Romans 11:1-10 "Has God Rejected His People?"

1:04So we're going to take Romans chapter 11, verses 1 through 10 for a spin here. And Lord willing, we'll be faithful to the scripture and very thankful for this opportunity. So it is with fear and trepidation that we enter into the word of God this morning. And I ask, again, I know we just prayed, but I want to pray again and ask for God's blessing upon the reading of his word. Father, we thank you. We do ask now that you would add your blessing to the reading of the word. Lord, I pray that you would grant me a mouth to speak your word correctly and grant all of us in here, myself included, ears to hear it properly. Lord, we pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.

1:43I've always been a fan of a good courtroom drama, whether it be a television show or a movie. And there's always that dramatic scene where a key piece of evidence is revealed. You know what it looks like. The prosecution is smug, the tension is thick, the jury is on the fence. And the defense attorney stands up and says, Your Honor, I would like to submit into evidence exhibit A or exhibit B or whatever exhibit it is. Cue the dramatic music. This new piece of evidence comes to light that no one saw coming.

2:23And suddenly everything changes. The tide turns. The truth begins to emerge. Now, I'm not sure how accurate those dramas are, those television and movie courtroom dramas, but I sure know this. In this passage of Scripture, Paul knows how to build a case. And in Romans, that's exactly what he's been doing. From the very beginning, Paul's been anticipating and answering questions about God's righteousness and God's justice. And he's been putting forth evidence, one piece after another. Some of the questions that have come. His way, if you've been paying attention in Romans, is like, how can God condemn us if our sin brings glory to Him?

3:08And can't we just keep on sinning since we're not under law but we're under grace, and so the grace will just abound more and more? Shouldn't we just go on sinning? And isn't there injustice on God's part when he elects some and hardens others? And why does he find fault if we can't really resist his will? Over and over, Paul has to come to God's defense, and he does it again here with the question that begins our passage of scripture: Has God rejected his people?

3:43So, like a seasoned defense attorney, Paul steps in not to defend God because he's guilty of something, but to vindicate God's faithfulness in the face of misunderstanding. And just like a defense attorney, Paul has evidence. We'll see three pieces of evidence in today's passage of scripture, which lead us to the overwhelming conclusion that God keeps his promises and keeps his people. That's our main point for today's text. God keeps his promises and keeps his people. The very first thing you'll notice about today's passage of scripture is it's tied to the argument that Paul's already been making.

4:30Verse 1, he says, I ask then, then could be translated therefore, meaning that what he's about to say is building off of what he's already said. So, this is the culmination, really, of a line of argumentation that began way back in chapter 9. And in that chapter, we witness Paul's heart being broken by a deep and painful reality. And it was this: that though Israel was God's chosen people, entrusted with the covenants and the law and the promises, and even the Messiah himself, the vast majority of Paul's fellow Jews had rejected the gospel. And this broke Paul's heart.

5:11This raised a troubling question: Has God's word failed? And why are Gentiles being brought in when Israelites are being cut off? And Paul answered those concerns already by affirming God's sovereign freedom in election, chapter 9, highlighting Israel's failure to pursue righteousness by faith in Romans 9 and 10, and confirming Israel's moral responsibility for hearing the gospel, yet refusing to understand it and submit to it and believe it at the end of Romans 10. And so, Romans 10 ended with this passage of scripture, which I'm just going to remind you of, Romans 10, verse 21.

5:52But of Israel, he says, all day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people. People. But that's not the end of the story. You see, in Romans 11, Paul begins to unfold God's purposes in Israel's hard-heartedness as part of a larger, redemptive plan that ultimately reveals both the riches of his mercy and the faithfulness of his promises. However, we must begin with the elephant in the room. Has God rejected his people?

6:29All these ethnic Jews, ethnic Israel that have rejected God, has God rejected them? These physical descendants of Abraham? Are they done as a people, as a nation? Has God moved to some sort of plan B? Now, I realize that most of us in this room, I would assume maybe even all of us in this room, are not ethnic Jews. Maybe there are some in this room. I don't know. So you might be thinking, well, see, what does this have to do with me? I hear you talking about this as you're beginning the sermon, but let me insist, this has everything to do with you. Everything to do with you and me.

7:09Because at the heart of these chapters is a question about God's faithfulness. And that affects all of us. What's at stake is this. Does God, the God we just sang about, the God we worship, does this God keep his promises? That's what's at stake. Does he hold on to his people? If God doesn't keep his promises to Israel, then how can you and I hold on to any of the glorious promises we have in this book?

7:42You've read a lot of amazing promises just in Romans. Just go back and reread Romans 8 when you get home. If God is not faithful to Israel to keep his promises to Israel, you can't hold on to anything in Romans 8. That's how important this passage of Scripture is. God keeps his promises, and God keeps his people. So here we are in the courtroom. The court is in session, and the verdict has everlasting consequences, not just for Israel, but for you and me, which brings us again to the question, Romans chapter 11, verse 1, has God rejected his people? Now, in the Greek, this is structured as a question that already expects a negative answer, which is why I really prefer the New American Standard Version of this particular verse, which they put it this way. God has not rejected his people, has he?

8:41So when Paul replies with a very strong language of denial, by no means, he's actually giving a double no. It's almost as if he's shouting, absolutely not, may it never be. He wants to make sure we understand the answer to that question. But here's the thing. The question is more thorny than we might think at first glance. That's because there are places in the Old Testament where it says God rejects Israel. There are places in the Old Testament where it says God has rejected his people. Let me give you a couple of examples, and you'll see them on the screen here as well. Psalm 78, verses 58 through 59. In Psalm 78, if you're not aware of it, it's just this great recap of Israel's history.

9:29In verse 58, it says this: For they provoked him to anger with their high places, they moved him to jealousy with their idols. When God heard, he was full of wrath, and he utterly rejected Israel. Hmm. Or consider 2 Kings 17, verses 19 through 20. Judah also did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the customs that Israel had introduced. And the Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel and afflicted them and gave them into the hand of plunderers until he had cast them out of his sight. And I could cite a lot more scripture from the Old Testament similar to those two. So is Paul contradicting holy scripture with his words here? No.

10:20He's not. Why not? Because in every case, you can go back and look at the evidence yourself, in every case where God's rejection of Israel is mentioned in the Old Testament. It's a rejection of discipline, a judgment for sin, but it's never a final and decisive and ultimate rejection. What Paul addresses in Romans 11 is this: now that Israel has rejected her Messiah, has God finally and fully rejected his people Israel in some sort of decisive and irreversible way? And the answer is by no means.

11:02If you go back and study those passages, as I mentioned a minute ago, that mention God's rejection of Israel, they're always followed by a call to repentance, a reaffirmation of God's steadfast love, and a promise of eventual restoration. All those passages of God rejecting Israel are followed by a call to repentance, a reaffirmation of God's steadfast love, and a promise of restoration. Let me just give you one example from the Old Testament: Hosea chapter 9, verse 17. This speaks again of some sort of rejection that God has for Israel. It says this in verse 17: My God will reject them because they have not listened to him. They shall be wanderers among the nations. That's pretty strong. It sounds final. It sounds decisive. But if you know the book of Hosea, you know it's not a book of final rejection. The book of Hosea. All about God's restoration of his people. It's a book of grace. It's a book about how God's faithful love and covenant mercy toward his unfaithful people and how he calls them to repentance and promises to restore them despite their spiritual adultery. So we read later, a few chapters later, in Hosea chapter 14, verses 4 through 7, these words. I will heal their apostasy. I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them. I will be like the dew to Israel. He shall blossom like the lily. He shall take root like the trees of Lebanon. His shoots shall spread out. His beauty shall be like the olive and his fragrance like Lebanon. They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow. They shall flourish like the grain. They shall blossom like the vine. Their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon. What a beautiful passage. I love how it starts. I will heal their apostasy. In other words, yes, they apostasize. They reject God, but God is a healing God who heals them of their apostasy. So, no, God has not rejected his people. Not then, not now. He is a God who disciplines, but he's also a God who delivers. He's a God who judges, but who also justifies. And he is a God who keeps his promises and keeps his people. So, what evidence will the Apostle Paul now provide to make his point?

13:31So, to make sure without a shadow of a doubt that God has not rejected Israel, he's going to give us three pieces of evidence. And here's the first one: the proof that God has not rejected his people, exhibit A, is God's chosen messenger. God's chosen messenger, which is Paul. Paul, the Hebrew of Hebrews. So, look with me again at verse 1. I ask then, has God rejected his people? By no means. For, so now he's going to give the reason: for I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. Paul's very existence as a believer, and even more as an apostle, is evidence that God had not rejected his people. If God was finished with the Jews, why would he go out of his way to rescue and commission one of the most zealous Jews alive to be his chosen instrument?

14:26Paul wasn't marginally Jewish, he wasn't just culturally Jewish or nominally Jewish, he was as Jewish as they came. You know the passage, Philippians chapter 3, verses 5 through 6, where Paul lays out his Jewish credentials. It'll be on the screen here. He says, circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, as to the law, a Pharisee, as to zeal, a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under the law, blameless. Yet this same man rooted so. Deeply in Jewish tradition, came to count all of that loss compared to knowing Jesus. That text goes on to say, This: But whatever gain I had had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. For his sake, I've suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I might gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith. God didn't just choose a Jew to be the apostle to the Gentiles, He chose this Jew, a violent opponent of the gospel, a man who once persecuted the church, but he persecuted Christ by persecuting his people, who had been so radically changed by Christ, and was therefore now a living display of God's sovereign grace. Paul was a living display of God's sovereign grace.

16:06So, what does this prove? It proves that God is not done with Israel. Think about this. God did not ultimately reject Paul, even though Paul had initially rejected God and rejected his Messiah. But God did not reject him. Instead, God pursued him, saved him, and commissioned him. Paul wasn't an exception. He was an example. He was exhibit A, a preserved branch, a preview of a fuller restoration yet to come. As I was thinking about that restoration of the Jewish people, and I got to thinking about, well, I'm not really a green thumb. And so this year, my wife and I planted some zinnias, which are like the easiest thing to grow. But anyway, somehow we killed them. And so we have this bucket of zinnias. We put them in there, grew for a while, but the reason we killed them is we neglected them, right? They didn't receive the water they needed and everything else. And anyway, eventually there was just these sticks sticking out of the ground. They were all brittle and burnt by the Texas sun.

17:18So I went out there a few weeks ago and just started just pulling them out. I figured we're done with this. I'm just pulling them out and throwing them away. And as I'm doing that and pulling them out, I see one little bitty sprout, one little bitty sprout coming out of the bucket there. And I say, you know what? Maybe there's a shot here. I threw away all the brittle ones and we began to water that. That bucket is now full again of zinnias. And that came to mind as I was thinking about this. Paul may just be one little sprout, but it's enough. It's enough evidence that God is not done with his people.

17:54God is not done with Israel. Paul and every Jewish believer in Christ. Stands as living proof that God is still keeping his promises. Not all have believed, but God has not abandoned his covenant, and his grace is still at work. So that's exhibit A. Paul himself. But Paul goes on. Now look with me at verse 2. I want us to see, now we have the answer to the question being explicitly stated and another reason being given here in verse 2. It says this, God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. I want you to think about that word there, foreknew. And so here's exhibit B. The proof that God has not rejected his people is God's covenant love. God's covenant love. God's foreknowing his people is the very opposite of rejection. The two cannot coexist. If God's people are foreknown by him, then they cannot be forsaken by him. Now, as you may recall from when you encountered the word foreknew in Romans chapter 8, verse 29, it doesn't simply mean that God knows what will happen in the future. Of course he does. He's the eternal creator who transcends time and space. But the biblical idea of foreknowledge is far more personal, intimate than just mere foresight. It means that before time began, God set his covenant love upon his people. So to foreknow is to forelove. It's to choose and advance in order to enter into a relationship. The word carries the warmth of a husband knowing his wife. It's intimate. It's personal. It's a covenantal knowing. It's the same way God knew Israel. He bound himself to her in love. On the screen, you'll see Amos chapter 3, verse 2, where God says, This, you only have I known of all the families of the earth. This doesn't mean that God was unaware of all the other nations. It simply means that he entered into a unique covenant relationship with Israel. He chose them, loved them, set his name upon them. So being foreknown by God isn't merely a description of the condition of his people, it's the reason and the explanation as to why they are his people. Let me say that again. Being foreknown by God isn't merely the description of the condition of God's people. It's the reason and the explanation as to why we are God's people.

20:25God's relationship with them began not with their faithfulness to him, but with his loving choice of them. I added this passage of scripture this morning before the sermon, so it's not going to be on the screen here. But Deuteronomy 7, verses 6 through 8 says this, The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession. Out of all the people who are on the face of the earth, it was, listen to this, not because you were more in number than any of the other people the Lord said his love on, that me more of the other people that the Lord set his love on you. Chose you, for you were the fewest of all the people, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath he swore to your fathers.

21:09That's God's covenant love, and it's unbreakable. Consider Isaiah 49. This one will be on the screen, verses 14 through 16. But Zion said, The Lord has forsaken me. My Lord has forgotten me. Can a woman forget her nursing child that she should have no compassion on her son in the womb of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. Your walls are continually before me.

21:45Let me give you an illustration of what covenant love is like. But I want to say from the beginning, this is woefully insufficient, really, to give a picture of God's love for us. But my wife and I have two adopted daughters. I still remember the day the judge declared them legally ours. We were standing in the courtroom, and the judge looked at us, and he said something along these lines, and I don't remember exactly the words, but I remember this was the gist of it. He said, Today you are choosing to bring these girls into your home, and therefore you are making a legal and lifelong commitment to them.

22:25It was a defining moment. With that declaration came a new. Reality. These girls were now ours. They bore our name. We became their forever family, not because they chose us, but because we chose them. And no matter what happens, no matter how hard parenting gets, no matter how many ups and downs there are, that commitment continues. Now, that's an infinitely tiny example of what the Bible means when it says that God has set his love on his people and has engraved them on the palms of his hands. And by the way, what a foreshadowing of the cross that is.

23:06He made a covenant, and his covenant love doesn't expire when his people wander. And any of you guys in here that have adoptive children, or just your own children for that matter, know that wandering is part of the equation sometimes. But the relationship continues, doesn't it? It's a covenant love. Psalm 94, verse 14 says this: For the Lord will not forsake his people, he will not abandon his heritage. Or consider 1 Samuel 12, verse 22. For the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name's sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. Now, that verse in 1 Samuel becomes even more stunning when you realize the context. This declaration of God's unwavering covenant love comes. Right after Israel has rejected God as their king, they have demanded to Samuel, we want a king, just like all the other nations have. And Samuel has told them, by doing this, you are rejecting God as your king. And they did it anyway. So in the midst of that, in the midst of that rejection of his own people, God says, I love you. I affirm my love for you. So no, God has not rejected his people. God keeps his covenant promises. God keeps his covenant people. Now, throughout Israel's history, God had always been faithful to his side of the covenant, even when they were not. Though they rejected him repeatedly, he sent prophet after prophet, and the prophets functioned like attorneys, like prosecuting attorneys. They would confront the people for their rebellion, call them to repentance. They would warn them of coming judgment. But those same prophets would also bring messages of hope that despite Israel's unfaithfulness, that God would remain faithful. One such prophet was Elijah. And now in Romans 11, Paul turns to the scriptures to the story of Elijah in 1 Kings 19 to give us exhibit C. So the proof that God has not rejected his people, well, first was God's chosen messenger, God's covenant love, and now God's consistent pattern. God's consistent pattern. He always preserves a remnant. So let's return now to Romans 11, verse 2. But before we read it, let me briefly remind you of the story that Paul is referencing here in this passage. Elijah ministered during the time of deep idolatry in Israel. In a dramatic showdown on Mount Carmel, he challenged the prophets of Baal. You call on your God, and I'll call on my God, and the God who answers with fire is the one true God. You guys know the story. The prophets of Baal danced around. They shouted. They cut themselves. And Elijah even sort of humorously mocked them a little bit. And then with a single sincere prayer, Elijah called on the Lord. Fire came from heaven, consumed the entire altar. Elijah thought that this would spark national revival. But instead, it sparked Queen Jezebel's revenge. She threatened his life, and so he fled. And discouraged, disillusioned, and alone, he went to Mount Horeb. And there he poured out his heart to God. And that's the moment that Paul points to here, Romans 11, verses 2 through 4. Do you not know what the scriptures say of Elijah? How he appeals to the God against Israel? Lord, they have killed your prophets. They have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life. But what is God's reply to him? I have kept for myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to Baal. Elijah thought that God had abandoned Israel.

26:54He believed that he was the last faithful Israelite standing. But God did not. And no, Elijah, you're not alone. Even in a time of spiritual collapse, deep wickedness, I have preserved a faithful remnant, 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to Baal. Now, that might seem like a pretty small number in a nation of millions, but it was enough because God was the one keeping them. Have you ever been camping and you get up the next morning and you're cleaning out the campfire after that long night, and it's been cool outside, and the flames have long been gone, but you know, on the surface, all the coals look black, but you begin to poke around, and there underneath the ash, there's still some glowing coals. That's the remnant. That's the remnant. The fire may not be visible to the eye. The heat is still there. God's people are still there, hidden, maybe, quiet, maybe, but still burning, waiting for the breath of God to ignite it into flame.

28:01There's always, that's always been God's pattern. He may judge, he may prune, but he always preserves a remnant for himself. And he does it for his own glory. The text says that he kept for himself 7,000 as a remnant. God's covenant with Israel wasn't a guarantee, friends, that every Jew would believe. Paul's already addressed that in Romans chapter 9, verses 6 through 7. But that the Jewish people, a chosen Nation would endure. So Paul can speak of an unflinching promise to a corporate people as a whole while not guaranteeing that every single Israelite would be saved.

28:44That's why the Old Testament prophets repeatedly speak about a remnant. You see this term remnant used frequently in the Old Testament, Isaiah, several times. Let me give you an example from Isaiah 10, verses 20 and 21. In that day, the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean on him who struck them, but will lean on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. God has always worked through a remnant. The remnant is both the sign of his present faithfulness and the beacon of his future hope. It's the sign of his present faithfulness and a beacon of future hope. So now Paul moves from the testimony of God's past faithfulness to his current faithfulness in verse 5. So too, at the present time, there is a remnant chosen by grace. This is not just a historical parallel, as if some Jews believed then, and I guess there are some that believe now. It's so much more than that. Paul is making a theological statement, namely, that God has always preserved for himself a remnant. And he still does.

29:54You notice the phrase, chosen by grace. With those words, Paul brings us to the heart of his argument. Argument. God didn't just see to it that some Jewish believers were kept alive. God saw to it that there were Jews who believed. Let me say that again because there is a distinction. God didn't just see to it that there were some Jewish believers who were kept alive, but God saw to it that there were Jews who believed. That's what the remnant is.

30:24The remnant isn't just a group of Jews who happen to hold on, it's a group God sovereignly kept and sovereignly called. God didn't just preserve believers, He produced believers. He didn't just protect the remnant, He provided the faith that made them His. So, what we are seeing in our court case is that Paul is now shifting from the evidence to the explanation. Here's why we've seen the proof, Paul Himself, God's covenant love, the preserved remnant, but now Paul asked us to consider why. What makes all of this possible? How does a persecutor of the church become an apostle to the Gentiles? How can God continue to love a people who practice spiritual adultery? How does a faithful remnant still exist among those who don't even seek Him? There's only one answer: sovereign grace.

31:25All the exhibits we've seen, they are the fruit of divine initiative. Not merit, not mercy, not works, but grace. In short, sovereign grace is the reason God keeps his promises and keeps his people. I guess my sermon could have just been reduced to that one sentence right there. Sovereign grace is the reason God keeps his promises and keeps his people. Romans 11, 6. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace. Paul insists that the remnant's survival is entirely of grace. If it were by works, grace would cease to be what it is, and hope would vanish. A works-based remnant would depend on human perseverance. A grace-based remnant rests on God's preserving power. That's why we can be confident that even in our darkest seasons, God's grace will not fail to keep his people.

32:30Notice the contrast here. Elsewhere in Romans, Paul contrasts faith and works, two forms of human activity. But here he's contrasting grace and works, divine activity with human activity or human effort. In other words, this is entirely God's work, God's initiative, God's preservation. He keeps his promises and he keeps his people by grace and grace alone. And that's why, my friends, this is such good news for us. Because if you're here this morning and you're checking off a box because you think you got to, I got to show up in churches or to stay in good graces with God. I got to fix this. I got to make sure I'm reading my Bible enough times and I got to do this and do that and do that. You know what? All of that should be the fruit of your relationship with God, but none of it preserves you. You're preserved by grace alone.

33:25And God will use every bit of that. He'll use the fellowship of the saints. He'll use his word to hold on to you. But friends, it's not about human efforts, it's about God's glorious and sovereign grace. So let's return to our courtroom one last time. The question was raised: has God rejected his people? And God has made his defense. Paul has made his defense clear. Exhibit A, God's chosen messenger, a redeemed Jew. Exhibit B, God's unbreakable covenant love. He foreknew his people. Exhibit C, God's consistent scriptural pattern. He always preserves a remnant. And so the verdict: God has not rejected his people by no means. But that naturally raises another question. If God has not rejected his people, then why have so many of his people rejected him? That's why we have Romans 11, verse 7. What then? What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was asking? I mean, what it was seeking?

34:26No, the elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened. Paul has already addressed this earlier in Romans, but here he reminds us that so many in Israel failed because they sought righteousness not by trusting and resting in God's grace, but by trusting and striving in their own works. They tried to earn what could only be received. And those who persisted in unbelief were hardened justly and judicially. But, and this is important, none of this should come as a surprise. As troubling as it was to Paul's audience, it had been foretold. The scriptures had warned of this. That's why Paul now weaves together. I love it when Paul does this and puts several passages of scripture together. I call it a scripture mashup. He gives us a little mashup here from Isaiah 29, Deuteronomy 29, and Psalm 69 to show that this rejection and this hardening were part of God's revealed plan. So look at verses 8 through 10 now. 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. You guys have already heard it preached.

35:40This was a just thing. Actually, God would be just to do this to every single one of us. It was a judicial thing, this hardening. Was it some capricious thing that God, hey, I'll harden those and not harden those. It was just. And then David says, let their table become a snare and a trap. Stumbling block and a retribution for them. Let their eyes be darkened so they cannot see and bend their backs forever. This is weighty. Some were preserved by grace and others were hardened in judgment. And you may be wondering, why would God choose to work this way?

36:20Well, I've got good news for you. There is more to Romans 11. Paul will go on to explain how God's design behind the partial hardening of Israel. As you will see, for us Gentiles, this is incredibly good news. But to take you there, I'm going to have to hand the keys back to your pastor. All right? I don't have permission to drive the car that far to someone much more capable than me to drive this vehicle. For today, let's just hold fast to this truth. No matter how dark things may seem for the people of God, God remains faithful. He keeps his promises. He keeps his people. So where should that leave us this morning? First of all, it should leave us humble.

37:10If you belong to Christ, you were chosen by grace. Not because you were smarter or more moral or more scriptural or spiritual, but because God in mercy set his love upon you. You are kept by grace. You are preserved by his power. And you can rest not in your grip. On him, but in his grip on you. It should leave us humble. It should also leave us prayerful. That same God who saved Paul, the chief of sinners, can save the most hardened sinner, you know. Thinking the most hardened sinner, you know. Put that person in your mind right now. God can save them. God can rescue them. So pray. Pray for that family member who rejects Christ. Pray for that friend with the darkened heart. Pray for that enemy of the gospel. Grace is still saving. So pray boldly. And it should leave us hopeful. God is not done with Israel. And he's certainly not done with the church. God's plans have never been off track. No matter how broken the world seems, no matter how dark, no matter how far off God's people seem to stray, God is still sovereign. He's still working, and he's still saving. So we should be the most hopeful people on the planet. But finally, it should leave us free from anxiety.

38:33Philippians 1, verse 6 says this, I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus. Oh my goodness, that is the most anxiety-freeing verse in the Bible. God keeps his promises and keeps his people. So let me just close with a benedictory word. From 1 Peter 1, verses 3 through 5. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to his great mercy. He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who, by God's power, are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed at the last time. Praise God. Let's pray.

39:33Father, we thank you that you are the God who keeps his promises, and you are the God who keeps his people. And Father, I believe, as the rest of Romans 11 will testify to you, there will be a great revival amongst the ethnic Jewish people. But Lord, whatever you see fit to do, you do. Father, we know that you've not abandoned Israel. And by your tremendous grace, we Gentiles have been folded into your people. My goodness.

40:13Father, I thank you for this passage of Scripture. Lord, if there be anything that I've said in error, Lord, strike it from our minds. But Lord, whatever was accurate and truthful, Lord, plant it deep in our hearts. Ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you for. Listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.