Lessons from The Jews
A Sermon on Romans 11:11-12
Originally preached Nov. 27, 1964
Scripture
11I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. 12Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches …
Sermon Description
What can we learn from the apostle Paul’s teachings on the Jewish people? In this sermon on Romans 11:11–12 titled “Lessons from the Jews,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says that Christians have much to learn from Paul about the church, themselves, and the gospel. He says that this prophesy will take place in the future. Paul believed that there would be a great revival amongst the people of Israel when they come to know Jesus Christ. The reason why the Jews rejected the gospel was in order that the truth of Christ might go to the Gentiles. The church must understand that oftentimes God uses rejection to actually further the proclamation of the gospel. The church must trust in God and in His goodness, believing that He will accomplish all He intends. The future restoration of Israel ought to cause Christians to lay aside prejudice and evil feelings toward the Jewish people, and they ought to love them and bring the gospel to them. Christ Jesus is the only means of salvation for both Jew and Gentile. The church is to proclaim this message of forgiveness and mercy to all people until Christ returns in glory.
Sermon Breakdown
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The miracle of biblical prophecy. The condition of the Jews and their rejection of the Gospel was prophesied. Prophecy also foresees the future of the Jews. The fullness of Israel will come in.
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An explanation of the miracle of the preservation of the Jews as a distinct nation. God has preserved them to show that His promises are sure.
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Our attitude towards the Jews should be one of concern, compassion, and a desire to provoke them to jealousy by bringing them the Gospel.
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A warning against jumping to conclusions in understanding God's dealings. God knows what He is doing. He has a plan and purpose.
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God's ways of working are strange. He often works indirectly, in ways opposite of what we expect. We have a "penny in the slot machine" mentality, wanting direct and immediate results. But God works over the long term, like a farmer sowing seed and waiting months for the harvest.
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God seems at times to be cutting across His own plan, but it is only temporary. We must trust Him, even when we can't understand. His ways are higher than our ways.
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This passage gives insight into God's workings in past history, like using the rejection of the Gospel by some to promote its success among others, as with the Reformation and evangelical awakenings. God may do something similar today.
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We should have an attitude of separation from apostate churches, but also a desire to provoke them to jealousy by our living witness. Our aim should be to win them back to the truth.
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Nothing is impossible with God. No one is hopeless where God is concerned. If God can restore Israel, He can save anyone.
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We should have humility in understanding God's workings. We know nothing, so we should trust in Him who is over all. The church depends on God, not us. We should yield ourselves to Him.
Sermon Q&A
What Does Martyn Lloyd-Jones Teach About God's Plan for Israel in Romans 11?
What is the significance of Romans 11:11-12 in understanding God's plan for Israel?
According to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans 11:11-12 is a "seminal statement" that contains crucial insights about God's plan for Israel. He explains that these verses are "quite essential to any attempt at an understanding of the remainder of the teaching of this chapter, which is such an important chapter as we've already seen in the whole outlook and future, not only for gentile believers in Christ, but particularly for the nation of Israel, regarded as a whole."
Lloyd-Jones identifies three key answers in these verses to why God has allowed the bulk of Israel to reject the gospel: 1. It was "God's way, in his own inscrutable wisdom, of sending the gospel to the Gentiles" 2. This in turn "has stirred up the Jews to envy or to emulation" 3. "If the present condition of Israel has turned out to be a blessing to the Gentiles, how much more will their restoration be a blessing to the Gentiles"
Why does Lloyd-Jones believe there will be a future restoration of Israel?
Lloyd-Jones firmly believes that the apostle Paul is writing "as a prophet" in these verses, not merely suggesting a possibility but declaring a certainty: "Their fullness is going to be a fact." He emphasizes that Paul is predicting that "the fullness of the nation of Israel is going to come in, they are going to be restored."
This restoration is part of God's ultimate plan to fulfill His promises to Abraham. Lloyd-Jones states: "God hasn't finished. God hasn't finished. God has a purpose yet. And there is a day coming when this fullness of Israel is going to be brought back to salvation, back into the christian church."
How does Lloyd-Jones explain the preservation of the Jewish people throughout history?
Lloyd-Jones calls the preservation of Jews as a distinct nation over centuries "one of the great standing miracles" that only these verses can fully explain. He notes that despite nations doing "their utmost to destroy them and to exterminate them" and being "without their country for so many centuries," the Jewish people have maintained their identity and been preserved.
He explains: "Here, I say, is the only real explanation of it. God hasn't finished. God hasn't finished. God has a purpose yet." God has preserved the Jewish people "in this unique manner in order to be able to show in the realm of history that these promises are sure, and that as he has promised, he is not only able to perform, but he also will surely perform."
What does Lloyd-Jones teach about how Christians should view and treat the Jewish people?
Lloyd-Jones criticizes the traditional stance that blamed Jews collectively for Christ's crucifixion, noting that this led to terrible treatment of Jewish people throughout history. He states that if people had understood Romans 11, "they would never have done that if they'd got hold of this idea that the Gentiles were saved partly to provoke the Jewish to jealousy."
Instead, he teaches that Christians "should be concerned about this people" and "feel a greater sense of compassion for them than perhaps for anybody else and do everything we can, therefore, to bring the gospel to them." The proper Christian attitude should be one of reaching out to Jewish people with the gospel, not condemning or rejecting them.
What principles does Lloyd-Jones draw from these verses about God's ways of working?
Lloyd-Jones identifies several important principles about God's ways:
- We should avoid "jumping to conclusions" about God's purposes
- "God always has a plan and a purpose, and he knows what he's doing"
- "God's ways of working are very strange" and often seem indirect
- God sometimes appears to be "doing at times the exact opposite of what any sane man would expect him to do"
He illustrates this with the metaphor of a watch with wheels turning in opposite directions yet working together perfectly: "That's how the watch works. One moves this way in order to move the other the other way, and they're all working together."
The Book of Romans
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.