Lawrence Taylor Ministry

Announcer: Hello, and welcome to Teaching the Word with Dr. Lawrence Taylor. Each and every week, Dr. Taylor will be sharing a relevant message from the scriptures designed to inform and instruct us in the ways of our God. Dr. Taylor has been the pastor of Kenilworth Baptist Church in the Midwood section of Brooklyn for the past 22 years. He brings a wealth of experience to each broadcast, having been a New York City public schools teacher and a theology professor. Stay tuned to the end of the broadcast to find out how to stream today's message. Now, here's Dr. Taylor.

Dr. Lawrence Taylor: Hello everyone. My name is Lawrence Taylor, and this is Teaching the Word with Dr. Lawrence Taylor. I'm so glad that you could join with us today. I'd like for you to do me a favor, and that is to go to my website, lawrenceTaylorministry.com or.org, and contact us to let us know whether you're listening to the program and how much you're getting out of it. There is really no way for us to gauge how many people listen to this program. So if you write to me, even if you don't have any questions, just to let me know that you're listening, we would greatly appreciate it. Also on that website, you will find past episodes of Teaching the Word with Dr.

Lawrence Taylor, and also you could find other messages that I did at the Kenilworth Baptist Church. so please just take some time out and contact us. Today we will examine Romans chapter 11, verses 25 to 36. This portion deals with the future salvation of the nation of Israel. Verse 25 reads, for I do not want you, brethren, 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. What is this mystery that Paul wrote about? In the ancient Greco-Roman world, there were numerous mystery cults.

Paul, however, does not have that in mind. The scholar Douglas Mew, in his commentary on Romans, argues that the word mystery refers to a divine revelation that was hidden but now is disclosed. For instance, in the book of Daniel, the word is used in Daniel chapter 2 verses 18 and 19, and also Daniel 2 verses 27 to 30. Very clearly refers to something that was hidden but was revealed to the prophet Daniel. Paul uses the word, that is the word mystery, in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 1, verse 7, 1 Corinthians 4 verse 1, Ephesians chapter 1 verse 9, Ephesians chapter 3 verse 3 and 4 and 9, and also in Ephesians chapter 6 verse 19.

The word is also found in Colossians chapter 1 verses 26 to 27. And all of these references, the word mystery, when used by Paul, means something that was hidden in the past but is now revealed in the present. In other words, this is something that was not revealed in the Hebrew scriptures, but it was revealed to the apostles and prophets of the New Testament. So what is the mystery that the Apostle Paul wrote about? In this case, it is that God has imposed a supernatural hardness on Israel until the church age is consummated. The word hardness that's used, poros, the Greek word is porosis, porosis, that's P-O-R-O-S-I-S, actually means stubbornness.

This stubbornness that the Apostle Paul wrote about was not based on a natural inclination, but a divine mystical punishment that God imposed on the nation of Israel for their rejection of the Messiah. Paul wrote that this supernatural hardness will come to an end when the church age is completed at the second coming of Christ. Let us note that the church is a parenthesis in redemptive history. The church was not always here. You do not have the church in the Old Testament. The church was born on the day of Pentecost, and it will come to an end on earth when Christ returns. Romans 11, verses 26 and 27 read, and so all Israel will be saved.

The deliverer will come from Zion. He will remove ungodliness from Jacob. This is my covenant with them when I take away their sins. End of quote. Verses 26 and 27 is a confluence of two passages from the Old Testament, Isaiah chapter 59 verses 20 to 21 and Jeremiah 31 verse 33. Isaiah 59 verses 20 to 21 read, quote, "A redeemer will come to Zion and to those who turn from transgression and Jacob, declares the Lord. As for me, this is my covenant with them, says the Lord. My spirit which is upon you, and my words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring's offspring, says the Lord, from now and forever, end of quote.

Isaiah 59, verses 1 through 16 describes the exceeding sinfulness of Israel. Verses 7 through 9 read, their feet run to evil, and they hasten to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity. Devastation and destruction are in their highways. They do not know the way of peace, and there is no justice in their tracks. They have made their paths crooked. Whoever treads on them does not know peace. Therefore, justice is far from us, and righteousness does not overtake us. We hope for light, but behold darkness. For brightness, we walk in gloom. End of quote. This, without question, is a description of total human depravity.

Paul actually quotes part of this passage in Romans chapter 3, verses 15 to 17. And that's the section in which the apostle proved that everyone was in need of the gospel because everyone was a sinner. In Isaiah 59:16 to 21, the prophet begins to explain the grace of God among sinful people. The Redeemer will come to deliver Israel, and that deliverer, that Redeemer is God himself. Isaiah wrote in verses 16 and 17, and he saw that there was no man and was astonished that there was no one to intercede. Then his own arm brought salvation to him, and his righteousness upheld him. He put on righteousness like a breastplate and a helmet of salvation on his head, and he put on garments of vengeance for clothing and wrapped himself with zeal as a mantle.

Well, it's clear from the Isaiah passage, that the prophet is describing Israel's failure to get right with God, and there was no one to intercede on behalf of Israel. And because of this, God himself says he will come and rescue them from their depravity. When Paul quotes this passage, he identifies Jesus as the Redeemer who will deliver Israel. The dire situation compels God to intervene for his people. What is the dire situation? That God made promises to Israel in the Old Testament, and when the Messiah came, they rejected the Messiah. How is God going to fulfill those promises when they reject his Messiah?

Well, the answer is that the Messiah himself will come to rescue Israel. Now, this will be after all human missionary efforts have failed to convert Israel. Since all these efforts have failed, the Redeemer will take on the responsibility himself to rescue his people. Note what it says, he will remove ungodliness from Jacob. This description of Israel's future salvation is not only a phenomenal climatic drama, but it is a clear display of God's wisdom. God made promises to Israel, and God is going to see that those promises are going to be fulfilled. Why? Because God's faithfulness is on the line.

God will not ultimately reject his people. Well, if we note, in chapter 11 of Romans, verse 27, he also quotes Jeremiah 33, verse 31. And this tells us that God will save Israel because of the covenant that he made with them. The point is that God is faithful to his promises. Israel's acceptance of the Messiah, as Paul describes, is documented throughout the Old Testament. You can see it in Isaiah 53, when we are told that Israel will eventually recognize their Messiah. We see it in Zechariah chapters 12 and 14, where it gives us a description of the return of the Messiah and Israel's repentance.

We see it in Amos 9, we see it in Ezekiel 47 and verse, chapter 48. We see it in Isaiah chapter 11 and a multitude of other passages that foretell of Israel's transformation and espousal to their true king. We see it in the New Testament. Jesus said regarding Israel's future acceptance of the Messiah in Matthew 23, verse 39. For I say to you, from now on you will not see me until you say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Simeon, the priest in the temple, in recorded in Luke chapter 2, verses 30 to 32 said, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all people, a light of revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel.

Now, he said this when Jesus was dedicated in the temple 8 days after his birth. John wrote in Revelation chapter 1 verse 7, Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and of the tribes of the earth, and they will mourn over him. So it is to be. Amen. Note, those who pierced him, that's a reference to Israel. Peter declared in the temple just a few days after the ascension of Jesus in Acts chapter 3, verses 19 to 21. Therefore, repent and return so that your sins may be wiped out in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of the restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of his prophets from ancient times.

There, Peter, speaking in the temple to the Jewish people, said that God is going to send your Messiah back again. The disciples on the Emmaus Road said in Matthew, in, sorry, in Luke chapter 24, verse 21, but we were hoping that it was he who was going to redeem Israel. Look, the scripture from Old to New Testament is replete with the idea that Jesus is the hope of Israel, and that one day the Jewish nation will accept their Messiah. Now, we cannot deny that if you believe in the scriptures, that's what it says. The grounds for the present rejection is a supernatural stupor that God has imposed on Israel.

In 2 Corinthians chapter 3, verses 14 to 15, the Apostle Paul wrote, quote, but their minds were hardened, for until this day at the reading of the old covenant, the same veil remains unlifted because it is removed in Christ. But to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts. But whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. This hardness that Paul wrote about, therefore, is not something that is just a natural disposition among people who are disagreeable. It is something that God imposed because of the rejection of his Messiah. So Paul wrote in Romans 11, verses 28 to 32, 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, for the gifts and callings of God are irrevocable.

For s- just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience, so these also now have been disobedient, that because of the mercy shown to you, they also may now be shown mercy. For God has shut up all in disobedience so that he may show mercy to all. Again, what we see is this cosmic puzzle that only God can construct. Only God can put the pieces together. Only God can make sense out of what is going on. Let us note, he says that as a result of Israel's unbelief, the Gentiles benefited because salvation came to them. And as a result of salvation coming to the Gentiles, this will provoke Israel to jealousy, and they will accept their Messiah.

Paul describes Jews as enemies of the gospel. I think we have to be very clear here. It is impossible that he was just saying, making some kind of anti-Semitic remark here. That is not the point. Paul was recalling his own negative experiences when presenting the gospel to Jews. In Acts 13:46, it reads, Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, "It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first. Since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. In Acts 17, verse 5, it reads, but the Jews, becoming jealous and taking along some wicked men from the marketplace, formed a mob and set the city in an uproar, and attacking the house of Jason, they were seeking to bring them out to the people.

And in Acts 18, verse 6, it reads, but when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garment and said to them, your blood be on your own heads. I am clean. From now on, I will go to the Gentiles. Paul did not hesitate to preach the gospel to members of Israel, but he experienced rejection after rejection. Note his boldness and willingness to preach anywhere. In Romans 15, verse 19, it reads, in the power of signs and wonders, and in the power of the Holy Spirit, so from Jerusalem and around about as far as Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. Paul prayed for boldness to continue this ministry in face of the opposition that he received.

In Ephesians chapter 6, verses 19 and 20, he said, "And pray on my behalf that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains, that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly as I ought to speak. His prayer was, and he asked others to pray for him, that he would have boldness in his preaching, that he would not hold back in spite of opposition. Well, obviously that led to a great deal of persecution in the Paul's part. He was chased from city to city, he was stoned, he was whipped, and all kinds of horrible experiences he had, but he prayed for greater boldness.

The rejection of the gospel by Israel was evident in Paul's own experiences. The apostles' treatise in Romans chapters 9 through 11 gives a theological context to these rejections. The mystery that Paul wrote about is not just the hardening that God imposed on Israel, but their eventual conversion, their acceptance of the Messiah because of the blessings they see the Gentiles receiving on the grounds of faith. In Romans 11:29, it reads that God must be faithful to Israel because of the promises he made to their fathers. Note what it says, for the gifts and callings of God are irrevocable. The Greek word that's used it for irrevocable means without a change of mind.

God has not changed his mind about his people. The unfaithfulness of Israel did not disqualify Israel from the grace of God. I think we should take courage and we joy in that notion because, like Israel, we fail. We falter. I'm talking about those who name the name of Christ. We have faltered and failed many times. But here is the good news. God does not change his mind about us. He has no change of mind. His gifts and callings are irrevocable, or as it says in the King James, they are without repentance. Let us keep this in mind. God is omniscient. He knows the end as perfectly as he knows the beginning.

And when he saved you and he saved me, he knew exactly what sin would come into my life before he saved me and before he saved you. God was not caught by surprise by my sin. But in spite of the fact that God knew exactly what I would do, because he knows the end as perfectly as he knows the beginning, he saved me. Because God did not change his mind about me. Look, when the apostle examines the faithfulness of God, he breaks out in a declaration of praise, as recorded in verses 33 to 36. The Apostle Paul usually reserved the doxology for the end of his letter. However, he was so overwhelmed with adoration for the wisdom and grace of God that he couldn't contain himself.

It is not just the future salvation of Israel, but the entire plan of redemption through Christ for the human race that caused this exuberant outburst. Notice what he says. Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments, unfathomable his ways. For who has known the mind of the Lord, and who has become his counselor, or who has first given to him that it might be paid back to him again? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.

Announcer: Thank you for listening to today's program. This broadcast is an extension of the ministry of Dr. Lawrence Taylor and the Kenilworth Baptist Church. To stream today's message, please go to lawrencetaylorministry.com and click on Lawrence Taylor Ministry forward slash message. Please join us again next week at the same time for Teaching the Word with Dr. Lawrence Taylor.