Grace is Always Amazing
Romans 11:1-10
Rev. Brian Bill
10/26/08
In commenting on how well our Missions Festival went, Robin Wahls, our missionary to Ghana, told us that the challenge now is for PBC to sustain a passion for what our Global God is doing and how we can join Him. In an effort to keep the “mission’s flame” alive, I want to begin this morning by mentioning some of the most moving elements to me. In a few minutes I’ll give you an opportunity to share what God taught you.
By the way, if you missed the Missions Festival, you really missed something pretty special. While I was pleased at how many people attended, I wished that more would have taken advantage of what we offered. From what I can tell, our attendance was down about 20% last Sunday. Have you ever gone to something and wished that more people would have been there? I had a similar thought a week ago while Geoff Trembley was teaching at the Men’s Breakfast and only about 10 men were there. The topic was called, “Red-Hot Monogamy” as he focused on ways for men to improve their marriages. There’s a Women’s Gathering on Tuesday night and I sure hope a lot of women take advantage of this opportunity to grow in community.
Here are some holy highlights from the Mission Festival.
I had the privilege of meeting with our missionaries for three straight afternoons to listen to them, encourage them, read Scripture together and pray for one another. During our meeting on Monday, Dan Wilson shared something with the rest of the group that was very profound. We were talking about sacrifices that missionaries make and then he said this: “It might feel like a sacrifice at the beginning but once you lay it on the altar, it becomes an offering.” I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this. When we talk of our “sacrifices,” we’re focusing on ourselves. When we speak of an “offering,” the focus is on the One who offered Himself in our place. How can we not give Him all things, including our very lives, when He’s done everything for us?
Michael Wahls made this stunning statement during the festival: “I’d rather be the poorest of poor in Ghana and know Jesus than be the richest of rich in America and not know Him.” Robin Wahls gives all the glory to God as she tells how the leaders in a Muslim village want Mike and Robin to come back and live with them.
When Keith Shubert was explaining how one of his students is now ministering in a country that is closed to missionaries, I told Keith that his ministry is being multiplied in a place that he will never be able to live. I then said this: “He’s part of your ministry.” Keith immediately corrected me and said, “No, he’s part of our ministry. PBC’s ministry is being multiplied in that country because PBC is our ministry partner.” Related to this, Jeannette has multiplied our ministry in Russia through training centers. When she started this emphasis several years ago there were just a handful of women involved – now there are over 10,000!
In one of the afternoon sessions Lorraine Wilson made this comment: “God is moving in your church – I can tell because people are asking the right questions. There’s more than just a normal interest. I think because you asked us to tell stories everything has been turned back to the Lord…stories show us that God is glorified.”
Now it’s your turn to share a brief story. What impacted you the most during our Missions Festival? What do you sense God asking you to do differently as a result of what you learned? What story can you tell us about what God is doing in your life as it relates to giving or going?
Sharing Time
Keith Shubert, when talking about how they are involved in training leaders from many countries in Asia, made this statement at one of the small group gatherings: “Strong pastor, strong church. Weak pastor, weak church.” I want to pause at this point and tell you what God is doing in the heart of one of your pastors.
Shortly after I became a Christian I attended an Urbana Missions Conference and checked a box on a response card that said something like this: I am willing to do anything and go anywhere that God sends me. When I went to Bible College I was exposed to many different types of mission opportunities and decided to spend a summer in Zimbabwe. Interestingly, Pastor Dick led that trip back in 1983. In seminary I focused my studies on evangelism and missions, thinking that Beth and I would become missionaries. Instead I became a pastor and had the opportunity to visit missionaries in Europe and Venezuela. Then, many years later after pastoring in Rockford, Beth and I became missionaries in Mexico where we lived for three years before moving to Pontiac.
You’ve heard me talk before about how difficult that time was for me because I struggled to learn Spanish. What you might not know is that I felt like a failure. When God opened the door for us to come to Pontiac Bible Church, I was thrilled to be back in pastoral ministry. I’m not quite sure how to explain all this, but because of the pain from my Mexico missionary experience, I have somehow not fully embraced this part of our mandate as a church. As a result, I have not done a good job of promoting missions here at PBC. I’ve been weak and I’ve been wrong. And that will change from here on out.
Over the past several months God has been fanning the “mission’s flame” in my heart and it only intensified during our missions festival. It’s my prayer that it will continue to burn bright for Christ so that I will become a stronger pastor, leading an even stronger church.
Failures are Not Final
Do you ever feel like your failures have somehow disqualified you? Do you wonder if God has rejected you? The apostle Paul asked this question when he contemplated Israel’s spiritual ineptitude in Romans 11:1: “I ask then: Did God reject His people?” The word “reject” means to forcibly push someone aside. Have you ever been pushed aside? Is that what God is doing with the nation of Israel? I love how clearly Paul answers his own question: “By no means!” Other translations include “Of course not!” or “Certainly not!” The King James Version uses “God forbid,” which isn’t literal but catches the force of the phrase. Has God given up on His people Israel? No way. Their failures are not final because God is faithful.
Before we go much further, here’s a brief summary of Romans 9-11.
* Romans 9 – Israel’s past. This chapter traces Jewish unbelief to God’s electing purposes. Not everyone in Israel was chosen by God for salvation.
* Romans 10 – Israel’s present. The Jews are truly guilty before God because even though they have a zeal for God, it is not according to knowledge. Though the gospel was preached to them, they turned away from it. This is put in capsule form in the very last verse of the chapter: “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.”
* Romans 11 – Israel’s future. God is not finished with Israel because there are more promises to be fulfilled.
If you feel like you’ve failed and you secretly wonder if God is really faithful, then this passage is for you. We could summarize the sermon this way: “God has always had a believing minority and a blinded majority.”
A Believing Minority
1. We don’t see all that God is doing (1-5). The first thing to hold on to is to remember that God is weaving His ways and His will even when we can’t see it. We see three examples in this section.
* The example of Paul. The first is from Paul’s own life in verse 1: “I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.” God is not finished with Israel because he is an Israelite. An Israelite is a descendant of Jacob, who was also named Israel. Paul can trace his lineage to Abraham who was given the covenant promises. In addition, he was from the tribe of Benjamin. Let me make an obvious point here. Paul doesn’t say that he used to be an Israelite; he says “I am an Israelite.” He didn’t stop being Jewish when he put his faith in Jesus. The fact that Paul is a born again believer shows that God keeps His promises.
We see this in the first part of verse 2: “God did not reject His people whom He foreknew.” This reminds me of what is said in 1 Samuel 12:22 when the people are worried about their future: “For the Lord will not abandon His people on account of His great name.” If you’re worried about your future today as it relates to the prison, hold on to the fact that God will not abandon you.
Three different times in the Book of Acts, Paul’s conversion is recounted. Why is that? Because if God can save someone like him, then God can save anyone. And his conversion is an illustration of the future conversion of the nation of Israel. It’s as if Paul is saying, “I am an Israelite and my salvation is proof that God is not through with Israel yet.”
Michael Wahls shared the story of the amazing conversion of the Auca Indian who murdered five missionaries in Ecuador over 50 years ago. This man has now befriended Steve Saint, who is the son of one of the martyrs, and they travel together preaching the gospel. At one event several years ago, Steve Saint invited this former savage up to the stage where they embraced for a long time. Can you picture the scene? The man who murdered his father has come to know the Heavenly Father and now they are brothers in Christ. This man, known affectionately as “Grandfather,” spoke these words: “I am one of the men who killed Jim, Nate, and his friends that day in 1956. But since that time, I have come to follow God’s carvings. We have learned His markings now, and we follow His trails.”
This man was not rejected because of his failures. Paul was not disqualified either. And neither are we because we don’t see all that God is doing.
* The example of Elijah. The second example is drawn from one of Elijah’s experiences: “Don’t you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah — how he appealed to God against Israel: ‘Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me’?” This story is from 1 Kings 19 and describes the depth of Elijah’s exhaustion and his bout with depression. He experienced a great victory over the prophets of Baal but then was afraid of a wicked woman named Jezebel so he runs hundreds of miles and ends up hiding in a cave. When he finally has a conversation with God, he complains about how evil Israel is and how outnumbered he is – it’s everyone against him. He stood up for God but he felt like he was the only one in the whole country doing so.
Do you ever feel that way? Ever suffer from the Elijah complex?
* I’m the only real believer in my school.
* I’m surrounded by pagans at work.
* I’m the only one really walking with God in my family.
* There’s not a true Christian in my entire neighborhood.
* I’m the only one concerned for truth.
* I’m the only one who really knows what worship is in this church.
* I’m serious about missions but no one else really is.
* I attend men’s events and others don’t so I must be better than others.
While we might think we’re the only ones on the side of God, God always has more than we think. I love how God answers Elijah as quoted in Romans 11:4: “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” God has reserved a remnant, literally “left remaining” a group of 7,000 believers. God has his people in the most unlikely of places – notice that the little phrase “for myself” is added to show the electing prerogative and power of God. This remnant was His personal possession. Elijah couldn’t see it because he was focused on himself but God had a remnant of true believers that he couldn’t see.
Sometimes we mistakenly think that God is just at work in our country. Last Sunday morning, Roger Bruehl told us that there are now more Christians in China than there are in the United States and that Chinese missionaries are now involved in a “Back to Jerusalem” movement where they are sharing Jesus in countries as they travel back to where the original missionary mandate was given: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
* The example of believers now. Look at verse 5: “So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.” God has a remnant of true believers in Jesus among the Jewish people. They are Jewish by heritage and background and they are also Jews for Jesus. Did you know that there are an increasing number of Jewish people who are coming to faith in Jesus as their Messiah? The ministries that work in this area tell us that there are more Jewish believers than ever before and I believe that there will be even more as we get closer to the return of Christ (see www.jewsforjesus.org).
Let’s focus on three words in this verse: remnant, chosen and grace.
Remnant. There has never been a time when the whole nation of Israel followed God wholeheartedly but there was always a smaller group that did. Likewise, Christians will always be in the minority. If you know Jesus you are part of the remnant of the redeemed. You will never be forsaken because He counts your faith as righteousness and you are reserved for Him. “God has always had a believing minority and a blinded majority.”
Chosen. This is the same word used in the Gospels when Jesus chose the twelve. It means to select or pick out some from a larger number. It’s where we get the word election, which is what I hope you’ll participate in on November 4th. It’s important to remember that we didn’t choose God, He chose us.
Grace. It’s not about keeping Old Testament rules and laws. It’s not about do’s and don’ts or even about religion. God has given us His unmerited favor irregardless of what we’ve done or whether we think we deserve it.
We don’t see all that God is doing but we know that He is at work.
2. Grace is a Gift Not a Reward (6). We have seen this many times before in our study in Romans. It’s a paradox. If you work at trying to please God it won’t work. The only way to have a relationship with Him is by not working but accepting the gift called grace. Check it out in verse 6: “And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.” Works don’t work and if you try to mix grace and works, they cancel each other out. Human effort and God’s grace are mutually exclusive ways to salvation.
I like how the Amplified Bible translates Galatians 2:21: “Therefore, I do not treat God’s gracious gift as something of minor importance and defeat its very purpose]; I do not set aside and invalidate and frustrate and nullify the grace (unmerited favor) of God. For if justification (righteousness, acquittal from guilt) comes through [observing the ritual of] the Law, then Christ (the Messiah) died groundlessly and to no purpose and in vain. [His death was then wholly superfluous.]”
Even our growth as believers is by grace. I got a chuckle when reading a sermon this week in which the pastor said, “How many of you have seen the bumper sticker that says, ‘Be patient with me. God isn’t finished with me yet?’ I’ve decided to create a new bumper sticker that responds to that one: ‘I’m trying to be patient with you, but God is taking an awfully long time with you.’” Isn’t it hard to be patient with people who never seem to change? Isn’t it frustrating to deal with our own slow spiritual growth? According to the REVEAL survey, about 1 out of 5 PBC people are “spiritually stalled.” Have you settled into a comfortable, casual Christianity or are you trying so hard that you’re just tired? I like what Larry Crabb says: “Try hard and you’ll get tired or proud. Get real and you’ll trust Christ as never before.”
I read an article this week in Discipleship Journal called, “I Was a Legalist and Didn’t Know It” by Thomas Gilson (November/December 2008). He argues that most of us are trying harder to measure up when what we really need is a greater understanding of what it means to live by grace. While we may know that we’re saved by grace, we forget that we’re also to live the Christian life by grace. We do this not by following rules and regulations but by staying close to Christ. Colossians 2:6 says, “Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him.” We’re to live out our faith in Christ the same way we received Him – by grace.
He then gives some warning signs to help us see when we’re beginning to rely on rules, without even realizing it.
* Will-power approach. Responding to temptation by telling myself, “I shouldn’t do that!” and hoping such self-talk will enable me to resist sinful desires.
* Duty-based approach. Trying to motivate myself to do something “because I should.”
* Performance-based approach. Evaluating my standing before God based on how well I’ve been following the shoulds and shouldn’ts – If I’ve kept all the rules on a given day, then I’m OK before God; if I haven’t then I’m not worth much before God that day.
* Anger-based approach. Beating myself up over my sins because I think my anger will help me do better in the future: “I’m such a jerk. Maybe my feelings now will be a lesson for me next time!”
All of these responses are rule-oriented and assume that we’ll stay on the right track if we keep all the shoulds and the shouldn’ts in our minds strongly enough. Unfortunately when we approach our Christian lives in this way, we’re not relying on our relationship with Christ. The key is to connect with Christ by maintaining closeness with Him through prayer, time in His word, in corporate worship, and in community with other believers.
It’s ultimately not a matter of trying harder; it’s a matter of trusting more. We can’t make ourselves holy but we can make ourselves humble. James 4:6: “But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’”
3. There are consequences to rejecting Christ (7-10). In verse 7 we read that those who reject the gospel can be hardened: “What then? What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened.” The word “hardened” means to be made unresponsive or hard like a stone, callous or insensitive to touch. I have a section of skin on my chin that is totally unresponsive and insensitive to touch as a result of a car accident I had when I was 17 years old. You can touch it but I can’t feel it. Beth and the girls are kind to me when I’m eating and have a piece of food hanging there – they know I can’t feel it so they make a motion to let me know to wipe it off. In the same way, Israel has become insensitive to the Holy Spirit.
Then Paul quotes from Isaiah in verse 8: “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.” They were not only hardened because they rejected instead of receiving Christ, they were also put into a state of spiritual slumber. They could no longer see the truth and on top of that, they didn’t want to hear it either. Listen to the words of Isaiah 29:10: “The Lord has brought over you a deep sleep: He has sealed your eyes (the prophets); he has covered your heads (the seers).” God silenced the seers because Israel refused to listen to them.
We all know people like that, don’t we? They just seem spiritually sleepy, uninterested and unable to hear the message. Why is that? It’s because to reject Christ repeatedly leads to a hardened heart.
On top of that, 2 Corinthians 4:4 says that Satan himself “has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ…”
In Romans 11:9 Paul quotes more of the Old Testament: “May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them” (v. 9). The table represents God’s protection and provision, as in Psalm 23:5 where David says, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” A table was a place of safety and feasting but instead it became a place of fear and punishment. Their blessings were turned into burdens.
God always protects and provides for his people. But if those blessings are not received by faith, then they become a stumbling block. God’s blessings always demand a response one way or the other. Either you accept them with gratitude or you reject what God has done in your life. You receive the truth of God or you resist it. Because Israel resisted God and took his blessings for granted, God said, “Since you don’t appreciate what I have done for you, I am going to harden your heart.” This “judicial hardening” always comes as a result of people responding wrongly to God’s blessings.
2 Corinthians 3:15-16 describes how many Israelites have a veil covering their hearts: “Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts.” The good news is that when an individual reaches out and receives Jesus, this veil is lifted: “But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.”
In summary, first remember we don’t see all that God is doing. Second, grace is a gift not a reward and finally, there are consequences to rejecting Christ.
On Wednesday night at the close of our Missions Festival, I asked Michael Wahls to tell us what he believes God has next for them. His answer was both simple and stunning. He said something like this: “We’re not sure but we are fully surrendered to Him and will do anything He wants.” Can you say this? Or are your failures holding you back? Or maybe it’s your fears about the prison closing or about the economy or the election. God’s grace is always amazing, isn’t it? All we need to do, which is the hardest thing we’ll ever do, is to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God. For once we put our sacrifice on the altar, it becomes an offering.
If it would help you to come up front for prayer I encourage you to do so. You can do that right now while we sing “Grace Unmeasured.”
Grace abounding, strong and true,
That makes me long to be like you,
That turns me from my selfish pride,
To love the cross on which you died.
Grace paid for my sins and brought me to life
Grace clothes me with power to do what is right
Grace will lead me to heaven where I’ll see your face
And never cease to thank you for your grace.
