Let us turn to the book of Romans today, and we are going to begin a reading for this meeting in Romans chapter 11, and we are going to read beginning from verse 16. I do not know if we will be able to finish the 11th chapter of the book of Romans today, but I would like specifically to read today from verse 16 to verse 24. The context, of course, has to do with the verses that preceded verse 16 that deals with the exclamation of the Apostle Paul that whatever happened to Israel have happened to them for the benefit of the nations of this world, for the benefit of the Gentile world.

And right in the midst of the Apostle Paul says in verse 16, For if the first fruit be holy, the lamp is also holy. And if the root be holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them partakers of the root and the fatness of the olive tree, boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root bearest thee. Thou would say then, the branches were broken off that I might be grafted in. Well, because of unbelief they were broken off.

And you stand by faith, be not high-minded, but fear. For if God spare not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. Behold therefore the goodness and the severity of God on them which fell severity. But towards thee goodness, if thou continue in his goodness, otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in. For God is able to graft them in again. For if thou were cut out of the olive tree, which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature, into the good olive tree, how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?

These are the verses that I want to deal with today. If I'm able, fine. And if not, we'll move on. Or if I have plenty of things to say and I'm able to finish those verses, we'll move on from verse 25 towards the end of the chapter. Chapter 11 of Romans deals, as we have already been speaking about, deals with the future of the nation of Israel. There is a future to the nation of Israel. There is coming a day, as we have already read in Isaiah chapter 49, which we have read earlier. And the Lord said, speaking about Israel, looking to the future. And he said, "Sing, O heavens, and be joyful, O earth, and break forth into singing, O mountains.

For the Lord has comforted his people, and he will have mercy upon his afflicted." Isaiah 49 have predicted the restoration of the nation of Israel. There is yet a future for the nation of Israel. And it is so sad to hear today by many professing Christians who say that God has finished with Israel, has finished with the Hebrews, has finished with the Jewish people. And Apostle Paul is right now determined to teach the believers at Rome that God has yet a future for the nation of Israel. So you know what he did? As we have already looked at, he bring witnesses to the witness stand. He brings persons or he brings events or things that have happened in history to show the Roman believers that Israel have yet a future.

The first witness he brought was himself in Romans 11:1 and 2a. He brought himself as a witness to the witness stand, and he said, "Look, there is a future for Israel. The proof of it is I am an Israeli, and I am the one that had been saved, and I am an early bird. God does yet have a future for the nation of Israel." Secondly, he brought Elijah, or Eliyahu as we call him in Hebrew, in verse 2b to the end of verse 10. And there he showed us that even if Elijah says, "I was the only one that was left," God says, "I have 7,000 souls who did not bow to the image of Baal." He is taking us to the book of 1 Kings, and he is showing to us that God still has a people in mind to be restored in the coming days.

And even in this present day, he has a remnant from among the nation of Israel. Thirdly, he brought before us the proof, or the third witness, as the nation, the Gentile nation themselves. And this we have had from verse 11 to verse 15. That was our last message together in the meeting last time. And there he showed to these believers at Rome that by Israel stumbling, by Israel falling, by Israel being cast off because of unbelief, there was a benefit to the Gentile world. And you remember, he said to them in the last verse where we have been speaking of in verse 15, he said, "If the casting away of them be reconciling to the world, what shall be the receiving of them but life from the dead?" You see, brothers and sisters at Rome, he is saying to them, "If you have benefited so much from Israel being casting away, as it were, being at the time being set, waiting for the coming of the Messiah, if their casting away becomes such a blessing to you, reconciling of the world, wait and see what's going to happen when they are going to be received by the Lord.

When they will receive the Messiah, it will be like life from the dead. Wait and see," he is saying to the Roman believers. So he talked about himself, he talked about Elijah, he talked about the proof of the salvation of the Gentiles in verses 11 to 15, and now he is going to a fourth witness in the text in which we just read, verses 16 to 24. And that text teaches us of the fourth proof that Israel has a future, and this speaks to us about the heritage of the people of Israel. Their heritage, we can say, the patriarchs, we can say, the fathers, we can say, that the proof that there is a future for Israel is evidenced by the fact that they have a promise that was given by God to the fathers.

If you remember, when we studied Romans 9, he said to them in verse 4, "From them," he says, "They are Israelis, from them pertains the adoptions and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the law, the services of God, the promises," and then he says in verse 5 of Romans 9, that from to them belong the fathers, the fathers. He takes us back now to when Israel began to be a nation through Father Abraham, Father Isaac, and Father Jacob. Abraham, Yitzhak, and Yaakov. And what he does here in these verses, it seems to be kind of complicated verses, but let's try by the grace of God to unfold those verses.

Look what he's doing here in those verses 16 all the way to verse 24. He gives us, first of all, in verse 16 and 17, he gives us an illustration, two illustrations. The one illustration is the illustration of a lump. A small piece come out of oil remaining, the coming out of a lump of dough. It says, use the word lump. And secondly, the second illustration, the illustration of an olive tree. Those two illustrations illustrate the nation of Israel, the tree and the branches. The whole lump and a piece of the lump of the dough of bread that was to be given to the Lord. He uses those two illustrations.

The first illustration, he's found in verse 16a. And from there on, he's moving to the second illustration. The lump is found in verse 16a and verse 16b and verse 17 and on. He's using the second illustration of the olive tree, which represents Israel and the blessings that belong to the nation of Israel. Let's look, first of all, of this illustration as the lump. Notice in verse 16, he says, "For if the first fruit..." By the way, you notice the word "if" mentioned here. It's mentioned many times here in Romans chapter 11. It's mentioned a few times. You notice verse 12, "If the fall of them be riches of the world." Notice verse 15, "If the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world." And he continues in verse 16, he says, "If the first fruit be holy, the lump is also holy." Now, what does he mean here when he used that word "first fruit"?

First fruit. It is often found in the Bible, brothers and sisters, this expression, the first fruit. What does the first fruit mean? The first portion of what we received really belongs to the Lord. The first portion that we have earned or gained really belongs to the Lord. Throughout the Old Testament, the Tanakh, God oftentimes used this expression for the people of Israel. He oftentimes used this expression to represent to us that whatever God had given to Israel in the beginning, God wanted from the people of Israel that the first of it will be given to him himself. Let me just show you this from a few passages in the Old Testament.

If you put your finger here, turn with me to Exodus chapter 13, and I want you to see a couple of verses there. Exodus chapter 13. This is important to see that in connection with the passage that we are reading. The lamp, the first fruit. Exodus chapter 13, verse 2. Exodus 13, I'm reading that right now. In verse 2, we read, "Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of a man and of a beast belongs to me. It is mine." Now, turn a little bit further on in Exodus chapter 22 and verse 29. Exodus 22 and verse 39. He continues and he's saying to the people of Israel, "You shall not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits and of thy liquors, the firstborn of thy sons thou shalt give unto me." Again, I'm repeating.

"Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits. The firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me." The firstfruits belong to him. The firstborn belong to him. Even the animals belong to him. God wants the firstfruits from his own people. Now, turn to the book of Leviticus for a moment. Chapter 23. Leviticus chapter 23. We know the feast of firstfruits there. And verse 9. Leviticus 23 verse 9. Again, the Lord speaking to the people of Israel about the firstfruits. And he says to them in verse 9. The Lord speak unto Moses and he said, Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I will give unto you, and ye shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest.

And ye shall reap the sheaf before the Lord to be accepted for you. See, in Exodus he is talking about the animals. The children. In Exodus he is talking about everything that God has given to you. The firstfruits you are going to give to me. In Leviticus he does the very same thing. He says when you are going to go into the promised land, the firstfruits of the sheaf that you bring, of the harvest that you bring, will become mine. You will bring it to me, you will wave it before the priest, and you will be accepted by me. One more verse in the book of Numbers this time.

Numbers chapter 15. And here is the connection with Romans 11 and verse 16. Again, this time he is speaking about bread. And now he is speaking about the bread in Numbers chapter 15, and in verse 17 the Lord is speaking unto Moses and he says, "Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them, When ye come into the land whither I bring you, then it shall be that when you eat of the bread of the land, ye shall offer up a heave offering unto the Lord. Ye shall offer up a cake of the first of your dough. For an heave offering, as ye do the heave offering of the threshing flow, and so shall ye heave it." Verse 21.

"Of the first of your dough shall ye give unto the Lord, and heave offering in your generation." Here we find out, now in Numbers chapter 15, that he is speaking about the dough and the bread that the people of Israel will be eating and enjoying in the land of Israel. God wants the first lump or the first part of this lump of dough to be given unto him. Now what is the lesson? The Apostle Paul takes Numbers chapter 15, in Romans chapter 11, and he is saying to the believers at Rome, he says listen, "If," verse 16, "the first would be holy, the rest of the lump is also holy." What is the word holy?

The word holy in Hebrew is kadosh or mekudash, simply means to be set apart for God. He's saying set apart for God. In other words, what we learned the lesson here, the first fruit represent to us here, the Abrahamic covenant which God had made with the nation of Israel, with Abraham, and with Isaac, and with Jacob. The Abrahamic covenant, beloved brothers and sisters, was an unconditional covenant with Abraham and his disciples. Abraham and his descendants. And what he's really saying here, that if the first fruit be holy, the rest of the lump is also set apart for God. If God has set apart Abraham with the promises that he had given Father Abraham, the rest of the lump, the rest of the descendants of Abraham also are set apart for God.

So really, what we have here, the first fruit in verse 16 is Abraham and the covenant that God had made with Abraham. The lump here in verse 16a is really the rest of the people of Israel. And the apostle Shaul, Paul is saying to the Roman believers, he's saying to them, if the first fruit is being set apart for God, then don't forget that the rest of the lump is not going to be set apart for God, because God has a plan and a purpose for the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And so the first fruit be holy. And so the first fruit be holy, the lump, the lump is, by the way, is the rest of the dough, you know, that is remained.

Like when Israel made that bread in Numbers chapter 15, a part of it was given to the Lord as the first fruit, but the rest of the lump that remain is also set apart by God for himself. And it's representing to us in Romans 11 and verse 16 as the rest of the nation of Israel. The lump is the nation. The first fruit is the peace from the lump that had been given unto the Lord. And that represent to us Abraham and the nation of Israel as a nation. So the first fruit is Abraham, his covenant, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. The lump represent to us the rest of the nation of Israel.

Then he's moving on in verse 16b and verse 17. He gives us the second illustration. And now this is also a very important illustration. In these two verses of verse and a half, he gives us the second illustration, which is the olive tree. Now, I'm not a farmer and I've never raised in a farm or olive trees. I've enjoyed many times in Israel to visit in Mount of Olives and in Galilee, many places where there is a lot of olive trees. Many believers also raise olive trees in the land of Israel. But that olive tree we find out in scripture, and I show you this from also the Old Testament, is a representation of the nation of Israel and the blessings that God had given to the nation of Israel.

And so in these verses, verse 16b and verse 17, he's leading us to the second illustration, the olive tree. He says in verse 16b, he says, give the root be holy. And again, I want to tell you the root of the olive tree represent the beginning, the foundation, the promises of God through Abraham and his descendants. The root here in verse 16b represent to us Abraham and the Abrahamic covenant. And then it says the branches are also holy. The branches represent to us the nation of Israel and the individuals from among the nation of Israel, who were represented by the branches that are growing out of this tree.

So Abraham and the Abrahamic covenant is the roots and the individuals of the nation of Israel represented by the branches. So he's saying in verse 16, if the root is holy, set apart for God, also the branches are holy, because the branches are that which comes out of that tree, the olive tree. In verse 17, he's now giving us this interesting illustration. He says, if some of the branches be broken off, and I want you to underline the word some, because many say that Israel as a nation completely have been set aside. The apostle Paul is telling us some, not all of the branches have been broken off because of unbelief in verse 17a.

And then he's speaking to the Roman believers. And he said to them, And you, brothers and sisters at Rome, you being a wild olive tree, you were grafted in among them. And with them, you are partakers of the root and the fatness of the olive tree. Here we get the first time the word olive tree. I don't know if you search in the scripture. Actually, Irene and I, this morning, were reading the passages in the Tanakh, in the Old Testament, in the prophets, the speaking of Israel as a nation, and the blessing that belonged to the nation of Israel, represented by this figure, olive tree.

Olive tree. A tree that is growing, and the branches are spreading, and the nation of Israel is represented by this expression, the olive tree. Not only the nation, but the nation and the blessings that flow out of this tree, because there are many blessings that God had given to the nation of Israel. So there are two passages in the Tanakh, in the Old Testament, we should really read, which speaks about Israel as the olive tree. Two passages. Let's turn to them for a moment, please. First of all, the prophet Jeremiah, chapter 11. Jeremiah, chapter 11. God is speaking to his people, Israel, through the prophet Jeremiah, and he's saying to the nation of Israel, in verse 16 and 17, he's saying to them, he's calling them, he says, "The Lord call thy name," speaking to Israel, he says, "The Lord call thy name an olive or a green olive tree, fair and of goodly fruit, with the noise of great tumult.

He has kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken. For the Lord of hosts that planted thee, has pronounced evil against thee. For the evil of the house of Israel, and of the house of Judah, which they have done against themselves, to provoke me to anger, in offering incense to Baal." Israel, at the time of Jeremiah, when God had longed to have Israel restored, the nation of Israel, at that time, were disciplined by God, who called them, as it says in verse 16, "a green olive tree." A green olive tree is a tree that is fresh and young, and started very well, and God has helped the olive tree to grow as a green olive tree, develop and growing and maturing.

But what happened to the nation of Israel? Israel, instead of worshipping their own God, the God of their fathers, He is accusing them, in Jeremiah 11 verse 17, "He pronounced evil against the nation of Israel." And why He pronounced evil against the nation of Israel, and the house of Judah? He tells them, "Because you provoke me to anger, in offering incense unto Baal." You see, God has always dealt with His people in Israel. When they disobeyed Him, when they provoked Him, and they dishonored Him, He disciplined them, and He judged them. But you see what He called them here, in verse 16 of Jeremiah 11, "a green olive tree, fair and goodly fruit." In other words, there was fruit in the beginning for the Lord, from the green olive tree.

There was something for God. But when Israel had turned away from the Lord, in other words, they put themselves under judgment. And God had to discipline them, and to send them captive to another land, to another nation. That's what we read about Israel in the prophet Jeremiah, in chapter 11. But look at another passage. Please turn to Hosea, also chapter 14. And look what God is saying there about the nation of Israel. Hosea, chapter 14. This is the last chapter of the prophet Hosea. Again, he is dealing with Israel, and he is describing the nation of Israel as an olive tree. And the Apostle Paul picked up on it in Romans chapter 11.

In verse 4 we read, "I will heal their backsliding. I will love them freely." He is speaking about the nation of Israel, because in verse 1 he says, "O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God." He is saying in verse 4, "Therefore I will heal their backsliding. I will love them freely, for mine anger is turned away from him. I will be as the dew unto Israel. He shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as the Lebanon." There he is talking about the restoration of the nation of Israel.

In Jeremiah he spoke about the discipline of the people of Israel. In Hosea chapter 14, he speaks about the restoration of Israel, when Israel with their backsliding will be restored, and God said, "I will love you freely, for mine anger is turned away from Israel." He says, "I will be as a dew unto Israel." In other words, there will be dew, fresh water to help the nation of Israel to be restored and growing again. He said, "He shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as the Lebanon, and his branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree." Twice in the Old Testament, in the Tanakh, Israel is described as the olive tree.

the olive tree. And Israel is described as the olive tree bring the fruit, the beauty of this olive tree that bring these olives, that out of these olives is oil. And out of this oil he speaks about fruit for God. The oil often times he speaks about the Holy Spirit of God, which uses us to bring fruit for God. And that's what he's describing here at the nation of Israel. Twice we read in the Scripture, in the Old Testament, that Israel is called an olive tree, and the fruit that come out of the olive tree. So I'm back now, please, brothers and sisters, back to Romans chapter 11 and verse 17.

And I want you to notice this, how the Lord has been through the Apostle Paul, talking to the Gentile believers. He said, "If some of the branches have been broken off." And then he says to them, "And you be in a wild olive tree." Now notice that. He described the Gentile believers as ones that came out of the wild olive tree. And he's describing the people of Israel, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as those who came out of the natural olive tree. And he's telling to the believers at Rome, he says, "Look, if some of them had been broken off, and you being a wild olive tree, you were grafted in among them." He says, "And with them you are partaking of the root," number one, "and the fatness of the olive tree." By the way, the root and the fatness.

The roots speak about the Abrahamic covenant and the promises of God through Abraham. The fatness represent the many blessings that come out of the Abrahamic covenant. And you see what happened? Every non-Hebrew believers in the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, are now had been brought in and become partakers of the root and the fatness of the olive tree. Now, let's not make a mistake. And many times I've heard being said by professing Christians. They say, "You see, because Israel disobedience and Israel rejection of the Messiah, all the blessings of Israel now have been transferred to the church, and now the church is the one who takes over with the blessings that were intended for Israel, and Israel is set aside, and now we are the one who took over all what God have intended for the nation of Israel." Now, if you read the text carefully, you will find out that he does not say that the Gentile believers took over the blessings or took over the place that God had for Israel, but he's saying here in verse 17 that they became partakers.

There is a difference between partakers or taking-overs. In other words, they take part of what God have intended for the nation of Israel. Look at these verses again. I'm reading verse 17. "You been a wild olive tree. You were grafted in among them, and with them you..." And notice, "with them you are partaking of the root and the fatness of the olive tree." wisdom meaning that the Gentile believers now benefited from the promises of God through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This expression, partakers, are very important. Not take-overs. Note that now the church replaced Israel. By the way, he does not speak here about the church per se.

He's speaking about individual believers from among the Gentile world who are benefiting from what God had blessed the nation of Israel through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This expression, partakers, are also found elsewhere in another passage that our pastor Paul wrote and this passage is in Ephesians 2. Can you please turn now to Ephesians 2 to show you what our pastor Paul mentioned to the believers there at Ephesus. Look at this. Ephesians 2. This is important. I know this passage in Romans 11:16-24 is not easy to understand, but it is important for us to see that in context. What does the apostle mean when he say those words to the believers at Rome?

Ephesians 2, beginning, I'll read from verse 11. He's saying to the believers at Ephesus, "Remember that ye being in time past, Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that in the time or in that time ye were without the Messiah, being alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, you were strangers from the covenants and the promise, having no hope, without God in the world. But now, in the Messiah Jesus, in Christ Jesus, ye who were sometime were far off, you are made nigh by the blood of the Messiah. For he is our peace, who has made both one and has broken down the middle wall of partition between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for to make in himself of the twain one new man, so making peace." chapter 3.

Just turn to two verses in chapter 3. Two verses in Ephesians chapter 3. And I read the earlier part of the verse, of the chapter, verse 5 and 6. "Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and the prophets by the Spirit," and here is that verse, verse 6, "that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs of the same body and partakers of the promise in Christ by the gospel." See that expression? Partakers? This expression is mentioned in Ephesians 3 and verse 6, and is mentioned also in our chapter, in Romans chapter 11 and verse 17, the Gentile believers became partakers, but never we read of them as becoming takers-overs.

Because the promises of God through Abraham to the nation of Israel still remain intact because God has yet a plan for the nation of Israel. So, the first fruit: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The lamp is the rest of the nation of Israel. The roots in verse 17 of the olive tree represent the Abrahamic covenant and the branches representing the individuals from among the nation of Israel. And now, in this verse, that the wild olive tree, the branches from the wild olive tree were grafted in among them, and with them they are partakers of the root and the fatness of the olive tree. So, the believers from among the Gentile world benefited now, when Israel had been set aside for a season, when Israel is casting away, Israel has been blinded, the Gentile world benefited, and now they can be partakers of the root and the fatness of the olive tree.

The root is the Abrahamic covenant. The fatness is the promise of the Abrahamic covenant. So many promises God had given. Unconditional promises that God had given to the nation of Israel. Promises of redemption unconditionally. And you and I, beloved brothers and sisters, have benefited because you and I came in by faith and not by works. And that is the problem of the nation of Israel. They thought that they could gain it by works. That they can gain it by being the natural branches. They could gain it without faith and they end up stumbling. And believers from among the Gentile world had benefited from that. So, the Gentiles, by faith, became partakers in Israel, spiritual blessing.

They do not take over the spiritual blessing that God had given the nation of Israel. They became partakers, but not takers-overs. So, this is a difficult passage, but it needs to be explained. It seems to be very boring, and yet it is important to understand. So, now in these next verses, verses 18 on to verse 24, we find out that Paul gives the Gentile believers warnings. Now, this is important to understand. Here, he gives a warning. You see, they might be proud of the fact, you see, God has cast them away because God wanted us. And now we have benefit from that. We will start to be proud, and we don't need to be warned.

And here, the Apostle Paul is giving warning to the believers at Rome. And he's saying to them, in verse 18, the first thing he's telling them in verse 18, "Do not boast against the branches." Boasting is something that God resists. Israel had the same problem historically. You know that very well. Israel boasted. They boasted in the fact that, you see, we have the fathers. We have the covenants. We had the promises. And therefore, they were boasting. They were boasting, and the Bible teaches us that God resists the proud and the one who boasts. He doesn't want us to boast. We have been speaking just last week, overseas, about the natural boasting that man has.

There is a boasting of race. There is a boasting of place. There is a boasting of faith. But there is even boasting of grace. That's how we are. People are boasting because they came from this race. Others are boasting because they have a great place. There are those who are beautiful and attractive. They are even boasting in their face. But we can even boast in grace. We can say, you see, I received the grace of God, and I will boast in the grace of God thinking that I deserved it. That there is something that was special in me. And our pastor Paul is saying to the believers, he says, do not boast against the natural branches.

He says, do not boast against the branches. But if you boast, remember that you do not bear the root, but the root bears you. He is saying to the believers, to the Christians, to the believers in the Messiah now, to the Roman believers to whom he wrote. But he is also speaking to every believer from among the Gentile world. He is saying to them, listen, don't boast. Don't you boast against the branches. Remember, he is saying to them in verse 18, that you are not bearing the root. The root again, remember as we go back to verse 16 and 17. The root is the promises of God in the Abrahamic covenant.

That's the root. And he is telling to the believers, listen, you should not boast against the branches. Don't you boast against the branches? Because remember, you don't bear the root, but the root bears you. And he takes us back to the Abrahamic covenant. You know, the unconditional promises of God to Father Abraham. You remember when he told him in Genesis chapter 12. He says, get thee out of your father's house, out of your country, out of your family. And to a land which I will show thee of. And I will make you a blessing. And in thee shall all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

The Abrahamic covenant unconditional. And so he's saying to the brothers and sisters at Rome, he says, you do not boast against the branches. But if you boast, remember that you do not bear the root, but the root bear you. Don't you be proud. Don't you be. You know, that was the problem, by the way, of Israel in the history of our people before the coming of the Messiah. Israel oftentimes, when they were in a sad spiritual state, they boasted wrongfully. See, we need to boast in God. We need to boast in the Messiah. We need to boast in Yeshua, in the love of God. But to boast in our position, to boast in ourselves, is a step towards a fall.

God resists the proud, but he gives grace unto the humble. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, and he will exalt you in due time. So God, through the Apostle Paul saying to the believers at Rome, Do not boast, because you are not bearing the root, but the root bears you. Then he continues in verse 19, 20, 21, and 22, that he shows us in those verses that faith brought the Gentile believers at Rome into that relationship. And only faith, not anything special in themselves. But it was simply the grace of God through faith in Yeshua the Messiah that brought them into that relationship. And he's saying in those verses, notice verse 19, "Thou will say then, the branches were broken off that I might be grafted in." You know, this is rather sad.

You know, somebody might say, you know, the branches, this means the people of Israel, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They had been cut through. They had been broken off. So I will come in. Then in verse 20, he's saying, well, he says, because of unbelief, they were broken off. And you, standing by faith, do not be high-minded, but feel." You see, verse 20 says, unbelief. You know, what caused Israel, as a nation, not to enjoy the Abrahamic covenant today? You know what it caused? Simply, the fact that they did not believe God's word. They didn't believe what God said in his word. God already said to Abraham, and Abraham, he gave him promises.

Abraham believed God. Genesis 15, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. But Israel, when the Messiah came, they did not believe in the finished work of Yeshua the Messiah. And they sought by works to gain righteousness. And so, the Apostle Paul saying to the believers at Rome, he says, listen, he says, you are standing because of faith. And because of unbelief, they were broken off. See, what Israel really needs, even today, what Israel really needs is just faith in the Lord Jesus, the Messiah. Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God, Romans chapter 10 and verse 17. Without faith, it is impossible to please God.

For he that cometh unto God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek after him. Hebrews chapter 11. Ephesians chapter 2. By faith, or by grace are ye saved through faith. And this is not of yourself, it is a gift of God, lest any man should boast. You see, brothers and sisters, you and I, as believers today, the only reason that we are where we are is because we believed in the finished work of Yeshua the Messiah. For God so loved the world, John 3, 16, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him, he shall not perish, but have everlasting life.

So faith, faith is essential. So Israel, sadly to say, up to this present day, they are still remaining in unbelief as a nation, as a nation. Waiting the day when they will finally recognize the Messiah, and they will believe they're going to get a hold of what Yeshua, the Messiah, have done for them. So the Apostle Paul is telling them, listen, unbelief caused the breaking off of the nation of Israel. Unbelief caused them still to remain where they are. Because of unbelief, they were broken off. And thou standest by faith, be not high-minded, but fear. Fear. This is verse 20. Verse 21, God is able to judge, we read here in verse 21.

And look at this, brothers and sisters. For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. Now a lot of people took this verse, verse 21, and they began to teach the possibility of losing one's salvation. Now this is very dangerous to teach. Because we understand from the Bible that once a person is saved, truly saved, he can never lose his or her salvation. This verse, verse 21, does not speak about salvation or eternal salvation, but it speaks about the fact that God could remove the Gentiles from the place of blessings. He doesn't talk about losing of salvation, cutting them off once they are saved, because we can never lose our salvation.

Our salvation is secure in the Messiah because of his work. But the Gentile world can be losing of salvation. But the Gentile world can be losing out or be removed from the place of blessings. As Israel as a nation had been removed from the blessing that God had intended for them, and they are waiting the day that they will be restored. Now, he does not talk here about the losing of one's salvation, but he is talking here about the possibility that God is able to, as it says, take heed lest he also spare thee not. God is able to remove the Gentile world from the place of blessing which God has intended to have for them.

Now, I want to read also another couple of verses here in connection with this verse. You know, we have today what is known the body of Christ, the body of Messiah, but we also have a larger group which we call Christendom today. This is the people who profess to be, belong to the Lord Jesus the Messiah. Now, out of the totality of professing Christians or Christendom, we have the smaller group which we know as the true believers, the true body of Christ. Now, the whole totality, the whole professing Christian community, all of them are under the privilege of accepting the Messiah. They are exposed to the truth of God.

They are even naming the name of Jesus the Messiah. But in reality, not all of them truly belong to the Lord Jesus. Now, what's going to happen in the coming days? God is going to judge those who profess to be believers, but yet never came to know Yeshua as their Lord and Savior personally, individually. The apostles oftentimes speak about this group in quite a few places in the New Testament. In fact, he's mentioned it when he's writing to Timothy in 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy. And he's also mentioning this group when he's writing to the believers at Thessalonica in 2 Thessalonians. He's telling that there is coming a day when God is going to deal with those who only professed the name of Yeshua, only have been under the umbrella of the name of Yeshua, but never became truly the children of God.

It seems to have a reference to this in verse 21: "For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed, lest he also not spare you." See, the natural branches are physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But they did not believe what God has spoken to the nation of Israel through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And therefore they were cut off! They were judged by God! Well, in a very similar way, those who profess the name of Jesus from among the nation of the world, who have not truly taken the Lord into their life, God will judge them also in the coming days. And they will never enjoy eternal relationship with the Lord because they have been boasting in the name of Jesus, but never made him the Lord of their life.

And that's why verse 21 is an important verse. "God is able to judge." "If God did not spare the natural branches, take heed, lest he also spare thee not." We can look at that in both ways. On one way, he removed the Gentiles from the place of blessing. In another way, he judged those who only profess the name of Jesus, but never have embraced him as their Lord and Savior. And so, in verse 22 now, as he's speaking about faith, brought the Gentile believers into this privilege. In verse 22 he says, "Look, behold therefore the goodness and the severity of God. On them which fell, severity. But towards you, goodness.

If you will continue in his goodness. Otherwise, you will also be cut off." That word "be cut off." "You will also be removed from the place of blessings which God have intended to give you." That's what he's saying here. He doesn't talk about the losing of salvation of a believer, but the place of blessing that he intended for the people of God. Let me just please read to you a couple more verses in the epistles. Could you turn with me to 1 Timothy chapter 4. 1 Timothy 4. Very difficult passage. Very dry passage, if you will, to explain, yet so important to understand. 1 Timothy chapter 4 verse 1. Now the Spirit speaks expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, Giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrine of demons, speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with hot iron, forbidding to marry, commending to abstain from meats which God has created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.

Then he continued in verse 6, if thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, you should be a good minister of Jesus the Messiah. Paul telling to Timothy, listen, in the latter days, in the last time, the latter times, there will be those who will depart from the faith. Paul is saying to Timothy, you make sure that you present or put the brethren in remembrance of these things which I have given to you, because in the latter times, there will be those who will depart from the faith. They may profess the name of Yeshua, but actually, truly will not follow what he teaches in his word.

Another verse, in 2 Timothy chapter 3, again he's writing to Timothy in the second epistle, and again he's speaking about the last days or the latter times in verse 1. This know also, that in the last days, perilous times shall come, for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truthbreakers, truthbreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fearers, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures, more than lovers of God. Now listen, verse 5, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof, from such turn away. See, Paul, again speaking, now by the way, he doesn't speak about the world, the outside world, here, in 2 Timothy chapter 3.

He's speaking about those who profess to be believers in God. Those who name the name of Jesus. Those who claim to be godly, but denying the power thereof, he says, turn away from them. Turn away from them. They have been privileged. They have come into a place that they can enjoy the blessing of God, that God have intended for them. But they rejected the truth. And God removed in judgment, he's able to judge these individuals. One more verse, in 2 Timothy chapter 2. He's again, now Peter is writing there. 2 Peter chapter 2. Peter is now writing, and he's also dealing with the latter days, with the last days.

2 Thessalonians chapter 2. And I'm reading from verse 1. But there were false prophets also among the people, speaking about the people of Israel. Even if there shall be false teachers among you, who privately shall bring damnable heirs. Ever, he says, even denying the Lord. I'm reading verse 1 of 2 Peter 2. Denying the Lord that bought them, and bringing upon themselves swift destruction. I'm not going to read all these verses up to verse 12. But he's telling us here exactly what Paul was saying to Timothy. Peter is saying to the early believers in 1st century. He says, listen, in the last days, later on, there were those that will come, there will be false teachers, and they will deny the law that bought them.

Now, I'm connecting us here with Romans 11, and the verses that we read in verse 19 and 20, 21 and 22. Those verses that we are reading, the apostle is warning the Gentile believers not to boast. Because only through faith, they have been brought into this relationship, not to boast against the natural branches. Because God is able to judge. And those gods spared not the natural branches, in verse 21, take heed lest ye also spare thee not. The ones that have been brought to be able to enjoy the spiritual blessing and rejected it, God is able to remove this from them. And now, quickly, verse 22, he's saying to them, you continue.

Continue in the goodness of the Lord that is upon you. He says, look, the goodness and the severity of God. On you, it is goodness. And of them, he says severity. He says, but towards thee, goodness. If you continue in his goodness, otherwise, you will be also cut off. He says, listen, continue to enjoy the goodness of the Lord, which led to repentance and faith in him. Severity fell upon the natural branches. God disciplined. But one day is coming, and he is going to restore them. You do not boast against the natural branches. And so now, finally, in verse 23 and 24, he's telling to them, Israel eventually will be restored.

And so, he's saying, they also, he says, if they abide not still in unbelief, they shall be grafted in. For God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut out of an olive tree, which is wild by nature, and you were grafted or be brought in contrary to nature into the good olive tree, how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? In those last verses, verses 23 and 24, Israel's unbelief is the only thing that hold them or stop them from being restored again. When Israel as a nation can just imagine, when people such as my father and my mother and my aunt and my brother, I'm talking about personally, if people of my own family only believe, that's all, only believe in what Yeshua has done, they will be brought back into a relationship with the Lord.

Any one of us here who is Jewish, who is from Israel, any one of your family, if only they believe, that's what's holding them from being brought back into that relationship with the Lord. God is able to bring them back to himself, and that's what's going to happen in a future day. They will end up as a nation, not only as individuals, like some of us, but as a nation, Israel will come to faith in Jesus the Messiah, in the Lord Yeshua the Messiah, and they will be restored to the Lord. Why we should expect Israel to be restored? It is because of God's unconditional promises to Abraham.

In verse 24, You were cut out of an olive tree which was wild by nature, and you were grafted in contrary to nature and to the good olive tree. How much more shall these which be the natural branches be grafted unto their own, notice his expression, their own olive tree. The olive tree represents the blessings of God for Israel. It belonged to them, it's not belonged to anybody else. And they are able to be grafted in only if they believe in God's provision through Yeshua the Messiah. Difficult passage, brothers and sisters. Very dry, yet very precious. If we understood what we have learned today, it will help us to see that the church did not replace Israel.

The church is the church, Israel is Israel. Israel is waiting the day of restoration. Once you and I are going to be taken out of here, as the church, God is going to restore the nation of Israel to himself. We are going to deal, finally, with Romans 11, verses 25 to the end of the chapter, and we will see the conclusion next time by the will of the Lord.