LBC Sermons & Messages

Romans 11:11-15

Paul begins this section by talking about first fruits. This is a reference to Numbers 15:17-21. Paul’s purpose is two fold. First, to remind the Jews of the fact that everything is a gift from God. He gives life, breathe, jobs, the ability to work those jobs, family, the ability to think and reason, etc. The first fruits, or tithe is simply a way to show our dependency upon God and our realization that all is from Him.

Secondly, he mentions that when the fruit is holy the lump also is holy, and if the roots are holy so are the branches. The ability to be holy is also a gift from God. We on our own are sinful and disobedient to a loving, just Father. Paul earlier mentioned that there was no good in him apart from Christ. This is true for all of us. God is good through us and not we ourselves. Romans 3:23 tells us that we are all sinners. Isaiah 64:6 tells us that all our righteousness is as filthy rags. Not only because our works are as filthy rags can we not be holy, but Ephesians 2:8, 9 reveal that we cannot work our way to holiness because only God’s grace makes us holy so our boasting is in Him.

Then Paul gets into the idea that the Jews and the Gentiles are as an olive tree. If you take a wild olive branch and graft it into a well-manicured tree, it will gain its life from the tree but still produce wild olives. Paul says that contrary to nature, when the people, wild olives, are grafted into the manicured tree, God, we produce good fruit. How was your fruit yesterday? How is it today? Are you even grafted into the tree through Christ, John 15:1-8? If not, I encourage you to repent and cry out to God for forgiveness.

In what or whom do you boast? Pride is something that plagues us all. It is brings a sense of fulfillment when we are looked upon as talented or smart. However, this sense is a false sense. Our worth is not in who we are or what we posses, but rather in who possesses us. In my own ability, I am nothing and can accomplish nothing. I am exactly what God created, nothing more and nothing less. Every breath is a gift. Every beat of my heart is a gift. Anything I have the ability to accomplish only comes from God so it is truly God working through me not myself. Therefore, any boasting we do should be on Christ and Him crucified not on us.

Also, notice that we have all been broken off through unbelief. When Adam and Eve sinned, it was through unbelief. They did not take God at His Word and choose to believe a lie. Now we all need to be grafted into the family of God. No matter what we have done, where we have been, what we thought, we can be grafted in.

When we are grafted in, an amazing thing happens, we start becoming holy. We used to have wild fruit but now we can have pure, holy fruit. God transforms us from the inside out, II Cor. 5:17. We begin to share His life giving force which transforms us and makes us to be Christ-like. If you and I believe, let’s live like it.

Romans 11:11-15

Paul just touched on the fact that God is sovereign in the beginning of this chapter. Now, Paul builds upon the work of God and then shows us how the work of man will not thwart His. Even beyond that, God can use our imperfections to bring glory to Him.

First, we see the tragedy of sin. We know from reading the Bible that God hates sin. He has no choice but to let all of us spend eternity in hell for our sins. However, He loves man and makes a way of escape through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Even as forgiven children of God, sin still has a consequence. First, we see the fall, vs. 11. Satan tries to get us to fall and he is a roaring lion who wants to destroy you and I, I Peter 5:8, James 1:13. He also knows our weaknesses. We must remember that greater is God
than he that is in the world, I John 4:4.

Then, we see the loss, vs. 12a. It starts with the fall or the temping away and leads to be diminished or defeated. When we choose to obey Satan rather than God, we also end up defeated and are robbed of God’s grace and His power. Instead of living in the glory of God, we choose to wallow in the muck of despair.

Lastly, we see the casting away, vs. 15a. There is an eternal consequence to sin, but here God is talking about us reaching a point of uselessness. We can reach a point of hardness through which God chooses to no longer work. We become clay unfit to be used.

In conclusion, we see that there are consequences to sin and God even works through our choices of disobedience at times. However, as a long ago friend sang, “It’s never right to do wrong to do right, so do what’s right to do.” I Samuel 15:10-23, I Peter 2:16, I Peter 1:21, 22

There are consequences to sin. We can reach a point of hardness unfit for the Master’s use and God sometimes has no choice but to call us home. Some consequences are earthly, but the broken relationship with God out-weigh anything that could possibly happen here on earth. However, we can have forgiveness through Christ and our relationship with God can be fully restored, I John 1:9.

We must confess our sin before we can have restoration, Psalms 32:5, 51:3. Before we can work on a problem we must be honest and rightly identify it. David was a man after God’s own heart and one thing you will see about him was the fact that when he was presented face to face with his sin, he was quick to admit it and start the process of restoration.

Once we are honest and admit our sins to God, He will abandon the punishment of that sin. There will still be earthly consequences, but we can once again have that close, intimate relationship with God. So, where are you? Seek God’s face today.

In verse 13 and 14, Paul discusses a topic which seems to parallel I Corinthians 9:19-23. Here in Romans, he says that he lives a godly life to provoke his own people to jealousy for God. Our lives should be lived in the light for not only the world to see and be drawn to God but also other believers. When fellow Christians look at my and your life, are they pushed to godliness? They should be.

In I Cor. Paul tells us that he also lives a godly life to lift up Christ for the lost to see. He is being made all things to all men so that Christ might win some. Christ wants to reach the lost and He chooses to do it through you and me. We must let God mold us and make us into a people to be Christ to this dying world.

Romans 11:1-10

Paul exhorted the Israelites by bringing to remembrance their running after other gods and now encourages them in the fact that God will do His work. It is amazing that God actually spoke to Paul but it is more amazing how He spoke to Paul. God showed Himself to Paul in the form of a bright, blinding light and actually spoke in a verbal voice instructing Paul proving that Jesus Christ was the Messiah. Paul was vigorously persecuting the Christ followers because he thought that Christ was a phony. Now, God Himself speaks to Paul and tells him that Christ is indeed His Son and He should be served not persecuted. This also gives credence to the fact that the Jews are special to God. God had only spoken to the Jews in this fashion and even at that, He had not spoken like that for over 400 years.

Now Paul gets into the life of two people that God used greatly and he tries to teach the Jews, and us, a couple of important facts. First, Elijah, vs. 2-4, I Kings 19, was a great man but had an issue with feeling as if God had abandoned him. Are you there? Elijah felt that he was the only one serving God and that God was not there. He was rebuked and it cost him dearly.

Secondly, there is a remnant. In other words, God is not done, He knows what He is doing, and God is in control. God leaves a remnant of perfect size though small it may seem at times and He watches over them.

Lastly, Paul uses David to remind them that God will bless them. Paul quotes one of the most known messianic psalms that the Jews would know well. God will deliver His people from evil if they seek Him. So, where is your faith? Do you trust God or are you giving up on Him?

This afternoon I would like to look more closely at the verses found in Romans 11:5-8. We see the doctrine of salvation taught. The ideas of election, grace, and seeking God are all mentioned and put together in one package.

First, the remnant is mentioned and is referred to be elected by grace. What does this mean? God does the saving no ands, ifs, or buts. We know that this salvation is totally based upon the grace of God and the completed work of Jesus Christ. It is a gift that none deserves and many reject. Upon reading Ephesians 2:8, 9, we see the grace of God making salvation possible for then all the praise goes to God. Romans also tell us that God elected to save us all through grace. The election is the method that God chose to save not the choosing of people.

In Ephesians, we also see the word faith. For by grace we are saved through faith. God did the work, gives us the Law, His Word, and His creation, and then leaves it up to us to respond to His grace. Faith is our response to the Master’s grace.

Now let us look at verse 7, 8. We see the idea of man seeking after God. Earlier in Romans 3 we see that none are righteous and that none understand and seek after God. Yet in verses like Psalms 69:32 and Hebrews 11:6 teach us that it is good to seek the Lord. So, if natural man does not seek the Lord, when does he start seeking?

This seeking happens after a couple of other things. One, the Law that God wrote upon each heart begins to convict. In addition, creation will teach the lost of a just and loving God. Secondly, we must lift up Christ for when God is lifted up, He will draw all men to Himself. Once these happen, those around us will begin to seek God. In all of this, we need use the gift of grace to continually lift up God for all to see.

Romans 10:14-f.f.

Today we will look at the rest of chapter 10 and we will do so by starting with the last couple of verses. In doing so, we will end with a familiar challenge from the Word of God. Israel up to this time was guilt of rejecting the Almighty God. The reason was pride. Before you pass judgment, look in the mirror. We are all human and are guilty of the same. Paul spent the majority of this book talking of this very truth. We are all guilty.

Now let us look at the result of this rejection vs. 18-f.f. The first result is that we are all reminded of our guilt. Paul teaches earlier in Romans that all are without excuse. We have all broken a holy and just God’s law. Matthew 11:15 tells us that all who have ears need to hear. God has given us ears with which to hear and the Word to hear. If we will hear, we will see our guilt, we will see the price the Savior paid, and we will through ourselves upon His grace and beg for mercy.

Also, the Word now goes to the gentiles. We can all be adopted into the family of God, Is. 65:1, Acts 1:8. God still does yearn for His chosen people, II Peter 3:9. We need to remember that God is not through with Israel and is going to do a great work through them.

Now let us look at the remedy for rejection. There is only one remedy and that is in the person of God Himself, Jesus Christ, vs. 9-13. Once Jesus Christ has forgiven our sins and made us a new creature, we now have a responsibility and that is found in verses 14-17. Our response is to be the mouth pieces of God. God the Father has chosen us to spread the good news. Israel began to hoard the good news and God went elsewhere. What are you doing with the good news? God has entrusted you with a great and precious promise and you and I will be held accountable for what we do with it. We are all commanded to be ambassadors and representatives of God. Evangelism is a gift to some but a command to all. Therefore, what are you doing? If we are more than conquerors, there is no reason to be afraid. You might be nervous but our Lord is Lord of all. Israel’s rejection was based in pride and when we choose to disobey the Father and not spread the gospel, it is based in pride. Let us be more than conquerors and let our lights shine

Romans 10:1-13

Paul now in chapter 10 moves from the unchanging, immutable character of God to the response of man. God never changes and when we think He has, it is because our eyes have been lured away from Him and we are not living the Spirit lead life. In addition, because God never changes, what choice do we have? Our resolve should be obedience.

Paul’s desire for Israel was their salvation. They had the living Word of God and still refused the free gift of grace. They could not see the fact that they needed to be saved, Luke 18:9-14. They placed their eternity security in the ability to live according to the law. This as we know is futile and frustrating. Our response to God is one of utter humility and dependence on Him for salvation. We need to see ourselves as the sinners we are and trust wholly on the completed work of Christ.

Our second response is a zeal for God, vs. 2. Paul was one that knew about wrongly focused zeal. He used his resources to persecute and imprison Christians. Paul thought he was working for God when in reality he was persecuting the very ones who had the proper zeal for God, Acts 26. God is an all-consuming fire, Duet 4:24, Heb 12:28, 28. When He is in our lives, we cannot help but burn for Him. Are you zealous for the things of God or do you long to fill earthly lusts?

Thirdly, when we grasp the truths of God’s character we have no selfish boasting but are helplessly driven to our knees in humility. Once again, Israel had a problem trying to obtain righteousness through their own goodness. This problem has always plagued man and will always apart from God, Phil. 3. The response of man to God’s character is repentance and humility.

Paul ends up reminding us about the real function of the Law. It cannot and never will save anyone. No good work or any amount of man’s righteousness will ever place one in the favor with an all just and all loving God. Paul tried this and failed miserably. He came face to face with the God who he thought he was serving and it pushed him to his knees and then obediently in to the outstretched arms of a loving Lord and Savior.

If you follow Paul’s life, you will see that Christ was his soul motivation for most of his endeavors. Paul had an unction that came from the Almighty. He continually preached Christ and Him crucified. When we live the Spirit filled life, we will have that same communion with Christ which produces an unquenchable fire to serve.

In verses 6 and 7 you see the pride that goes along with keeping the Law. What can man do to bring the Lord to earth? What can man do to raise Him up from the dead? The answer, NOTHING in his own power. How arrogant to think that we can control the Son of God by our actions.

There are some things that man can do to move a loving God and touch His graciousness. We know prayer catches the attention of God, James 5:16. Psalms 77 and 18 show us a God who is touched by the struggles of His children. Not only is He touched, but when a hurting child cries out to the Lord, He gives attendance to our cries.

In II Chronicles 33:12, 13 we see an interesting account of how Manasseh treated the Lord’s Word. Manasseh heard from the Lord, he and the rest of the Israelites ignored it, and God brought on the Assyrians to afflict them. In the affliction, Manasseh cried unto the
Lord and God was moved. God then helped and returned Manasseh to Jerusalem. Manasseh got to the point where he realized it was all God,
humility, and the Lord did His work through Manasseh.

We know that praise also moves the Lord. II Chronicles 5:13, 14 give us an account when the people of the Lord praised God with pure hearts. God was so moved that He could not help but show up and show up He did. God’s presence was so overwhelming that the priests could not even minister any more. Not only does He deserve our worship, but He loves it.

God also is moved by our obedience. Joshua gives us a clear picture of God working through our obedience, even when the plan does not make sense to us at all. Marching around a city 7 times and then 7 times on the last day doesn’t sound like much of a battle plan. Yelling at the wall isn’t going to accomplish much. However, this is what God told Joshua to do and this is precisely what they did. God was moved and the obedient children were victorious. So, what are you doing to get a hold of the very heart of God today? Was He touched by your worship? Was He moved by your obedience? Let us see God work through His humble people this week!