Reasons to Be Thankful
Romans 11:1-16
* The story is told that Frederick the Great of Prussia once asked a court chaplain for proof of divine inspiration of the Bible. The response was simply, “The Jews Sire.” Dr. Adrian Rogers has written that “Israel is God’s yardstick, His blueprint for the world.” And, “as Israel goes, so goes the world.” May I suggest that this is the reason we need to make sure that the USA continues to be a friend to Israel.
* Until today I have avoided the temptation to make our time together a historical and theological class by delving into the questions surrounding Israel as God’s chosen people. Today, I will still resist the temptation but we do need to take a few minutes to give us some perspective about God’s chosen people, Israel.
* First, did you realize that almost 100% of Bible prophecies are, in some way, related to the Children of Israel? Already some are asking, “And exactly what does this have to do with me?” My response is that through God’s working with and commitment to Israel, today you and I can find reasons to be thankful. But to understand these truths, we must have at least a small perspective about God’s plans for the Jews.
* The story gets its beginnings in Genesis 12. Look at the screen and let’s read the call of Abram. (READ) As you should remember from Sunday school, this is where it all begins. With these words, referred to as the Abrahamic Covenant, God identified the Jewish people as His own with Abraham as the patriarch. In fact, when Jehovah introduced Himself to Moses in Exodus 2, He said, “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” If you follow the lineage of Abraham, it will lead you through Jessie and David all the way to a carpenter named Joseph and his boy, name Jesus.
* While most of us know these things but the reason this bears repeating is because we tend to forget that Israel is unlike any other nation which the world has ever encountered. For almost 1900 years there was no nation known as Israel. From 70 AD when the Roman army led by Titus destroyed Jerusalem until 1948, there was no Israel. In fact, some in this room remember when the UN recognized Israel as a state and gave them a sliver of land (over the objections of the Arabs). Speaking of the Arabs, have you ever given any real thought to the problems between the Jews and Arabs? The Jews go back to Isaac and the Arabs to Ishmael. No peace.
* Additionally, the other enemies of Israel are many and vicious. Although we could make this a history lesson, let just say that the Holocaust of Nazi Germany where almost 6 million Jews were slaughtered is just one of many examples of an attempt to eradicate this race known as Jews. Why are the Jews hated? Because the enemy, Satan, knows they are God’s chosen people so he has targeted them throughout the ages.
* Dr. Adrian Rogers suggests that Israel is the “center” of the world in six ways. First, they are the geographical center. They sit where 3 continents come together (I.E. Africa, Asia, and Europe). Literally, a military and economic hub. Second, they are the spiritual center. The “Son of God” came from there and one day will return there. Beyond this, think about all the religions found in that region. It is the spiritual center of the world. Third, they are the prophetical center. We have already mentioned that almost 100% of the prophecies are related to Israel. Fourth, they are the storm center. It seems that regularly we hear of fighting, skirmishes, and ongoing wars in that area of the world. By the way, the final storm will be the Battle of Armageddon will be fought in Israel. Fifth, they are the center of peace. Peace will come to this world only when peace comes to Israel. The Bible instructs us to pray for peace in Jerusalem. This will only happen when the Prince of Peace returns to earth to rule. Lastly, they are the center of glory. Psalms 102:16 says, “The Lord will rebuild Zion; He will appear in His glory.” Also Matthew 25:31 tells us this: “ "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angelsf with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.” The seat of His glory on earth is found in Jerusalem.
* You would think that being God’s chosen people, the ones He came through, came to, & died for; the ones He has promised, protected, and provided for; the ones whom continues to have His watchful eye; you would think that this must be a grateful, obedient, and righteous people. Right? Wrong. Last week in Romans 10 we read this, “But all did not obey the gospel.” In fact, to understand the history of the nation of Israel is to see a band of “stiff necked, “stubborn”, “selfish, and sinful folks. If God wanted to disown His people, who could blame Him? However, from the faithfulness of God toward the nation of Israel, we can find “Reasons to be thankful.” In the minutes that remain, from our text, let me offer us 5 reasons to be thankful.
1. The Reliability of God – That word reliability is a familiar word. In simple terms it means, you can count on it! If you have an employee and he’s reliable, it means you can set you clock by him or her.
* Paul begins our text with the question, “Has God rejected His people?” and then answers it twice in 2 verses. He says, “Absolutely Not” in verse one and then in verse 2 he underscores this truth with the declaration God has not rejected His people. This brings to our attention that we can count on God. He does not play games like, “He loves me, He loves me not,” or “you’re saved today and lost tomorrow.” God is faithful! Even when we are NOT faithful, HE is.
* Never forget this; God didn’t wait until we were lovable to love us. In fact, when we were still dirty with sin, He sent Jesus to die for us. Just as surely as God’s reliability is seen across the pages of the Bible, it can be seen in our lives today. When things go wrong, He steps up a little.
2. The Reinforcement from God – Paul’s train of thought in this passage goes something like this; “God is so reliable. I know this because He has NOT rejected His people. You want a couple of examples of this? If He wasn’t reliable, then Jesus would never have come to save me. Additionally, remember Elijah? When he thought all was lost, God responded by sending reinforcements to help.” In 1 Kings 19 we find Elijah, immediately after the victory on Mt Carmel, in a cave having a pity party. Consider that Elijah had been used of God to bring the false religion down, doing away with the false prophets, and winning a huge victory in front of all Israel. And now he is hiding from Jezebel, whining, and asking God to take his life because he is alone. God response was to ask Elijah, “What are you doing here?” This is one of the all-time great questions of scripture as it requires some personal evaluation & if honestly considered will give some personal revelation. Have you ever honestly considered why you are where you are? Are you where God wants you to be? Candidly, Elijah was NOT where God wanted him and as a result he felt all alone. There is not a worse sensation than to “feel” that you are alone. Whether you are indeed alone or not is not really the question. Perception is reality. But look what God does and be thankful. God sends Elijah reinforcements—7000 fellow believers in Israel. You can be thankful because when you need it most, God will send reinforcements to help you. Here is the troubling part; God sends reinforcements to us—but many times our pride gets in the way of us accepting and receiving His help. Make no mistake; you can be thankful that He cares enough for you to offer help and reinforcements to you.
3. The Recipe by God – Now everyone here knows what a recipe is. You take a number of ingredients, mix them together in the right proportions, and make a great concoction of some sort. For instance, to make pancakes, take some flower, egg, and either milk or water; mix it up, and with heat applied just right, you have cooked the perfect pancake! God’s recipe is this; take a sinner (that’d be you and me), add to us divine mercy and love, cover it with the blood, and apply His grace, and it produces a new creation, a believer, and a person with abundant and eternal life. Here is the deal, it is all of GRACE! If you notice, this recipe does not require any work by the sinner. He can’t stir, shake, season, or make, he must rely on the workings of Jehovah God. If we could work for it, then our text says that it ceases to be grace. For anyone who believes you can “work your way to heaven” there are several questions which must be answered.
* How much is enough? Is God so cruel as to allow His Son to die when He didn’t have to? If we can work our way into heaven can we work our way OUT of heaven? The list goes on and on. The Bible clearly gives us God’s recipe for salvation. Paul writes, “For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not from works so that no one can boast.” God’s recipe is grace not works.
4. The Reality in God – We are reminded in Isaiah 55 the God’s way and God’s thoughts are different than ours. In fact, they are not just different, obviously they are higher. This means His reality is different than ours. For instance, in our finite minds we have developed a “win-lose” mentality. This means that everything we do has a 2-dimensional possibility, we either win or we lose. Furthermore, we call ourselves a success or failure by virtue of our wins or losses. But not God. His reality is totally different.
* Through Jesus, God offered His salvation to the Jews and, as we read in verse 11, the Jews stumbled and feel. Were we God, our reality is that we had failed, yet in His divine love, God used the Jews’ fall to offer this gift to the Gentiles. Now watch this, He did this to make the Jews jealous so they would return to Him. The reality found in God is that there is no way to get ahead of Him. You can’t out-think, out-give, out-smart, out-work, out-run or out-anything God. God is sovereign! He knows in advance. God works EVERYTHING for good to those who love him and are call according to His purpose. Here’s your reason to be thankful; God can take the worst thing you have done & use it.
5. The Result with God – Here is the bottom line for all people who want a reason to be thankful. God will give you and me a heart like Paul’s. Let’s re-read verses 13 -15 and discover Paul’s heart. (READ) Paul understands, very clearly, His ministry. It is to the Gentiles. How many in this room can say with certainly what your God given ministry is? He also knows His mission which was to reach as many people as possible. He recognized that by fulfilling His ministry to the Gentiles that God would honor his efforts and reward Paul with some Jewish converts. He also understood the magnitude of his mission and ministry. It literally means life from death just like the resurrection of Jesus. Finally, Paul articulated the meaning of his work. He compares it to a loaf and a tree. For the sake of time, just consider the tree. The tree is fed by the root. As he shared the gospel of Christ, he was not dealing with peripheral issues, but root issues. He wasn’t talking about changing behavior; he was talking about changing from the inside out. You want a reason to be thankful? Through Christ, develop a relationship to God and let Him give you clarity in life. And the best part is this; He doesn’t just give us clarity in our lives, He gives us clarity for our lives and ultimately in our death.
* From time to time, all of us tend to get the “mulligrubs” thinking that we have it worse than everyone else. The result of this type of thinking is to become ungrateful. However, Paul gives us 5 great reasons to be thankful. So the next time life seems to overwhelm you and you sense yourself becoming ungrateful or angry, try this;
* Remember God’s Recipe. He’ll take you (rights, wrongs, good, and bad). He’s pouring on you His love and mercy to make you person of grace. Now that’s a reason to be thankful!e4c
