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God would not allow sin to happen in the world if He was not using it for some great and ultimate purpose. We see that being displayed in the way that He has brought both Jews and Gentiles to salvation.
We even see it happen in current events, when we understand the text.
You're listening to When We Understand The Text, an online Bible ministry committed to teaching sound doctrine and exposing the faulty. Find videos and more at our website www .tt .com. Now here's our host, Pastor Gabe Hughes.
Thank you, Becky. We are in Romans chapter 11 again today. If you want to open up your Bibles and join with me there. First of all, I have to give some mad props to Dr. Russell Moore. He is the president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.
I don't know if you heard about this yesterday or not, but Donald Trump went after Dr. Moore on Twitter. He said, Russell Moore is truly a terrible representative of evangelicals and all of the good they stand for, a nasty guy with no heart.
Well, last night, Dr. Moore was on CNN with Anderson Cooper, and Cooper gave him an opportunity to respond to that tweet. Dr. Moore shared the gospel.
Listen to his response. I wanted to give you a chance to respond if you want to Donald Trump's tweet about you this morning. Well, I thought it was great. It's one of the few things that I can agree with Donald Trump on.
I am a nasty guy with no heart. We sing worse things about ourselves in our hymns on Sunday mornings. We're a wretch in need of God's grace, and so I agree with that. But I think that's the reason why I need forgiveness from God through Jesus Christ.
But beyond that, I think we have some real issues with evangelical Christians with both parties right now and the direction that both parties are going. So the position, Dr. Moore, that evangelicals find themselves in, and again, it's silly to kind of use that term as sort of a painting with a broad brush, but having to choose between Donald Trump and most likely Hillary Clinton, you say many of them are horrified in your work.
Yes, horrified, and many of them are thinking through, I hear all day long every day from evangelicals who are thinking through whether they're going to write in a candidate, whether they're going to vote for a third party, whether they're not going to vote in that election, whether they're going to try to come up with some lesser of two evils calculation in their voting.
It's a real crisis for many evangelicals. But frankly what I hear most of all from evangelicals is, does this mean that America is under the judgment of God? There are many Christians who are wondering, what does this mean for our country when we have a situation in which neither major party nominee for President of the United States is someone that they can respect, that they can point their children to?
I'm the father of five sons, and when I look at this presidential candidate, the way that he talks about women, and the way that he treats sexuality, and the way that he talks about basic moral principles, and I think I don't even want my children to watch this.
I think that's the burden that is weighing on a lot of people of faith right now.
Man, I love that. Dr. Moore had an opportunity to respond as nasty as Donald Trump spoke about him, and he just gave the gospel. What a great way to respond to that. And I hope Donald Trump hears it, and I hope it convicts his heart and he repents.
I really hope that's what happens. For those of you who are listening who are members of my congregation, you're going to hear that clip again on Sunday. You'll see the video as we've been in Romans chapter 12 talking about living peaceably with all, and to bless others when they revile you because of your faith.
I thought that Dr. Moore demonstrated that right there, so I'm going to use that as an example on Sunday. For everybody else, we are not in Romans 12, we're in Romans chapter 11. Yesterday we looked at verses 1 through 6.
Today we're going to start in verse 7 and get through about verse 16 here. So Paul says, what then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened. As it was 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. 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?
Now I am speaking to you Gentiles in as much 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 first fruits is holy, so is the whole lump. And if the root is holy, so are the branches. All right, let's go back to verse seven here. Paul says, what then? And this is in light of what we had looked at in verses one through six where he talks about how there is a remnant that has been chosen by grace and Paul is an example of that remnant because he himself is an ethnic Jew and yet is a believer in Christ Jesus.
So he himself is a testimony to how the Jews have not been fully excluded. There are some that have been reserved for salvation in Christ Jesus and he happens to be one of them. So are all the rest of the apostles, in fact.
But he goes on here, what then? In light of this, all the rest of Israel that has been hardened. So what are we to make of this? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. They did not receive salvation by works of the law, which is how they thought that they were going to gain salvation.
The elect obtained salvation through Christ, but the rest were hardened. As it is written, verse eight, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear down to this very day.
Now, this is a composite verse that actually combines Deuteronomy 29, four and Isaiah twenty nine ten. And then what we get in verse nine is Paul quoting from David. He is actually praying here that those Jews that have rejected Christ, that have been predestined for God's wrath, that they would be judged.
But there's a purpose in this. OK, so so hold tight with me here. Let's explain this. So here here once again, verse eight, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear down to this very day.
And then quoting David, praying for their judgment, 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.
But then Paul clarifies the reason that he is praying for judgment to be poured out on Israel. Those that have been predestined for wrath is so that those who have been predestined for salvation would see God's judgment upon them and therefore be saved.
And there is a fuller inclusion of Jews and Gentiles together in this predestined work of salvation. All right. So going on here as we as we kind of explore this verse 11. So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall?
So did these Jews stumble? Are they coming into God's wrath so that all of Israel would be condemned? No, no, no, no. By no means. Here's that my good Noita phrase in Greek again, rather through their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles so as to make Israel jealous.
And then God will actually use their jealousy to bring them to repentance so that they can enjoy the same rewards that the Gentiles are receiving. Now, Israel is observing the observing the Gentiles receiving the gifts that God had promised Israel.
So they're jealous over that. But rather than allowing their jealousy to lead to their destruction, God is using that so that they would repent of their trespasses and come to those same gifts through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Verse 12. 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? Now, don't get confused by the wording of this verse.
World and Gentiles actually means the same thing. World is just another word for Gentiles. So let's go ahead and use the word world here instead of two different words so that we can understand what's being said.
Now, if their trespass means riches for the world and if their failure means riches for the world, how much more will their full inclusion mean? So for those who repent and come into the body of Christ, we've got Jews and Gentiles together.
Those who had received the oracles of God who had been promised these gifts from the very beginning and those who were not seeking those gifts all together displaying the grace and the glory of God from everlasting to everlasting.
I mean, like stretching over the bounds of time, Old Testament and new. We see both groups of people united in Christ. That's what's incredible about this. That's what Paul is beholding as he presents that argument.
So then in verse 13, now he's addressing specifically the Gentiles. Now, I am speaking to you Gentiles in as much then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry. When Jesus Christ appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus, he was blinded.
He was told to go to the street called straight and go there and wait. God then appeared to Ananias and told him to go to Saul. And he said that this is the man whom I am going to send as an apostle to the Gentiles.
And so Paul is referring to himself that way. As much 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. So Paul's saying, even though that I am here for your benefit, Gentiles, I also want to preach to you so that I make Israel jealous and then they'll repent of their sin and be saved.
For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, of the salvation that has come to the Gentiles being reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord, what will their acceptance mean? But life from the dead, if the dough offered as first fruits is holy, so is the whole lump.
And if the root is holy, so are the branches. And we're going to talk about that part tomorrow as we talk about this cultivated olive branch that Paul gives a demonstration of, an example that he uses in verses 17 through 24.
So that's what we're going to be looking at tomorrow. All right. So to wrap up here, here's what I want to do. Let's bring in our opening example into what it is that we've studied here in Romans chapter 11.
Donald Trump said something nasty about Dr. Moore. And how did Dr. Moore respond? Peacefully with the gospel of Jesus Christ on a cable news network. I mean, I applaud Anderson Cooper for letting Dr. Moore do that.
Typically, when somebody starts sharing the gospel on the news like that, they're trying to cut him off. But Anderson Cooper let him speak. I thought it was fantastic. So by that piece that Dr. Moore displayed, I hope that it heaps burning coals on Donald Trump's head and he repents of his sin and comes to salvation because of his folly becomes jealousy toward the peace that Dr. Moore displays.
And then Donald Trump repents of his sin. God gives him a spirit of stupor so that he goes one comment too far that leads to him receiving the gospel of Jesus Christ. And God is able to use his folly to save his spirit.
Maybe I'm reaching there, but I hope that's what happens. As we see here in Romans 1220, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. And that's what Dr. Moore did, fed the gospel. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
He gave him the water of the Holy Spirit. For by doing so, you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. And so the apostle Paul saying here also that as he preaches to the Gentiles, there is another underlying motive to his preaching the gospel.
He desires Gentiles to be saved, but he also hopes that it makes Israel jealous so that they would repent of their sin and escape from the wrath of God coming to salvation in Jesus Christ. Likewise, I hope Donald Trump repents of his sin so that he is able to escape the wrath of God, which can only be done by faith in Jesus Christ.
Our Lord God, I do want to pray for these candidates that are still in the running right now for president of the United States. Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, they're not two great people to pick from at all.
They're not good examples of what we want to set before our children, of what a leader of our country is supposed to look like. Nor do we feel like either of these candidates are even going to fight for the faith of your saints.
But Lord, as we read in your scriptures in Ephesians chapter two, all of us were once following the course of this world, the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is at work in the sons of disobedience.
And it was by your grace and your mercy that we have been saved. And so, Lord, be merciful, be gracious, save these two candidates. And then through these candidates, your message, your gospel would go forth.
And there are many other people who, by the testimony of what they see you doing through people in high and powerful positions, will repent of their sins and come to faith in Christ. No matter what happens.
They still see the power of God at work in all things. It is to you we give all the glory and honor now and forever. Amen.
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