What is needed to hear the gospel? Faith. This only comes through hearing.
Romans 10:
1 Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.
2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
3 For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness.
4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
The Message of Salvation to All
5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them.
6 But the righteousness based on faith says, "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down)
7 or "'Who will descend into the abyss?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).
8 But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim);
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
11 For the Scripture says, "Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame."
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.
13 For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!"
16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?"
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
18 But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for "Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world."
19 But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says, "I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; with a foolish nation I will make you angry."
20 Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, "I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me."
21 But of Israel he says, "All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people."
Romans 11: The Remnant of Israel
1 I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin.
2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel?
3 "Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life."
4 But what is God's reply to him? "I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal."
5 So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.
6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
7 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened,
8 as it is written, "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day."
9 And David says, "Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them;
10 let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs forever."
Gentiles Grafted In
11 So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous.
12 Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!
13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry.
14 in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them.
15 For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?
16 If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree,
18 do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.
19 Then you will say, "Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in."
20 That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear.
21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.
22 Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.
23 And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again.
24 For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.
The Mystery of Israel's Salvation
25 Lest you be wise in your own sight, I want you to understand this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, "The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob";
27 "and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins."
28 As regards the gospel, they are enemies of God for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers.
29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
30 For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience,
31 so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy.
32 For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.
33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
34 "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counsellor?"
35 "Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?"
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen
Things to think about…
1. Paul has a heart for the salvation of his countrymen, Rom 10:1. He speaks about the Jews having a zeal that is not according to knowledge, Rom 10:1-4. When you visit Israel this zeal without knowledge is best expressed through the religious observance of the Sabbath. We know that Christ of course is the fulfilment of the Sabbath, but not according to modern Jews. Venues in Israel will be closed, other non-Jewish staff, generally Muslim Arabs, are called upon to work to fulfil shifts on the Sabbaths and even the lifts are ‘Sabbath’ regulated – they go to every floor automatically, because pressing a button to operate a lift on the Sabbath is considered work. Yeshua (Jesus) is the fulfillment of the Sabbath. He is our rest. As our Lord says “the sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath”, Mk 2:27. Hebrews 4 speaks of the rest that comes in Christ, not just through an earthly land of rest (Canaan), but a rest in Christ, now and into eternity. Righteousness is only possible through Christ, this is Paul’s point, vs 4.
2. What’s Paul’s point in Rom 10:5-21? Simply this, that belief in Christ and not in the law is the only thing that saves. There is no better news than Rom 10:9 “For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved”. The law of Moses is silent in the light of this truth. May we not add or take away from this truth. No one will be left behind who calls on Him, vs 13.
3. Paul asks in Rom 10:14 how will they hear without a preacher. But he says they have heard, and he quotes Isaiah saying those who bring the good news have beautiful feet. But Israel rejected the word. Paul says in vs 16 “For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?" He says they did hear, vs 18, but, vs 20 they were “a disobedient and contrary people." Sadly, this is also true for post Christian Australia. They have heard and have rejected the Saviour.
4. Faith of course is the key ingredient that must be mixed with the gospel. This is a work of grace. Even so, the church must cry out for the Holy Spirit to grant the gift of faith, Eph 2:8 on those who do not seek it. Will this be your focus for 2025, or will another year go by where you have lamented the spiritual fervency in yourself and others?
5. Paul recalls Elijah’s lament that he alone was left in all Israel as a faithful follower of YHWH, Rom 11:1-10. This of course was not true, God had reserved 7000 for Himself, 1Kings 19:10, 14, 18. Paul makes the point – there are still a remnant of blood IE (literal) Jews that will receive Christ as Saviour. Why? Because God has some OT promises that He is keeping just for Jacob (Israel). The Lord does not go back on His word. Israel will be blind for a season. We are called to pray for Israel. Are you praying for this nation? God prophetically returned them to their land in 1948. This was one of the blessings for them that came out of the horrors of WW2. The dry bones live. God through their suffering has given them hope, as we know, suffering has a purpose.
6. Here’s the good news for us, Rom 11:11-24. God, due to the hardening that has happened to literal Israel, has allowed other nations to hear and receive the gospel. We are the beneficiaries of Israel’s hardness for a season. God of course is still saving Jews even at this time – that is Paul’s point, he is a Jew, and he is saved! We are not the natural branches, I.E. not literal Jews. We are wild branches – we have been grafted in. We are now part of the tree. But that should not give us cause to be arrogant, the natural branches were cut off for us. Don’t think that if you reject Him after following Christ’s righteousness that you too won’t be cut out as they were. Take heed how you stand, lest you fall. Our salvation is secure. But we must honour this fact with a life of obedience and praise.
7. Paul speaks of the mystery of salvation that is still to come upon literal Israel. Look at Rom 11:26. All Israel in this context is not blood Israel and the church. The church has not replaced Israel, either literally or prophetically. “All Israel” here only refers to blood Israel, I.E. the Jews. ‘All’ in this context means great numbers, a multitude. Not every last one. When it says Paul took the gospel into ‘all’ the world was that true? No, he didn’t come here to Australia or the Americas. It just means a large portion, many. Revival will come upon Israel and it will be as though all Israel is saved. What an exciting period in history that we be. Paul’s reasoning here is that God is fulfilling His promises to them, Rom 11:28, the forefathers and will banish ungodliness from Jacob, vs 26. Pray for their salvation!
8. Paul says ‘look at the depth, wisdom and knowledge of God’, Rom 11:33. Sometimes we want to argue with God don’t we. In our arrogance we think we actually know something. What absolute folly we go on with! Our God knows what’s best for Israel and He knows what’s best for us. Paul’s concluding point in his reasoning…”To Him be the glory forever” Rom 11:36. That’s it.
Vision statement for CBC
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
Prayer Points
1. Leadership team preparing for this years events and ministry.
2. Working bee – attendance and getting jobs done Sat 18th Jan.
3. Conversions and more visitors this time of year.
4. Prayer for Israel and Ukraine.
5. Pray for the work we have going on with site development and TMR and the ways forward whether with our friends at the Drive-in or elsewhere.
6. Growth, conversions, joy in the Word and Spirit to increase.
Praise Points
1. Praise the Lord for Phil’s testimony and baptism on Sunday.
2. Praise God for the service of Zac and Bec. Pray for the Lord’s leading for their future
3. New visitors on Sunday.
4. Café, music, sound and technical team every week
5. Joy, peace and grace we see at CBC. Thankyou Lord
Announcements
1. Baptism service 5th Jan.
2. Working bee at Church 18th Jan 8am
3. Church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
4. Tune in again this week on our YouTube page. Subscribe to the CBC channel Chuwar Baptist YouTube channel.
Catechism questions for January...
Q. 28. What effect did Adam’s sin have on all mankind?
A. All mankind are born in a state of sin and misery.
