Book of Romans - Ch. 11, Vs. 17-29 (08/08/2021)

Romans 11, Positional Truth, and Experiential Christian Living

So here's all right so anyway we're we're in Romans chapter 11 and as you know we took a little divergence out through the book of Revelation. We finished that up the last Sunday I was here so now we're back finishing up Romans chapter 11.

May not finish it all in one day because there's quite a few verses left but we're making good progress through the chapter in chapter 11. A little bit of review here. Let's pray first. I want to get my mind off trip and into the word here.

Lord thank you so much for bringing us home safely and more importantly than that for protecting all of our family and our loved ones here our church family while we were away and Lord we ask you we never want to overlook or not be thankful for your protection and your hand upon us and Lord thank you for the many answered prayers we've even heard about just since we got back here and for protecting people watching over your sheep and so Lord now take us into your word and speak to our hearts by your holy spirit through the word and the spirit we ask it in Jesus name amen.

Let's review a little bit because since we took a little trip out through Revelation we need to kind of remember the context of Romans 11 right. Because where we're about to go is pretty magnificent. In fact Bill is so funny but he talked about some of it in his Sunday school lesson today there was a little part in it that had to do with how it is that we can live for the Lord you know the experiential part actually trying to be a good man or woman for God trying to do right trying to be obedient how does that work.

And an amazing thing has been talked about it right towards the end of his sermon I heard him say something I hadn't thought about in years I took logic in college but college has now become a long time ago for me so but it was interesting when he said it because I hadn't thought about it in years when he said that you have cause and then you have effect and he said but an effect can become a cause and that's logically true but I hadn't thought about but that's why they call God the first cause right.

Bill I mean if he's if there's a first cause that implies there can be a second cause right. So some of the effects that come from when something is caused to happen and stuff because that happens those can become a cause of something else.

I thought that was pretty clever and it made me think about that a lot for about a week after being preached about it and what's interesting is it ties in with what Bill said this morning what I'm going to say today in the next Sunday the Lord willing about how does it work that we know we're not saved by works right.

So why do we do any. And how does that work. And and if we're not living by the law and if the Ten Commandments were not even for us I mean most of us didn't grow up knowing that right. How many of you grew up thinking that the Ten Commandments are very much a part of the Christian life.

Raise your hand. All of us grew up being taught that it's on the school walls and I wish it still were. But the point is the law was for Israel it was for Israel. The scripture says it very clearly in many places.

And so we're not under that law we're under a higher law the law of Christ. And you touched on that today too and I think you said love God and love your neighbor others and all the other law is kept in that law and that's the law of Christ.

Right. So so how is it then. I mean how does obeying God even fit into this thing. And how does it work. And Ben's whole sermon was on that last week he can get analytical like his daddy does sometimes.

And so I enjoyed it because I could see the struggle he was going through with like you have you have what we call positional truth. Right. Like God that's the cause like God God saves us. He gives us a new nature.

Right. God gives us his own righteousness. And then Jesus turned around says be holy for I am holy. That's experiential. So you have positional which is stuff that what you do doesn't change it because God did it all and it's a reality.

It's an unchangeable reality when God once God does it your salvation is that way. But then he says be holy as I'm holy. That's you making a decision to either do that or not. Right. How does all that fit together.

So as we move on through Romans 11 and what's good what you're going to see not so much these first few verses. That's why I may not even get to this awesome part today. But that's okay. Let me come back next time maybe except for some of us that have to leave and go to Florida.

I guess is it about that time. Yeah it goes fast summer goes too fast. But what it's all leading to most of what you're going to see in 11. Now once we get through the last few verses or to them is they are the context for this amazing chapter 12.

Verse 1 that's going to start out the chapter the chapter 12 of Romans the whole chapter but I mean especially verse 1 which is talking about experiential life living for God. And the interesting thing about it.

And this is how we know there aren't really chapters in the real body in the original Bible men added that years later because verse 1 starts out with the idea therefore do this. Well you can't have. Therefore if you don't have stuff up above it that it's talking about right.

So even though it's a different chapter it really wasn't. It's all the same breath. It's all a letter and you can't understand it without the context. So the context for Romans 12 1 is found at the end of chapter 11 and that's where we are now.

So pay attention to that because when we get to 12 1 it's going to help you understand it. And 12 1 is one of the most magnificent verses in the Bible that has to do with us living right. And how we how we walk with God and how we walk with each other and how difficult that is living in spiritual warfare all the time.

And not even realize. Most Christians don't even realize don't even know what that is. The Satan can put a thought in your mind and see where you'll go with it. And not only will he see where you go with it he'll make you.

He can make you go with it and turn a he can make you turn a molehill into a mountain in a minute with problems with other people or even with the Lord or whatever. And you just think it's the other person.

And yet the scripture says we battle not against what flesh and blood that's the other person. We battle not against flesh and blood but against spiritual powers in heavenly places in high places principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places.

That's the battle. But most Christians are totally unaware of this battle. And I'm not even talking about demonic possession. I mean that takes it a step further. And that's real too. People don't believe that that just went away right.

Well they can't die. Where'd they go. The demons that were in the pigs that drowned when Jesus said the demons didn't drown. Just the pigs did. Now they're living in humans. Probably I don't think they tend to stay with pigs very long.

So there's that. But I'm not even talking about that. I'm talking about something more subtle and more pervasive than that. And that is just the work on the mind that Satan can do. I mean our flesh can be pretty bad in and of itself the old man right.

The old man can be can do anything bad that it could before your salvation. And that old man part of you isn't going to get saved till the rapture or till you die right. Whichever comes first. But when Satan comes in and works together with that old man part of which is your brain it can be devastating.

What can happen to other people. What you can do to yourself and to other people even as a Christian. So you got to be aware of spiritual warfare. And all of that comes into play when we talk about experiential Christian living right being a good man woman boy or girl.

Because we still have the old man Paul the greatest Christian that ever lived. Probably we'll find that out someday. He said oh wretched man that I am. You know I do the things I don't want to do. I don't do the things I want to do for the Lord who will set me free from the body of this death.

And he says thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. That too. And so in time right now that's the only answer we have is we're still in this body. Satan can influence this brain. And so we have to be thankful that the Lord Jesus Christ is greater than him and he lives in us too.

And when we turn to him we win. We win the battle all. Right. We're going to win the war. We know that. Right. You can win the battles too if you understand spiritual warfare and most of the time with other human beings.

If it's a Christian good truthful communication and prayer will solve any issue and bring unity. The Bible says division grieves the Holy Spirit. So what does the Holy Spirit bring unity. Right. So all of that's part of spiritual warfare.

And it's going on all the time not just in churches in life in business and family in governments and nations. You read the book of Revelation. I mean we were going through it quite a bit but we didn't cover it verse by verse.

Did we. But there's a passage in the book of Revelation it says at the very end right before Armageddon that Satan and his demons cause spirits to go into the minds of the leaders of the nations and cause them to hate one another and want to kill one another.

And the great final war happens because demons made them think it was their thought. It made them think it's a good idea to go to war with everybody else instead. The demons look like frogs. What does that mean.

Well we don't know. We know this John was in heaven looking at stuff way out in the future that he didn't have words for couldn't describe it with vocabulary. Because he had no vocabulary. Like if he needed to describe a helicopter firing missiles he just had to say it looked like a locust with hair on it and fire coming out its mouth.

That's a helicopter. Probably. And so that's how he describes what's going to happen. And he's very accurate. And so the demons are going to put these thoughts in the leader's mind making them think it's their own thought.

They believe in free will. Right. They have no free will. It's all influenced. And then they will come at war with one another. It'll create the last war. And Jesus will end it with fire from his mouth destroy the armies of the world in one blow.

And then we'll be ushered into the thousand year millennial kingdom. That'll be very much like the garden of eden again. So that's where we're headed. But um so spiritual warfare goes right up to the end is my point.

The Olive Tree, Israel, and Gentile Grafting

Well let's look at this. Let's review just a little bit. Romans 11 17. If some of the branches were broken off who's that the jews. The gentiles. The branches that are broken off that's some of the jews.

Now notice it says some of not all of them. My mentor was a jew who got saved a jewish believer dr erwin freeman. Y 'all heard about him. He's in heaven now. So it doesn't mean no jews are saved. But some of the jews were broken off.

And now being a wild olive tree who's that the jews and the gentiles. The wild olive tree that's the gentiles. We were grafted into the tree. Now why you got to be grafted into the tree. Because the root is jesus christ.

And that's where all the nutrition and life comes from. And without it you're dead. You're nothing. You're just dirt. We you know we have a lot of dirt in us. We're made out of dirt. The fact that you can live and breathe and animate is a miracle.

The fact that a tree has life in it when its roots are in dirt is a miracle. None of that can happen. Yet mother nature can't make any of that happen without god's influence. In fact it's in my sermon.

But we won't get to it today. Probably. So it's all animated by the life and presence of jesus christ who made all things but of him all things consist and the greek word means he holds it together and makes it be real.

Listen most of everything that you see that you think is just normal would be nothing but a facade. It wouldn't even exist without the breath of god's life in it and energy. Without god who is everywhere and in in everything.

And and i'm not. You know i don't believe in pantheism but but the bible says that god is everywhere. He's omnipresent. And jesus christ holds everything together. That means the atoms and even down to smaller particles than that.

But we haven't even named yet. He holds it all together. And without his continual touch it is gone on. Which means you're gone now. There is nothing that can bring you next to god quicker than thinking about that.

So that's part of this message here too. And and so really what you're going to see is all of this is going to build up towards why romans chapter 12 verse 1 happens. And what makes it happen. And a big part of it is you understanding the awesomeness of god and fearing him because of it.

And that will cause us to live right and not much more will. Because your flesh my stress flesh is way stronger than it ought to be. But it is. And so it's only by being thankful and loving god and his love for us and fearing god that we do anything right.

And yet that's god's plan for the new testament church. It is not a plan of keeping a list of things to do and don't do. And yet most churches do that. That is not the plan. The plan is by the love of god the love for god and the fear of god.

We live for god. You'll see that i think so that's my overview for the verses. We're about to come to towards the end of romans chapter 11. But here's where it all started out. It started out about god revealing to us that he broke off some of the jews out of the tree and he plugged us in.

And it's not. We're not even natural blank branches. But when he grafted us in god made us come alive. We were born again and we're just as saved as the jew. But the jew didn't believe that could happen.

And a lot of what paul talking about in his epistles he's convincing the jew yeah god will save all men not just jews. Now he doesn't mean every individual man does. He means all kinds of men besides just jews.

And if you know that context it helps you understand the little greek word pas which translated all doesn't always mean every individual fact. Usually it doesn't. It does sometimes though but usually it means some from every people group anyway it's all through here.

So you'll see it. So now he's broken off some of the jews and grafted in some gentiles. And now we partake of the root and the fatness of the olive tree. Who does that. Picture a person who who would he be.

Who is the root of jesse jesus christ the lord who created everything. So we're now connected to him. Don't you think that helps you be a better man or woman a boy or girl to just understand like you were.

You're different than you were before you got saved or i should say justified i should say regenerated. You are different than you were before you were regenerated. Now you're connected to the tree and the root and the food and the nutrients all the spiritual strength and everything you need to be perfect in this life.

And by that i don't mean sinless but i mean mature all that you were meant to be right there in that verse. And that's something. But we got another verse all right. Let's see how much did that verse take.

Oh wow time to get started here in it both not against the branches. God's now talking to the gentiles. And he's telling him not to boast against the jews. But if thou bears not but but if thou boast remember this you don't bear the root.

The root is what gives you life. And it's jewish because jesus was a jew. So the gentile american church as powerful as she has been not so much now but as powerful as she has been. She should never have bragged and said well you know we're better than the jews ever were because the roots of jew the tree is jewish.

Now let's just think about this for a minute because what comes next and this is still review. But if you remember what came next was a warning from paul the great apostle inspired by the holy spirit that said i need to remind the gentile church of something that if i would break off jews from this tree because of their unbelief i will break off gentiles from this tree because their unbelief.

And i believe it was a message to the american church predominantly. But look at this in january of 2020. Now this is over a year ago in january it marked the 47th anniversary of roe versus wade legalized abortion in the united states of america.

And since that time 61 million 628 584 babies lives were ended because of america the leaders we elected and what we allowed and never stopped it and it's still ongoing. In fact now it's fired up bigger than it ever has been with biden in there now i won't say ever uh obama did more damage so far.

But with biden in there it now progresses. And so you think about that close to 62 million each unique unrepeatable persons who were snuffed out and never got to be that doctor never got to be the nobel prize winning physicist.

No never got to be the general of our military or the president of the united states because they were killed in the womb by america. Right. Instead of welcoming these babies they were snuffed out through the violence of abortion.

So think about that for a minute. What nation today do you think represents the largest contingent of church-going gentile christians. Would you think that would be america. I think it is so. We're offering children to the the god the false god that they offered their children to by fire.

We're offering our children the same god when we abort them. And we're seeing this happen before our very eyes. There was a great great revival 2624 years ago maybe the greatest revival that ever happened.

I hear people all the time tell me brother david we just need revival in america. And i always just shudder when i hear it because i never disagree i never agreed that i think it's going to happen because i don't because i think we're in the apostasy stage.

But people say it all the time. But there was a great revival. There have been great revivals even in america. But in second kings 23 1 through 7 it says that the bible was read in the ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the lord.

So they stood up and they just simply read the bible all day to the people. It doesn't say anything about recited poems or clever sayings or little stories. They just read verse by verse through the word of god.

It's all they did. And if you go read about that in second kings 23 you will see that towards the end of that day revival broke out among those people and instruments were brought out and played in mute loud music and dancing and praising god just because they heard the word of god read in a boring fashion.

And i shouldn't say boring. Meet this person in heaven. So you said my reading was boring. It probably was not boring. But i'll tell you one thing i know the material was good because it was the bible.

And it caused one of the biggest revivals that never happened in the history of the world just by reading the bible. Now here's what josiah did. The one who read this scripture. He made a covenant to live by the bible.

And it changed the whole nation of israel because of this. For for for quite some time. He then destroyed the vessels that had been made to worship baal and he burned them. So he destroyed false religion in his country.

He got rid of it. He then killed the idolatrous priest who were teaching people about false gods and to offer their children by fire. He killed them. Now i'm not advocating we should do this in america.

We have laws that don't allow us to kill them. But you know we ought to we ought to strike them down with our words. Shouldn't we. We we should let them know. We don't agree with you. You're false and we shouldn't do it in a nice way.

We should rebuke them. Third he broke down the houses of the sodomites and i want to expand on that this morning. But most of us know what that is. Do we do that today. Or do we embrace that sin today in this country.

You tell me all the children in school are taught that it's just normal as normal as the sun coming up in the morning. He continued to destroy these false gods. He destroyed the altars of the false gods.

He stamped out jeroboam's altar and stamped it to powder and crushed all this false god stuff. He slew all the priests in the high places. And then he did the most important thing of all he renewed the passover because to the jew the passover was a picture of the perfect lamb of god and him dying in their place.

And they had stopped doing that picture and they were commanded to never stop doing it. So this was an amazing revival. But what does america need. You know short of revival like this. America's lost.

And i don't think we're going to see revival like this. I don't think it's god's will. We will see by what happens. But i think we're in the apostasy stage in the world now which is good news. It just means jesus coming sooner because the apostle paul said that the antichrist cannot be revealed until there's a great apostasy first.

And jesus can't come back until the antichrist is revealed. So it's all good news. We're winding this thing down getting the place where like paul said a wretched man that i am who will save me from the body of this death.

That's what happens at the rapture. We're getting closer to that. So what about drunkenness in america. 95 000 deaths in the united states each year and 261 people die every day from alcoholism in the united states of america.

It costs the country 249 billion dollars a year. And we just keep selling it. Oh well we had prohibition that didn't go. Well so we just make it free. We won't make all the other drugs free too. That's what they're talking about doing now in the halls in washington dc.

And then the state government said perfect sense to people who are deluded. Right. Bible says god will bring a strong delusion that they would believe a lie. I'm going to try this for try this for a lie.

You wear a mask that the holes in it are 500 microns big to stop a one micron virus from getting into the next person. How about that. For a lie. Masks are entirely useless. You say well why do doctors wear them when they're doing surgery to stop bacteria.

Not viruses and other gross stuff. Big molecules but not viruses. The whole thing is a hoax. That's a rabbit trail. I hope you liked it. And on my whole vacation the only place i had to wear one was on the airplane and in the airport the gestapo.

Like you can't go anywhere if you don't put their freaking mask on. It's just control. It does nothing. My wife came home with a terrible cold and she wore the mask the whole way home. How'd she catch it.

If it works i don't get it you know. But it's like delusion to believe a lie. That's not the only lie. The vaccine that they're giving everybody is not a vaccine. It's actually genetic. Uh what's the word bill.

It's it's altering. It's genetic engineering. That's what i'm trying to come up with. It's never been done before except in the lab to humans. And i took the thing just so i couldn't get on the ship without it.

And i've always been for vaccines. But i know this one's different. I took it for five days. I was way sicker than when i had covid. And now since i got back both my hips are hurting. I've never had hip trouble.

Like the joints screwed up all right. And i from my waist down i'm aching every morning when i wake up. You're supposed to be refreshed when you wake up. So you know i'm hoping that passes away. I'll let you know.

Oh every once in a while it just gives away. Not really so all of it's about government control before long. If you don't have the vaccine you won't be allowed in a grocery store or you can't go to hospital.

Now if you need medical help you will wear the mask. And before long you will have had the vaccine. You won't go in there. You'll never get on an airplane or a ship or a train. Right. I mean it's total control.

And before long they're just gonna stick it on a chip in your forehead in your right hand. And you won't do that one because the bible says you won't. If you're born again you won't do it. You'll say you've taken it too far.

I'm not doing it. At that point you will be in the hills. You won't be living at your house because they'll be coming for you. You will be in a cave somewhere in the hills off grid. And if you're not you'll be killed.

You'll have your head taken from your body because that's how it's done in the book of revelation. You'll be decapitated. And for being a christian. Right. So there we have it. You know what the good news is if you obey god he says he'll hide you.

And he won't save you from the tribulation. But he will save you through it like he did noah through the flood. And then you'll see the lord with your own eyes. And you'll be right up into that quadrant where park meadows will be.

And we'll all see each other together in the sky with no bad flesh in the bad sense of it. Our bodies won't even pull against us anymore. Isn't that cool. Everything will be like it should be for a human at that point.

So that's where we're headed. So it's all good news. 10 874 fatalities in motor vehicles every year are caused by drunk drivers 29. Almost 30 of all traffic fatalities are caused by drinking alcohol. You say well show me.

The bible says christian can't drink. Show me a place in the bible where it says you ought to drink. It'd be best if you drink alcohol. Okay. Because listen somebody going to need help in your neighborhood.

Are they going to come to you if you're just like them. Or are they going to come to you if you're different than they are. I will promise like there's something to be said for holiness. And i'm not saying it's a sin to take a little drink alcohol.

Bible doesn't say that it is jesus made wine and it was real wine. But if you want to be a leader for god if you if you want to be different and be a light why do you need to drink. You know why do you do it.

And what's your motive. Why do you do it. Is it selfish or is it something god wants you to do. I'm just asking the question i i am not a legalist. How many of you know that i don't care what you drink.

I don't care what music you listen to or how you dress. As long as you ask the holy spirit will you do this with me. And he says yes. Then you're cool with me and with him. So anyway do you want to be a part of this these statistics.

Like you have a drink but you don't ever get drunk. So you're just saying well i'm okay with the other brothers and sisters that drink with me. I just have a different way i look at it. But it happened to have been a sin that i had in my life that god totally removed the day he saved me.

He said don't drink another beer ever even or any alcoholic drink the day saved me and i cheated. One time about two weeks later when my best friend graduated from medical school he taught me because he's the one i used to drink with taught me to drink in one more beer.

And i had another friend that had just gotten saved that did it too. We drove from houston back towards central texas together and we looked at each. We weren't saying a word. I said kevin you ever going to do that again.

Nope i said me. Neither i never have another one. But i mean i'm not bragging. I'm just saying god removed that from me. That was my weakness. You all have different ones stuff he removed and then there's other stuff he doesn't remove.

He wants you to fight with it. He wants you to fight it fleshly sins from your youth that you still do. But you know it shouldn't be a habit. So you have to fight it. That's a good thing. Because you can't fight it on your own.

You have to draw in and be spirit-filled. And that's what god wants you to do. And that's why he said he put this treasure in earthen vessels so that he would get all the glory. So you'll fight the fight.

It's good for you to learn how to fight that fight. It's good to learn to win the battles and stop doing that stuff though. Get where you do it less and less. And finally you just don't have a hunger for whatever that thing is again that's called holiness.

It's a it's a listen holy doesn't. In the context of you of christians i'm not talking about god's holiness but christian's holiness. It does not mean sinlessness. It means you are different than the world.

That's what it means. So you're not going to reach perfection but you can reach differentness where all your neighbors and everybody around you knows you're kind of weird. And if they know that then when they need something life-changing or death comes into their family or divorce or whatever horrible things happen in their family they will come to you because they know you're weird and you have power with god and you're different.

And they'll come to you. Otherwise they're not going to come to you. That's a good sermon on alcohol. And what about rape in america 98 213 back in 2019 and the laws are very weak on punishment for these things.

What about this one. My little box almost got in the way of that one. What about that sin in america. Well here's what's interesting about it. Right here in 2001 53 of people that responded said that they believe that this lifestyle was morally wrong.

53 more than half the people in america thought it was morally wrong. In 2020 the number had fallen to 32. So 70 of americans don't even think it's wrong. What do you think about that. Well you knew that you you can sit you know the good news to me is the news media.

And in hollywood won't you make you think every other person you pass on the street is like that. But only 4 .5 of all americans are like that. But don't you think they make you think like they're everywhere.

Well kind of looking around the restaurants in different places it kind of seems like they are. But what do you think about a nation that has now accepted this as a normal lifestyle and teaches it in all the schools.

Do you think god has ever come after nations that do that. Where's greece now. Where's rome now. What about the decline in church attendance. We talked about that a few months ago. Murder in america. 20 000 murders a year now.

That's a lot. And it's not guns that do the killing. It's humans. All right. So now we're back in the scripture verse 18. Most not against the branches. Don't don't boast against the jews. If you're a gentile all right.

Now let's say then the branches were broken off. That i could be grafted in. Well god said that. So that's true. Isn't it. Well because of unbelief they were broken off. So god did not break any of his elect jews off.

And the scripture even said that if you remember in our study a few months back he said i'm not talking about the ones i foreknew. You remember that i'm just talking about jews as a nation. Some of them got broken off but none of the ones i foreknew were broken off.

Isn't that something. Well that's true. The gentile church too because he is going to break off the gentile american church but not those that he foreknew. It's just as a whole the church is going to cease to be the light of the world.

And there's a moment when it happens. And it's in scripture. And it's right at the beginning of the blowing of the seventh trumpet in the book of revelation. Well because of unbelief they were broken off.

And now stand by faith. You gentiles that are saying you stand by faith. But he said don't be boasting about the fact that you're standing by faith. But fear. Now a lot of what we're going to talk about is the fear of god.

What that actually means coming up in these 30 scriptures it means to be in awe of god basically to understand that nothing lives nothing's real nothing has reality in the physicality of anything. You see if god just moves his hand off of it for one second it just gone it ceases to exist.

It disappears including you. If he moves it for one second it doesn't even exist. That's the fear of god. Isn't it nice that he also promises not to remove his hand. Be not high-minded but fear god. For if god spared not the natural branches take heed lest he also spare thee.