EXPOSITORY SERMON: ROMANS 11: 1-36

I. INTRODUCTION

A. In chapter 9, Paul emphasized the divine sovereignty of God as he explained Israel's past election.

B. In chapter 10, Paul emphasized human responsibility as he discussed Israel's present rejection.

C. Here in chapter 11, Paul concludes his dissertation on the nation of Israel by calling five witnesses to prove that God has plans for Israel's future.


II. DISCUSSION

A. FIRST WITNESS - Paul himself (1). If Israel is to be restored, it will have to be restored one Israelite soul at a time. Luke repeated the story of Paul's conversion three times when he wrote the book of Acts. Why? To show that even a Jew among Jews must obey Christ to be in a right relationship with God.

B. SECOND WITNESS - Elijah the prophet (2-10).

1. In I Kings 19: 10-18 we read of Elijah's despair. He thought he was the only faithful Israelite left. He was wrong! God still had a remnant of faithful followers among the Jews.

2. The whole nation of Israel had never been true to God, but likewise there had always been this faithful minority. Other prophets also understood this idea of the faithful remnant: Amos (9:8-10); Micah (2:12; 5:3); Zephaniah (3;12,13); Jeremiah (23:3); Ezekiel (14:14, 20, 22) and Isaiah (7:3, 8:2,18, 9:12, 6:9-13).

3. The truth: no nation will be saved as a whole, man's relationship with God under the Christian dispensation is individual.

4. The sense of safety most Israelites felt in their nationality now becomes the snare that entraps them. Their security, satisfaction and confidence in being God's chosen people is their very undoing.

5. They had become "hardened" or callus. Where a callus forms there is no sensitivity and so it was with the heart of Israel.

C. THIRD WITNESS - The Gentiles (11-15).

1. Israel's refusal to obey opened the door for the Gentiles. The Gentiles acceptance might open the Jews eyes to what they rejected and provoke them to jealousy and obedience.

2. It is Paul's hope that the Jews would see what Christianity had done for the Gentiles and be moved to desire it.

D. FOURTH WITNESS - The Patriarchs (16-24). Paul will use two illustrations from the Old Testament to show that God is far from being through with the Jews.

1. The lump of dough (16a) - According to the Old Law (Num. 15:19,20) offering the first part of the dough to the Lord sanctified the whole lump. In this way the Gentiles had received salvation by way of the Patriarchs. The same kind of faith that saved the Patriarchs was now saving the Gentiles. The Jews still had access to that kind of faith.

2. The olive tree (16b-24) - The prophets often pictured the nation of Israel as an olive tree. Here Paul uses the illustration for spiritual Israel.
a. The grafting process described by Paul would never be used by gardeners today. The wild is not grafted into the good. The Gentiles had indeed been blest by God's grace by being en grafted into the riches and fertility of the garden variety olive tree.
b. Paul now speaks two words:
(1) a word of warning - Gentiles: there would be no Christianity if there had not been Judaism first. Israel is our spiritual ancestry and deserves our respect, not our contempt.
(2) a word of hope - Even the Jews who had been discarded because of unbelief could be en grafted once again, upon their repentance.

E. FIFTH WITNESS - God Himself (25-36) Paul has saved the most powerful witness for last. God's work and character are involved in Israel's future.

1. His timing (25) - The partial hardening of the Jews was for a time. It was neither total nor permanent. It would be removed when the time was right.

2. His promise (26) - God promised to save His people and so He shall. But how? Through the Deliverer, Jesus Christ.

3. His covenant (27,28) - For those who obey God's covenant with Israel stands today. The Jews had made themselves enemies of the gospel, but God is standing by, waiting to receive His prodigal sons and daughters back into the fold.

4. His nature (29) - (Mal. 3:6; Num. 23:19) Even if man is unfaithful, God remains faithful. Israel's rejection of God, their failure to enjoy special gifts and live up to their privileges does not alter God's attitude toward His faithful servants.

5. His grace (30-32) - is extended to all who will receive it , Jew or Gentile.

6. His wisdom (33-36) Here Paul turns to poetry or perhaps a hymn. Only the one true God could take the fall of Israel and turn it into salvation for the whole world. No man can fully understand the workings of the mind of God. The more we study His ways and see His wisdom at work, the more the honest heart will praise Him!


III. CONCLUSION

Paul's five witnesses agree: Israel has a future. Each individual Jew has every opportunity to obey the gospel and live and reign in spiritual Israel, that is the body of Christ, the church.