I should like to call your attention this evening to the words found in Paul's Epistle to the Romans in Chapter 11, verse is 11 and 12,

verses 11 and 12 in the 11th chapter of Paul's Epistle to the Romans.

I 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.

Now, if the fall of them be the riches of the world,

and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles.

How much more, their fullness?

Now, we've dealt, as most of you will recall, with the exact, detailed explanation of the

terms that are to be found in these two most important and vital verses.

Here we have two of those verses which 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. That's the subject of the whole chapter.

And these two verses, as I've been indicating, are really quite crucial in that respect.

Now the problem the Apostle takes up is this.

Why is it that God has allowed the bulk of the nation of Israel to reject the gospel?

Why is it that they are outside the church?

And we've seen that there are three answers

to that question which are given in these two verses. The first is that this was God's way in his

own inscrutable wisdom of sending the gospel to the Gentiles. That's the first reason.

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