Dr. Cecil A. Fayard - 2001 Sermons
Sunday, December 2, 2001   

It is true that Israel as a whole has rejected Christ (John 1:11) and that they have stumbled at the truth of the Gospel (9:32-33). Yet, God has a remnant, a remnant of believing Jews (9:27, 11:5).

God is not finished with Israel nationally or spiritually.

1. VERSE 1, ISRAEL IS NOT REJECTED AS EVIDENCED BY PAUL’S CONVERSION
   1. Paul sets forth a question at the beginning of this verse: “I say then, Hath God cast away his people?”
      
      1. You might expect the answer to be, yes! Yes, because they have been disobedient; Yes, because they have rebelled; yes, because they have rejected Him.
         
      2. Paul says they are not wholly rejected: “God forbid.”
         
      3. The Jews are only partially rejected. There is a believing remnant that remains (Verse 5).
         
         1. We are reminded of the promise that God has made to Israel.
            
         2. God has made a similar promise to all New Testament believers. Hebrews 13:5 says: “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Then in verse six, the writer of Hebrews goes on to proclaim, “So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”
            
            1. Can you say, “The Lord is my helper?”
               
            2. Believe on Him today and He will help you.

   2. Paul points to himself as evidence of God’s grace and mercy, of God’s election, of God’s not fully rejecting Israel.
      
      1. “For I also am an Israelite….”
         
         1. It should be pointed out that the early church, the church established during our Lord’s earthly ministry, the church empowered on Pentecost, was mostly Jewish. Because so many Jews were being saved, Saul, who later became Paul, persecuted the church (Acts 8:1-3; 9:1-2).
            
         2. The fact that Saul, a man who hated Christ and His disciples, was saved gives hope for other Jews. “The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation,” and it has the power to save anyone who believes, Jew or Gentile.
            
         3. Saul’s conversion says that God has not rejected all Israel.
            
      2. Paul was a descendent of Abraham and a member of the tribe of Benjamin. He was a Jew by birth, a genuine Israelite, and he was born again, saved. Paul was proof positive that God has not rejected Israel.
         
         1. “The rejection of the Jews was neither total nor final” (Hodge 553).
            
         2. Be assured God is still saving some Jews today as then.

2. VERSES 2-6 AN ELECT REMNANT, GOD HAS NOT REJECTED ISRAEL
   1. Verse 2a, Paul gives a second evidence that God has not rejected Israel: “God hath not cast away his people who he foreknew…”
      
      1. To “foreknow” means to “fore love, to love beforehand, to choose.”
         
      2. Foreknowledge and rejection are mutually incompatible” (Stott 292).
         
         1. God, from the foundation of the world, had set his love on Israel.
            
         2. “Israel stood before God’s eyes from eternity as His people, and in the immutableness of the sovereign love with which He made it His lies the impossibility of its rejection” (Denny 676).

   2. Verse 2b, The third evidence that is given as to God not rejecting Israel is the Old Testament account of Elijah. After the victory over the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel, Elijah receives word that Jezebel is after him.
      
      1. J. Frank Norris says: “When the servant brought that message to Elijah he left in a hurry and never gave a forwarding address for his mail” (177).
         
      2. Elijah fled into the desert wilderness and took refuge in a cave on Mount Horeb; it is there that he appealed to God against Israel as is recorded in verse three.

   3. Verse 3, As you read the words of this verse, you can feel the pain in Elijah’s voice. He feels alone, and he feels vulnerable.
      
      1. Have you ever felt alone, misunderstood, forsaken? That’s how Elijah felt.
         
      2. Elijah felt so bad that he asked God to go ahead and take him home to heaven.
         
      3. Friend, don’t give up. Help is on the way.

   4. Verse 4, In verse three, Elijah says: “I am left alone….” God’s reply to Elijah is that his math is off. He was not alone for God says: “I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.”
      
      1. The national apostasy of Israel was not complete for there were seven thousand who would not bow to Israel. Elijah was not alone.
         
      2. My dear discouraged friend, you are not alone.
         
         1. You are not alone; God is with you and will not forsake you.
            
         2. You are not alone. Others have suffered what you are now suffering.
            
         3. You are not alone. Others have felt the hurt, the loneliness that you feel.
            
         4. You are not alone. Others have questioned as you now have questions.
            
         5. You are not alone. Christ empathizes with your needs (Hebrews 4:15).

   5. Verse 5, Paul gives more evidence that God has not wholly rejected Israel. As there was a remnant in Elijah’s day so was there a remnant in Paul’s day.
      
      1. This remnant is “according to the election of grace.” It is chosen by an act of grace.
         
      2. Grace is the gracious kindness and mercy of God to undeserving. Grace is unmerited favor. Grace is getting what we do not deserve—heaven.
         
      3. Without grace:
         
         1. There is no hope.
            
         2. All mankind would go to hell.
            
         3. Man could not be saved.
            
         4. We would be in darkness.
            
         5. God’s grace alone brings salvation.

   6. Verse 6, Paul insists that grace completely excludes works.
      
      1. Grace means that God’s initiative excludes ours.
         
      2. God’s grace alone brings salvation. It is grace, not works (Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5). Think of it; the very meaning of grace is unmerited favor!

3. VERSES 7-10, THERE IS A BELIEVING REMNANT BUT MOST ARE HARDENED
   1. Verse 7, Most of Israel still seeks righteousness without Christ. Most of Israel rejects salvation by grace. Most of Israel rejects Christ as Messiah.
      
      1. The election have obtained salvation by grace. Friend, if you are saved, it is because of grace; and it is because of the election of grace. Non- election has never sent anyone to hell, but unbelief has.
         
      2. There is a remnant saved by the election of grace. “The rest were blinded.”
         
         1. They were hardened by God, blind and callous.
            
         2. God gave them up to their own stubbornness; He blinded them to the Gospel. This is why we pray: “Lord open their eyes,” for only He can.

   2. Verse 8, The quote that Paul uses here is from Deuteronomy 29:24 and Isaiah 29:10.
      
      1. “It is impossible here to distinguish between ‘hardened because disobedient’ and ‘disobedient because hardened’” (Barrett 210).
         
      2. Stott says, “Hardening is the natural and necessary effect of mercy that is rejected” (124). When you continue to reject the Gospel, it causes hardening of the heart.
         
      3. “Spirit of slumber,” is a loss of spiritual sensitivity.

   3. Verse 9, This quote comes from Psalm 69.
      
      1. This verse speaks of unprovoked hostility. The victim prays to God for help and for vindication. He prays for God’s judgment to fall on his enemies.
         
      2. Israel is here the enemy, the persecutor, because she has rejected Christ as Messiah.
         
      3. The “table” is a symbol of security that which is enjoyed at home. The prayer is that security be turned into a trap, a snare, a stumbling block.

   4. Verse 10, Because of disobedience, they, the unbelieving Jews, get what is coming to them. Those who die lost will never have another chance.