The Olive Tree

Sermons of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.8 • 602 Ratings

🗓️ 26 February 2026

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this sermon on Romans 11:16–17 titled “The Olive Tree,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones discusses what or who is the olive tree and the relationship of the Jews to the Gentiles within God’s economy of salvation. Learn of the importance to understand what Paul means in Romans 11 and the tendency to lean towards the two extremes—to make too much or too little of this relationship. What is meant by this “olive tree”? Who are the children of the promise? Listen as Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones dives into explaining who are the true spiritual people of God. There is a spiritual nation that surpasses the natural. Understand from where the roots of this olive tree are derived. There is a continuity that binds the Old and New Testaments: “There is only one way of salvation and it has always been the same one.” See that salvation is not a matter of nationality but of being grafted into God’s people. What does it mean that the Jews have a “special” yet not “separate” position? Rejoice that both Jews and Gentiles will be joint heirs and partake in the promised blessings of God.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Paul's Epistle to the Romans chapter 11, reading verses 16 and 17, verse 16 and 17 in the 11th chapter of Paul's
0:10.1	epistle to the Romans. For if the first fruit be holy, the lump is also holy. And if the root be holy, so are the branches.
0:23.3	And if some of the branches be broken off,
0:25.9	and thou being a wild olive tree,
0:29.0	were grafted in among them, and with them,
0:34.0	partakest of the root and hatness of the olive tree.
0:36.0	And then he goes on with his argument,
0:40.6	boast not against the branches. But we are concerned at the moment in considering this whole question which the apostle deals with in these two verses.
0:48.7	We shall hope to proceed to the argument that he bases upon that later.
0:54.4	Now, last time we looked at the two verses, in a more or less technical manner,
1:00.6	in order to decide and to determine what exactly the apostle is saying,
1:06.5	attenurates as far as words are concerned.
1:11.0	And we found that what he rarely is dealing with here is the subject of the relationship of the
1:19.7	Jews to the Gentiles in the economy of God, and especially with regard to God's plan
1:27.0	of redemption. He is concerned
1:30.3	about their individual positions, and he is concerned about their relationship to one
1:37.3	another, and as I say, as a whole, to God's great plan and purpose.
1:49.9	In particular, he is concerned, of course, about the position of the Jew.
1:56.8	That's the object of the not only of this particular subsection, but of the whole of chapters 9, 10, and 11 of this great epistle.
2:00.8	So that is the thing that he rarely has at the back of his mind,
2:04.6	the peculiar relationship of the Jews to God's purpose of salvation,
2:10.6	but that here, in particular, in terms of their relationship to the Gentiles.
	...

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