August 24

Romans 11:18
 
“Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee” —Rom. 11:1818Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. (Romans 11:18).
IN order that God’s purposes might be carried out, He chose Abraham and his seed, through Isaac and Jacob, and separated them to Himself, giving them an honored place which no other people have ever known (Amos 3:22You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. (Amos 3:2)). They are His peculiar treasure (Ex. 19:55Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: (Exodus 19:5); Psa. 135:44For the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure. (Psalm 135:4)) destined someday to be the display of His grace and power to all mankind (Isa. 53:1-3; 54:1-81Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? 2For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 3He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. (Isaiah 53:1‑3)
1Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord. 2Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; 3For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. 4Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more. 5For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called. 6For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God. 7For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. 8In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. (Isaiah 54:1‑8)). Now, they are like olive branches torn out of the olive tree of promise, of which Abraham is the root, and wild branches of the Gentiles have been grafted in contrary to nature (Ram. 11: 17-22). But when the fullness of the Gentiles shall have come in, these natural branches will be grafted again into their own olive tree and so all Israel shall be saved. Therefore the Gentiles are warned not to look with prideful contempt on Israel, who are still “beloved for the fathers’ sake.”
“By the holy hills surrounded,
On her firm base securely founded,
Stands fast the city of the Lord:
None shall rend her walls asunder:
On her men look with fear and wonder.
And mark who here keeps watch and ward.
He slumbers not, nor sleeps,
Who His loved Israel keeps.
Hallelujah!
Happy the race
Who through God’s grace
Shall have in her their dwelling place!”