Romans 11:11-24 Series

18do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.

We have to remember that we are the new branches of a tree that already existed. We are a part of a tree that Abraham our father in the faith is the root of. Abraham, true Israel, a Jew, feeds us (the branches).

In the book Humility True Greatness By C.J. Mahaney, CJ as he likes to be called quotes John Calvin, “It is evident that man never attains to a true self-knowledge until he has previously contemplated the face of God, and come down after such contemplation to look into himself.

CJ follows this up with this definition: Humility is honestly assessing ourselves in light of God’s holiness and our sinfulness.

So if we are suppose to be helping the Jew come to faith in Christ why haven’t they?

Well let’s review a few things:

1)Israel has rejected Christ

2)Israel’s rejection has resulted in an extension of blessings to Christians

3)The true nation of Israel will yet be saved

4)(The Problem) Christians have not done their part in restoring the Jew

We have not fulfilled our part of the bargain. So what is the problem?

For the most part Christians as a whole have not lived in a manner in which non-Christians, and especially Jews, would envy anything about what we proclaim to have. We need to be examples of Christ.

We have the power of the Holy Spirit to live a life that would reflect in many ways Jesus Himself, a life filled with showing love to others who are perishing. But again for the most part we are a very poor example of this attribute of Christ.

We have the knowledge about Christ to share His good news and also our personal testimony but we are not.

So what is the fix? The fix is in being effective in your ministry of evangelism. Here are four examples to start with:

1)We should be friends with those we wish to win over – We should as Christ did, in a loving caring fashion, reach out to the lost in a way that is genuine and Christ like. That means being involved with people at our work, our families, strangers, Jews, whoever, we should show genuine concern for them.

2)We should be models of help and service – We should be doing everything we can to help those around us. That means stopping to help someone with changing a tire, opening the door for someone, and spending time patiently in teaching others about the good news of Christ.

3)Let everything you do be characterized by love – The missionary E. Stanley Jones once asked Gandhi the leader of India what Christians would have to do to win India over for Jesus. Gandhi knew India well and also new very much about Christianity. He said, “There are four things Christians should do if they want to win over India for Christ. First, Christians should act like Christ. Second, do not compromise your faith. Third, learn all you can about the non-Christian religions. And fourth, let everything you do be characterized by love.”

4)We must verbalize the gospel – We must know what the gospel is and says by being diligent in our studies of Gods word. In the case of the Jew we should start with the things we have in common, that is by talking about the Old Testament, something we both can relate to. At least we should be able to. We then from there can show the progression of Christ through to the New Testament.