Chapter eleven of Romans is dedicated to the Jews. Paul has addressed the Jews in other parts of his letter, but here in chapter eleven he explains why the Jews still have a part in God's plan of salvation, despite their rejection of the Messiah.

Last week we ended with the beginning of chapter eleven where Paul assures his listeners that the Jews were not totally rejected by God in that He still had plans for them. In fact, as you might remember Paul uses himself in verse one, as an example of how God couldn't have rejected the Jews wholesale, because he was a Christian and he was also a Jew.

It's important to realize some things about our own relationship with Christ as we look at the relationship, or lack thereof, of the Jews to God.

What we'll see in this chapter is that despite how unfaithful men are, when it comes to their Creator, God will always be true to His word, and though His judgment cannot be halted regarding sin, He is always working in the lives of people to turn their eyes away from self to God to escape that judgment for the penalty of sin.

Whether Jew or Gentile it's comforting to know that God is actively involved in the lives of people and that He has no intention of any total abandonment of this world.

As in the case of the Jews God's word is very specific that the covenant relationship He established with them through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the other patriarches, He would keep as an everlasting covenant.

Now, a covenant is a legal, binding agreement, where the parties of the contract or covenant are duty bound to keep their part of the covenant. The difference between the covenants or contracts you and I enter into with each other (eg. house contract, work contract, etc.) is that in those contracts both parties have input as to what will be in the contract.

The contract or covenant that we have with God was entirely God's doing. There was no human input as to the terms. God graciously approached man and declared to man that unless He did something to deal with the legal problem of sin, brought into this world by Adam, all men would perish. The wages of sin is death.

God has always dealt with man from a legal standpoint. And by legal I mean that God, being a faithful God by His very nature, is bound to keep His word. And in a binding way He has declared to man through a covenant that He cannot and will not back out on His end of the contract.

Now man was shown that he fit into this covenant relationship with his God and that he too had certain responsibilities. Those responsibilities were to agree, by faith, that God would their All-sufficient God and that the recipients (in the case we're looking at, the Jews) would be His people. In other words they didn't belong to themselves anymore.

But the deal included that God would protect, guide, provide, and ultimately save man from his legal dilemma of having to deal with the problem of sin, which God couldn't just ignore, because of His justice, which must be dealt with legally, covenantally. The way that would happen is that the penalty, which was spoken to Adam, had to paid for. Someone had to die for sin.

That's what the covenant relationship with Israel was all about. God would take this people under His wing and bring them to Himself, which is what we see in somewhat of metaphoric language, when God declared that He would bring them into the promised land.

That promised land was not just a plot of real estate, it was a promise that Abraham, the recipient of this covenant from God understood. That's why we read in Heb 11:9 "By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.
10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God."

He understood that this covenant relationship had eternal ramifications. And now what Paul is about to do in Romans eleven, is to remind us that this covenant relationship which God has established with mankind was originally made with a specific people whom God will not forget. The Jews. Why? Because He cannot go back on His faithful promise made to a covenant people.

David reminds us in Psa 94:14 "For the LORD will not reject his people; he will never forsake his inheritance."

Does that mean that Israel can do anything they want and still share in the promises? Of course not. The reason is that they were under that covenant and they had the responsibility to obey in faith. To forsake their responsibility would be to suffer the consequences of that covenant, which in it's most simplest form was: 'Obey and live; or reject Me and die.'

The Jews rejected the One whom God sent through them to be their Messiah. As a result Paul tells us in Rom 10:2 "For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge.
3 Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness."

This was the reason that Israel was disciplined by God. The found themselves in captivity and the scorn of the world. And even to this day they are seen as a reproach to most people in this world. And yet despite this, what does Paul say?

Rom 11:2 "God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don't you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah--how he appealed to God against Israel:
3 "Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me" [1 Kings 19:10,14]?
4 And what was God's answer to him? "I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal." [1 Kings 19:18]
5 So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace."

Here, Paul reminds us how God's promises are still in effect. And he uses the example of Elijah. Elijah was tempted, as are many people, to think that because Israel was so debased and so unfaithful that surely no one in Israel could be found faithful to God and therefore God was not obliged to keep His covenant with them any longer.

What Elijah had forgotten is that God is sovereign and that if He is going to call a people out then He will also be the One to sustain them in the faith. That's good news for you and me when we're tempted to think we can't take another step. Or that we're just too tired or that somehow God isn't there for us to go on.

God says, "If the LORD delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand." (Psa 37:23-24)

In other words, when God places His hand of grace upon us He will always be there for us. That's part of what out Lord meant when He said, 'I will never leave you or forsake you. I will be with you to the end.'

We whom God foreknew are chosen to be part of His Kingdom and nothing will deter God from His plan of bringing us to Himself. I love Christ's words to us in Joh 6:37 "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. Joh 6:38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.
39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day."

Why can we trust in those words? Because those are the words of our covenant keeping God who never goes back on His word. Last week we celebrated the Lord's Supper and one of the passages we always quote is found in Mat 26:28 "This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."

In Christ we still have a covenant relationship which cannot be broken, short of unbelief. And if we are truly His by faith, He will even sustain our faith. How do we know that? Heb 12:2 "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith..."

Elijah missed this and God reminds him, (after Elijah reminds God that it's quite obvious that only he is left in all Israel), that that is not the case. It's not as though God is powerless to keep a faithful people who will serve Him.

Elijah tried to make the case against Israel as we see in verse 3 of our text. Rom 11:3 "Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me" [1 Kings 19:10,14]?

Now in all fairness Elijah had a point. Israel, from it's king down, had rejected God's love and mercy in favor of false gods. You can imagine how he felt. It would be like being a part of a church where instead of celebrating the Lord's Supper the Pastor inscribed a large Pentagram on the floor and chanted Satanic songs while cutting the throat of a chicken which he offered up to the gods of Santeria, like they do in Miami on a regular basis.

And there you sit watching all these people who claim to be Christians and the thought goes through your head, 'all of these people blaspheme You God, and I alone am left who understands the truth.'

What Elijah had forgotten however, is that God had a specific purpose for choosing Israel. Through Israel would come the Redeemer. If Israel folded then God would obviously have been powerless to accomplish His will.

That's no God at all. But what do we read? Rom 11:4 "And what was God's answer to him? "I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal." [1 Kings 19:18]

Elijah wasn't alone. He may have been the only one who took a high profile in Israel as he stood for God, but in God's design He was keeping a number of faithful people. As to why these 7,000 weren't standing openly for the truth we're not told, but it could be conceivable that had they stood they would all have been killed.

But that's human reasoning. Don't ever forget that God is more than capable of protecting us even in the flames as He did with Shadrach, Meshac, and Abednego.

None the less it was His design to keep these people safe. And that was the point that Paul was making. It's as though he was saying, 'It looks like everyone in Israel has rejected the Messiah, but don't let that deceive you. God is in control and He has a people, chosen out from among even the rejectors of Israel, who are faithful and will carry out His will.'

This is why he says in verse 5 "So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace."

Just as 7,000 were chosen by God's grace in the midst of horrible blasphemy, so too in Paul's day, he reminds the world that God hasn't forgotten His covenant promises to Israel. That spiritual Israel who would accept their Messiah by faith.

God will never leave Himself without witnesses to His covenant grace and truth. You and I are those witnesses along with any Jew or Gentile who will place his or her faith in Christ. But as His witnesses we need to be willing, as was Elijah, to stand for Christ even if the rest of the world rejects Him and even if "Christians" do not follow Him according to His word.

Our primary motivation for loving and serving Christ should never be, 'what are other Christians doing?'; but rather, 'what has Christ done for me and what does He desire of me?'

It's all grace, it's all God. Paul continues: Rom 11:6 "And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace."

The Jews essentially rejected the idea that God was a gracious God who gave all good gifts, including the gift of eternal life, by faith in the promises of God.

This was Paul's point in Rom 9:30 "What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;
31 but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it.
32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the "stumbling stone."

They wanted to work their way to heaven as many people do today. People mistakenly think that they can earn a righteousness by their good works which will somehow get them into heaven.

'If I'm just good to people then God will accept me. If I'm faithful to go to church, that will surely make God happy and make Him accept me. If I can clear my mind of all negative thoughts and then chant the right chant that will bring me into the presence of the higher power of this universe.'

And of course one of my all time favorites is: 'Hey nobody's perfect, God has to accept me because He grades on the curve, and I do enough to get by.'

I used to work for Dr. James Kennedy in Fort Lauderdale and he once told me a story of a woman who asked him a question at a banquet: 'Dr. Kennedy, how good do you have to be to get into heaven?' 'That's a simple answer, he replied. Perfect.'

She was bummed out because she knew she wasn't perfect. But he interjected, let me tell you of One who was perfect and who stood in your place and then died for the penalty of your sin, your imperfection. And then who gave us His perfect righteousness while taking our sin upon Himself though He was guiltless.

It's not as though God doesn't want us to do good works, or to go to church faithfully, or being good to all people. But those things will never be enough to get us into heaven. We are not saved by good works as Paul tells us in Eph.2:8-9, but we are saved unto good works which he then explains in Eph 2:10 "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

But, God says, 'don't ever get the cart in front of the horse. Don't ever forget that it cost My son everything to purchase your salvation. And don't ever try to come to Me with some good work and expect Me to accept that in place of your debt to Me.'

'That's why I sent My Son to take that debt completely out of the way.' The Jews didn't get this, but God would be faithful to call, even from among the Jews, a people who would embrace this grace found in Jesus Christ alone.

And to further drive the point home that salvation is by grace Paul continues in Rom 11:7 What then? What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened,
8 as it is written: "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day." [Deut. 29:4; Isaiah 29:10]

As hard as Israel tried to earn their salvation, through the keeping of the law, God says they didn't arrive at that promised land. But there were some who did. Those of Israel who were chosen embraced the truth. And the writer of Hebrews gives us a run down of just a small number of those in Hebrews eleven, who were saved by grace through faith.

Those who wanted to do it their own way and hardened their hearts to the truth we're told, "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day." (Rom 11:8)

This "very day" was Paul's day, but to a large extent it does include this very day of ours. The blinders are still on the nation of Israel. The have chosen to remain blind, but God has taken their hardness of heart and solidified it.

And yet we know that the Lord has kept for Himself myriads of Jews through the ages who have not bowed the knee to gods other than the One true God, by placing their faith in Christ.

But of those who reject Christ Paul writes and quotes David the psalmist. Rom 11:9 "And David says: "May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them.
10 May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever." [Psalm 69:22,23]

All of this is the judgment for the rejection of the Messiah. In fact in Psalm 69, where Paul quotes here in Romans, is where we find a Messianic message. It points to Jesus the Messiah and how He has been rejected and His response.

Psa 69:19 "You know how I am scorned, disgraced and shamed; all my enemies are before you.
20 Scorn has broken my heart and has left me helpless; I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I found none.
21 They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst."

This spoke of Jesus the Messiah being taunted and dishonored while in the very process of redeeming mankind.

Mat 27:34 "There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it."

Joh 19:29 "A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips."

A number of things are taught in these passages, which we don't have time to go into this morning, but the point Paul is making is that in prophecy Jesus is the One fulfilling this. And the Jews were fulfilling what God said they would do in their rejection of the Messiah.

Their table has become a snare and a trap. What they thought was the way to God actually was a self-imposed trap to keep them from God. You might remember that Satan did the same thing with Eve. In tempting Eve, with what was a smorgasbord of promises to eternal life and bliss, being like God, turned out to be the very thing which would separate man from God.

Israel sat down to a table which they prepared for themselves thinking that God would be pleased. God say's, 'unless you come to the table which I prepare for you, you cannot have life.' The prophet Isaiah reminded Israel of this problem.

Isa 65:11 "But as for you who forsake the LORD and forget my holy mountain, who spread a table for Fortune and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,
12 I will destine you for the sword, and you will all bend down for the slaughter; for I called but you did not answer, I spoke but you did not listen. You did evil in my sight and chose what displeases me."
13 Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: "My servants will eat, but you will go hungry; my servants will drink, but you will go thirsty; my servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame."

Also the prophet Malachi. Mal 1:7 "You place defiled food on my altar. "But you ask, 'How have we defiled you?' "By saying that the LORD'S table is contemptible.
8 When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?" says the LORD Almighty."

Israel not only rejected God's provision of grace and salvation, but they had the nerve to give Him their left overs and then say, accept our sacrifice of love. God says, 'take it to your governor and let him have it if he'll accept it.'

We Christians need also to be careful not to give God our left overs, which we wouldn't give to anyone else, but expect God to bless. He has set a table for us in Christ and invites us to come to the banquet. And when we arrive we are placed at the head of the table as the guest of honor. We sit next to the King.

It's an honored position. Let's never insult our God by trying to set a table next to His and call it wonderful. Israel tried this and failed miserably to this day. Praise God, however, that they too are still invited to the banquet.

If we've tasted of the heavenly food found in Christ, who is the Bread of life, let's never go back to the waste of the world which can never satisfy. May we always move forward with Christ by faith, honoring Him with our lives and giving Him our best, by the grace of God working in us.

We have no righteousness in ourselves to offer God. It's only the righteousness of Christ in which we can boast. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. In the power of His Spirit let's go out into this world and invite all to come to the Kings banquet that they too may taste and see that the Lord is good and the giver of all good gifts, not the least of which is eternal life.