The Wild Engrafted Branch – Rom 11

HYMN

Jesus Keep Near the Cross

1 Jesus, keep me near the cross,

There a precious fountain;

Free to all, a healing stream,

Flows from Calv'ry's mountain. 

Refrain:

In the cross, in the cross

Be my glory ever,

Till my ransomed soul shall find

Rest beyond the river.

2 Near the cross, a trembling soul,

Love and mercy found me;

There the Bright and Morning Star

Shed His beams around me.

[Refrain]

3 Near the cross! O lamb of God,

Bring its scenes before me;

Help me walk from day to day

With its shadow o'er me. 

[Refrain]

4 Near the cross! I'll watch and wait,

Hoping, trusting ever;

Till I reach the golden strand,

Just beyond the river. 

[Refrain]

Rom 11:11-36 (Msg)

11 Does this mean that God has rejected his Jewish people forever? Of course not!

His purpose was to make his salvation available to the Gentiles (Titus 2:11), and then the Jews would be jealous and begin to want God’s salvation for themselves. 12 Now if the whole world became rich as a result of God’s offer of salvation, when the Jews stumbled over it and turned it down, think how much greater a blessing the world will share in later on when the Jews, too, come to Christ.

13 As you know, God has appointed me as a special messenger to you Gentiles. I lay great stress on this and remind the Jews about it as often as I can, 14 so that if possible I can make them want what you Gentiles have and in that way save some of them. 15 And how wonderful it will be when they become Christians! When God turned away from them it meant that he turned to the rest of the world to offer his salvation; and now it is even more wonderful when the Jews come to Christ. It will be like dead people coming back to life. 16 And since Abraham and the prophets are God’s people, their children will be too. For if the roots of the tree are holy, the branches will be too.

17 But some of these branches from Abraham’s tree, some of the Jews, have been broken off. And you Gentiles who were branches from, we might say, a wild olive tree, were grafted in. So now you, too, receive the blessing God has promised Abraham and his children, sharing in God’s rich nourishment of his own special olive tree. (a broken off that gave us opportunity to be grafted in and to share in His blessings and nourishment)

18 But you must be careful not to brag about being put in to replace the branches that were broken off. Remember that you are important only because you are now a part of God’s tree; you are just a branch, not a root. 19 “Well,” you may be saying, “those branches were broken off to make room for me, so I must be pretty good.”

20 Watch out! Remember that those branches, the Jews, were broken off because they didn’t believe God, and you are there only because you do. Do not be proud; be humble and grateful—and careful. 21 For if God did not spare the branches he put there in the first place, he won’t spare you either. (we must be cautious of this priviledge and fear the terror of losing it)

22 Notice how God is both kind and severe. He is very hard on those who disobey, but very good to you if you continue to love and trust him. But if you don’t, you too will be cut off. 23 On the other hand, if the Jews leave their unbelief behind them and come back to God, God will graft them back into the tree again. He has the power to do it.

24 For if God was willing to take you who were so far away from him—being part of a wild olive tree—and graft you into his own good tree—a very unusual thing to do—don’t you see that he will be far more ready to put the Jews back again, who were there in the first place?

25 I want you to know about this truth from God, dear brothers, so that you will not feel proud and start bragging. Yes, it is true that some of the Jews have set themselves against the Gospel now, but this will last only until all of you Gentiles have come to Christ—those of you who will. 26 And then all Israel will be saved.

Do you remember what the prophets said about this? “There shall come out of Zion a Deliverer, and he shall turn the Jews from all ungodliness. 27 At that time I will take away their sins, just as I promised.”

28 Now many of the Jews are enemies of the Gospel. They hate it. But this has been a benefit to you, for it has resulted in God’s giving his gifts to you Gentiles. Yet the Jews are still beloved of God because of his promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 29 For God’s gifts and his call can never be withdrawn; he will never go back on his promises. 30 Once you were rebels against God, but when the Jews refused his gifts God was merciful to you instead. 31 And now the Jews are the rebels, but some day they, too, will share in God’s mercy upon you. 32 For God has given them all up to sin[b] so that he could have mercy upon all alike.

33 Oh, what a wonderful God we have! How great are his wisdom and knowledge and riches! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his methods! 34 For who among us can know the mind of the Lord? Who knows enough to be his counselor and guide? 35 And who could ever offer to the Lord enough to induce him to act? 36 For everything comes from God alone. Everything lives by his power, and everything is for his glory. To him be glory evermore.

Poem (Extracts from Interactive Class)

The Wild branch in the garden

Unfit to bring nourishment

Unfit to bring life but death

Unfit to bring gain but loss

Doomed to bring poison (because of the nature we were born Ps 51:5)

Destined to be uprooted

Destined to be burnt

Destined to die eternally

But His grace found us

The Gardener took the wild branch (us)

Fitted in into His Own Branch

A cut His Own Good Branch received (His sufferings and death)

A cut to accommodate the wild branch (a change of spice into the family of God)

A cut to engrave deeply the wild branch

A cut for your sake, a cut for mine

Thank you for Calvary sake

PRAYERS

• Thank you for your mercy and kindness that found me, thank you for perfect fitting to you

• Thank you for the opportunity of sharing in your nourishment

• Thank Him for the sacrifice He made

•  Matt 11:29a “Take my yoke upon you and learn of me”. The yoke, the cut are the prices to pay to remain engrafted, if we refused, then we are doomed for life. Lord please help me to remain, no matter what come my way, keep me in you

• It is very dangerous to fall out of this grace (spiritual ruin), Lord help me to acknowledge the terror and dangers of pulling out, keep grafted.

• Lord help me to be alert/sensitive to your methods and decisions, shed your beams around me

• Oh Lord may you bring to me each day the scenes of Calvary, may I walk in it daily that my life will not be a waste.

Ps 40:8 ““I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your law is within my heart.”

• Lord, please help me to always submit myself to your authority and Lorship to stand in obedient to your will, plan and purpose for my life, don’t let me be unfortunate to my generation and generations after me.