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God’s Plan for Israel—and the World
Romans 11:25-27
Skip Heitzig

Romans 11 (NKJV™)
25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
27 For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins."

New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Heart & Soul: A Study through Romans

Can God be trusted? More to the point, can God’s promises be trusted? If He promised to the Jews a kingdom, won’t their rejection of Christ cancel out His promises to them? Wouldn’t that mean that God is finished with Israel as a nation? Does their blindness forfeit God’s blessing? Today we’ll get the big-picture view of Israel, the church, and the kingdom age, and I think you will have a few loose ends tied up about God’s future plan for the world.

When the wrath of God meets the righteousness of God, where does that leave us? The apostle Paul says that we are marked by sin at birth but marked righteous at salvation. In this series through Romans, Skip Heitzig explains the essentials of Christian doctrine that can transform your thoughts, words, and actions. Move from sinner to saint, and from saved to Spirit-filled as you inscribe the essence of the gospel onto your heart and soul.

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Outline

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  1. Blindness Is on Israel Presently (v. 25a)

  2. Benefits Are Given Simultaneously (v. 25b)

  3. Blessing Will Happen Ultimately (vv. 26-27)

Study Guide

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Connect Recap Notes: November 24, 2019
Speaker: Skip Heitzig
Teaching: "God's Plan for Israel—and the World"
Text: Romans 11:25-27

Path

Can God be trusted? More to the point, can God's promises be trusted? If He promised to the Jews a kingdom, won't their rejection of Christ cancel out His promises to them? Wouldn't that mean that God is finished with Israel as a nation? Does their blindness forfeit God's blessing? In this teaching, Pastor Skip provided the big-picture view of Israel, the church, and the kingdom age, tying up a few loose ends about God's future plan for the world.
  1. Blindness Is on Israel Presently (v. 25a)
  2. Benefits Are Given Simultaneously (v. 25b)
  3. Blessing Will Happen Ultimately (vv. 26-27)
Points

Blindness Is on Israel Presently (v. 25a)
  • Some people know the Bible well but misunderstand it or misquote it. One misunderstanding is that God has rejected Israel because Israel rejected Christ.
  • There are two overarching types of biblical interpretation. Spiritualizing is a process which disregards the plain meaning of the text. Historical-grammatical interpretation is a plain interpretation of the text in accordance with history and grammar.
  • The interpretation of this text is plain: Israel is God's covenant people. However, blindness (vv. 7-10) fell upon Israel concerning the Messiah (see 2 Corinthians 3:13-16).
  • Israel was spiritually blind, yet God preserved a remnant to believe. There are roughly 30,000 Jewish believers in Israel today. Israel was blind in that it didn't receive the Messiah when He came. Jesus lamented Israel's lack of faith (see Luke 19:41-44). In rejecting Christ, Israel lost the temple and its national identity, which led to a loss of spiritual direction. However, God promised to preserve them and bring them out of spiritual captivity in the millennial kingdom. God continues to work within His people; today, Israel is a nation of 9 million people.
Benefits Are Given Simultaneously (v. 25b)
  • Israel's rejection of the Messiah is tragic, but it opened the door for Gentiles. Because they rejected Jesus, His offering was then given to the world; through Abraham, all people of the earth have been blessed, as God promised (see Genesis 12:3). Jews make up .2 percent of the world's population yet have been awarded 20 percent of Nobel prizes and 30 percent of the global honors in music, science, and literature.
  • Paul's point in Romans 11 is that the blindness of Israel was temporary, but it opened the door to faith for the world (vv. 15-18). Paul used an olive branch to illustrate this point (vv. 17-18); the old, unproductive branches of Israel were broken off. But branches from wild olive trees (Gentiles) were grafted in, becoming part of God's promise to Abraham; this is not a replacement, but an addition to Israel (see Matthew 21:42-44).
  • The phrase "fullness of the Gentiles" (Romans 11:25) indicates many Gentiles will become God's people. Jesus will return when God has filled His church.
Blessing Will Happen Ultimately (vv. 26-27)
  • Paul described the experiences and consequences of Israel's rejection of the Messiah, which caused God to temporarily set Israel aside in order to save others. There is only one way for Jew or Gentile to be saved: through faith in Jesus Christ, the Messiah.
  • The phrase "all Israel shall be saved" does not indicate all of Israel, at all times. Instead, those Jews who believe in Israel's Messiah will receive Him and be saved.
  • According to Jeremiah 30:7 ("Jacob's trouble"), the future Jewish nation will believe. Revelation 7:4 addressed the 144,000 Jews that will be saved, becoming a force for evangelism. Revelation 11:1-14 described the two witnesses that will preach in Jerusalem, causing entire cites to glorify God. During the end times, Israel's blindness will end (see Zechariah 12:10 and Matthew 23:39).
  • Throughout history, Israel has complained, worshipped idols, and rejected the Messiah. God's calling is irrevocable; He will fulfill His promises to His people.
  • In the Tribulation, God will seal 144,000 Jews, protect them, and use them; in the Millennium, He will reign from Mount Zion in Jerusalem with them; in the eternal state, New Jerusalem will have the names of the 12 tribes on its gates
  • God elected, selected, and protected the people of Israel. Israel's continuing existence reveals a God who won't let His people's failures determine His promises to bless.
Practice

Connect Up: Why do you think God allowed blindness to fall upon Israel? Discuss these texts:
  • Romans 11:25: Hardness of heart
  • Ephesians 3:1-6: Mystery revealed
Connect In: Use the following texts to discuss why it is important to support Israel as Gentiles in the church. What are some practical ways to support Israel?
  • God's firstborn son (see Exodus 4:22; His treasured possession (see Deuteronomy 7:6); the one nation which God redeemed for Himself as a people (see 2 Samuel 7:23); the people He formed for Himself (see Isaiah 43:18-21); God's people (see Isaiah 51:16); His delight (see Isaiah 62:4); the apple of God's eye (see Zechariah 2:8)
Connect Out: How would you reach out to a non-believing Jew? Which strategies and Scriptures should you use?Pray for the peace of Israel.

Detailed Notes

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"God's Plan for Israel—and the World"
Romans 11:25-27
  1. Introduction
    1. Some people know the Bible really well, but they misapply or misquote it
      1. When Paul wrote the book of Romans, there was already a belief that God was done with the nation of Israel because they had rejected Christ
      2. The church that began in Jerusalem was now mostly Gentile in the rest of the world; most of the congregations which were scattered throughout the modern world were all non-Jewish people
    2. Romans 11:25-27 is a summary of the rest of the chapter
      1. Paul began with the question "Has God cast away His people?" then definitively answered it: "Certainly not!" (v. 1)
      2. Amillennialists believe that God has rejected Israel
        1. Amillennialists deny the millennium—the earthly thousand-year kingdom—and all of God's promises to Israel
        2. They believe that all the promises God made to the Jews in the Old Testament were forfeited because of Israel's rejection of the Messiah and will instead be fulfilled in the church
        3. Amillennialism spiritualizes the eschatological texts of Scripture; it disregards the plain meaning of the text
        4. Amillennialism was already developing by the time Paul started writing Romans, so he addressed it specifically in chapter 11
  2. Blindness Is on Israel Presently (v. 25a)
    1. Paul referred specifically to Israel
      1. It's the same in verse 1, when he said, "Has God cast away His people?"
      2. God's people are the Jewish people
      3. Romans 9:3
      4. Israel is God's covenant people, and Paul was one of them
    2. Blindness has overtaken them in interpreting the Old Testament Scriptures, especially those Scriptures that refer to the coming Messiah
      1. 2 Corinthians 3:14-15
      2. There's a national blindness, though there are some Jews who believe; Paul was one of them, and the early church in Jerusalem were others
        1. The modern state of Israel was born May 14, 1948
        2. In 1948, only twenty-three Jews in the nation of Israel believed that Jesus is the Messiah; today, over 30,000 believe Jesus is the Messiah
        3. The population of Israel today is 9 million; 6.6 million are Jewish, so only a fraction of a percent believes in Jesus
    3. Israel's blindness is undeniable
      1. Jesus recognized their blindness and prophesied the fall of Jerusalem under Titus in 70 AD (see Luke 19:42-44)
      2. Because they were blind and rejected Jesus as their Messiah, they lost everything
        1. They lost the temple, they lost their national identity for 2,000 years, and they lost their land
        2. But, worst of all, they lost eternal life (see John 5:40)
    4. Blindness is on Israel presently, but God has preserved them
      1. God brought them back from captivity
      2. If you study Jewish history and you still don't believe in miracles, you aren't a realist
      3. What other nation has ever survived as a distinct race after 400 years of slavery, two total destructions, multiple deportations, 2,000 years of dispersion, and a holocaust?
        1. Jerusalem has been fought over numerous times throughout history
        2. It's been destroyed twice, besieged twenty-three times, attacked fifty-two times, and captured and recaptured forty-four times
    5. The miracle of Israel is that it feels safe and peaceful and the economy is thriving
      1. The nation of Israel consists of 9 million people surrounded by a hundred million enemies who want to annihilate them
      2. Will Israel survive in the future? And why has she survived in the past?
      3. If God has cast away His people, why are they back in their own land?
  3. Benefits Are Given Simultaneously (v. 25b)
    1. Blindness is on Israel, but that blindness has brought a benefit
      1. Israel has rejected Jesus as the Messiah, but that has opened a door for Gentiles
      2. Because Israel rejected Him, He's offered to the world
        1. Paul always went to the synagogue first, then to the Gentiles (see Romans 1:16)
        2. But because he was continually rejected in the synagogue, he became known as the Apostle to the Gentiles (see Acts 13:46)
    2. God promised Abraham a nation and said, "In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Genesis 12:3)
      1. 0.2 percent of the world's population is Jewish
      2. 20 percent of the Nobel Peace Prizes ever awarded have been given to Jews, as well as over 30 percent of the Nobel prizes for music, science, and literature
        1. If you've ever taken an aspirin, you can thank a Jewish man named Friedrich Bayer
        2. If you've ever been vaccinated for polio, you can thank two Jewish men: Dr. Albert Sabin and Dr. Jonas Salk
        3. If you've ever had your gums numbed with Novocain, you can thank Jewish chemist Dr. Albert Einhorn
        4. If you've ever been given streptomycin, you can thank Jewish physician Abraham Waksman
        5. The discovery of the double helix coil of DNA was made by James Watson and Francis Crick
        6. If you've ever been forgiven of your sins, you can thank a Jewish Savior—the Messiah
    3. Israel is blind, but that blindness is temporary
      1. Their blindness has opened a door of faith for us
      2. Paul used the analogy of an olive tree whose branches—Israel—had been cut off and branches from a wild olive tree—the Gentiles—were grafted in (see v. 17)
        1. In the ancient Mediterranean world, olives were a commercial mainstay
        2. Olive trees can live for hundreds of years, but individual branches can stop producing fruit; those branches are then cut off, and branches are taken from younger trees and grafted into the older trunks
        3. Paul's analogy was very clear:
          1. The old, nonproductive branches—the Israelites—were broken off because of their blindness
          2. The branches from a wild olive tree were grafted in—the simultaneous benefit of bringing the Gentiles into the church
    4. We get our energy and nourishment from God's covenant promises to Israel
      1. We are tapped into the trunk of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, not as Israel's replacement, but in addition to Israel, to add fruit for the kingdom (see Matthew 21:42-43)
      2. John 10:16
        1. This is why no Christian can be anti-Semitic—we owe them too much
        2. They gave us our heritage, our Bible, and our Messiah
    5. "The fullness of the Gentiles" (v. 25)
      1. In the NLT, this phrase is translated as "the full number of Gentiles"
      2. Acts 15:7
      3. When the present age runs its course and the church is filled with the last Gentile believer, the rapture of the church will happen (see 1 Thessalonians 4:16)
  4. Blessing Will Happen Ultimately (vv. 26-27)
    1. In verse 29, Paul specifically referred to God's promises to Israel
    2. Paul presented a contrast throughout chapter 11
      1. "Stumbled" (v. 11), "fall" (v. 12), "failure" (v. 12), "cast away" (v. 15), "broken off" (v. 17)—all of this language speaks of Israel's experiences and consequences because they rejected the Messiah
      2. "Salvation" (v. 11), "fullness" (v. 12), "acceptance" (v. 15), "life from the dead" (v. 15)—their rejection has caused God to set them aside temporarily, but they will be restored ultimately
    3. "All Israel will be saved" (v. 26)
      1. The term "all Israel" appears 156 times in the Old Testament
      2. Whenever this term is used, it doesn't refer to all Jews throughout history; it speaks of all Jews alive at one particular time
      3. Paul wasn't saying that every Jew who ever lived will be saved; he was speaking of the Jews at the time of Christ's return, who will see Him and receive Him
      4. In the future tribulation period, the Jewish nation will believe in Jesus Christ; 144,000 Jews will be saved (see Revelation 7:4-8)
      5. Two witnesses will also preach from Jerusalem, and by the end of their ministry, the city will glorify God (see Revelation 11:2-13)
      6. The blindness that has been on Israel will be lifted at the second coming
        1. "They will look on Me whom they pierced" (Zechariah 12:10)
        2. This is an odd statement because God said it; how can God, who is spirit, be pierced?
        3. The only answer is that the Spirit had to become incarnate
      7. Israel will mourn because they'll recognize that He was the Messiah all along
    4. There's only one way to be forgiven of our sins, and that's through the Messiah
      1. In that day, Israel will recognize that He is the one and turn back to Him, and all Israel will be saved (see Matthew 23:39)
      2. If you think it's impossible for Israel to come to Christ, look at Paul the apostle, who was anti-Christian and blind (see Romans 11:1)
      3. If you say that God can't save all of Israel, how do you explain God saving millions of Gentiles ever since Israel rejected Him?
  5. Conclusion
    1. Israel is God's yardstick
      1. By Israel, He measures time
      2. By Israel, He measures other nations, even though He knows who He's dealing with
        1. God called them stiff-necked eight times and stubborn seven times in the Bible
        2. He said they do what is right in their own eyes three times
        3. They persisted and fell away, disobeyed and were taken into captivity
        4. They worshiped idols and rejected their Messiah
    2. Yet God's calling is irrevocable
      1. He will persist in His covenant with Abraham
      2. He will save and seal 144,000 Jews in the tribulation period
      3. When Christ returns, the nation will receive Him as Messiah
    3. Do you want proof of the inspiration of Scripture?
      1. It can be found in the Jew—the God-elected, God-selected, God-protected people of Israel
      2. God made them promises, one of which was the promise He made to Abraham for the land of Israel
    4. Romans 11 reveals a God who will not let failure change His determination to bless
      1. We serve a God who knows our failures, mistakes, fallings, and proneness to walk away
      2. But when God is determined to change and bless a person, He's going to do it
Figures referenced: Augustine, Friedrich Bayer, Francis Crick, Albert Einhorn, Vance Havner, Justin Martyr, Origen, Albert Sabin, Jonas Salk, Titus, Abraham Waksman, James Watson

Cross references: Genesis 12:3; Zechariah 12:10; Matthew 21:42-43; 23:39; Luke 19:42-44; John 5:40; 10:16; Acts 13:46; 15:7; Romans 1:16; 9:3; 11:1, 11, 12, 15, 17, 29; 2 Corinthians 3:14-15; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; Revelation 7:4-8; 11:2-13

Transcript

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God’s Plan for Israel—and the World - Romans 11:25-27 - Skip Heitzig

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Good morning. Great to see your faces. Welcome.

Next week, we have Franklin Graham. Please think about who you're going to bring with you to hear a very, very unashamed representative of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who does work all over the world in helping people through their tragedy and miseries. But also is a very, very bold proclaimant of the Gospel. So we're thrilled he'll be here next weekend, Saturday and Sunday.

Would you turn in your Bibles, please, to the book of Romans chapter 11. Romans chapter 11. It'll be a very different study than perhaps what you're used to, simply by the nature of the text itself. The sermon is always dictated by the texts that we cover. Were in Romans chapter 11 this morning.

Some people know the Bible really well, but they misapply it or they misquote it. And sometimes, it's novel and even funny when they do. For instance, there was a pastor who took on a pastor opportunity in a little rural community, a farming community. The church was quite small. He was new to the community. So he thought that he would visit everybody in the church, pay a visit to them, get to know them. They could get to know him.

He went out one day and visited a family that lived on a farm nearby. A nice home, the cars were in the driveway. Obviously, people were home. Music was blaring through the house. The door was open. The screen door was shut. So he knew somebody was there.

He knocked on the door. There was no answer. He knocked again. A dog came out, licked him. So he knew somebody has got to be here. Knocked again, no answer.

So the pastor took his business card out and left it on the doorknob, but wrote-- underneath his name, he wrote, Revelation 3:20, which is a text that says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock." Clever. Left it there, walked away.

Sunday morning, one of the deacons in his church came up with that card-- it had been left in the offering plate by that family-- and said, I don't understand what this is about. And there was this card, where he had written Revelation 3:20. And underneath was written, Genesis 3:10.

The Deacon said, what's this about? The pastor looked at it and he smiled, and he said, well, you know Revelation 3:20 is, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock." Genesis 3:10 is, "I heard your voice and I was afraid, for I was naked. So I hid."

[LAUGHTER]

Again, very clever.

But most of the time, when a person misapplies a text of Scripture or misquotes it, it's not all that funny. Let me explain. In Rome, when Paul wrote the book of Romans, there was already a belief that was developing that God was done with the nation of Israel. He had finished working with them nationally. Simply put, since Israel rejected Christ, God had now rejected them. That was the belief system that was developing, for a very obvious reason.

The Church that began in Jerusalem, all Jewish, was now mostly Gentile in the rest of the world. Most of the congregations by that time are smattered throughout the modern world, Rome, Asia Minor, were all non-Jewish people.

So notice how he begins Romans 11, verse 1. "I say then, has God cast away his people? Certainly not. For I also am in Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away his people whom he foreknew."

Go all the way down now to verse 25. This is really where we're going to center our comments, just because of-- we don't have the time to go through it. Beginning in verse 25, the next few verses are a summary of the whole chapter.

"For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion that blindness, in part, has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written. The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob."

"For this is my covenant with them, when I take away their sins. Concerning the Gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But concerning the election, they are beloved for the sake of the fathers, for the gifts and callings of God are irrevocable."

Has God cast away his people? That's how he opens the chapter. Has God disowned his people? Has God rejected his people? And how does Paul answer that? No way, Jose. Or certainly not.

But some would say, yes, God has rejected Israel nationally. They call themselves amillennialists. Now, I don't want to wax theological on you today. But I want you to understand the term. You know what a millennium is. It means 1,000 years. And amillennialist, to put a negative prefix, simply means there is no millennium.

It is to deny the earthly 1,000 year kingdom. It is to deny all the promises of God to Israel, saying that all the promises that God made to the Jews in the Old Testament were forfeited by Israel because Israel rejected Jesus Christ, their messiah. Titus came and destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem.

So, they say, all those promises God made to the Jews will not be fulfilled in the Jews but are fulfilled in the Church. We, they say, we are the Israel of God. He will not revive Israel nationally.

They even say that the millennium is not really a millennium. It's not literal. It's figurative. It's allegorical. That the millennium takes place between the first coming and second coming of Christ. In other words, we're in it right now.

I just gotta say, if we're in the millennium right now, after all that I've read about the Kingdom age in Isaiah, and Jeremiah, and Zachariah, and Revelation, et cetera, I am very disappointed if this is it. And I wonder why God spent the whole book of Revelation to tell us what is actually not going to happen.

Amillennialism spiritualizes the text of Scripture. Not all of it. But the prophetic texts of Scripture-- prophecy, last time events, eschatology. Eschatology means the teaching or the doctrine of the end times, especially the second coming of Christ, the events that precede it, and the events that come after it.

When I say spiritualize a text, it is a method or process of interpretation that disregards the plain meaning of the text. Now, I think you know that most of us here believe in a very plain interpretation of the Biblical text. We take it literally.

Our approach is what's called a grammatical, historical interpretation. That is, we read a text of the Scripture. We take it's plain meaning. We take it in context. We regard the history in which it was written, the background in which it was written, the syntax and the grammar. That is the grammatical, historical interpretation of the Bible.

Unless the text itself compels us to see it as figurative, and the text will do that. There's obvious figurative language. Unless the text does that, a plain rendering of the text, the plain meaning of the text is how we approach it.

Where plain sense makes good sense, to seek any other sense is nonsense. I agree with Vance Habner, who wrote, "It's always easier to understand what the Bible says than to understand what somebody thinks it meant to say."

How many times do people say to you, well, I know the Bible says that, but it didn't mean that. What does it mean? I'll tell you what it means.

Now, the question is, where did all this start? Well, it started when Paul was writing this letter. There was already this development. Since there are so many non-Jewish people, and you are quoting to us Old Testament scripture that God made to the Jews, it seems like God has rejected them in favor of us. We are now the new Israel.

But the ball really got started rolling, in terms of a movement of amillenialism, with a guy by the name of a Augustine. You've heard of Augustine, St. Augustine. He borrowed that idea from guys like Justin Martyr, origen. O-R-I-G-E-N was one of the Church fathers who first started allegorizing the text of Scripture, making it mean all sorts of weird things.

But Augustine really got the ball rolling, especially influencing, at his time, the Roman Catholic Church. So today, amillennialism is the view of the Catholic church, the Greek Orthodox church, the Russian Orthodox church, the Lutheran church the Presbyterian church, the Anglican church, the Episcopalian church, and the Church of Christ.

All of those congregations largely opt for the idea that all the promises God made to Israel are over with. They are fulfilled in the Church. There is no literal 1,000 year reign of Christ from Israel in the future.

Well, Paul addresses that in three chapters of the book of Romans, specifically in the 11th chapter. He's very clear-cut about that. And because it's a lengthy chapter though, we're going to look at a few verses, besides what we just read to you.

I want to give you three summary statements. Three summary statements about God's plan for Israel and the world. Blindness is on Israel presently. That's number one. Benefits are given simultaneously. That's number two. In other words, yes, that is true. But that has allowed God to bless in another way. And finally, number three, blessings will happen ultimately.

Let's begin with the first. Blindness is on Israel presently. Verse 25. "I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery lest you should be wise in your own opinion that blindness, in part, has happened to Israel." Stop right there. In verse 25, when he says the word Israel, what is he referring to? Israel. Israel means Israel. Literally, Israel.

Israel in verse 25 is the same thing as in verse 1, when he says, "Has God cast away his people?" His people are the Jewish people. Because he says, certainly not. "I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin."

Israel is his people. It's also the same as what he wrote about in chapter 9, verse 3. Do you remember what he said? He goes, "I have continual sorrow in my heart over my brethren, my countrymen, which are Israelites according to the flesh." So Israel are God's covenant people, and Paul was one of them. I also am one, he says.

But blindness has overtaken them. Stupor has fallen upon them, especially in interpreting the Old Testament scripture, especially those scriptures that refer to the coming messiah . In 2 Corinthians 2, Paul writes, "But their minds were blinded." Same language, they're blinded. "For until this day, the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament because the veil is taken away in Christ. But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart."

I get this question all the time. If this is true, then why don't more Jewish people believe it? Paul says, I can answer that. I'm one of them. It's called blindness. There's a blindness over them. There is a national blindness, though there is a remnant, there are some who believe. Paul was one of them, the early Church in Jerusalem were others. There's a blindness.

Today, in Israel- by the way, there's a real nation still in existence today, called the Nation of Israel. Happened since 1948, May 14th of 1948, the modern State of Israel was born. When that happened, just a few years ago, 70 years ago, 1948, 71 years ago. Guess how many Jews in Israel believed in Jesus as their messiah. Twenty three, in the whole country. Only 23 Jews in Israel in 1948 believe Jesus was the Messiah. Today, over 30,000 of them believe Jesus is the Messiah. That's quite a growth.

However, the population of Israel today is nine million people, 6.6 million of which are Jewish. So it's a fraction of a percent of those in Israel who believe in Jesus. The rest do not. Why do they not? Blindness. Blindness.

Go back to verse 7. What then, Israel has not obtained what it seeks, but the elective obtained it. And the rest were blinded. 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. And David says, let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a recompense to them. Let their eyes be darkened so that they do not see, and bow down their back always.

There is a blindness. It's true. It's undeniable. Jesus himself even spoke of this blindness. When he came into the city of Jerusalem, toward the end of his ministry, to present himself to the Jewish nation, He said, if only you had known, even you, especially in this, your day, the things that make for your peace. But now they are hidden from your eyes. That's blindness.

For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you, and close you in on every side, and level you and your children within you to the ground, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation. What is he doing? He's predicting the fall of Jerusalem under Titus in 70 AD, when the Romans came in and destroyed that city.

Blindness has happened to them. And because they rejected Jesus as their messiah, they lost everything. They lost their temple. They lost their national identity for 2,000 years. They lost their land. And worst of all, they lost eternal life. Jesus said, you are not willing to come to me that you might have life.

Life was available. It could have happened for you. Your messiah has come. The fulfillment is here. But you would not come to me that you might have a life.

So blindness is on Israel presently. But God has preserved them. God has brought them back from captivity. After 70 years in Babylon, back to the land. After a couple thousand years of dispersion, they've been back on the land since 1948. The question is why. Why are they there? Why do they keep coming back?

Let me just say that if you study Jewish history, and you should, if you study Jewish history and you still don't believe in miracles, you are not a realist. It is nothing short of miraculous. What other nation has ever survived as a distinct race after 400 years of slavery, after two total destructions, after multiple deportations, after 2,000 years of dispersion, and a Holocaust?

Jerusalem has been fought over numerous times in its history. It's been destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, captured and recaptured 44 times. Here's the miracle of Israel. There's nine million people. If you ever go to Israel, here's what you're going to notice. It feels safe. It feels peaceful. The economy is thriving. It's robust. It's crowded. More and more people are coming into it all the time.

But what's odd about it is you have 9 million people surrounded by a hundred million enemies who don't want Israel in their neighborhood, some of which want it completely annihilated. And bombs are going off at the border from some of these countries to destroy it.

So the question is, will Israel survive in the future? And why has she survived in the past? If God has cast away His people, why are they back in their own land? Could something be happening for the future?

Well, that's the first summary statement. Blindness is on Israel presently. That's verse 25.

Here's the second summary statement. Yes, blindness is on Israel presently, but benefits are given simultaneously. That blindness has brought a benefit in another place. I want you to see it, verse 25. "I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion that blindness. In part, has happened to Israel until--" I commend that you studied the "untils" of the Bible. They're quite revelatory. "--until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in."

Yes. Israel has nationally rejected Jesus as their messiah. That's tragic. But that tragedy has opened a door to the Gentiles. And today, God is mainly dealing with us. Because they rejected Him, He's offered to the world.

Remember the apostle Paul said, you know, God sent me to Israel. And he'd always go to the synagogue first, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. He'd always go to the synagogue. And one day, because he kept getting rejected, he said, OK. If you deem yourselves unworthy of eternal life, I am going to the Gentiles. And he became known as the apostle to the Gentiles.

But God had promised Abraham a nation, a future. He made a covenant with Abraham. And God said that in you, all the nations of the earth will be blessed.

Have you ever stopped to consider how much Israel has blessed the world? Let me frame it for you. Of all of the world's population, 0.2%-- not even 1% of world population is Jewish. A fraction of 1% is Jewish in world population. And yet, they have captured 20% of the Nobel Peace Prizes ever given. They have captured over 30% of all the honors in music, science, and literature.

If you've ever taken an aspirin, you should be mindful that a Jewish man by the name of Friedrich Bayer-- Bayer aspirin-- is the one whose pharmaceutical company developed it. If you've ever been vaccinated for polio, you should thank two Jewish man, Dr. Albert Sabin and Dr. Jonas Salk.

If you've ever gone to the dentist and had your gums numbed, deadened so you wouldn't have pain with Novocaine, you can thank Dr. Albert Einhorn, a Jewish chemist. If you've ever had a bacterial infection and be given streptomycin, it was discovered by Dr. Abraham Waxman, a Jewish physician.

If you've ever, God forbid, been tested for syphilis, you can thank Dr. Snoezelen, who developed the Wasserman test, Jewish. If you've ever gone to college and studied the DNA molecule, it was two Jewish gentlemen, by the name of James Watson and Francis Crick, that first developed that double helix coil model of the DNA. And if you've ever been forgiven of your sins, it's because a Jewish Savior did it-- Jesus, our Messiah.

[APPLAUSE]

The point of Paul, in Romans 11, is yep, blindness has happened to them. But that blindness is temporary. And that temporary blindness has opened a door of faith to us. We've been brought in because of it.

Go down to verse 15. I told you I'd be fishing around some of these verses. "For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world--" opened the door for Gentiles-- "what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? For the first fruit is holy, than the lump is also holy. If the root is holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches were broken off and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them and with them became a partaker of the root and the fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you."

Olives have always been important in Mediterranean countries. In the ancient Mediterranean world, it was a commercial mainstay. Even today, go to the Mediterranean world, go to Israel with us, you'll see olive trees in production everywhere.

Did you know that olive trees can live for hundreds of years? And though the tree, the root, can live on and on, what happens is individual branches can stop producing olives. So you know what they do when those branches stop producing? Cut them off. They lop them off. And they take branches from younger trees, off the younger trees, bore a hole in the old trunk of the old tree, and graft in a young olive branch so that the older trunks can be restored to productivity.

That's the analogy. And it's a plain analogy. The old productive branches, the Israelites, were broken off. That's the blindness that happened. And then branches from a wild olive tree-- that's us, Gentiles-- were grafted in. That's the simultaneous benefit. It means we get our sap, our energy, our nourishment from the covenant promises God gave to Israel.

We are tapped into the trunk of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the others, not as a replacement of Israel, but in addition to Israel, to add fruit for the Kingdom. Jesus, in Matthew 21 said, "Have you never read the scriptures, the stones which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. The Lord has done this and it is marvelous in our eyes. Therefore, I tell you that the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and given to a people who will produce its fruit." That's the Gentiles grafted in, temporarily. Temporarily.

In John 10, Jesus said-- and using a different analogy now-- "And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold. Them, also, I must bring, and they will hear my voice and there will be one flock and one shepherd." So we've been brought in, grafted into the blessing of God to the Jewish people. This is why no Christian can be anti-Semitic. We owe them way too much.

They gave us our heritage. They gave us our Bible. They gave us our Messiah. That's why He says, "Don't boast against the root. The root support you."

Back diverse 25. What does this mean exactly, "the fullness of the Gentiles"? It says, "Blindness, in part, has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles--" what does that mean? How many of you have a New International Version you're reading from today? Lift your hand up. OK. It says something different. It doesn't say, "The fullness of the Gentiles." It says "the full number of the Gentiles," right?

Anybody within an NLT, New Living Translation? It says, "the complete number." these are better renderings of this verse. The complete or full number. That is the Church. It indicates that there is a number among the Gentiles, that will one day be the very last Gentile, the full number of the Gentiles.

After Israel rejected Christ and the Jerusalem church met together, they were scratching their little kipas on their heads, trying to figure out what was happening. Because now all these Gentiles were hearing the Gospel. And remember, the very first Gentile was a guy by the name of Cornelius. And Peter was very scared to even go into his house. He came into his house, and instead of going, hey, I'm happy to be here, gave him a hug and said, you know, I shouldn't be here because I'm Jewish and you're not.

But he believed. And Peter said, God has told me I can never call common or unclean that which God has cleansed. So Peter, in that Jerusalem council, said, "You know that God chose among us that the Gentiles should hear the Word of God and believe." So Cornelius was the first. And there have been millions, and millions, and millions of us since Cornelius.

One day, the very last one is going to be saved. And when that happens, that will be the fullness of the Gentiles, the full number of the Gentiles. When the present age runs its course, when the Church is filled with the last Gentile believer, I believe the rapture of the Church will happen. God will collect his Saints on the Earth, 1 Thessalonians tells us, and begin again dealing with the nation of Israel.

So if you've ever studied Daniel's 70 weeks, if you've ever wondered why it's put that way, why there's a gap between the 69th and 70th week-- you know, it says there will be 70 weeks of years, 490 years. There'll be 69 of them, 483 years. But then there's sort of like, he deals with that last week, that seven year period alone.

Why is that? Why the gap? The gap is the Church. And when the Church age is done and we're taken up in the rapture of the Church, that's when the domino tips. And that last seven-year period, that last 70th week of Daniel, is also called the Tribulation Period, seven year period. It's also called, get this, Jacob's trouble, or Israel's trouble. God again begins to deal with the nation of Israel.

So let me just say to any of you non-Jewish people out there who have resisted the Gospel this long. You might be the last Gentile saved before that happens. Could be. So do us all a favor. Give your life to Christ, like, now. Let's get this show on the road.

[APPLAUSE]

Of course, God is sovereign in all of that. I'm not denying that.

So blindness is on Israel presently, but benefits are given simultaneously. Now number three, a blessing will happen ultimately. Look at verse 26. Let's do 25 and 26 together. They have to be read together.

"I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, that you should be wise in your own opinion. Blindness, in part, has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so, all Israel will be-- what?

Saved.

"All Israel will be saved, as it is written. Now he's quoting Isaiah 59. The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is my Covenant with them, when I take away their sins." That's forgiveness, folks. That's restoration. There's only one way to be saved. That is, believe in Jesus Christ as the savior.

Concerning the Gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But concerning the election, they are the beloved for the sake of the fathers. The fathers are Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. "For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." I've heard that quoted so many times out of context. It specifically remembers God's promises to the nation of Israel.

OK, I want you to notice something. I want you to notice a contrast. Look, for example, in verse 11. Notice the words "stumbled" and "fall." Look in verse 12, the word "fall" shows up again, and "failure." Verse 15, "cast away." Verse 17, "broken off."

All of this language speaks of the experiences and consequences of national Israel, because they rejected their messiah. They've stumbled, fallen. They have failed. They've been cast away. They've been broken off.

But now compare that to these words, verse 11, "salvation." Verse 12, "fullness." Verse 15, "acceptance" and "life from the dead." Yes, their rejection has caused God to set them aside temporarily, but they will be restored ultimately.

Now, what does it mean when it says, "all Israel will be saved"? All Israel will be saved. So I looked it up. I looked up the term, "all Israel." All Israel. It shows up 156 times in the Old Testament. Whenever it shows up, it doesn't speak of all Jews of all times in history. It always speaks of all Jews alive at one particular time, in one particular instance. So it is used that way.

So when He says, "All Israel will be saved," is not every Jew who ever lived. It's those Jews at the time of Christ's return, who will see Him and will receive Him at that time. In the future tribulation period, the Jewish nation will believe in Jesus Christ. We already know, from our study of Revelation, there's going to be 144,000 Jews saved. It says 12,000 from each tribe. Tribes are mentioned. Whether a person knows his tribe or not is irrelevant. God knows.

144,000 Jewish people saved in the tribulation period. They become evangelists all over the world. Can you imagine? 144-- you know what Paul the Apostle did. Imagine 144,000 apostle Paul's running around. That's a power. That's a force.

We also know, in Revelation 11, there will be two witnesses that preach from what city? Jerusalem. The world will be able to hear them and see them, probably by simulcast television. But by the end of their ministry, it says the city of Jerusalem will glorify God. In that future time of trouble, during that tribulation period, the blindness that has been on Israel will be lifted, will be gone.

How will that happen? It will happen at the second coming. And I'm glad you asked. In Zacharia, chapter 12, I'm going to read a couple verses. Wish I had time to go through the whole book or a few chapters, but of course, I don't.

Revelation 12, verse 10. Listen to this. "And I will pour out on the House of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of Grace and supplication. And they will look on me whom they have pierced." Why is that an odd statement? God is speaking it. They will look on me whom they have pierced.

How can God, who is Spirit, ever be pierced? There's only one answer I can find. That Spirit has to become incarnate in flesh. "They will look on me whom they have pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for his own son and grieve for Him as one grieves for a first born. In that day, there will be a great mourning in Jerusalem."

What is that mourning? They'll recognize He has been the Messiah all along.

Chapter 13, verse 1 continues, "In that day, a fountain shall be open for the House of David, for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin, and for uncleanness." There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emanuel's veins, and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.

There's only one way to be forgiven of your sins. And that's through the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Israel, in that day, will recognize He is the one. They will turn back to Him. And all Israel will be saved.

Now listen to what Jesus said. This is Matthew 23, verse 39. "For I tell you--" He says this in Jerusalem, in the temple precincts. "For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." One day the nation will say that. The nation will receive him.

And if you think it's impossible for Israel to come to Christ, look at Paul the Apostle. He was a anti-Christian. He was so nationalistic against Christians, so pro-Jewish, so blind. He admitted it. Said, I was one of them.

And if you say God can't save all of Israel, how do you explain God saving the millions of Gentiles ever since Israel rejected Him? God can do it. And He will do it.

So in closing, Israel is really God's yardstick. By Israel, He measures time. By Israel, He measures other nations. Even though God knows those people, even though God knows who He's dealing with.

Eight times, in the Bible, God calls them stiff-necked. seven times God refers to them as stubborn. This is in the Old Testament, in the law. Three times, God says they do what is right in their own eyes. They complained in Egypt. They complained in the wilderness. They complained in the Promised Land.

They persisted, and fell away, and disobeyed, and were taken into captivity. They worshipped idols and they rejected their messiah. Yet, yet, yet, God's calling is irrevocable, irreversible. He will persist in his covenant with Abraham. He will save 144,000 of them, and seal them in the tribulation period.

The nation, when Christ returns, will receive him as Messiah. In the millennial kingdom, for 1,000 years, he'll rule and reign from Mount Zion in Jerusalem. And in the eternal state, when there is a new heaven and a new earth, there is a new capital city that comes from heaven to earth. Do you remember its name? The New Jerusalem.

It's an odd shaped city. It's roughly the size of the moon. It's square. It comes out of heaven. Says there's walls around it with 12 gates. And on the 12 gates are the names of the 12 tribes of Israel.

Now, Jesus made his apostles a promise. He said, you who have followed me will sit on 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel. If there is no literal Israel, I think Jesus just lied to his disciples. Or he was speaking so figuratively they could never figure out what he was saying. I think it's literally going to happen.

There was a King of Prussia, the ancient Germanic area. His name was Frederick the Great. He didn't know what to do with the Bible. So one day, he asked his chaplain for proof. He said, give me proof of the inspiration of the Bible. And the court chaplain said to the king, your majesty, I can answer your request in a single word. The Jew.

You want proof of the inspiration of Scripture? The Jew. The God elected, God selected, God protected people of Israel. God made promises to them. God made some promises that were one-sided. That is, I'm going to do it no matter what you do. And one of them was to Abraham for the land of Israel.

Tell you what I walk away with in Romans 11. I come away with this. It reveals to me a God who will not let failure change his determination to bless. We serve a God who knows our failures, our mistakes, our fallings, our proneness to walk away. He knows all that. But when God is determined to change and bless a person, He's going to do it.

We serve a faithful God. And to me, that's really Good, Good News.

[APPLAUSE]

Our Father, we thank you that all the promises that you make are unchangeable. You promised to Abraham and his descendants a land. You made a covenant with Abraham that was a unilateral covenant, one-sided. You made it. You were going to do it. You announced it.

We know that they were in the land you gave them for a while, then kicked out. But you always brought them back. And you predicted those events. And Israel's rejection of their Messiah, though Jesus was offered to them, you knew all about it. You predicted that, as well.

And you predicted their fullness, their restoration.

Father, we pray for the peace of Jerusalem. We're instructed to do that in your Word, in the Psalm. Psalm 122, "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. May they prosper who love you."

And we pray for that. We know that when we pray for the peace of Jerusalem, that we're praying for the soon return of our Savior. We're saying, even so, come quickly, because we know there's not going to ever be peace there until the Prince of Peace is ruling and reigning.

We're living in some very unusual times, politically and on the world stage. We pray, Lord, that we would stay the course. We thank you for your keeping power of us. Thank you for your faithfulness to us.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

Let's all stand.

Hey, let me just say that I have good news for you. How many of you have ever wanted to go to Israel? Raise your hand. You ever wanted to go. OK. You're going. Free of charge.

One day, during the 1,000 year reign of Jesus on the earth, you will go to Israel. You'll go to the Holy Land. So whether you can save up and go now is really irrelevant. Although, I will say, it helps to have something to compare it with. You know, when you go and you go, yes, it's different than when I came here on that tour.

Because the topography of Jerusalem, according to Ezekiel, will be radically changed, won't even be recognizable in modern terms.

But anyway, whether you go or not on one of our group tours, you're going to Israel. And you're going to rule and reign with Christ from that land. It'll be an exciting time we have to look forward to.

How will you put the truths that you learned into action in your life? Let us know. Email us at mystory@calvarynm.church. And just a reminder, you can support this ministry with a financial gift at calvarynm.church/give.

Thank you for joining us for this teaching from Calvary Church.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Additional Messages in this Series

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5/5/2019
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The Heart and Soul of the Gospel
Romans 1:1-7
Skip Heitzig
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Today we embark on a thirty-two-week journey through the book of Romans. Considered to be Paul the apostle’s magnum opus, this book is largely responsible for igniting the fires of the Protestant Reformation and the Wesleyan Revival. As Paul introduced himself to the church at Rome, he got right to the heart and soul of the matter—the gospel—the good news that presents Jesus Christ as God’s great answer to the pressing need of the human race.
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5/19/2019
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Unashamed!
Romans 1:16-17
Skip Heitzig
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Standing up for and speaking out about our faith in Jesus Christ can sometimes feel awkward and intimidating. Often our message is not received with glad faces or with open arms by the people we work with and live next to. As Paul was planning to visit Rome, he expressed eagerness rather than hesitation to herald this message. Why was that? The apostle gives us five reasons for his readiness and enthusiasm.
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5/26/2019
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Is God Mad?
Romans 1:18-32
Skip Heitzig
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The Wrath of God Is Revealed God is full of love, right? Right! That’s the good news. And Paul gets back to that theme and develops it fully in the chapters ahead. But first, there’s some bad news. Like a powerful prosecuting attorney, Paul made the case as to why we need the good news of Christ. God’s grace is necessary because of our guilt. In this section, we learn about the wrath of God—an attribute that many people can’t wrap their heads (and hearts) around.
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7/7/2019
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Four Mistakes Religious People Make
Romans 2:1-11
Skip Heitzig
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Jesus was not a religious leader. He was a righteous leader. And He was often confronting the religious leaders of His day. Likewise Paul found many enemies among the religious elite of his day, among both Jews and Gentiles. After announcing his theme of good news in Jesus, Paul promptly plunged into the bad news of God’s wrath—a subject that religious people sometimes love (but for all the wrong reasons). Paul tells us some of their most common mistakes.
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7/14/2019
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Hypocrisy Gets an Audit
Romans 2:17-29
Skip Heitzig
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All businesses, corporations, and individuals have blind spots. Auditors can help by giving a clear and unbiased reading of practices and procedures, and then give appropriate recommendations for change. Here, Paul played the role of auditing the hypocrite—the one who has spiritual style but no substance. Let’s consider the assets, the deficits, and the net appraisal of the one who wears a spiritual disguise.
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7/28/2019
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The Advantage of Having the Bible
Romans 3:1-8
Skip Heitzig
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Those who have been raised in a home with spiritual foundations and the teaching of Scripture have an edge over those who were never exposed to such benefits. The advantage of having access to the Bible is enormous, but it is not a fail-safe. Paul addressed the Jews who were caretakers of God’s own words, and much can be applied to anyone who has the advantage of revealed truth but fails to take it to heart.
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8/4/2019
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How Prisoners Go Free
Romans 3:9-26
Skip Heitzig
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Freedom is a huge word for the Christian believer. Picture yourself nervously standing in a courtroom before a judge who has just read the pile of evidence against you. Just before the gavel strikes the bench proclaiming your guilt, a piece of evidence strikes his gaze and he unexpectedly announces your innocence. You can now go free! Here Paul explains how any person anywhere can find hope and freedom because of the gospel.
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8/11/2019
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Old Age; Young Faith
Romans 4
Skip Heitzig
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Our skin may wrinkle but our faith never has to. Abraham’s faith was vibrant and youthful even when he was nearing one hundred years of age. As Paul points to the patriarch Abraham as an example for justification by faith, we can learn what it means to believe God through all the ages of life. How vibrant is your Christian faith? Have you let cynicism and doubt choke out your confidence in God?
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8/18/2019
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Our Benefits Package
Romans 5:1-5
Skip Heitzig
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Why is being a Christian so great? Every unbeliever you meet is asking that question as they observe your life. What are the benefits of living with a committed faith in Jesus? After explaining what it means to be right with God by believing in Christ, and after illustrating that principle with Abraham, Paul gives a short list of some of the benefits of a saved life.
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8/25/2019
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Unrivaled Love
Romans 5:6-11
Skip Heitzig
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Modern wisdom continually tells us, “Love is a verb,” rather than a sentimental feeling. Love is a commitment that involves action. For the first time in the letter to the Romans, Paul introduced the word love and a very singular kind of love—God’s love for us. Wanting to show how secure we are in this salvation, he described the greatest demonstration of love—its proof, its provision, and its product.
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9/1/2019
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A One-Man Show
Romans 5:12-21
Skip Heitzig
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Just one person can do a lot of damage, and conversely just one person can do a lot of good. Paul here showed the effect that Adam brought on by his rebellion and the effect that Jesus bought with His blood on the cross. One caused death. One conveys life. One brought guilt. One bought the gift of grace. The big question is, have you received the gift?
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9/8/2019
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Don’t Look Back
Romans 6:1-7
Nate Heitzig
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Returning to a life of sin after becoming a Christian is like winning the lottery but choosing to continue to live in poverty. Pastor Nate Heitzig poses this question: Can one be a Christian and continually pursue a sinful lifestyle? In examining Romans 6:1-7, we find the biblical answer: No. Because of what God has done for the Christian, the Christian's rightful response to God should be to pursue a transformed lifestyle.
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9/15/2019
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Winning the War with Sin
Romans 6:11-14
Skip Heitzig
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There is not a person I know who doesn’t struggle with sin. Evil thoughts, bad habits, immoral impulses, and recurring temptations all rear their ugly heads, leaving us exhausted and disappointed in ourselves and wondering if any deliverance is possible. This struggle is real. The war can be fierce. How can we believers (who still have our old natures) win in these battles? Consider this four-step strategy.
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9/22/2019
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The Struggle Is Real
Romans 7:14-25
Nate Heitzig
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Christians can struggle with consistency. Like everyone, we sin and fall short in many areas. It's easy to get discouraged and think to ourselves, "I'm weak," or "I must not be called to the Christian life." The struggle with sin is real for every Christian. In this message, Pastor Nate Heitzig examines the believer's situation and struggle with carnality as well as the solution for victory.
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9/29/2019
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Safe and Secure
Romans 8:1-11
Skip Heitzig
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As the old saying goes, “It’s always darkest before the dawn.” That’s certainly true of Paul’s authorship of this book. He closes chapter 7 on a low note, only to crescendo to a swelling high point in chapter 8. “Don’t despair! You’re in secure hands and you’re safe,” Paul tells us. He reminds us of four facts that should settle every heart.
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10/6/2019
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The New You
Romans 8:12-18
Skip Heitzig
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Most people love new stuff: a new car, a new set of clothes, a new puppy, a new haircut, a new adventure. But the best new thing you could have is a new you! Being a Christian isn’t a temporary reformation but a total transformation. When the Holy Spirit gets hold of a person’s life, He begins the process of a total makeover—changing you from the inside out. As a Christian believer these are among the changes you can expect to see.
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10/13/2019
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The Steady Hand of a Caring God
Romans 8:28-30
Skip Heitzig
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The world to many people seems to be a random place where anything can happen. But a believer can (and should) step firmly onto the soil of life. Why? Not just because God exists, but also because God cares! There is not a single atom nor molecule out of place in God’s universe; His hands and heart are steadily controlling your every breath. Let’s examine some of the richest truths about the quality of care from a loving God.
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10/20/2019
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A Midterm Exam: Five Questions to Test Your Understanding
Romans 8:31-34
Skip Heitzig
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In the middle of any given course or semester, a test consisting of questions is given. This does two things: it measures the student’s grasp of the course materials, and it helps identify any areas that need work. Right in the middle of his sixteen-chapter book, Paul gives his readers a series of questions to jog our spiritual memory and face some wonderful realities about the love of God. Let’s consider five questions in these verses.
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10/27/2019
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For the Love of God
Romans 8:35-39
Skip Heitzig
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Can anyone really comprehend unconditional love? Perhaps the love that parents have for their children is the closest to unconditional love from a human point of view. But life’s circumstances certainly can challenge the idea that God loves us unconditionally. We’ve all heard about God’s love, we’ve sung about it, and we’ve affirmed it with our “Amens!” But as Paul closes out this section of Romans, he moves us into a fixed and secure confession that no matter what life can throw at us, we need never doubt God’s love for us.
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11/10/2019
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God, the Jew, and You
Romans 9:1-26
Skip Heitzig
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We now come to the third major section of Paul’s letter to the Romans that reveals God’s plan for Jew and Gentile. The early church in Jerusalem was entirely Jewish, but by this point, in most other parts of the world, it had become predominantly non-Jewish. But if God made so many promises to the Jewish nation, does that mean those promises are all now annulled? How does Israel’s rejection of Jesus as Messiah fit into God’s sovereign strategy, and where do we fit in?
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11/17/2019
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Salvation: Reverse Engineered
Romans 10:1, 14-17
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Right in the middle of Paul’s great trilogy about Israel (Romans 9, 10, and 11), he gave an expanded view of how salvation operates. These are the seven components that make up the journey for anyone (Jew or Gentile) who comes to know Christ. Evangelism always begins with God’s sovereign election, but it also involves human cooperation. It takes both someone who will transmit the gospel and someone who will receive it.
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12/8/2019
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Now It’s Your Turn
Romans 12:1-2
Skip Heitzig
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The blessings of God and the work of Christ have been flowing like a dynamic stream for eleven chapters so far. He saves, He justifies, He promises, He gives peace, He works everything together for good in our lives, and He plans an epic eternity for us. So how should we respond to all of this? What is our part? That’s what the next five chapters of Romans are all about. The thrust of this next section is: Based on all that God has done for you, now it’s your turn!
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12/15/2019
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Made for Purpose
Romans 12:3-8
Nate Heitzig
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The beauty of God's creation is evident all around us, yet nature is not God's greatest work; mankind is God's greatest masterpiece. It's estimated that to write down one person's DNA blueprint would require 200,000 pages. And God knows every sentence on every page. For the Christian, there's a custom design—a purpose in life to partner with God through gifts from the Holy Spirit. Pastor Nate Heitzig explains how believers can find their purpose in Christ in this message from Romans 12:3-8.
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12/22/2019
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Exercise for Your Soul
Romans 12:6-8
Nate Heitzig
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Americans seem obsessed with fitness and exercise, yet the U.S. is one of the most obese nations in the world. It’s similar in the body of Christ—many Christians are idle, preferring to sit around rather than exercise our spiritual gifts. The key to both spiritual and physical health is balancing exercise and rest. In this teaching, Pastor Nate Heitzig discusses why God gives certain gifts to each member of the body of Christ as well as how those gifts are given so that the entire body might grow and be strong.
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1/5/2020
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Love Is a Verb
Romans 12:9-21
Skip Heitzig
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Perhaps the most overused (but under-practiced) word in human language is the word love. We use the word for everything that includes a mild liking of a meal to having intense affection for another human. Paul is far more practical, knowing that love will show itself in the form of action. Love is a verb. He shows us how the hallmark virtue of Christianity, love, is shown among other believers and in the world, even when they hate us.
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1/12/2020
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The Christian and Government
Romans 13:1-7
Skip Heitzig
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There has always existed a tension between God’s people and human government, especially when we are not in favor of those who are in power. We may find it hard to “render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s” (Matthew 22:21) while being faithful to God. The Christians in Rome were no different when Paul wrote this letter. Let’s consider five principles that form a practical theology for Christian believers in relationship to secular human government.
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1/26/2020
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Wake Up Call
Romans 13:11-14
Nate Heitzig
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We are a fallen people living in a fallen world. Romans 3:10 says "none is righteous." There is evidence all around us that Jesus is setting the scene for His return, and Romans 13 is Paul’s call for the church to prepare for that event. Jesus Himself told us to "occupy till [He] comes" (Luke 19:13, KJV). In this message, Pastor Nate Heitzig explores the apostle's wake-up call to believers and helps us understand how we can effectively occupy until Jesus returns.
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2/2/2020
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Acceptance, Judgment, and the Essential Point of Nonessential Points
Romans 14:1-6
Nate Heitzig
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Today it seems that the church has become known for being judgmental and critical, not just toward unbelievers but even among fellow Christians. That's why we must focus on our commonality in Christ alone. In Romans 14, Paul addressed two groups of Christians—Gentile believers and legalistic Jews—who were causing division and friction among the early church. In this teaching, Nate Heitzig shares how to navigate the nonessential points of our faith while embracing unity in the essentials.
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2/16/2020
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The Cure for "I" Disease
Romans 15:1-6
Skip Heitzig
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Selfishness is part of our basic human nature. It is the default position for every human being. Left unchecked, everybody would focus on himself and live only to please himself. But redemption brings with it a different lifestyle—one that is focused on others, patient with faults, and motivated by a sense of unity in the church. Let’s consider a fourfold strategy to counteract selfishness and promote harmonious living.
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3/15/2020
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How to Treat Your Family
Romans 16:1-24
Skip Heitzig
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I am so honored and thankful to be part of this spiritual family. You are one of God’s greatest gifts in my life! In this last chapter of Romans, Paul’s tone and subject matter is familial—he approaches them not as Paul the theologian, but Paul their brother in Christ. It’s unfortunate that many believers don’t pay much attention to chapter 16 because in it we get a great example of how to treat our own spiritual family.
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There are 30 additional messages in this series.
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