Title: The Fruit of the Branches, Part 3
Ben shooting a proper lay up at KAA, each kid in the line making the same mistake I did.
“Do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.”
As we look at this third and final installment of Paul’s illustration of the branches and the root, we must take into account that which we’ve come to conclusion on in verses 16 and 17.
Therefore, a quick review:
1. There is no “good work” outside of the will of God.
2. Holy works are a natural and necessary phenomenon of the true Christian.
3. We (as Gentiles) were not the original branches, we were grafted in by God’s sovereign will.
4. The unholy branches (the rejecting Jews) were broken off, that we might be grafted in.
That being said, let us move to the conclusionary thought and warning that Paul leaves us with in regard to the roles of the root and the branches. Paul does indeed continue his discussion in the next few verses, and we will look at that next week, but next week’s message is more of a final warning (or and Epilogue) from Paul, and this week’s message is a stern reminder keeping us from what I’m going to call
The IRONIC MIRROR.
If you are anything like me, the tragedy of Paul’s illustration is the fate of the thousands of unbelieving Jews who were “broken off that we might be grafted in…”
Now, the most important question I will ask you in regard to this entire sermon series is this:
What caused the Jews to be broken off?
(Take potential answers from congregation…)
Answer: PRIDE.
It was the Jews pride that caused the Law to be a stumbling block unto them instead of the guide to Jesus Christ the Messiah it was intended to be. Think about it this way:
The Jews had the Law, the Law that did two things,
1. It taught them how to be Holy before God.
2. It showed them how desperate they were in need for a savior because of the impossibility of completely fulfilling the Law on their own.
Yet, instead of the Law directing the Jews to Jesus, it kept them from accepting him as the Messiah. Their own pride suggested they had the path to God secured.
Their own pride rejected Jesus as the Messiah.
Their own pride crucified Christ.
And what is Paul warning us about in verse 18?
OUR OWN PRIDE.
The ironic mirror is this: Paul is reminding us that the Jews were broken off from the root and all of its benefits because of their pride, and then he tell us, “beware that you don’t boast as grafted in branches…it was just his attitude that caused the Jews to be expelled in the first place.”
In other words: Don’t make the same mistake they made.
And what is it that Paul points to as his reasoning?
The root supports us, we do not support the root!
How many of us act as if our service to the kingdom is a favor to God? How many of us over-value our own talent, wisdom, or experience in the church? How many of us pray for God’s will, provided it just coincidentally happens to be our will as well?
We tell God that we support him when we act in such foolish and immature ways. We tell him we support him when we place parameters on his work in our life according to our preferences.
God feeds us. God grows us. God teaches us. God saves us to begin with! And yet, we somehow forget this, and tread dangerously close to the same type of behavior that caused the Jews to be broken off from the tree of life!
Pride is the slippery-ist of all sin. It is the root of all sin. It is the thing that can make us tell God, “Lord, I support you!” I know that I have an extremely high view of God. I know that I teach an extremely high view of God.
And, yet, I confess to you this morning that I have shared with God what a blessing I am to him, what a help I am to him, what a valuable asset of his plan I am to him.
It is certainly tragic when we look at someone else’s mistake, maybe even have a chuckle about it, and then repeat their exact behavior. It is even more tragic when something as crucial as a right view of God and a right view of our salvation is at stake.
It is indeed tragic to see the plight of the Jews, from their rejection of Christ to this present day, still waiting for the messiah to come…a messiah that has already come. Though it is tragic, it is an example nonetheless. An example that Paul tells us to recognize, and avoid.
Let us pray.