The Church of Eleven22 - Wk 24: Amazing Grace

Episode Date: July 1, 2018

What’s so amazing about grace is that God sent His Son to take YOUR place.

Amen and amen and amen. How are we doing, church? Everybody good? What an incredible testimony there. The reason that we show Ariel's testimony is because he is a microcosm of what we have been studying and are studying in Romans 9, 10, and 11. These are not just old dead doctrines for theologians to ponder, but these are life-giving truths that reveal to us the character and nature of God. And so as we have been doing for 25 weeks now, would you please stand for the reading of God's, word, I'm going to read Romans chapter 11, verses 1 through 24. God's word says this. I ask then,

has God rejected his people by no means, for I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his own people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the scriptures say of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? Lord, they have killed your prophets. They have demolished your all. and I alone am left and they seek my life. But what does God's reply to him? I have kept for myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to bail. So too, at the present time, there is a remnant chosen by grace.

But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works. Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace. What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking, to elect the elect of the elect of, obtained it, but the rest were hardened. As it is written, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see, and ears that would not hear, down to this very day. And David says, let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block, and a retribution for them. Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see and bend their backs forever. So I asked, did they stumble in order

that they might fall by no means? Rather, through their eyes, trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. Now, if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean? Now I am speaking to you, Gentiles. Inasmuch, then, as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?

If the dough offered as first fruits is holy, so is the whole lump. And if the root is holy, so are the branches. But if some of the branches were broken off and you, although a wild olive chute, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant towards the branches. If you are, remember, it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. Then you will say, branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.

That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief. But if you stand fast through faith, so do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you? Note then the kindness and severity of God, severity towards those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you too will be cut off. And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in. For God has the power to graft them in again. For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree,

how much more will these the natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree. May God add blessing to the reading and the hearing of His Word. Amen, and you may be seated. So as you are taking a seat, and before I unpack this very simple text, let me say, happy birthday America, all right, it is Fourth of July week, and let me be very clear here that while we do not worship America, we worship the God that has provided for us a country, in which we can freely worship him.

And on 4th of July, I do pray that you will be reminded of the gospel, that just like in America, not just like, but sort of like in America, we get to experience a freedom because somebody else shed their blood for us. That in the gospel, we have freedom in him because Jesus shed his blood for us. Amen. Amen. So as you blow stuff up, glorify God in it. Hey, at the Church of 1122, we are a movement for all people, man, all kind of people,

all colors, people, all shapes, people. Whatever all people means, that's what we are. We are a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. And that is a part of what Paul is dealing with here in the book of Romans, that there is Jew and Gentile. And for the first eight chapter, he rolls out that we are justified by faith alone and Christ alone because of God's grace alone. And then in chapter 9 through 11, he talks about, yeah, but what about God's people?

You see, because they would show up there in their Roman disciple groups, and there would be Jews and Gentiles. Sort of like in our church. You see, 1122 is one of the few churches I know that in one disciple group, you've got like an ex-stripper and like a homeschool mom, you know. And so, like, the prayer request time gets really different, you know. And so some people are recovering heroin addicts and some people are recovering Baptists. And we're all in this thing together. And so this is what's happening here. And so what Paul is doing is uniting these folks.

In the gospel, that's what he's doing. And so chapter 11, he says this, I ask then, has God rejected his people? And remember, this is the question that he's answering in chapters 9, 10, 11. If we're justified by faith alone, can God be trusted? Can God's promises, can the promises of chapter 8 be trusted? Because by and large, God's chosen people, the nation of Israel, have rejected God. And so he says, I ask them, has God rejected his people? And he goes, by no means, that means no way.

You see, fundamentally what Paul is saying in 9-10-11 is even when we are unfaithful, God always remains faithful. He says, by no means, for I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. This means he was like varsity. Verse 2, God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. You see, God's promises can be trusted because we don't earn our salvation. but our salvation is a gift from God. And when the Bible says that God foreknew us, it means like he loved us before we were ever even lovable,

before we ever did anything good, before we were even born. And those whom he foreknew, he predestined, and those whom he predestined he called. And those whom he called, he justified. And those whom he justified, he will glorified. That we are saved by grace and not by works. And so he says, God has not given up on anybody whom he foreknew, especially God's people.

You see, in fact, because that is true, anyone or everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. And I know through chapters 9 and 11 and chapter 8, we've been talking about things like predestination and election. And so the question is not, am I elect? My answer is, do you love Jesus? Then congratulations. You're chosen.

You're in. It's like a big game of Red Rover. He called you. You didn't call you. That's how that works. But because of God's unconditional election, it means this, you cannot give me any evidence whatsoever to prove to me that God can't choose you. Because he doesn't choose you based on how good you are, but how good he is.

And it is that goodness of God in the gospel that is reconciling this church back together. You see, there's a crazy thing that you didn't notice in that video because you just wouldn't know. But in that video, did you see when Ariel or bus driver comes walking in? He's like a microcosm of chapter 11. And when he comes walking in, there's a brother that comes walking up with like bright yellow on his sleeves. That brother is a first generation Palestinian Christian. And that Palestinian guy walks straight to this former Israeli soldier. I don't know if you watch Fox News a lot.

They don't hug much, all right? And they are embracing at this pool with a bunch of other people sitting around like in their wives bathing suits. It's what it looked like to us, but whatever, all right? And they are these two men, this Israeli general. guy and this Palestinian guy's parents grew up there. They are embracing. Why? Because Jesus is their Lord and in Jesus they are brothers. That's what the gospel does and that's what the gospel is doing. And so Paul is like, no way God has not given up on us. He says, don't you know what the scriptures say of Elijah? How he appeals to God against Israel. Here's what Elijah said.

Lord, they have killed your prophets. They have demolished your altars. And I alone am left. and they seek my life. In Second Kings, Elijah was a prophet or a preacher, and guess what happened? He got home from church one day, and he was like, God, those church people are crazy. I don't think any of them are going to heaven, because I preached my face off. I didn't get one amen. I didn't get one good job. They just sat there and just looked on their Facebook, on their iPhones.

Okay, I think they're all going to hell. That's what he's kind of saying, because church people are different these days. But anyway, it goes on to say, but God replied to him, oh, whoa, slow down there, Elijah. God says, I've kept for myself 7,000 men who have not bowed their knee to bail. So at this present time, there is a remnant. So what Paul is saying here is there are still those that believe that we are justified by faith. There always have been. And Paul is saying God has not given up on anybody.

Now, you remember this, that at least three times throughout our study of the book of Romans, it's actually more like six. But three very clear times, Paul has redefined the term Israel or true Israel. that the children of God's promises are not the children of the flesh but children of faith. In other words, whoever has the faith of Abraham, somebody that trusts God, then it is counted to them as righteousness. And so he says God has not given up on his people. So to at this present time there is a remnant. This is important.

Chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works. otherwise grace would no longer be grace. And if there's no grace, there is no gospel. This is what he's saying. And listen, I know he's primarily talking to first century Israelites, but this applies to church people more than you know. There's still a whole bunch of church people that think the reason that you get in

is because of your church attendance. And I've told you this a thousand times. Going to church does not make you a Christian anymore and stick in your head in the oven, makes you a biscuit. That is not how this thing works, okay? it is by grace that you are saved. So what is grace? We used to word grace a lot in our culture.

All right? Every other Christian I know has a girl, and her middle name is grace, all right? That's great. That's a great middle name. If you grew up around church, you know this phrase. Grace is unmerited favor. But we don't really use those words that much.

A lot of times we get grace and mercy confused. Mercy is when you don't get what you deserve. Grace is when you get what you don't deserve. that grace is the gift of the gospel, that we got what we did not deserve. What we deserved based on our own actions is an eternity separated from the one true and holy God. And if you are in Christ, you receive this grace gift that you receive forgiveness, a relationship with God, and eternity with Him. Not because you earned it. In fact, you earned the opposite. I kind of hesitate to share an example of grace in my life because if you're in college,

I don't want you to follow after me in this, but when I was a senior in college, I went to Virginia Commonwealth University, VCU. You may have never heard of it. It's like the Kmart of Virginia education, all right? It's like, got good stuff, but nobody brags about going there. So that's where I went. And I was in the pre-med program, all right? Isn't that funny?

I was in the pre-m— imagine me being your doctor, all right? Now you just hurt my feelings. I don't know why that's such a stress. I'd be the worst doctor on the planet. I just would. I know I would. My bedside manner would be ridiculous. People would come in and be like, Doc, it hurts when I do this.

I'd be like, all right, jot this down. Don't do this. $10,000. All right, next, it would be real fast. So I was in the pre-man program, and my senior year, just before my senior year at VCU, I felt like God was calling me in the ministry. Now, for a bunch of years, I had stacked up classes after classes, after classes, after classes. And so when it came down to my senior year, I only had to take one really,

class because I would take like 24 to 28 hours every semester. And somebody asked me one time, how could you take so many hours? And I go, well, when you don't go to any of them, it doesn't matter how many you stack up. I never went to class, all right? Don't write that down. I have a job. All right. So anyway.

So my senior year, I had to have one real class. So my senior year of college, I took ballroom dancing, the history of motion picture, volleyball, guitar, and invertebrate zoology. Yeah, it was hard. All right, it was really hard. So I went on my very first day. I got the syllabus or whatever, and then I thought I could just kind of breeze through it. And I was so like, I was over to college and ready to go on to grad school.

And all I needed was just to graduate. I didn't have to, like, change my degree or any of that stuff. I just had to get one. And so I didn't go at all. I showed up to my very first exam. I did the best I could with never attending class or even buying a book or anything. And I made a 47. Now that's not bad for never attending.

I mean, give me a break, man. Some people tried and didn't do that well. So anyway, I started out with the 47. And I thought, well, I mean, we got a problem here. Because I got to get at least a C, right, to pass because of the way the pre-man thing was set up. And so, there were only two exams in the whole year, and they weren't waited. So I just went to my professor. And I was like, I had to introduce myself.

We'd never met because I'd only been in his class once. And then I said, listen, you know, I made a first. 47 on my first one. He's like, I know. And I go, I think I have to have like a hundred and 23 on my next one to pass this class and you don't even offer extra credit. So how about this? What if we just do this? And I began to propose as a man of the cloth called by God to a man that didn't believe there was a God. And we were all just accidents and that, you know, it was just macro-Darwinian evolution, that he should just by grace give me something that it did not earn. And so I said, so here's the way you should think about this professor. Maybe

this is just Darwinian evolution way of survival of the fittest, and I'm not the fittest, and I can't keep up and should not go on. And if you just give me a C, I'll be out of your life forever, but if you fail me, I will be right back in your class. And he said, take the final exam, we'll see how it goes. And so I did not know how it was going to go. And so I thought there's no use going now. So I went to no more classes. In fact, at the final, I had to show my ID to prove, no, seriously, I'm in here.

I promise. I paid for this. And so I showed up, took another exam, probably did just as good as I did on the first one, and I earned an F, an extra time in college. And then, when the grades came out, by the grace of God, this guy, God doesn't believe in God, gave me a passing grade. And I went to seminary, and he probably went to hell. But whatever, okay?

So I did try to talk to him about Jesus. He's like, shut up. I thought he'd ruin my chances, so I left that up. to God. So it's just grace. It's just grace. He literally gave me a thing that I did not earn. If you are in Christ, it's even bigger than that. Because if you were in Christ, what Paul has been teaching is you didn't even go to the professor and say, hey God, how about work this out for me? He actually came to you and made you the offer and said, how about I give you my son's grades and take away your failing grade.

That's what salvation is. But if it is by grace, then it is no longer on the basis of works. Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace. Paul fleshes this out in Ephesians chapter 2. Same writer right into a different church says this. And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked. You know what this means, church? If you don't know Jesus, you're not bad, you're dead.

Spiritually dead. You know what dead people do? Not much. You know what dead people do for themselves? Nothing. Now, let me tell you why this is good news that the Bible says you're not bad. Because bad, there's like a scale, there's a spectrum of bad. You can be a little bit bad, pretty bad, way bad, or a little bad.

You can be bad, all kind of ways. There's only one dead. If you're a little bit dead or if you've been dead 100 years, guess how dead you are? The same dead. You could be freshly dead, like is he asleep or dead? And you're still dead. Or you could be rotten dead. No more eyeballs left.

Dead, dead, all right? Here's why this is good news, because in our sin, we're just dead. Whether you've been sinning all week and don't even care. If you're sinning right now, just judging me and my study habits in college, all right? You're dead. Or if you can barely remember this one little sin that you've been told about, you can't even remember doing it. But you think you remember your mom caught you one time sinning way back in the day. You're dead too.

Actually, you're deader than the rest of us because of pride. That's a different sermon, all right? There's just dead. And Paul says, and now we, man, we were dead in our trespasses and sins in which we once walked. Following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work and the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived. You hear that?

You grew up in Sunday school? You grew up a son of disobedience. That's how we all grew up. in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and mine, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind. See, people don't like to talk about the wrath of God. They don't. It makes people feel awkward, scared.

I don't like that part. Well, guess what? The gospel begins with this. It begins with the glory of God, the preeminence of Christ, and our own rebellion, that we are wicked, wicked sinners. every single one of us by nature and nurture. Don't believe me, meet a two-year-old. I'm telling you, children come out like the seagulls and nemo, just mine, mine, mine, all right?

Just selfish little egomaniacs. Every single one of us. We just get better at it. And see, we don't like to talk about this. I can't think of one worship song that talks about the wrath of God. You know, your wrath, oh God. Burn us to. Nah, man, well, I sing it.

No. But it's true. It's true. that we are by nature children of wrath. But then it keeps going, but God. This is verse 4, but God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us. You know why God loves us because God is love? That's why.

The reason that he loves us. Now he has to be stirred to wrath, but he is by default love. Even when we were dead in our trespasses. He made us alive together with Him, with Christ. By grace you have been saved. and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. You know that in the first century what would happen is if a king sent out a warrior and the warrior had a great victory in battle. When the warrior would come home, the king would march the warrior around the town and then he would sit him at the seat of honor.

It was the right hand next to the king. And God was pleased to send his only begotten son to defeat sin and death in the greatest cosmic battle of all eternity. And when he was resurrected on the third day, and then he ascended, where did he ascend to the right hand of God the Father to sit in the seat of honor? Because the Father was pleased to show off his son who had conquered a great victory on our behalf. That's what he's talking about here. And if we are in Christ, then we are seated there. Verse 7, so that in the coming ages, God might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. the immeasurable riches of his grace.

When the Bible uses the word rich, it doesn't mean you have a lot. It means you have more than enough. So when God gives us grace, he does not give you like just enough grace to make it through the day. That he lavishes his grace upon you richly. That means he's just dumping buckets upon buckets upon buckets of grace on you.

I don't know how it works, but to the point where the angels look and be like, isn't that enough? And be like, nope, not yet. Keep it coming. Come on, I want like a dump truck full. Just keep the grace coming. But boss, it's going to get all over everybody.

I know. But you're making a mess. You're just lavishing the grace of God upon these people that don't even deserve it. And God's like, you're starting to get a sniff of what the grace of God is like. That's what grace is. But if it's by grace, it's no longer on the basis of works. It's not because you're so good. Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace.

He goes on in Ephesians 2.8 to save for, by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not as a result of works so that no one would boast. You know, we sang a part of this song Amazing Grace. Written by John Newton a couple hundred years ago. I think when he's writing the song about, the grace that he experienced in his life. The only adjective he could come up with to even partly describe it was this.

It's amazing. Amazing grace. How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. Here's what John Newton understand. The more and more and more he knew the love of God, the grace of God, the mercy of God, and the depths of his own depravity. The only word that he could come up with was to describe himself was this, says, I am a wretch.

So I have some people around here always get offended, offended when I call you a wretched blackhearted center. You're like, I am a good person. Compared to what? You really think you're good. You have got to, who do you think you are? All right? Because I'm telling you, I mean, good compared to whoever, you know, Hitler, we always

love to compare ourselves to him, all right? But good compared to anybody else, good compared to, we all right, we all right, we all. compare ourselves to the nightly news to our roommate. All right. But compare the perfect holy God, listen, you ain't good. And in fact, the fact that you would defend yourselves means you are a prideful egomaniac, too dumb to talk to, which means you're wretched. It's actually worse than you think. You think you're good? How would you like if I put a recorder in your brain all week long? And then we showed up here next weekend and we just displayed your thoughts on these screens, huh? How do you think you show up that with a little, look how good I am, everyone? No, I don't think so,

Scooter. he'd be like, could you skip that part? Right, right. Me too, man. Wretched. See, John Newton couldn't get over his wretchedness because of what God saved him from. He ended up being a pastor

writing like the most famous Christian song of all time. You know what he did before that? Ran slave ships. Got in boats, went to Africa, stole people, treated them like they were not people. He was eyeball to eyeball with image bearers of God that Jesus died for and he said, you're less than me as long as I can make money off you. That's what he did. And then one night on a ship in a storm, he thought he was going to die,

and he cried out and he surrendered to God, surrender to Jesus. And then, not overnight, but over time, God began to change everything about his world. He walked away from that atrocity. He walked away from that wretchedness. He became a pastor. And in fact, God used him to be the pastor of a guy named William Wilberforce, who was one of the primary people in England to get slavery abolished. And yet, even though God used him to do all these good things, on his deathbed, John Newton says this. John Newton says, my memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things. I am a great sinner and that Christ is a great Savior. That leads you to never get over a Amazing grace.

See, amazing grace is when you get to that place where you go, who am I that you would take my place? Tim Keller says it this way, super smart guy in New York. He says, the gospel is this, that we are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe. And yet at the very same time, we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope. That is grace. And so what Paul is saying is, don't get confused. your salvation is on grace alone, because if you had anything to do with it, then grace would no longer be grace. Verse 7, he asked this question, what then?

And he answers it. Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. Right. Why? Because they were seeking righteousness by their own work. And what they received was a self-righteousness. It's kind of like a spiritual judo. In judo, you use the momentum of your opponent to throw them, and their momentum of pursuing righteousness by their own work.

is the thing that they stumbled over and they did not receive a righteousness from Christ. Says what then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. And the elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened. Verse 8. As it is written. And what Paul's going to do here now is he's going to quote Deuteronomy 294 with a little splash of Isaiah 2910. It says this. God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear down to this very day.

Verse 9. And David says, now he's going to quote Psalm 69, 22, and 23. Now the crazy thing about quoting David here is in Psalm 69, it's a prayer against his enemies. And now Paul sees this and says, no, no, no, actually the enemies are the unbelieving Israelites. And he says, let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block, and a retribution for them. That word retribution matters a lot. Verse 10, let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see and bend their backs forever. In other words, Paul is quoting from the Old Testament, he's saying this, the natural consequences of rejecting God.

If God is the ultimate and only source of life and light and love, and all good and perfect gifts are from him, if you reject light, if you reject love, if you reject truth, then the natural consequence is darkening and hardening. Make no bones about it. and chooses. And it is only God that can open somebody's eyes. It is only God that can soften someone's heart. We see this every week in here. Like on Thursday night, guess who was supposed to preach? This guy. But I was trying to get back from Colorado and we were flying in and a weather system was moving

to Atlanta because, you know, you can't get to heaven without a layover in Atlanta to get to Jacksonville. That's just how it works. All right? And so here we are and we tried to land. We could see the runway and then I mean that thing was I thought the wings were going to come off Gretchen was about to have a heart attack and I was like oh it's fine baby all right talking about the sovereignty of God and all that stuff and so and then sure enough we turn around we go to Birmingham and so I'm sitting in Birmingham as 722 is approaching I call clifton one of our pastors here and a brother your own good luck and so it's just easy Romans 11 who can't preach that and and then the storm moves from Atlanta to Birmingham so we're sitting there for like

six hours in Alabama. It's the second time I've been screwed by Alabama this year. You understand? Terrible. We got home Saturday afternoon at about 6 p.m. All right, just a shade under 48 hours. Now, guess what happened? Clifton gets up here and preaches the Word of God, and it doesn't matter who's preaching. It matters what's preached. He preached to the gospel, and five people get saved. Why? Because it is God that softens the heart, not me. And that's what he's talking about here. Verse 11, he says, so, so I ask, did they, the disbelieving Israelites, did they stumble in order that they might fall like forever? And he goes, by no means, no way. Rather, through their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous.

Here's what he's saying. This is one of the implications of Romans 828, that God is working in all things for the good of those that love him and are called according to his purpose. even what looks like an incredible mistake that God's chosen people have not chosen to receive the gift of grace, but by and large, have chosen to reject God. And God goes, cool, no problem. I'm going to use that to take the gospel to the Gentiles, and I'm going to make the Israelites jealous of the pagan nations. Now, see, usually jealousy is a bad thing. Jealousy typically just means this. I want what you have.

You know what this is. Like you're sitting in your house. Everything's cool. You're fine with your house. Then you go to your friend's house. And they have 12 foot ceilings. But you have 8 foot ceilings. And then when you go home, you're like, I didn't even know I lived in a cave.

I don't feel like I can stand up in my house. What is going? And God says, okay, I'm going to use that thing. I'm going to take these people that had a head start on everybody. And I'm going to show the Gentiles who put their faith in Jesus. The promises are God are fulfilled in the person of Jesus. And then this nation is going to be like, we want that.

The video that we showed is a microcosm of that truth. We show up in Israel, a bunch of Christians, primarily Gentile Christians, and we show up in Israel and our bus driver who grew up in Jerusalem is driving us around. And after the very first service that we have, he looks at what we have and he goes, what was that? I want that. I want that. I don't even know what it is, but that's what I want.

And what God was doing, God was opening in his eyes. and softening his heart. This brother had everything the world has to offer, and it satisfied nothing. You see, here's the thing. He wanted it before he even believed it. But God used a bunch of 11-22ers. You know what was overwhelming to him? He's like, why do you love each other so much? And we're like, because God loves us. And he goes, why do you love me? Why do you treat me this way? I'm like, bro, you got to think about it. We got like a Dixie cup receptacle, and God's got an ocean of love that he has poured out on us. And we can't even contain it. It just kind of gets on people. And it got on you, and by the end of the week it got in you. That's what happened. And what

Paul is saying is we look forward to the day when that's not just a one bus driver, but when people by the hundreds and thousands and thousands and thousands began to understand the promises of God are fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus Christ. So he says, now, if their trespass means riches for the world and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean? Verse 13, now I am speaking to you, Gentiles. So now he's going to shift gears. He's like, I've been talking to the religious people for a while.

Now I'm going to talk to the rebellious people for a while. Now I'm speaking to you, Gentiles. Inasmuch then, as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous and thus save some. For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? If the dough offered its first fruits is holy, so is the whole lump. And if the root is holy, so are the branches. But, verse 17. but if some of the branches were broken off and you, although a wild olive shoot, you might

want to underline that, okay? It's not a compliment, by the way. Although a wild olive shoot were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, don't be arrogant is what he's going to go on to say. He's like, listen, that when the Bible says that we are grafted in as a wild olive shoot, There was a cultivated olive tree that would represent the nation of Israel. And then there's a wild olive branch, a wild olive chute. This is basically the Bible's way of saying that you were just one hot mess.

Then when God found you, your whole life, like you didn't even know better. You just did what you wanted, with who you wanted, when you wanted. Why? Because you were the boss of you. And quite honestly, there's a bunch of us in this room that fall into this category. Now, the good news is 1122 as a reflection of the gospel is a. movement for all people. But guess what all people do? All people reject God. Some people reject God through religion. That might sound foreign to you, but there are some people that reject God by

their own good behavior. They say, God, I don't need you. I got Bible study. I got mission trips. I got generosity and tithing. God, I don't need you. I got this. And then there's another group of people, and you reject God by rebellion. forget you, God. I don't care about your book. I do what I want, with who I want, when I want, why? Because I am the boss of me, and both are the same rejection of God. We see it all throughout the scriptures. You see it in the book of Genesis. Remember the forbidden fruit? God says this. God says, hey, look, you eat anything you want, whatever you want. Just have that, all right? But don't eat of that one tree because it'll kill you. By the way, this should be good news for some of you. God is into

relationship, he's not into rules. When he first started this whole thing, there was one rule. Don't eat that. There was a whole bunch of positive rules. You know what one of his commandments was? Be fruitful and multiply. That's why God made them naked, not naked. Naked means I have no clothes on. That's like the doctor's office. Naked means stuff's about to get going. That's what that means. God tells Adam and Eve with no clothes on, what else they're going to do all day, all right? And he tells it, be fruitful and multiply. That is Hebrew for bow, chica, wow, wow. That's what that means. And yet in their rebellion, they say, forget you, God, we eat what we want. Why? Because they didn't trust him. And they rebelled. And then when they begin to feel the guilt and shame, the Bible says they ran from him and they hid

and they sowed fig leaves together. This is the picture of the first religion. God, forget you, we don't need you. We can cover our sin and shame. You see, this is what Paul is talking about, that both need the grace of God. You see this in the person of Paul himself. That Paul, before he became Paul, when he saw he was a Pharisee, that means he was really good at being good. He had rejected God with his own religion. And he was really good at being bad.

He was killing Christians because he was a rebel. So if you think you're good, Paul's better than you. You think you're bad, Paul's worse than you. And Paul needed the grace of God. This wild olive chute here is even if you didn't know better, even if you were just a rebel, you've done all kind of bad stuff, then you, by the grace of God, can be grafted in, can be joined into the family of God. Verse 18, he goes on to say this.

He says, do not be arrogant towards the branches. If you are, remember, it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. You see, this means a bunch here. First of all, there's a bunch of people that can, because you were a Christian, begin to look down your nose at some other people. And what Paul is saying here is that you cannot simultaneously look up at Jesus and look down your nose at anybody else. You just can't. Let me just talk about this, very practically speaking. At least in my lifetime, this seems to be the most divided our country has been.

And Christians should be leading the way in compassion towards people that don't look like you or vote like you or believe. believe differently than you do on whatever the topic is. Why? Because we're not looking down our nose at other people, even if they believe or think or vote differently, but we're looking up at the grace of God poured out on us. And if he can save us, then he can save anybody. That's the way we should be treating one another. And then he says, and then he says, and then you will say,

branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in. That's true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through fate, so do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and severity of God, severity towards those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you too will be cut off.

And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree and grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree? In other words, don't you ever get arrogant about your salvation because you were saved by grace?

None of us deserve to be here. And I can tell you who has a really hard time with this is church people. And the longer you're in church, the more likely you are to look down your nose at people that don't believe in you or maybe they believe differently than we do about something. The way it plays out in my world is occasionally I'll get an email from a church person. And I know they're new to our church. It'll start out this way.

Pastor, as if that's my first name. Pastor, I went to your church this week, which also lets me know they don't attend here all the time because it's not my church, right? It's Jesus is church. And if you're here and I'm here, we're here, so it's our church. We go to church together. You don't go to my church. And they'll say, Pastor, I went to your church this week, and my heart was grieved as I entered the Lord's house. Real people don't talk like that.

But anyway. As I made my way up to the Lord's house to fellowship with other believers, I looked off to my left and there next to the door where people smoking. What shall we do about this? To which I first go, smoking what? Because we could go a lot of different directions here. On the old staff, I just need to know some stuff. And sure enough, man, there's people that really, really bother.

Walked in to worship the God of grace and then look in judgment. it would be like, primarily what they're talking about cigarettes. They're smoking cigarettes. What are we going to do about this? Okay, I don't work for the American Lung Society, okay? Now, by and large, I don't agree with smoking cigarettes. I don't know if it's sin. To me, it's just dumb.

It's just dumb, okay? I know you ride around with it out your window, that doesn't work, okay? It just don't work. Your fingers are yellow, your teeth are turning colors. You've got burn holes on you. It's real expensive. I think it's dumb. Okay, that's just where I'm at.

And then somebody will say to me, but don't you smoke cigars? Yeah, but that's cool. I mean, that's pretty cool. You got to admit. that's that looks so it's just true but what paul is saying here is never get over the grace of god in your life who do you think you are to take your eyes off of the cross and the grace that has been lavished upon you to look down your nose at somebody else and judge them man you don't know these people you don't know what they're doing don't get over don't you ever get over the wretch that we

were and that he saved us that we were lost and he found us, that we were blind, and now that we see, that's what he's saying. And that's what all of the, like, grafted-in language is about. One of my favorite things to do in Bible study is to use the Bible as commentary for itself. What Paul is doing here in Romans chapter 11 in all this grafting talk is he's throwing back to what Jesus said in John chapter 15 and also what Isaiah said in the fact that Israel was the root. Jesus explains all this grafting talk in John chapter 15. He says this. Jesus says, I am the true vine. So in other words, to be grafting, in is to be grafted into Jesus. He says, I am the true vine and my father is the vine dresser or the

gardener. Verse 2 of John 15, every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes. Christian, this means that your pain has purpose. That's what that means. That it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word I have spoken to you. And then he says this in verse 4. You should underline this word or highlight it. He says, abide in me. We don't use that language that much. Abide just means this. Jesus says, come here, come here, come here. Just stay close to me.

It's a relational term. That's what it is. Like, know me and I'll know you. Abide in me. This is about a relationship. What he is not saying is bear fruit so that you can be close to me. He says it the other way. He says, if you stay close to me, you will bear fruit. Stuff will start happening in your life. Love,

joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Those kind of, that's what the fruit of the spirit is. You stay close to me and stuff will start happening, but you don't have to make stuff start happening in order to be close to me. So he says, abide in me, stay close to me, being a relationship with me, and I in you. And as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. Now see, the first century Israelites, they were thinking, I don't need the vine.

I got this. I got the law. And Paul, Jesus here is saying, well, apart from me, you can try as hard as you want, but you will be cut off. And then the wild olive shoots like me, we're thinking, well, I don't have a chance. Because I didn't grow up in it. And I don't know the secret handshakes. And I don't know what's standing and kneel and bow and to say amen.

And I don't know the songs. I don't know the difference between the Old Testament, the New Testament. I don't know that stuff. So maybe there's no hope for me. And he goes, no, no, no, no, you're wrong too. Jesus says, I am the vine, you are the branches. This is a big word here. And whoever abides in me and I in him.

So if you fall into the whoever category, then Jesus' invitation for a relationship is for you. And here's why this is important, man. There are some people that think this, God could never love me. Pastor, if you knew the things I've done, God could never love me. And I would say to you, who do you think you are? You really think you're that big a deal that your 45 years of sin are bigger than the grace of God

poured out through the blood of Jesus on the cross? Listen, man, all of your sin. I know it's a big deal. Jesus died for it. But all of your sin is like a little flea on the butt of an elephant. God's grace is so much bigger than whatever you think you can do. Nothing could separate you from the love of God. And that's not freedom to sin.

That's freedom from sin. So I would say, very lovingly, get over yourself. He loves you. Then there's a group of people that say, God can never not love me. Look at my works. I go to every service at 1122. I travel around to campuses.

I've got one more for each campus. I sponsor kids and I go to disciple group and I volunteer and I do all these things. How could he not love me? And I would say, who do you think you are? You are a wretch in the same need of the same grace and all the rest of us. And Jesus says, so whoever, whoever would abide me, I'll abide in him. He it is that bears much fruit.

From apart from me, you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers, and the branches are gathered and thrown into the fire and burn. And you're like, but what if I try a little hard? I've been going, my grandma was a Baptist. So? It comes down to this. Do you know him?

Do you know him? He keeps going, if you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. And if you think that means cotton candy and Cadillacs, then you ain't abiding in him. It says, by this, my father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciple. As the father has loved me, so have I loved you? Abide in my love. Do you see the relationship there?

If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love. these things I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full this is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you and then he lays out the gospel greater love has no one than this

that someone lay down his life for his friends and then he says this you are my friends if you do what I command you no longer do I call you servants for the servant does not know what his master's doing but I have called you

friends for all that I have heard from my father I have made known to you you. So check this out, man. Religious leaders have come and gone for thousands of years. And there have been religious leaders that have offered a better way to do life. Forgiveness is better than resentment. And there have been religious leaders that offer a way to get to God or a way to get to heaven or a way to be enlightened. And religious leaders have offered tips to get along with other people. And religious leaders have offered a solution for the world's problems.

but Jesus is the only one that's ever offered friendship. Jesus never claimed to show you a way. He said, I am the way. Jesus never claimed to just teach us truth. He said, I am the truth. And Jesus never claimed to just show you a better version of your life. He says, I am life. And no one gets to the Father except through me.

And to abide in him, he says, then we'll be friends. The almighty sovereign God of the universe by his lavish grace. poured out at the cross has offered for us to be friends. He says, you didn't choose me, I chose you. And appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide so that whatever you ask, the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

He is not talking about cash and prizes there. He is talking about salvation. That if anyone would say, God, I know I've really screwed up. I've either screwed up because I thought my righteousness would be enough or I've screwed up in my own rebellion because I was the Lord of my own life. But God, can I ask, I'd like that friendship with you. I would like for my sins to be forgiven. I would like to be connected with you in this kind of relational way.

Then what he's saying here is, you ask for that in my father's name, and he will give it to you. Why? Because it's by grace. It is by grace. This is what Paul was saying, that we were chosen. by grace. But if it's by grace, it's no longer on the basis of works. Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace.

So what's so amazing about grace? What's so amazing about grace is that God sent his son to take your place. And I would ask, do you know him? Are you a friend of God? Because of what Christ did for you? Did you know you could be in this very moment that you could abide with Christ? when he gives that invitation he goes Come here, just stay close

that you could step towards him I'll tell you man when I met Jesus I was not looking for him in fact I was running really really hard and I was a wild olive shoot my whole family situation was really really jacked up and my whole

morality situation was even worse and honestly my legal situation wasn't going too good either and I heard it was crazy man I grew up in the South I'd heard Jesus died on the cross, and I believed in him as much as I believed in, you know, the two fairy and the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus and NASCAR and college football. It's just what you do where I'm from, man.

But that night, this little camp, not in some kind of holy city, but outside of Dylan, my camp counselors reenacted the crucifixion of the Christ. This is like before the Passion of the Christ, the movie. This was college kids with bed sheets on and torches. and they just acted it out. And Coach Bulley from John 316 said, for God so loved you, that he sent his only begotten son

that whoever would believe in him or trust in him or abide in him or say, okay, I'll take that. Whoever would believe that when Jesus died on the cross, that counted for you, that you wouldn't perish, that you wouldn't be cast away, but you would be saved.

And somehow I got no new information that night, but there was a divine revelation, and I could see it for the very first time, that my heart was softened to what had been hard to my whole life. And I gave up. I gave up. I said, all right, I admit it. God, I'm a sinner in need of a Savior. And I believe somehow that that thing, that this God man on a tree 2,000 years ago, when he says it is finished, somehow, that counts for me. And that night I confessed him as Lord and Savior. And you know what's so amazing about grace in my life?

That God sent his son to take my place, in your place. I would ask if you would put your faith in him right now. If you would please bow your head and close your eyes. And I would ask you, do you know it? And if today, for the very first time you were ready to admit that you're a sinner in need of a Savior, that you believe that it's by grace and grace alone that you can be saved. And today, for the very first time, you were ready to confess him as Lord and Savior. raise your hand and say, Father, here I am.

I admit it. And I believe when Jesus died on the cross that counted for me, and I confess you as Lord. And the Bible says in that moment that you have been saved. Our good and gracious Heavenly Father, God, we love you more than anything because you loved us first. And God, I thank you that this

is love, not that we loved you, but you loved us first and you sent your son to be a payment that satisfies. So God, to the believers in the room, would you remind us of your grace? The grace is not a thing we received. that day we surrendered to you, but grace is that thing that sustains us every single day of our life. And God, to the men and women for the very first time who have put their faith in you, God,

I thank you, and I praise you that they have been grafted into your family. We pray it in Jesus' name. Amen.