There Is A Remnant

Alba 4-3-2022

THERE IS A REMNANT

Romans 11:1-10

Ajai Prakash, minister at The Well in North Liberty, Iowa, told how there was a lone tree in the farmer’s field near his home. He said it remained a mystery.

Acres of trees had been cut down so the farmer could grow corn. But one tree remained standing, its branches reaching up and spreading out. The mystery was solved when he learned the tree was spared for a purpose.

He said that the farmer had left one tree standing, just one, a remnant of all the trees that had been there, so that he and his animals would have a cool place to rest when the hot summer sun was beating down. That one tree alone survived.

At times we feel that we alone have survived something, and we don’t know why. Soldiers coming home from combat and patients who’ve survived a life-threatening illness struggle to know why they survived when others did not.

Our scripture for today tells us that God always has a remnant, a solid core of believers who trust and serve Him. And He has a purpose for each one to fulfill.

Turn to our text for today, Romans 11:1-10. Lets read.

1 I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew.

Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, 3 “Lord, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life”?

4 But what does the divine response say to him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”

5 Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. 6 And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.

7 What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded. 8 Just as it is written:

“God has given them a spirit of stupor, Eyes that they should not see

And ears that they should not hear, To this very day.”

9 And David says: “Let their table become a snare and a trap,

A stumbling block and a recompense to them. 10 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see, And bow down their back always.”

Last week we looked at some excuses that Israel used in rejecting God’s righteousness by faith, but we ended with the picture of the outstretched hands of our Merciful God, longing for His people, and all people to come to Him

As it says in Romans 10:21: "All day long I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people."

With that picture of our compassionate God in mind, Paul continues in Romans 11:1: has God cast away His people? Certainly not! No..

1. God has not cast His people away

God never left Israel. But Israel left Him. Not once, not twice… but repeatedly. Never throughout the long history of Israel did 100% of the nation worship God.

There has never been a time when all of those people were all in. Jesus described them as He quoted from Isaiah in Matthew 15:8, “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.”

In this letter to the Christians in Rome, the apostle Paul wants the Israelites to know that in spite of their horrible track record of disobedience and obstinance as a nation, God is still willing and able to forgive.

God is able. And Paul is the living proof that God’s hands are still stretched out with love and grace to save anyone, including Israelites, who believes His promises and come to Him in obedient faith. i

In verse one, Paul answers the question, “has God cast away His people? Certainly not! he says, For I also am an Israelite,” arguing: “If Israelites were excluded, then I would have been excluded, too.”

The apostle Paul was a Jew, there was no question about that. He underscores it three ways: stating that he himself is an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

He uses himself as proof. He is saying “I am a full-blooded Jew.” He had even gone so far as to persecute Christians before he became a believer.

Surely if God was going to reject someone, Paul would have been a good choice. But God in His mercy and grace called Paul to Jesus and rearranged his life.