalm 69, that God is not finished with Israel. Tonight we come to the third argument and then we’ll move into the fourth, that is, dispensational proof, verses 11-24. What do I mean by dispensational proof? I mean, during a time period how God deals with Israel in a certain specific way—God deals with people in different ways at different times. From verse 11 down to verse 24, he is actually showing us that God has a purpose and a plan for Israel in the future. Follow with me beginning in verse 11.

Paul says, “I say then, Have they…,” that is, the Jews, the nation of Israel, “…stumbled that they should fall?” They crucified Jesus; they rejected their Messiah. Is God through with them? Is it all history for the Israelites? “God forbid…,” which means perish the thought, “…but rather through their fall…,” which, by the way, is their rejection of Jesus as their Messiah, “…salvation is come unto the Gentiles,” which are most of us here tonight, “for to provoke them…,” that is, the Jews, “…to jealousy. 12 Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world…,” their rejection of Messiah, or their fall brought salvation to the entire world, “…and the diminishing of them…,’” or the loss of them is “…the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?” Note that phrase, “their fulness.” There is a future for Israel. God is not finished with Israel.

The birth of the modern state of Israel is a miracle of God, and it is for a divine purpose. God has a plan for the future of Israel. They fell and they stumbled, but through their fall salvation has come unto the Gentiles. The door opened for Gentiles to be saved. Remember in the book of Acts when the first Christians who were Jews had a hard time believing that God could save Gentiles? Cornelius got saved and it freaked them all out. Peter didn’t want to go in their house and he said, “God showed me that I should call nothing common or unclean if God wants to save you weird, crazy people I’ll let Him do that, okay?” Peter went in and insulted his audience before he gave an alter call. “God has showed me not to call anything common or unclean that He has called clean, so if God wants to save you, I’m going to let God save you.” Thank you very much, Peter.

In verse 12 Paul says, “Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world…,” they crucified Jesus Christ, and by the way, I say that in acknowledging we all crucified Jesus Christ by our sin. I’m not saying the Jews were Jesus killers. The Jews killed Jesus, the Romans killed Jesus, and we all killed Jesus because our sins placed Him on the cross. In context, he’s speaking nationally of Israel. They crucified their Messiah, and now through the fall of them it becomes the riches of the world, “…and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?” It’s so hard for me not to get bogged down in this because there is so much packed in every one of these statements, but their fullness is going to be at the second coming of Jesus Christ and on into the kingdom age or the millennium. I’m just going to throw out that information, and we’re going to try to get through this tonight.

Notice in verse 13, Paul says, “For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office.” Paul says, “I may be a Jew, but I’m speaking to you Gentiles, and I’m an apostle to you Gentiles. God has called me to preach to you Gentiles, and I magnify that office.” He says in verse 14, “What I want to do, if I can, I want to provoke the Jews to emulation,” “…them which are my flesh, and might save some of them.” What Paul is saying is, “I want to make the Jews jealous. I want the Gentiles to say ‘Nanny, nanny we have Your Messiah,’ not in a snotty way, but in a way that provokes them to look into that.” Last Wednesday night I showed you that little testimony of that Jewish fellow that came to Yeshua or came to Jesus or came to Christ. Jews are being saved in the world right now left and right. Muslims are being saved in the world at an unprecedented amount right now. The fact that Jews, some of them, a remnant, do believe in Jesus and they’ve come to Him as Messiah indicates God’s not finished with Israel as a nation, but right now it’s Jew and Gentile, all on equal footing in the church of Jesus Christ. He says, “I want to provoke them who are of my flesh.”

Notice verse 15, Paul says, “For if the casting away of them…,” that is, of Israel, “…be the reconciling of the world,” that’s going to be at the second coming, “what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?” When the Lord returns, it’s going to bring life to the world. In verse 16, he starts off by quoting from Leviticus 23, “For if the first fruit be holy, the lump is also holy,” and in the second half of verse 16 he quotes from Numbers 15. He says, “…and if the root be holy, so are the branches.” There are two metaphors he uses in one verse. He’ll go on to talk mostly about the tree and its branches, in context it is an olive tree, and he is talking about a lump of bread or dough. They had in the Old Testament what they called the meal offering. They would take a loaf of bread and bake it without leaven. They would take a piece of the dough from that bread and offer it to God. Then, they would bake the bread and the bread would be offered to God. The piece that was given to God was called the first fruit or a sample of what is to come. It was a foretaste of the future. They give them that dough and then they give them the loaf. It was called the meal offering, Leviticus 23. Then he uses another analogy, he says, “…if the root be holy, so are the branches.” He’s going to picture Israel as a tree.

Forgive me, I wanted to get a graph or diagram of this drawn for you, but I didn’t get it so we’re going to visualize tonight, okay? I want you to visualize the outline of a tree. This is a gnarly kind of olive tree. Imagine the root system going down into the earth. So, Israel is going to be likened unto a tree. The root system of this tree (and we’re going to read it but I’ll explain it first) are the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The tree grows into a nation, the nation of Israel. What he is going to say is that God broke off the branches of this tree, being the Jews, and then He took you and me, assuming most of us here tonight are Gentiles, He took us, and we were another tree, but we were a wild olive tree. We weren’t a domesticated olive tree, you and I were wild olive branches. We were all wild Gentile olive trees. He takes the branch from this Gentile wild olive tree…have I lost you yet? …and He grafted it into the good olive tree that then began to draw from the roots of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David—the patriarchs. Did you know that we, as Gentile believers in Jesus or Yeshua Ha-Maschiach, Jesus the Messiah, are grafted-in wild olive branches, and we become partaker of the covenant and promises that God made with Israel? Again, I don’t want to get a little bit sidetracked, and I told you this is theological stuff, but if you could just grasp a little bit of it, it will give the framework for some important theological truths; that is, we as Gentiles are grafted into the olive tree and become partakers of the promises God made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; but we’re wild olive branches, we’re not Jews we’re Gentiles, and we’re grafted in.

Did you know the new covenant, when God says, “I’ll write My laws upon your hearts and you’ll know Me, and your sins will be forgiven,” did you know that new covenant is made with Israel? It’s for Israel, and you and I just get to be partakers of it. We get to come and be brought into it. Remember when Jesus was talking to the woman of Samaria at the well in John 4, and He told this Samaritan woman, which was non-Jewish, He said, “Salvation is of the Jews.” That’s an amazing statement! God chose Israel to be His instrument to save the world. Did you know, I’m assuming you know, that Jesus was a Jew? What’s with all this antisemitism and hating the Jewish people? Jesus was a Jew. Did you know that all of the apostles were Jewish? Did you know your Bible was written by a Jew? Whenever you meet a Jew say, “Thank you,” to them. They’ll be freaked out like, “Why?” “Because you gave me my Bible, and you give me my Messiah. Thank you very much!” That will freak them out. But, what’s with all this hatred and persecution of the Jews? They’re God’s people. They’re God’s witness. Why would Hitler want to destroy the Jewish people? Because they are a testimony to God. Someone said, “Prove to me that there is a God in the world.” Someone answered and said, “The Jewish people.” Simply, they are proof that there is a God in heaven—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. What an amazing thought! I’m getting a little rabbit-trailed right here because it’s amazing how the mega-narrative of God’s Word all ties together with these passages. Salvation is of the Jews. We’re just wild olive branches; we’re just grafted in. I guess I should read the text rather than just keep talking, right?

Paul says, “For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy…,” so if the first taste of that bread is holy, the whole lump is going to be holy. He’s talking about Israel. Then he says, “…and if the root be holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches be broken off…,” that’s the fall of Israel mentioned in verse 11, “…and thou, being a wild olive tree,” that’s the Gentiles, “wert graffed in…,” a little horticulture going on here, “…among them, and with them partakest of the root and the fatness of the olive tree;” he tells these Gentiles, “Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.” He’s actually telling us Gentiles, “Don’t be cocky. Don’t be haughty. Don’t be high-minded. Be humble because you’re just a wild olive branch grafted in.” He’s going to go on to say, “You could be broken off as well.” In verse 19 he says, “Thou wilt say then,” here’s the anticipated argument of the Gentile, “The branches were broken off,” that is, the nation of Israel, “that I might be graffed in. 20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off,” that is, the Jewish people, “and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear,” in the modern vernacular it’s like, “Cool your jets. Calm down. Don’t think you’re such hot stuff! These natural branches were broken off because of unbelief, you could be broken off as well.” You need to keep in mind that he’s talking nationally, not individually. He’s not teaching that an individual believer can lose their salvation. He’s talking about Israel nationally and the Gentiles being saved in what we know as the church today.

Verse 21, “For if God spared not the natural branches,” which were the Jewish people, the nation of Israel, “take heed lest he also spare not thee. 22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity;” that is, the Jewish people, “but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. 23 And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again.” And, He’s going to do that at what is called the second coming of Jesus Christ, at the end of the tribulation and before the Kingdom Age of the Millennium. In verse 24 he says, “For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature,” he’s speaking of us as Gentiles, “and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree?”

Now, some of you are going, “What?! I haven’t got a clue what he’s talking about.” Simply saying, he likens Israel as unto an olive tree. The root system is Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the promises God made to Israel, and when they rejected Jesus as their Messiah those branches were broken off and we were wild olive branches, right? Gentiles. We were taken and grafted in, and now we become partaker of the root. Did you know that your salvation comes to you through a Jewish Messiah? Isn’t antisemitism and the hatred of the Jews an amazing thing? The persecuted Jew, the wandering Jew…because God chose them as the avenue of His revelation to mankind. Now, I know that sometimes we think, “Lord, can You choose somebody else for a while? We’ve been persecuted, we’ve been afflicted.” God chose them to give His ten commandments to. Are the ten commandments a good thing? I think so. Aren’t you glad that God wrote down with His finger right in a stone, “Thou shalt not murder, thou shalt not lie, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal?” I think that’s pretty good, don't you? Moses received those ten commandments. He was the leader of the nation of Israel.

Salvation is of the Jews, and it is because of that that satan has hated, persecuted, attacked, and put down Jews throughout all of history. Antisemitism and Jewish hatred is going to increase in the last days, is increasing in the world right now, and will intensify in through the tribulation period. But, through the tribulation, which is called the time of Jacob’s trouble, God will bring them nationally to repentance until they see Messiah coming, and they will look on Him whom they have pierced and will understand that Jesus is the Messiah, and they will turn back to Him as Savior. Then, the thousand year Davidic reign, the Kingdom Age of Jesus Christ upon planet earth, and the earth will be turned into a paradise. Again, I’m still probably throwing more information in here than I need to be, but all this is contained in this dispensational truth of God breaking off the natural branches, grafting in the wild Gentile branches, and He’s telling us as Gentiles, be not high-minded but fear. If God broke off the Jews, He can break off you and you’re supposed to stay humble and appreciative, but he’s speaking there of they shall not always stay in unbelief, verse 23, but they “…shall be graffed in again,” and that will happen in the future at the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Notice the promise in verse 24. “For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree?” God is able to restore Israel, and He does have a purpose, plan, and a design for Israel. Now, when Jesus came, He came as the Messiah to the nation, but they didn’t recognize Him and He was crucified. The door was then opened to the Gentile world. You read in the book of Acts how the gospel started spreading to the Gentile world and, for the most part, Christianity has been salvation to the Gentiles, but there has always been that remnant. There have always been those believing Jews who believed in Jesus as their Messiah and trusted in Him, but there is coming a day when the church will be complete. It will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air in what we call the rapture, and the last seven years of man’s history upon the earth, known as the tribulation or time of Jacob’s trouble, when God’s wrath will be poured out upon the earth in order to bring Israel in repentance back to their Messiah. When Jesus Christ returns in His second coming, they’re going to recognize Him who they rejected two thousand years ago. This is just how it all plays out. The future unfolding of God’s plan all revolves around the nation of Israel, and the church age, which began on the day of Pentecost and will end at the rapture, is a parenthesis or a pause in God’s prophetic plan with the nation of Israel. When the church is complete (we’re going to see that in verse 25, the church is going to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air and we’ll be with the Lord), God’s wrath will be poured out on the earth for seven years, and Israel will come to repentance. Remember in Revelation there is a 144,000 Jews that are sealed from all these different tribes. It will be great Jewish evangelism. Then, they will see Jesus coming back and they are going to go, “Aye, aye, aye, aye, aye, aye! Did we ever make a mistake!” But guess what? God’s in control. God had it all planned out. It’s all part of God’s masterplan to bring salvation.

Notice in verses 25-36, the end of the chapter, there is one last argument that God still has a future and a plan for Israel. That argument is the character of God. Let me give it to you all once again. In Romans 11:1, Paul is a testimony, God’s not finished with Israel. In verses 2-6, God is not finished with Israel; historical proof, prophet Elijah in the time of Elijah. In verses 7-10, Scriptural proof, the reference to Isaiah and Psalms that God will bring Israel back. He has darkened their minds, but they will come back. Then, in verses 11-24, we just read, we see the dispensational truth that God set Israel aside temporarily to save Gentiles that blessing might go out to the whole world, but then God has a plan for Israel in the future, verse 25. Follow with me.

“For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery,” the largest Christian denomination in America—the ignorant brethren. He doesn’t want us to be ignorant of the mystery, and the mystery is the church, “lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.” In verse 25 we see God’s timing. Did you know that God is in control of time? You’re supposed to say, “Yeah.” You guys are kind of quiet tonight. At least give me a little bit of a nod to let me know you’re still awake. I know this stuff is theological and doctrinal and you’re thinking, “I could’ve stayed home and watched tv. What am I doing here?” But did you know that God is in control of time. He not only is outside of time, eternal, but God is in control of time. Remember that when you’re in a hurry. Remember that when the light won’t turn green. Remember that when you’re waiting for the doctor. God is in control. I want Jesus Christ to come back five years ago.

I grew up in a Christian home and got saved at a young age, but I backslid. I came back to the Lord in 1971. In 1971, I wanted Jesus Christ to come back. How many of you were not saved in 1971? Some of you say, “I wasn’t born in 1971.” Aren’t you glad Jesus didn’t come back when I was praying for Him to come back? He wanted you to get saved! Some of you say, “I just got saved last week!” “Two weeks ago! Come, Lord Jesus! Come, Lord Jesus!” Wait, wait, wait! Aren’t you glad that Jesus waited for you to get saved? God’s in control! I’m sure there were Christians long before I was even born that said, “Come, Lord Jesus! Come, Lord Jesus!” He said, “I’m waiting for John Miller.” “Aw, forget John Miller! Come, Lord Jesus!” We’re ready to go! I’m as troubled about this world as you are. I’ve actually been a pastor for 43 years—I don’t look that old do I? I’ve been preaching for 43 years! I’m ready to go to heaven! I’m ready for the rapture! Come, Lord Jesus, but you know what? Someone may get saved tonight. Someone may get saved next week. Someone may get saved next month. God’s got perfect timing. Maybe your parents aren’t saved yet. Maybe your brothers or sisters aren’t saved yet. Maybe your friends aren’t saved yet. Maybe the guys you work with aren’t saved yet. You say, “Aw, just let them go to hell.” Shame on you! Let’s go tonight, Lord! You know, the longer the Lord tarries, the more people go to heaven. I know we want to get this show on the road, but the Lord’s got His timing. He’s in perfect control. Go back with me to verse 25.

Paul says, “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery,” and the mystery is the church, Jew and Gentile one in Christ, “lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.” I could preach the whole night just on verse 25, but I want you to notice two key words, “in part.” Jewish blindness is only partial. Remember the testimony I showed you on the screen last week? Jews are being saved. Is there anyone here right now in the sanctuary that’s Jewish and is a believer in Yeshua? There’s one hand back there; there’s one right there. So, Jews can be saved! Amen! So, it’s not total. It’s only partial, and it’s only temporary. Blindness only until, verse 25, “…the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.” Two key words, “in part” and “until.” They are blind only partially, not all Jews have rejected Jesus as their Messiah, and it’s only temporary, once the fulness of the Gentiles are come in. Now, what is the fullness of the Gentiles? The fullness of the Gentiles is the church, those who believe in Jesus Christ during this church age or dispensation of the church or of grace, once that’s complete. Now, we’ve often said jokingly, but there is a lot of truth to it, there is one sinner out there that’s going to be the last one to get saved, and as soon as they’re saved then it will be, “Let’s get this show on the road!” If you’re here tonight, could you please repent and get right with God because I want to get raptured. There is someone out there, maybe they haven’t been born yet, maybe the Lord will tarry that long, I don’t know. I don’t think we’ve got that much time. But, that last person bows their knee and accepts Christ and the church is complete. I believe the church will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air and we will forever be with the Lord.

After the church is caught up, the man of sin, antichrist, will be revealed. What does he do? He makes a covenant. With who? With Israel. How interesting. For how long? Seven years. Isn’t it interesting that in the 70 weeks of Daniel’s prophecy, seven years left to be fulfilled? This is the time of Jacob’s trouble. It’s no accident that Israel is back in the land, the rebirth of the nation of Israel. Did you notice that you haven’t heard a lot about Israel in the news lately and how things are kind of laying low there? Things are going to stir up again. Things are happening again. The nation of Israel is God’s time clock. Time revolves around the Jewish people. It revolves around Israel—a tiny little speck of land in the middle of the universe. God’s prophetic time revolves around that one nation. They’ve returned to the land, they’ve become a nation born out of the past, and God has a purpose, a future, and a plan for them. When the fullness of the Gentiles is come in, the church will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and the 70th week of Daniel, that last seven years of man’s history on earth, will begin to tick off.

Not only is it God’s timing, secondly, I want you to know God’s promise, verse 26. “And so all Israel shall be saved,” this is a future promise that God is not finished yet with Israel, “as it is written,” he’s quoting from Isaiah 59, “There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob,” so, we go from God’s timing, verse 25, to God’s promise, verse 26, to God’s covenant, verses 27-28. “For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. 28 As concerning the gospel, they…,” that is, the Jews, “…are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes.” As I mentioned a moment ago, a lot of Christians don’t realize that the new covenant is with Israel. It’s not necessarily with the church. The church actually becomes beneficiaries of the new covenant. We get brought into that new covenant, but we’re just wild olive branches grafted in and we become partakers of that root.

Fourthly, I want you to notice in verse 29, a marvelous verse, God’s nature. So, this whole defense is the character of God. His timing, His promise, His covenant, and then, verse 29, His nature. “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” What does that mean? That means God called Israel; God will complete His work with Israel. What God began with Israel, God will finish with Israel. It’s saying that God will finish what He has begun with the nation of Israel. It also means that, for us as believers today, when God calls and saves us, God keeps us, and He is not going to take salvation back. Then notice God’s mercy in verses 30-32. He says, “For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief,” so, he’s speaking about the Gentiles. In times past, you hadn’t believed God, but now through their rejection, their unbelief, you’ve obtained mercy. Verse 31, “Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. 32 For God hath concluded…,” or set up, “…them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.”

I believe that verses 30-32 are a summary of all of Romans 9, 10 and 11. He is basically summarizing three chapters in three verses. Verse 30 summarizes chapter 9, verse 31 summarizes chapter 10, and verse 32 summarizes chapter 11. “For God hath concluded them all,” that is, Jews and Gentiles are, “in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.” So, you have God’s timing, God’s promise, God’s covenant, and God’s very nature. God’s character doesn’t change. God’s truth does not change. God’s ways do not change. God’s purpose does not change. God’s Son does not change.

Do you know that God still has a purpose and a plan for Israel as a nation? It’s no mistake they’re back in the land. Do you know that no people group in the history of mankind has ever been able to maintain their national identity, let alone have their own homeland, when they have been dispersed without a home for two thousand years? You take any race…have you seen any Hittites lately? Have you met anybody at the store, “I’m a Hittite.” Have you met anybody that said, “I’m a Jebusite.” Then you meet another guy, “I’m an outasite!” I could keep going, but I’ll stop right there. We meet Jews all the time. We have Jews here tonight. The Jewish people—it’s amazing! And, they have their own homeland. They became a nation. They were born out of the past. Two thousand years without a homeland, and all the Jews come back. Was that an accident? No. It was the hand of God—there is this master plan of God. I know there are a lot of details we haven’t gone over all sequentially, but this is all what is called dispensational truth. God saved Abraham from Ur of the Chaldees, revealed Himself to him, gave him promises and covenants, the Abrahamic covenant. You have Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, He reiterated the promises. You have the Palestinian covenant, the promise of the land, and then you have the Davidic covenant, the Messiah would come through the line of David. He would sit on the throne of David. All those promises God is going to keep!

Do you believe tonight that God keeps His promises? I do! Amen? So, when you’re watching the news and you’re freaking out on the upcoming election wondering what is going to happen to America, God’s on the throne. He has a purpose. He has a plan. It’s all going to work out. He knows what He’s doing. He’s still on the throne. Amen? And we can rest in that. You say, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, but I just kind of wish it wouldn’t. I want to get on a roll. I’d like to get raptured tonight and be in heaven. I don’t want to pay my rent this week.” I’m with you on that. I want to go to heaven as well, but God’s timing is perfect. I don't know how much more time we have, I don’t know what God’s purpose might be, but I know that God sittith in the heavens and His timing is perfect. He sent Jesus for the fulness of time would come. Jesus came the first time as the Lamb to die for the sins of the world, and He’s coming back the second time as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, King of kings and Lord of lords, to reign upon the earth. I’m looking forward to that. So, the Jews still have a future. God still has a plan for them. God isn’t finished with them. Both Jews and Gentiles, verse 32, are all shut up “…in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.”

I’m going to come back over verses 33-36 next week as we introduce the beginning of the practical part of the book of Romans where in chapter 12 Paul says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds.” He’s going to take 11 chapters and for the next several weeks, we’re going to put it in shoe leather. We’ve just ended 11 chapters of doctrine, 11 chapters of theology, and principles lead to practice, doctrine leads to duty. Here in closing, doctrine leads to doxology and what is one of the greatest doxologies in all of the Bible. What an amazing doxology it is! It begins in verse 33 with an astonished exclamation. “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” I wish I could do these verses justice. What he does, beginning in verse 33, is basically freak out. Eleven chapters of condemnation, salvation, reconciliation, the wisdom of God, and Paul just blows up. “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” We call it blowing a fuse. He blows his theological fuse right here. He just took in all of this information for 11 chapters, he’s spitting it all out, and then he just stops and it turns to praise. So, doctrine leads to doxology; principles lead to praise. “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!”

In verses 34-35, he continues with a rhetorical question. He says, “For who hath known the mind of the Lord?” That’s an unanswerable question. No one. “…or who hath been his counsellor?” Now, I’ve tried a few times, but He doesn’t listen to me. He’s a lot smarter than I am. “Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?” God will never be your debtor. In verse 36, the first part, he moves to a theological affirmation. He says, “For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things:” I want you to notice that in verse 36—of Him, through Him, to Him. Of Him speaks of He’s the creator, the source, and sustainer of all things. Through Him, He’s the sustainer, the maintainer of all things. To Him, He’s the goal. So, of Him, the source; through Him, sustainer; to Him, He is the goal. This is all Paul’s worship and praise.

Lastly, at the end of verse 36, notice this final ascription, “…to whom be glory for ever. Amen.” Which, by the way, is so be it. Paul, basically, to put it in kind of your old common vernacular, Paul basically just flips out. He just blows a fuse. In verses 33-36, he just is so blown away by the wisdom of God, the way of God, the plan of God, the program of God. God knows what He is doing. When you look at the world and you start to freak out, just remember the end of Romans 11, “…of him, and through him, and to him, are all things,” God is in control. Aren’t you glad? To Him be praise and glory forever and ever! Amen. He’s the source, He’s the sustainer, and He is the goal. And, there’s a marvelous principle here, and I need to wrap this up or else I’ll just keep talking all night, and that is, doctrine leads to doxology. Doctrine leads to doxology.

How many of you like to sing? You like when Gabe and the worship team comes out and leads us in worship. You like to sing, and we’re going to close in some worship, but who are you worshipping? Why are you worshipping? If you don’t know doctrine, you can’t worship. You see, the trend in the church today is all worship and practical Christian living and, “I want to be a better husband and have a nicer-looking wife and I want to make more money. I want my kids to be perfectly spaced rather than totally spaced, and I want to be healthy and wealthy. I want to be a dynamic Christian, and I want to sing songs.” You can’t worship what you don’t know. You can’t live what you don’t know. You can’t be a Christian if you don’t know what a Christian is.

We just spent 11 weeks on doctrine. We lost some people. Not everybody’s like, “Uhh Romans 9, 10 and 11, I’m going to stay home and watch tv.” That’s why the very next chapter after 11 chapters of doctrine, the very next chapter Paul literally gets on his knees. He gets on his knees and says, “I beg you. I beg you by the mercies of God,” he just spent 11 chapters talking about God’s mercy, “Give Him your life. Present your body as a living sacrifice unto God which is your reasonable act of worship.” You see, worship and Christian living has to be based upon doctrine, so I hope tonight that even to some degree that you respond as we close this service tonight with just worship. “God, thank you for Your masterplan. Thank you for all that You’ve done for me. Thank you that You sent the Messiah and the Jews rejected Him, but it was all part or Your masterplan and temporarily they’ve been set aside and the Gentiles have been brought in, and when the church is complete, the church will be raptured and caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and then again for seven years God’s time is going to start ticking off and the last 70th week of Daniel, and You’re going to pour out your wrath upon this Christ-rejecting world. Then, You’re going to come back in power and glory, and the Jews are going to look on You, whom they have pierced, and they will wail and will recognize that He is their Messiah. And their salvation, not their rejection, meant salvation to the whole world which is us here tonight, the Gentiles, the church.”

How much more their restoration? When Jesus Christ comes back in His second coming and Israel repents and turns to their Messiah, guess what it’s going to bring? It’s going to bring the Kingdom Age. It’s going to bring the Millennium. The Bible says that Christ will reign on earth for a thousand years and there will be peace on earth as waters cover the sea. The lion will lay down with the lamb, and no more war. They will beat all their instruments of war into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks, and nations shall not make war anymore with nation. It will be peace on earth. Isn’t God amazing? Isn’t His plan amazing? And, it’s all there for us to know in His Word. Let’s pray.