Bible Commentaries
Romans 11

Verses 1-10

God has not cast away His people (Romans 11:1-10)

Now, in the first ten verses, we have this fact that God has not cast away his people whom He foreknew.

Romans 11:1. I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

Romans 11:2 a. God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew.

You see, the Jew is liable to say, “What’s the use? God has cast us off and we are done for.”

Paul says, “Wait a minute, wait a minute. I’m a Jew. I’m an Israelite. I’m of the tribe of Benjamin. I’m of the seed of Abraham. God hasn’t cast me off.

He has not cast away His people whom He fore­knew.”

And I’m sure that just as Paul was speaking to them, thousands and thousands of other Jews who have accepted the Saviour can say the same thing. Paul was living proof that God had not cast His people off. Remember, He did not choose them because they were many. He chose them because He loved them.

    Romans 11:2 b. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?

    Romans 11:3. “Lord, THEY HAVE KILLED THY PROPHETS, THEY HAVE TORN DOWN THINE ALTARS, AND I ALONE AM LEFT, AND THEY ARE SEEKING MY LIFE.”

    Romans 11:4. But what is the divine response to him? “I HAVE KEPT FOR MYSELF SEVEN THOUSAND MEN WHO HAVE NOT BOWED THE KNEE TO BAAL.”

    Romans 11:5. In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God’s gracious choice.

Has God cast away His people whom He fore­knew? God forbid. He has always had a people in this nation, even when it was away from Him in apostasy and idolatry and corruption. He always had those, a remnant of the nation, who trusted Him.

Take this man Elijah in 1 Kings 17:1-24; 1 Kings 18:1-46; 1 Kings 19:1-21 espe­cially. The whole nation had followed Ahab, the wicked king. All the people worshiped Baal.

Ahab said, “If you find any prophet of Jehovah, you kill him. You get rid of him.” He tried to stamp out the worship of Jehovah.

Elijah saw the overwhelming flood of unbelief. He said, “Lord, you might as well get rid of me since I’m the last one.” You remember, he “wished in himself to die.”

But God said, “Listen, I’ve got 7,000 who have never bowed the knee to Baal.”

Elijah didn’t know who they were. Certainly Obadiah, who was the governor of Ahab’s house, “feared the Lord greatly.” But nobody knew about it. That’s just like today. We have a great many Christians—and I’m not going to question that they are not Christians (that’s between them and the Lord)—who give no public indication that they are the Lord’s. My heart doesn’t run after Obadiah. My heart runs after Elijah.

I have talked to many Christians who have come to the place in their discouragement where they think they are the only ones who love the Saviour. I have met preachers who felt they were the only ones who had the truth. I want to tell you, my friend, that God will always have a remnant of those who love Him.

When one sees the way things are going, I tell you it makes the heart sad. It ought to drive us to our knees in intercession on behalf of our own country as we see even in so-called Christendom cold indifference to the person of Christ.

You know, it’s bad enough to be indifferent; but it’s terrible when one is satisfied in his indiffer­ence.

Are you one of God’s remnant today? Are you, as one who loves the Saviour, standing for Him in the midst of a world of corruption and in the midst of a Christendom that has run after the social gos­pel? God always has His people. He always has a remnant that loves Him.

Romans 11:6. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.

Nobody has ever been saved by his works— nobody, not from Adam down to the present time. Nobody has ever been fitted for the presence of God on the ground of any works, either moral or religious or any other kind. One is saved only on the ground of the matchless grace of God. Not grace plus something. Grace by faith A-L-O-N-E.

After speaking of this question of grace and works, Paul says:

Romans 11:7. What then? That which Israel is seeking for, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened;

Romans 11:8. Just as it is written, “GOD GAVE THEM A SPIRIT OF STUPOR, EYES TO SEE NOT AND EARS TO HEAR NOT, DOWN TO THIS VERY DAY.”

Romans 11:9. And David says, “LET THEIR TABLE BECOME A SNARE AND A TRAP, AND A STUMBLING BLOCK AND A RETRIBUTION TO THEM.

Romans 11:10. LET THEIR EYES BE DARKENED TO SEE NOT, AND BEND THEIR BACKS FOREVER.”

God is gathering out individuals, Jews and Gentiles, and calling them to Himself, knitting them together in His Son Jesus Christ and making of them what is known as “the Church.”

You find this in Acts 15:14-16. “Simeon hath de­clared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is writ­ten, After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up.”

What for? That the rest of the Gentiles might be brought to Christ. This is going to be the job of the remnant in the tribulation and in the millennium. God is going to reveal Himself through Israel in that day.

Israel did not obtain (Romans 11:7) what it sought for. Why not?

Because it was seeking it by works. As a result, eyes were darkened and all its national hope as pictured in David came to nothing. They became so much the enemy of their own good that David’s curse on the enemies of Jehovah’s servant (Psalms 69:22) fell on them themselves.

Now, what is God’s purpose for Israel in the fu­ture? Is God through with Israel? We see them scattered all over the face of the earth. Only a small remnant has gone back to Israel. Is God through with them?

Verses 1-36

Romans 11:1-36

When we come to this 11th chapter, we find in the fulfillment of prophecy God’s future

dealings with the nation Israel. Its rejection is nei­ther total nor final. The bringing in of the Gentiles, which He has been doing for more than 1900 years, will not alter the promises of God to Israel.

So we find that the Lord has in a wonderful way manifested His grace and His love and His pa­tience to Israel. And, when we come to this 11 th chapter, we find that God is going to fulfill every word, every promise, every covenant He made with this people.

GOD’S FUTURE DEALINGS WITH ISRAEL
IN THE FULFILLMENT OF PROPHECY (Romans 11:1-36)

Verses 11-32

God’s purpose for Israel in the future (Romans 11:11-32)

Romans 11:11. I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous.

Romans 11:12. Now if their transgression be riches for the world and their failure be riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be!

Romans 11:13. But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry,

Romans 11:14. If somehow I might move to jealousy my fellowcoun­trymen and save some of them.

Romans 11:15. For if their rejection be the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?

You can see what the Lord is doing. If He can stir the Jews up to jealousy, then they might turn to Him. Follow the Book of Acts as the Apostle Paul goes from city to city, starting in chapter 13 when he and Barnabas went out. You will notice that, when they went to the synagogues, certain ones were saved. The Gentiles heard the Word of God, and a great multitude of them believed.

Then the Jews became very envious. But, in­stead of their being stirred up to jealousy to turn to the Lord, they turned against Him.

But Paul here says, “This is what we are doing. If a few Jews can reach so many Gentiles with the Word of God, what will happen when the Gentiles do the preaching? What will happen when entire Gentile nations are saved?” It would mean the sal­vation of the world.

And this is what God is going to do with the Jewish nation. For more than 1900 years the Gen­tiles have had the gospel and have preached it to the world. But, today, hundreds of millions of peo­ple in the world know nothing of the Saviour. If Old Testament Israel failed in its job of making known to the nations the wonders of God, I can say very frankly that the Church of Jesus Christ in 1900 years hasn’t done its job either.

There will not be a reaching of the nations of the earth until Israel is gathered in, purged and sent out as God’s messengers. Isaiah 66:8 declares, “A nation shall be born in a day.” This is going to mean the salvation of the world, and then we are going to get into the millennium.

Now let’s go down to the next statement in Romans 11:16-24.

Paul brings up again this question of national privilege. He is not dealing with the question of salvation but with divine privilege. He is not deal­ing with the Church at all. He is dealing with the nation Israel and with Gentiles.

Romans 11:16. And if the first piece of dough be holy, the lump is also; and if the root be holy, the branches are too.

Romans 11:17. But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree,

Romans 11:18. Do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you.

God gives the nation hope here. He is not through with the Jews.

It is true they are going back to the land of Israel today, but most of them are going back in unbe­lief. Their great theme is not going back to meet the Messiah. They are going back to the land be­cause of Zionism. They are going back to the land of their forefathers. They may not realize it but God is beginning to gather the Jews together so that eventually He can keep His promises and His covenant with them.

So we have found that God is not through with Israel. He is going to bring it back to life. “For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the Gentiles, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?”

Now, notice three things; and I want them to be very clear in your mind. The olive tree has to do with the question of testimony on the earth, na­tional testimony. You find this in Jeremiah 11:16 where you have the nation as an olive tree having the national privilege of testifying to the nations of the earth.

The vine has to do with fruitbearing. In Isaiah 5:1-30, in Jeremiah 2:21; Jeremiah 24:6, God speaks of Israel as planted in a vineyard to produce fruit unto God; and, when He went to get the fruit, instead of get­ting good fruit He found sour grapes. As a result, He scattered the Jews.

Now the fig tree mentioned in the Gospels speaks of the remnant of Israelites who returned to Jerusalem from Babylon under Ezra and Nehe­miah and who rebuilt the temple and city wall; and this carries right on through until 70 A.D. when they were scattered. This was the remnant that returned from captivity so that Messiah might be born.

Then, you remember, our Lord toward the end of His journey among men went from Bethany and crossed the valley of Kidron. He found a fig tree with a lot of leaves but no fruit, and He cursed the fig tree. As He came by on His return, the disciples said, “See, it is all withered.”

Now Matthew 24:32 says, “When you see the fig tree putting forth her leaves, you know that sum­mer is nigh, even at the door.” Luke 21:30 adds a little statement, “When you see the fig tree and the olive tree putting forth their leaves, you know that summer is nigh.” Luke is speaking of the Lord’s second return, His second coming to the earth.

You see, friend, our Lord is going to return to the earth for a purpose. He is going to gather Is­rael, “the remnant,” the fig tree.

So the olive tree represents the place of privi­lege and testimony, the vineyard has to do with fruitbearing and the fig tree has to do with the remnant of Israel. All three pertain to the nation Israel.

Now let’s go back to Romans 11:1-36. I want to look more closely at Romans 11:17-22 and examine Is­rael’s privilege.

Romans 11:17. But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree,

Romans 11:18. Do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you.

Romans 11:19. You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.”

Romans 11:20. Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, and you stand only by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear;

Romans 11:21. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you.

Romans 11:22. Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.

Please, please do not read into that personal salvation. He is talking about the olive tree, the place of witnessing to the nations of the earth. And because they didn’t do their job, the Jews were cut off through unbelief. And we Gentiles were grafted in, contrary to nature. You have it in Galatians 3:7, “Those who are of faith are the children of Abraham.” In other words, we were grafted in to salvation by faith.

Now you don’t graft a wild branch into a good tree. You generally do the opposite. And if God cut them off because of their failure and disobedience, then God is going to cut the Gentile off.

When the Church is gone from the scene and our testimony is through, God is going to turn around, pick up the people of Israel and restore them to the place of privilege. Isaiah 43:10, you remember, speaks of the fact that they are going to be witnesses for God to the nations of the earth. Every Jew in that day is going to be a witness for God.

You remember in Isaiah that the Gentiles will call the Jews “priests unto God.” Nations will rec­ognize that the Israelites are God’s people, God’s witnesses concerning Himself. And what we have not been able to do in 1900 years, the nation Is­rael is going to do when this godly remnant is brought into a wonderful relationship with Him.

Now this brings us right down to Romans 11:23.

Romans 11:23.And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in; for God is able to graft them in again.

Romans 11:24.For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a culti­vated olive tree, how much more shall these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?

I believe the time is very near when the Gen­tiles are going to be broken off. I think this be­cause passages like 2 Timothy 3:1-5 speak of the professing Church in the last days. Allow me to quote these five verses to you: “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boast­ful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, un­grateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, mali­cious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; and avoid such men as these.”

This is not a picture of the world. If you want a picture of the worldling, you go to Romans 1:1-32 or Galatians 5:1-26. This is a picture of the professing Church. The world has always been this way. But here is the Church of Christ—that is, the profess­ing Church of Christ. It is the Laodicean Church of Revelation 3:1-22. God is going to spew them out be­cause they are boastful. They don’t need a Sav­iour. They don’t need the Spirit of God. They don’t need the Word of God. They say, “We are rich, we are increased with goods, we have need of noth­ing.”

And God says, “You are poor and blind and na­ked.”

God is going to spew the professing Church out of His mouth. The real Church, the real believer, is going to be translated to be with his Lord.

Verses 25-32

He will bring them back to Himself again
(Romans 11:25-32)

Romans 11:25. For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery, lest you be wise in your own estimation, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles has come in

What is the mystery? That blindness in part is happened to Israel. For 1900 years the Jewish people, who had the Word of God, have been scat­tered among the nations under the discipline of God.

They are blind. They will be blind as a people until the fulness of the Gentiles has come in.

Here in my city, I remember meeting a dear man; and I just loved this dear old man, this dear old Jew. And I can just see him now as I talked to him about the Saviour.

He said, “Mr. Mitchell, I know what you are go­ing to say to me. I know what you are going to say—but my children. They have turned from Ju­daism. They have turned from the Law.”

And he wept. “My heart is broken.”

I said, “But you know that the Bible said this.”

“I know what you are going to say to me,” he said. And the tears just ran down his cheek and off his beard.

Here was a dear man, heart broken because his children were not following the way of the law of Moses. You see, he could think of nothing else. He was spiritually blind.

We Gentiles are to recognize this mystery so that we will not be wise in our own conceits. We are not to be ignorant of the fact that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles has come in.

Now what is the fulness of the Gentiles? Friend, this I believe has to do with the question of the Church of Jesus Christ. Allow me to contrast two passages of Scripture.

Remember, in the Gospel through Luke it speaks in chapter 21:24 that Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are filled full. Now there is a difference be­tween “the times of the Gentiles” and “the fulness of the Gentiles.”

We have been living in a time when God is gath­ering out a people for His name, called “the Church.” This is “the fulness of the Gentiles,” and it will end at the translation of the saints.

But the “times of the Gentiles” starts from the reign of Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon, when he took the people of Israel into captivity; and it runs right through until the Lord begins to deal with Israel in the tribulation period and then sets up His kingdom. Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be filled full.

And, when you see what is happening in Israel today, you can lift up your head, my friend, if you are a Christian, because your redemption draws near. But the Church, the “fulness of the Gen­tiles,” starts with the resurrection of Christ and lasts until the translation of the Church.

“Blindness in part” has happened to Israel until the “fulness of the Gentiles” has come in. And when I see that God today is gathering Israel to­gether and I see the move of God upon Israel, oh, if ever there were a time when we Christians needed to lift up our heads for our redemption draws near, it is now.

Romans 11:26. And thus all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.”

Romans 11:27. “AND THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.”

Even though Israel has been unfaithful to God, God will still be faithful to His covenant, to His promise.

“Does that mean that every Jew in the world is going to be saved, Mr. Mitchell?” you ask.

No. You see in the time of tribulation, after the Church has been taken away, God will begin to deal with the nation Israel.

First, He will purge out her rebels, her unbeliev­ers. “And it will come about in all the land,” de­clares the LORD, “that two parts in it will be cut off and perish; but the third will be left in it. And I will bring the third part through the fire, refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will an­swer them; I will say, ‘They are My people,’ and they will say, ‘The LORD is my God. ’” (Zechariah 13:8-9).

The greater percentage of Jews going back to Israel today do not have a heart burning to see the Saviour. Just as there was a remnant in the time of Elijah, so Paul says that at this same time there is a remnant according to the election of grace.

You read in Isaiah 66:1-24 that a nation—and who­ever heard of such a thing—will be born in a day. How are they going to be born in a day? When they see the Lord Jesus Christ come, they are going to say, “This is our Lord. We have waited for Him.”

You see, the Apostle Paul was saved by a per­sonal appearance of the Saviour on the road to Damascus, Acts 9:1-43. As Saul, he was full of murder and hatred for the Christians, for the “people of The Way.” He called them anything and everything and threw them in jail. He was ready to kill these blasphemers who claimed that Jesus was God. Then God met him, and he was saved by a per­sonal appearance of the Lord Jesus. That’s why in 1 Corinthians 15:8 he could say he was “one un­timely born.”

Paul, what do you mean by that?

Well, the nation of Israel is going to be saved in one day by the personal appearance of Jesus Christ. They shall see Him whom they pierced and shall say, “What are these wounds?”

And He shall say, “I was wounded in the house of my friends” (Zechariah 13:6). And there will be national repentance.

Paul is a living illustration of how the nation is going to be saved. “I was born ahead of the time.” He knew what the Bible said—that the nation Is­rael was going to be saved by the personal appear­ance of Christ. “Out of Zion shall come forth the Deliverer,” not from heaven but from Zion.

He came the first time to the earth to Israel, to fulfill the promises made to the fathers. “I am sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” He is going to come the second time to the earth for the salvation of Israel, to deliver them from their ene­mies and to judge the nations of the earth (Deu­teronomy 30).

And we believers wait for the translation of the Church. We are not going to meet Him on earth. We are going to meet Him in the heavens. We are going to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air and be forever with the Lord.

But Israel, when the Lord comes the second time, will be surrounded by its enemies. All the nations of the earth will be against it. And the only way of deliverance is up. And that’s when God be­gins to pour out His wrath upon the nations of the earth. He is going to judge them, and He is going to reign on the earth. He is going to turn ungodli­ness away from Jacob, saying, “This is My cove­nant with them, when I shall take away their sins” (Romans 11:27). He is going to make a new cove­nant with the people of Israel.

“But, Mr. Mitchell,” you say, “the new covenant is what God made with the Church.”

I’m well aware of the fact that there is a cer­tain sense in which the new covenant takes us in. But when you take Hebrews 8:1-13, God is going to make a new covenant with the house of Israel when He takes away its sins. You take Jeremiah 31:1-40; Jeremiah 32:1-44. You take Ezekiel 37:1-28 and you have the same thing—God is going to take away the heart of stone in His people. He is going to give them a heart of flesh.

Let’s read Hebrews 8:8-10: “Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, when I will effect a new covenant with the House of Israel and with the House of Judah; not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; for they did not continue in My covenant, and I did not care for them, says the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the House of Israel after those days, says the Lord.”

And then Paul quotes from Jeremiah 31:33-34: “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. And they shall not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

This is written to Israel, not to us as members of the Church, as individual Christians. It’s true that when you and I accepted the Saviour, we were forgiven every sin, cleansed from every transgres­sion.

We passed from death to life. We will never again come into judgment as sinners. We are covered with the righteousness of Christ. We have become the children of God, the recipients of eternal life and fitted for eternal glory. Now that’s the Church.

But don’t you be jealous of what God is going to do with Israel. Remember, it is going to be on the ground of grace. Two-thirds of Israel will be cut off. He is going to bring one-third through the fire. This is what we have in the tribulation period, ac­cording to Jeremiah 30:1-24. This is “the time of Jacob’s distress” (30:7). That’s when God is going to purge Israel. And then, when He comes, He is going to make a new covenant with the house of Israel.

After the Church has been taken away, He is going to purge out of Israel her rebels; and He is going to bring Israel to Himself. He is going to make them a wonderful, wonderful people; and they are going to know the Lord after He takes away their sins and brings them into a new cove­nant with Himself. And their sins and their iniqui­ties will be remembered no more.

Romans 11:28. From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers.

When God made His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, He made an everlasting cove­nant. When He made His covenant with David, it was an everlasting covenant; and, when He made those covenants, He knew all about Israel. Don’t you forget that. He knew exactly what they would do.

In fact, if you read Deuteronomy 28:1-68; Deuteronomy 29:1-29 and the beginning of 30 where Moses declared the bless­ings and the curses, you will notice he is very posi­tive as he writes that they are going to come under the judgment of God. But, nevertheless, even down through the centuries, they are still beloved for the fathers’ sakes.

But, because of their enmity, God opened the door to the Gentiles. That doesn’t mean that He doesn’t love the Jew. That doesn’t mean He’s not going to complete His promises to the Jew. Every covenant He made with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David He is going to fulfill.

You talk about the grace of God. You talk about the mercy of God. They don’t deserve mercy any more than you do. But God has manifested His grace to you and to me. He forgave us our sins and blotted them out, never to see them again. Cannot God do the same thing for Israel?

My friend, thank God. He opened the door to the Gentiles so that you and I could be saved. But the time is going to come after the Church is gone when He is going to judge the nations of the earth, He is going to purge the rebels out of Israel, and He is going to make a new covenant. But He still loves them.

And then Paul makes this amazing statement:

Romans 11:29. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

Ecclesiastes 3:14 says, “I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it, for God has so worked that men should fear Him.”

When God starts a thing, He finishes it. Now He may not do it on the split second, but He will do it in His own good time.

When God called Israel to be His people, He knew exactly what they would do; yet He still chose them. His word to them is as eternal as the new heavens and the new earth which He is going to make. God never repents in manifesting His grace to man. He still saves and He still keeps. Even Israel’s rebellion and idolatry will not turn God from fulfilling His purpose and His plan.

Romans 11:30. For just as you once were disobedient to God but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience,

Romans 11:31. So these also now have been disobedient, in order that because of the mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy.

Romans 11:32. For God has shut up all in disobedience that He might show mercy to all.

If the mercy of God was free to the Gentiles, the mercy of God is going to be free for Israel. And, my, what will not God do for Israel when these people come in!

It says here that all are in disobedience. You know, if you and I were to write Romans 11:32, we would write it this way, “God has shut up all in disobedi­ence that He might judge all.” No, thank God, it doesn’t say that.

God has shut up all in disobedience that He might have mercy upon all.

He doesn’t make any difference between Jew and Gentile. You and I make a difference between sinners. We say that fellow over there is a vile sin­ner. Only the grace of God can reach him.

“Me?” we say, “I’m a good man. I’m a moral per­son. I’m a religious person.”

Yes, my friend, you need the mercy of God just as much as the other fellow in outbroken sin. You see, this fellow in outbroken sin revealed what he was. And if we could pull your heart out and look at what you were before you were a Christian and if we could see the thoughts and the desires of your heart . . .

“Oh, brother,” you would say, “don’t pull that out.”

What about the many things you would have liked to have done?

“Don’t pull that out. Oh, no.”

You see, when God looks in our hearts, he finds we are all under sin, all in unbelief. He could have left Adam in his sin. He could have left Abraham in idolatry. He could have left Israel in its unbelief, and He could have left you in your sin. God didn’t have to save anybody, did He?

It’s so wonderful when we come to the rest of it. Look at verses 33 to 36. I don’t know of any Scrip­ture so marvelous as this.

Verses 33-36

The great doxology (Romans 11:33-36)

Romans 11:33. Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!

Here you have the great doxology of Romans 11:1-36. This is an amazing revelation to a man whose heart was bursting with rapturous praise as he thought of the grace of God, grace that has taken Gentiles given over to sin and has fitted them for eternal glory. The same grace will regather the Jews and cleanse them and purge them and for­give all their iniquities and bring them into a place where the promises of God will be fulfilled in them in the millennial reign of our Saviour.

As Paul came to this, he couldn’t help but burst out in this wonderful, wonderful rapture of praise. This is comparable to 2 Corinthians 5:13-14 where, thinking of the grace of God, he said, “For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us.”

Oh, to be controlled by that wonderful, divine love of the Saviour so that you and I can become channels displaying that very same love to our generation.

“O the depth of the riches.” Did you ever think of it, the divine wealth? The inexhaustible riches of Christ? I am reminded of Ephesians 3:8 where Paul speaks of the “unfathomable riches of Christ.” You can’t exhaust them, and you can’t get to the end of searching them. Oh, the divine wealth of His grace and His mercy and His love!

In Ephesians 1:1-23; Ephesians 2:1-22; Ephesians 3:1-21, Paul speaks of “the riches of His grace,” “the unfathomable riches of Christ,” and “the riches of His glory.” I tell you, we have a God who is rich in mercy, rich in love, rich in grace toward any open heart that will come to Him. My friend, He excludes nobody.

Then think of the depth of His wisdom.

Do you know He has no confidant, no counsel. The depth of His wisdom is beyond, way beyond, the faculty of man to plumb. You remember in 1 Corinthians 1:1-31 the very foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of men. Take the book of Job, chapter 11, verse 7, “Can you discover the depths of God? Can you discover the limits of the Al­mighty?” Oh, the impossibility of it. In 1 Corin­thians 1:24, it is “Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” In fact, in Colossians 2:3, we read that God has hidden in Christ all His treasures of wisdom and of knowledge. Hence, I must say this: All we know of God is just what He has revealed to us.

My friend, you can study all the philosophies of the world. Can they bring you into a relationship with God? What do we know about God? Just what He has revealed. What do we know about His working? What do we know about His ways? What do we know about His wisdom and His love? Just what He has revealed.

To me, the astounding thing is that men today question the working of God. They question His wisdom. They question His love. They sit in judg­ment on God.

Oh, the arrogance of the human heart. Man can’t begin to even plumb the depths of the wis­dom of God, of the riches of God. We calmly sit back and we tell God just what we think of Him. We judge Him. We claim to have more love than He has, more grace than He has.

Νo, my friend, let me tell you this. There is only one way you will ever know God and the grace of God, the love of God, the compassion of God. You find it in the Word of God in the way He has revealed it.

And may I remind you that He is “the only wise God.” You find this in Romans 16:27. Oh, the depth of His riches, the depth of His wisdom!

But it goes on. Paul celebrates not only the depth of the riches of His wisdom, but also of His knowledge, for God is omniscient. He knows every­thing. Our Saviour manifested this. You remember in John 2:1-25, the last two verses, many believed in His name when they saw the miracles which He performed; but He did not yield Himself to them or reveal Himself to them because He knew what was in men. He even knew their thoughts. And His ways are past finding out.

Isaiah 55:9 says, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

He does not show us His ways until we yield ourselves entirely to Him. In fact, His ways are be­yond the reach of human intellect, human phi­losophy. I’m talking about the eternal, omniscient God. I’m talking about the One who is rich in wis­dom and knowledge, whose judgments are un­searchable and His ways past finding out.

Romans 11:34. FOR WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR?

My friend, when God created the universe, made this world, made man, made the animal creation, He didn’t call anybody in to consult with—not even the angels, not even the archangel Michael, not even His messenger Gabriel. He didn’t invite any­body in. Who counseled with God?

Read the 40th chapter of Isaiah, an amazing chapter on the compassion of God, who takes the lambs into His bosom. It gives a tremendous pic­ture of the character of God. Let’s read just one or two verses:

“With whom did He consult and who gave Him understanding? And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge, and in­formed Him of the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales; behold, He lifts up the islands like fine dust. . . . All the nations are as nothing before Him. They are re­garded by Him as less than nothing and meaning­less” (Isaiah 40:14-17).

Read that whole chapter of Isaiah and then come back to these verses.

Who has known the mind of the Lord? Do you remember Matthew 11:25? “I praise Thee, O Fa­ther, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou didst hide these things from the wise and intelligent and didst reveal them to babes”—to those who have come in simple trust. As 1 Corinthians 2:10 says, “For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.”

The mighty Nebuchadnezzar learned that the Most High ruleth over the affairs of men and none can say to Him, “What hast Thou done?” (Daniel 4:34-35).

What do we know about our redemption? What do we know about the resurrection? What do we know about the rapture, about the new heavens or the new earth or the resurrected and glorified body? We don’t know, my friend. What do we know about what is going to happen after death? You don’t know unless you come to the Word of God where He has revealed it to us. It’s a wonderful thing to know the Word of God.

Romans 11:35. OR WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN?

Romans 11:36. For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.

Just one more thing before we leave this wonderful, wonderful portion of Scripture. What can we give such a God? Have we ever given Him anything? He has given us everything in His Son. He did not hold back His blessed Son to save us. What He wants is our worship. What He wants is our trust. What He wants is our obedience, for everything we have is from Him.

I want to tell you, my friend, He is going to have all the glory, too. Time would fail me to go into Co­rinthians and Romans and Ephesians where over and over again the Apostle Paul writes, “To Him be the glory.”

No flesh will glory in His presence. Not a bit. Won’t you go over these verses again? I have just barely scratched the surface.

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways. But you and I can know them by walking in His fellowship and enjoying Him.

That’s what spiritual life is—the enjoyment of di­vine life.