The 4 Wittnesses Part 1
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For the past few weeks we have been going through Romans 9-11 looking at what God is doing with Israel.
Romans 9-10 basically put all the pieces on the board.
PICTURE:
Paul and the Prophet
Paul and the Prophet
Now in Romans 11 God tells us how all these pieces fit together revealing God’s plan for both Jews and Gentiles.
He does this by calling 4 wittiness to testify about God’s dealings with Israel and the Gentile Nations.
Today we will look at 2 of these witnesses: The Apostle Paul Himself and the Prophet Elijah.
Paul Himself
Paul Himself
1 I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? Far from it! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
If God has cast away His people, then how can the conversion of the Apostle Paul be explained?
The fact that his conversion is presented three times in the Book of Acts is significant
(Acts 9, 22, 26).
Certainly Dr. Luke did not write these chapters and repeat the story just to exalt Paul.
No, they were written to show the importance of Paul’s conversion.
Why was Paul’s conversions so important?
Why was Paul’s conversions so important?
16 However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.
Note:
“in me first”.
Was Paul the first person to be saved by Jesus Christ?
Of course not, But then why did he says he is?
Also:
“As a pattern to those who are going to believe”.
Is Paul’s conversion a pattern that your conversion is like?
The accounts of Paul’s conversion tell very little that parallels our salvation experience today.
Certainly none of us has seen Christ in glory or actually heard Him speak from heaven.
We were neither blinded by the light of heaven nor thrown to the ground.
In what way, then, is Paul’s conversion “a pattern”?
Also:
Paul also said:
8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.
The Greek here is “ek-troma” and it means to be born prematurely.
Paul was “prematurely” saved or born again.
Lets put all these clues together:
Lets put all these clues together:
Paul was the first of his “kind” to be saved.
His conversion is a pattern for all those of his “kind” who “are going to” be saved.
Paul’s second birth was premature of his “kind”.
Paul was a “true” Israelite of the Covenant.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
Paul is the first of the remnant of Israel God chose who would receive Jesus Christ as Savior.
His conversion is a pattern of how the remnant will come to salvation.
The details of Israel’s future restoration and salvation are given in Zechariah 12:10–13:1:
The nation shall see Him as He returns.
Recognize Him as their Messiah, repent, and receive Him.
It will be an experience similar to that of Saul of Tarsus when he was on his way to Damascus to persecute Christians.
Paul was an enemy of the cross and Israel currently:
In relation to the gospel they are enemies on your account, but in relation to God’s choice they are beloved on account of the fathers;
He was “premature” in that the hardening of Israel was removed from Him early and he believed so that he would become the apostle to the gentiles.
A ministry Israel was supposed to fulfill but failed.
The Prophet Elijah
The Prophet Elijah
2 God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?
3 “Lord, they have killed Your prophets, they have torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they are seeking my life.”
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.”
5 In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God’s gracious choice.
6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, since otherwise grace is no longer grace.
7 What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened;
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.”
9 And David says, “May their table become a snare and a trap, And a stumbling block and a retribution to them.
10 “May their eyes be darkened to see not, And bend their backs continually.”
Israel is God’s elect nation; He foreknew them, or chose them, and they are His.
The fact that most of the nation has rejected Christ does nothing to diminish this fact.
In his day, Elijah thought that the nation had totally departed from God (see 1 Kings 19).
But Elijah discovered that there was yet a remnant of true believers.
Paul referred to this “remnant” in Romans 9:27.
At no time has the entire nation of Israel been true to the Lord.
God makes a distinction between Abraham’s natural children and his spiritual children.
The fact that the Jews shared in the covenant by being circumcised did not guarantee their salvation.
Like Abraham, they had to believe God in order to receive His righteousness.
1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found?
2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about; but not before God.
3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
4 Now to the one who works, the wages are not credited as a favor, but as what is due.
5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,
Note that this remnant is saved by grace and not by works.
What else would we come to know about this remnant?
What else would we come to know about this remnant?
Well first Paul tells us:
15 For if their rejection proves to be the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?
This is such an integrating passage but what does it mean?
After this God revealed more about this remnant through another Apostle: The Apostle John.
God tells us through John:
4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:
5 from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand,
6 from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand,
7 from the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand,
8 from the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, and from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed.
This remnant of Covenant Israel will consist of 144 000 people (which includes Paul from the Tribe of Benjamin)
Here is God’s point:
If just ONE remnant Jew, the apostle Paul, was able to be such a powerful servant of God that basically every “Gentile” christian in the world owns their coming to Christ on Paul’s ministry:
Can you imagine what 144 000 Apostle Pauls are going to accomplish???????
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
For now they are hardened.
How long will the hardening last?
How long will the hardening last?
25 For I do not want you, brothers and sisters, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in;
Until the fullness of the gentiles come in.
And then God shuts the door on the church as he shut the door on the Ark.
When that happens:
28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out.
What can we do?
The 3rd witness is about to be called and that witness is none other than us Gentiles!