in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Praise be to you, O Lord, teach me your decrees. With my lips I recount all the laws. and great riches. I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. I delight in your decrees. I will not neglect your word. Okay, great stuff. This word in verse 10, don't let me wonder, I looked it up in something and it said shaggy rashness. Shaggy what? Rashness. Shaggy rashness. I have no idea what that means. Sounds like my beard though. Let's see here, we've got... April 19th, we'll read this. Somebody asked me what the name of this book was, and I'm gonna say it now. I'm gonna email them with it tomorrow, just in case they're not listening tonight. But it says, The One-Year Book of Christian History, A Daily Glimpse into God's Powerful Work by E. Michael and Sharon Rustin. So if you like what I've been reading here, it's wonderful. I end up not reading these in advance, and then I end up blubbering all over the place, because they're very well written. But we'll see, April 19th in 1775, the American colonies were, In uproar, the British were taxing the colonists without representation. King George III, a devout evangelical Christian, had recently declared himself and Parliament sovereign over the colonies in all cases whatsoever. And British troops had just arrived in Boston to enforce royal supremacy. During this turbulent time, the colonists more than ever turned to their ministers for guidance. thereby giving them a unique role in history. They were not only preaching the gospel, but also helping to create a nation. Their roles were both prophets and statesmen. In Concord, Massachusetts, William Emerson, grandfather of Ralph Waldo Emerson, was one such prophet and statesman. As a minister, he tried to analyze the rapidly changing events in the light of scripture. In the spring of 1775, he was quickly propelled from being an ordinary country preacher into taking part in what he called the greatest events taking place in the present age. By March, Emerson and the other patriots in Concord were aware that British spies had infiltrated their town and had informed General Thomas Gage about a hidden armory where the local Sons of Liberty were stockpiling weapons. Emerson began to fear for the safety of his town. On March 13th, he preached a sermon to the Concord militia that would alter the course of history. He had the power to either promote or discourage a call to arms. What should he say? Was it God's will for America to fight for independence? After much prayer and study, he came down on the side of armed resistance. He reminded the militia of the inevitable approaching storm of war and bloodshed. He asked them that if they were ready for real service, he explained that readiness, he asked if they were ready for real service. He explained that readiness depended not only on military skill and weapons, but also on moral and spiritual resolve. He challenged them to believe wholeheartedly in what they were fighting for and to trust in God's power to uphold them. or else they would end up running in fear from the British. He argued for colonial resistance on the grounds that they had been standing by their liberties and trusting only in God, yet had been cruelly charged with rebellion and sedition by the crown. For my own part, the more I reflect upon the movements of the British nation, the more satisfied I am that our military preparation here for our own defense is, justified in the eyes of the impartial world. Nay, for should we neglect to defend ourselves by military preparation, we never could answer it to God and to our own consciences and the rising generations. The colonists should go forth into war assured that the Lord will cover your head in the day of battle and carry you on from victory to victory. Emerson was convinced that in the end the whole world would realize that there is a God in America. On April 19, 1775, British troops marched as predicted on Lexington and Concord Before they reached Concord, patriot silversmith Paul Revere had made his famous ride into town, warning of the approaching Redcoats. Because the colonists were warned, Emerson and other Minutemen from nearby towns were assembled and ready. The first shot, the famous shot heard round the world, was fired and the war for independence began. Three Americans, two and twelve British soldiers were casualties in the first battle. Throughout the War for Independence, ministers such as Emerson were the single most influential voice of inspiration and encouragement for the fighting colonists. For many ministers, the religious aspect of the war was exactly the point of revolution, gaining freedom in order to create a new order in which God's principles would rule. Reflection, do you believe that there was a biblical basis for waging a war of independence against England? Was taxation without representation a sufficient reason for just war? Should the disciples have started war against Rome in the first century because they had taxation without representation? romans thirteen five and six you must obey the government for two reasons to keep from being punished eddie keep a clear conscience pay your taxes to for these same reasons well it seems like there are two minutes against that yes well so arcee sprawl as he said you can't justify what we did in the american revolution uh... based on reading of the Bible. So there are people that agree and there are people that disagree. There were godly people on both sides, and it's exactly what Abraham Lincoln said in the Civil War. Thank you. He said, we're praying to the same God, asking for the same favor, and he's not going to favor both sides. That's a paraphrase of what he said. Well, that may be a part of it, but I don't think anybody was persecuting them for their religion. I don't think that was the case. Well, that's why they left England, but they were here and nobody was giving them trouble here. So, you know, it's one of those things that it's a done deal. It was done and whether it was right or not, we are a nation and now we have our own set of circumstances to work under, and the Civil War proved that, you know, there are people that disagree even in this government. And we still have them today. They're called liberals, and they hate this government. They literally hate it. Well, that's true. It depends on who it is, but 99.237% of them just do not like the government as it was established, I should say. That's what I'm talking about. They don't like the government as it was established. They want to, you know, defer to other things and a living constitution, something that can be amended at will and that kind of nonsense. But anyway, we have brother Graham, I email him or actually he emails me once a week with some great photos from Scotland and I look at them and then I asked him about his health and he's had kind of an up and down roller coaster over the past weeks. But I think this week we should probably include him in prayer. And Blake is once again not here, so I know he's suffering, but we'll go ahead and go to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the chance to come, to meet here, to worship you. And we are as confused as a species as we could be about certain moral issues, whether it's right to have war, whether it's not right to have war. And when is the time to do it? Are we displeasing to you when we do? I think probably the important thing for each person on either side of a conflict is being right with Jesus Christ. And as long as that's the case, you will decide the outcome of any battle. But along with those things, we have your word, which is something that we should look into. We should pray first. We should read first. Talk to you in our hearts and in our minds about all issues whether it's war or whether it's you know getting married we had to put you first in those things and Lord, you know the people that are having difficulties right now that are suffering we have people that One sister out in California who's just gone to a funeral and I know that was difficult on her we've got a brother in Scotland who is a got physical problems which are causing him trials and troubles and we got one right here in Sarasota that can't attend because of his own. So we lift them up, Lord, and we lift up anybody else that's struggling, that's got their own difficulties. In many, many ways, you know, all of them, whether it's physical or whether it's financial or some other way, you know, so we put these things in your capable hands, asking you to tend to your people. And also, we ask that you would watch over us as we meet today and give us the ability to rightly discern your word. And if it's not being properly presented that you would. ensure that that would be alighted to the people that do listen so that they wouldn't follow something incorrect and Lord your word is a treasure it's a light to our feet and it's a lamp to our feet and a light to our path and so help us to walk on it walk on that path daily and to just pursue you always and we thank you again for the chance to meet here and we commit this time to you in Jesus name so we're watching a civil war they're talking about various generals are in there, Stonewall Jackson, very interesting character. Oh yes, he was. And like, you know, he would pray on the battlefield on his horse. Oh yeah, with his hand-raised eye. And he ate a lot of lemons. He was a lemon eater. He ate lemons all the time and he was a Christian, but he had some very wacky ideas, but he was he was a safe guy. He was a lemon eater. Yeah, he thought that was, he cleansed his body. He was eating a lemon tree. Oh yeah, that's right. Yeah. Oh, wonderful. Yeah. Yeah, Stonewall Jackson. I like that. The what? Where did he get the lemons from? I don't know. Probably from a lemon tree. Very pretty. What was that? Peter, Paul, and Mary. Lemon tree. I was trying to think it through and I couldn't. Okay, Article 5 of the... I think I did that one. Progressive. Scripture progressive. Did I do that last week? We affirm that God's revelation in the Holy Scriptures was progressive. Yes, I did. I know we did. We talked about that. Dispensation. Yeah, well, yes, but it's progressively being revealed. In other words, this is something, I've got three emails on it this week on the Nephilim from different people. And, you know, people will say, you know, that falls under, one guy said that it falls under the law of first mention. And I told him why that is wrong. It's because the law of first mention isn't the law. It's something somebody made up. And I explained that in a sermon. And I said, watch last week's sermon because it's right there. Progressive revelation means that God progressively reveals things to us. It's not all at once. Deuteronomy 29 verse 29 says, the secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those revealed belong to us and our children. It's a little bit misquote forever, something like that. Anyway, so in other words, God keeps things back and then he eventually reveals them in one way or another. In the book of Esther, we've got some things that will be revealed that have never been revealed before, ever. They've never been revealed until Sergio Found a couple things and so I'll include those and there are some other things that I'll talk about that you probably don't know about, but that have been revealed. But anyway, interesting things in there are coming up in the book of Esther, but. Progressive revelation means that God is slowly and methodically revealing his word to the people of the world. And as we get that additional revelation by study and et cetera, you know, computer programs can pull things out. Eventually we have something new and we can build upon that. But the word itself as well progressively reveals God's intention. He did not have Jesus be born before Abraham was declared righteous. In other words, there's this... Anyway, we'll go over that one today, because I'm certain I talked about it last week, but I'm going to talk about it again today, because I'm going to make a note that we've done this one, and next week we'll start with six. We deny that later revelation, which may fulfill earlier revelation, ever corrects or contradicts it. We further deny that any normative revelation has been given since the completion of the New Testament writings. In other words, and I know we talked about this one last week, but that's okay, we'll go over it again. Since the New Testament was the book of Revelation, last book of the New Testament to be written was written, and then there was the word Amen at the end with a period after it, right? That settles the Bible. Revelation 22 verse 21 ends the canon of scripture. It also ends prophetic normative revelation. People will argue with me over this. Well, I had a vision, I had this and that. It is not something that God is speaking his word to his people. I fully appreciate when somebody has something and they believe that the Lord has directed them to do something. That's happened to me. I mean, I know that I'm supposed to go talk to that person about Jesus. I know. Okay, the Lord has put that on my heart. I know that I need to go do something. This happens to us all the time. When we are in tune with the Lord, okay, how do you get in tune with the Lord? We've already talked about this a million times. Being filled with the Spirit is Sealed and guaranteed. Yes, but is it active or passive? No, it's not. It's passive. Remember every time that Paul writes about being filled with the Spirit, it is passive. In other words, I have all of the Spirit that I will ever get the moment that I believe in Jesus Christ. I will never get more of the Holy Spirit, okay? But he can get more of me. The example for you to understand is that I got married 34 years ago, the poor woman, but We'll never get more married. We are married and we are completely and wholly married. But we can get more of each other as we yield to one another. If I yield to my wife, then she'll get more out of me and vice versa. So if you have a cup, does the cup fill itself or do you fill it? You fill it. So you are actively, but the cup is passively being filled. We are passively filled and there's only a couple ways that you can be filled with the Spirit. One is to talk to God. We can do it through talking, we can do it through what we call prayer. We're fellowshipping with God intimately through our thoughts and our actions and our speech. That is one way of being filled with the Spirit. Another one is what we're doing right now. We're studying the Word of God. We read the Word of God, we study the Word of God, and God will passively fill us. We will learn things from the Bible. Right? I didn't know that before. Well, the Lord has revealed it to you. It's a passive action, but you are actively doing something in order to be passively filled. Okay? The same thing goes with fellowshipping with other Christians. When you're fellowshipping, you're talking about the Lord, you're, isn't God great? You're being filled with the Spirit. You're being energized by the Spirit as you are fellowshipping with other people. So you've got the study of the Word, you've got fellowshipping, you've got prayer, you've got even music. If it's properly, you know, if it's exalting of God. People too often will be in concerts, right? And they say, come Holy Spirit! It doesn't work that way, okay? They're looking for an active filling of the Spirit so that they can go out and slay the demons in somebody and, you know, they'll writhe on the floor. That does not work that way. Okay, that person, you are not ever going to give somebody else the Spirit. You are not going to control the Spirit like a whip, the way Benny Hinn does. That is not how the Spirit works. I hate to tell people that. If people believe that nonsense they see on TV, they need to get into the Bible. So there are ways that you are filled with the Spirit, and there are ways that you are not filled with the Spirit. But normative revelation has been given since the completion of the New Testament writings. When you are in tune with the Lord, the Lord will tune in you to what he wants for you. Go talk to that person, and it'll be something that happens here. It's not going to be here, okay? He's not going to speak to you. That is normative revelation. It's not going to happen, okay? If you think that God is talking to you, there may be something that you need to have checked out down at the doctor. I don't know. The Lord is not going to do that. Or question who is talking to you. That's right. Because people may assume that they're being talked to by the Lord when it's actually not the Lord at all. Okay, so I understand people are dogmatic about the opposite view, but they have to know what the tense of things is in Scripture. And once you see that, you'll say, that cannot be right. It just can't be. So anyway, there is no normative revelation coming anymore. They have said that in their statement, and I am in complete agreement with it. Anyway, we'll go into Romans chapter 11 and verse 2. Man, we are burning up the book of Romans. God did not reject his people whom he foreknew. Verse 2, 11-2. Start again. God did not reject his people whom he foreknew. Don't you know that the scripture says in the passage about Elijah how he appeared to God, appealed to God, thank you, against Israel. Okay. He goes back to scripture again. He keeps doing this. He keeps saying that. The first thing, before I even give my comments on this or read my comments, is God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Who has He been talking about so far? Israel. That's right. So He can't be talking about the church, and we already established that last week several times, that it's impossible to say, this is a church, but other places they say, this is a church. It is not a constant theology. It's an inconsistent theology, the way that they say that this is speaking about Israel here, but we're Israel there. Doesn't work that way. Paul continues to explain his emphatic response from verse 1. Read that again. So he's speaking about Israel. He's speaking about the Jewish people. He says, certainly not. To make sure we understand this, he turns around and rephrases the question as a statement. God has not cast away his people whom he foreknew. Okay, so he's gone from a question to a statement. In using the term foreknew, He isn't indicating what God has foreseen. He's not indicating what God has foreseen, so much as what God has purposed. God purposed that Israel would be his people. During their times of obedience, they are in his favor and receive his blessings. Leviticus 26, we all saw that before. Leviticus 26 sermon is very clear. When you're obedient, I will bless you. And you'll be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. All these different things he says. I'll bless your fields. On and on. And then you get to verse 11, I think it is, and he starts talking about if you don't obey, okay? So, during their times of obedience, they are in favor and receive his blessings. When they are disobedient, they receive his wrath and judgment. These are the responsibilities, the honors, and the consequences of bearing the name of Israel, okay? Leviticus 26 is written to Israel. We went through that. We got to the last six verses, and it was very clear that he will never cast aside Israel. It's very clear. If you stick to Leviticus when you're talking about this issue, somebody emailed me the next day, and he says, you will never convince a person based on Leviticus 26. I said, I understand that. They have a presupposition, and they will never change their idea about Israel and the church, et cetera. However, It doesn't mean that what Leviticus 26 says is incontrovertible. It is. It is without question. They can still deny it, but they are denying what is black and white. Okay, there's no way to insert the church into what it says in Leviticus 26. So he's right. I'm not going to change anybody's mind by it. If you think we've replaced Israel and That's us, okay? Then you will not change your mind unless you're willing to say, I could be wrong. And until you do that, you're gonna be wrong. So anyway, when disobedient, they get his wrath, they get his judgment. Okay, so it's the responsibilities, the honors, and the consequences of bearing the name Israel. He struggles with God. That is the definition of what Israel means. He strives with, or he struggles with God. When they're right with him, they struggle with him, for him. And when they are not right with him, they struggle with him, against him. Either way, Israel struggles with God. They're either struggling with God, for God, or they're struggling against God. Okay, everybody see that? That's why he was named, he struggles with God. Some people will say it means Prince of God and this and that. It means he struggles with God. The context of when he gave the name of Israel was, anybody remember? When did he change Jacob's name to Israel? He was Wrestling. It was striving with him. He was struggling with him and he said, you are Israel because you have strived with God and men and you have prevailed. Right? So that's the context of it. So all these other possible meanings are possible meanings, but they're not the intent behind the name. The intent behind the name goes back to the original naming of Israel. Okay? The name Israel itself is a mystery. I'm gonna explain it a little bit here. It is an honor and a burden at the same time. A detailed evaluation of the name Israel by Abarim, which is a source I always go to looking for names. They do very good job of identifying the meaning of names in scripture. It sounds quite awry at first, but it does reveal what we see in history and what the Bible continues to reveal concerning them even into the future. This evaluation is based upon the bestowal of the name at the time of the wrestling match between the Unidentified Man, capital M there, and Jacob by the Jabbok River. That's Genesis chapter 32. This match was a picture and a pattern of not just Jacob, who is Israel, but a picture and a pattern of Israel, the people, descended from Jacob. That's why you see this name. When it says, you are Israel, it's not speaking about Jacob. It's speaking about the people who descended from him, right? Here's what Aberim says. We cannot say with certainty what the name Israel is supposed to mean, although it seems to reflect a certain inability of the Almighty God, namely the not being able to defeat a man like Jacob. Almost sounds like that blasphemy there, doesn't it? We can't be sure that God doesn't lack the physical strength to eradicate any human being, so we must conclude that the destruction of Jacob would go against the very nature of God. So they're qualifying what they mean by an inability. God cannot make a three a two. Three is always going to be three. He cannot take silver and say this is gold. He could change silver into gold and then it's gold, but he cannot say this silver is gold. Silver is silver, right? He can't take a handsome guy like me and make me ugly or vice versa. Anyway, that was a joke, okay? Anyway, there are certain things that God cannot do. When it says that nothing is impossible for God, that does not mean logically that he can violate something by nature, a three or a two or a blue being a red, okay? He can't do that, okay? There are certain things that God cannot do, and one of them is, and they're very right in their evaluation, we must conclude that the destruction of Jacob, meaning Israel, would go against the very nature of God. Perhaps the name Israel denotes God's continuous effort to keep Jacob going even though Jacob continues to fight. God. So that's why His name is He Struggles With God. He keeps them going despite their fighting against Him. And that's what they're doing to this day. They're fighting against Him. Everything is about them. Even when they bring in the Lord into their conversations, it's always about them. The Lord owes us somehow, or whatever it is they think there. But it is God who is sovereign over them. And yet He has not destroyed them. Why? Because His Word says, I will not destroy these people. Okay? And that promise goes back all the way to Genesis 3.15. God has a redemptive plan. That redemptive plan must come to pass. If Israel is a part of that redemptive plan, he cannot destroy Israel. Now Abraham isn't the people. We don't say Abraham over in the Middle East, right? We say Israel over in the Middle East. It is Israel who the name rests on. We have the God of Abraham, we have the God of Jacob, we've got the people of Abraham, but the name Israel is what's being focused on here, okay? He struggles with God. When Abraham had a son, his son was named Isaac, and then when Isaac had a son, his name was Jacob, right? Okay, and then Jacob had, each one of those was the sole inheritor of the blessing of the birthright, right? From Abraham to Isaac to Jacob. And all of a sudden, when it came to Jacob, something happened. It wasn't one son, was it? It was 12 sons. The 12 sons of Israel. After that point, all of them became a unified people. Now, certain tribes were given certain privileges in this body. The Levites were set apart for service to the Lord. They are mine, okay? So the firstborn and the place of the firstborn and taking the Levites. Judah is selected, even though Joseph was given the blessing. Judah prevailed, it says, and Judah became the line for the Messiah. So we have certain things going on in Israel, but guess what? Those 12 tribes are Israel. And that's what's being said here. God can't destroy Israel. It's against His nature. It's not that He can't actually do it. He could wipe them out today. But if He did, it would be against His nature to do so. And that's why Israel will stand. When they say that over in Israel, Israel will stand, you better believe it's true. But it's not because of them. It's because of God who established them. Very important distinctions have to be made there, but they come to the same conclusion. Israel will stand. This insightful evaluation is borne out through the rest of Scripture. It would go against the nature of God to destroy the people of Israel, and it would also go against His Word, as we saw in Leviticus 26. They have been brought under God's covenant protection and have been given eternal promises. Israel's destruction would be a failure of God to uphold these promises, wouldn't it? If God made this promise that he's going to do this thing and he didn't follow through with it, it would be a failure. That's why I say if you ever see Israel out of the land and destroyed as a people, if it happens during our lifetime, throw this away. anyway if there are no more jews on the planet we're still here is a group of people the koran came true after all and it ain't gonna happen i can absolutely assure you of that it says again and again and again in the bible such as in the end of uh... what what is it a mess i think uh... every from time to time where it says i will establish them and they will never be uprooted again says the lord your dot very last words of the uh... book i think it's a mess He signed his name there. He signed his name back in Leviticus 26. He does it all the way through there. God will not fail in this. Despite their rebellion against him, despite their ability to come to their senses and receive Jesus Christ as Lord, he will not destroy Israel. Okay? Though salvation is an individual tenant, the burden of which lies with the individual man, the preservation of national Israel is an eternal grant, the burden of which lies with God, absolutely. To support this, Paul returns to the words of Scripture. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah? So he's going to Scripture. Paul's language here indicates that the account of Elijah, which is found in 1 Kings 19 verses 11 through 18, relates the concept of what he will say. It isn't a complete quote of the account, but a description of it, which will include a quote. In his thoughts, he begins with how he pleads with God against Israel. This is Paul's words there. The word translated here as pleads is the word etihaneh. It is used five times in the New Testament. It was seen in Romans 8.26, and it's going to be seen in Hebrews 7.25. Let me read you that, Hebrews 7. You what? Oh, there you go. See, you're way ahead of me. Therefore he is also able to save to the uttermost. Very good, that was good of you. Those who come to God through him since he always lives to make intercession for them. They save to the uttermost the people that come to him, right? The uttermost. It is a petition on behalf or against a person or party. In the case of Elijah, he was petitioning against Israel. The reason Paul is going into this account will become evident in the coming verses. But logically, he is preparing the answer to meet a similar petition which he has been addressing. Has God cast his people away? Okay, if he's able to save an individual to the uttermost, guess what? He's using the same word to make a point about Israel. He's already answered the question and now will come his defense of the answer. Before we go on, life application. Israel, he struggles with God. That struggle is between God and Israel. Our duty, and I'm talking about believers who say they hold to the word of the Lord, our duty is to accept that God can handle it and that he will do so for Israel's continuance and for his glory. Those who fight against Israel are assuming a role which puts them at enmity with his protective plans. Okay, now there are Christians all over the world that literally hate Israel. All over. They're part of the BDS movement. They're part of the World Council of Churches and they don't want anything to do with Israel. There are churches that don't like Israel because their doctrine says that they have replaced Israel. Roman Catholicism, for example. They have for eons and eons said that we have replaced Israel. We are the true Israel. If Israel of today is in the land, is supposed to be there, then what does that mean about their doctrine? It means they've been wrong all along. And if that's the case, then they have water all over their face and they won't admit that. Well, guess what? Protestant Reformation, the Protestants still said the same thing. We are the spiritual Israel. We've just cleaned it up and we're reformed and we're going back to the true worship of God through the Bible. But they still have water on their face if they acknowledge that they were wrong. That's why reformed churches are not ever going to acknowledge that those people over there are the same group of people, that they belong there, that they have a right to be there, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. It's not going to happen. But guess what? When we do that, Especially now that he has miraculously brought them back and put them there, we're working against God. Everybody see that? It's very clear, yes. You said water. I've always heard egg on your face. Well, egg on your face. Yeah, I say water. I don't know why I do that, but it is egg on your face. I'm glad you said that, because I've always said water. You know what? I get this all the time. When I was at work one time, I used to always say the whole 10 yards, and my friend finally got so mad at me. He said, stop saying that. I said, what? He said, it's the whole nine yards. I had no idea. I was thinking football, 10 yards, right? So the reason why, does anybody know why it says, you do, don't say it because I think we talked about it, didn't we? At the projects. I brought it up one time. I'll let you answer, but does anybody else know why it's called the whole nine yards? No, no, okay, go ahead. Okay, the bullets in the fighter planes back in World War II, they were strung in nine-foot or nine-yard strings. Nine-yard strands, that's right. 27 feet, and when they went in for the strafing, they gave them the whole nine yards. So there you go. That's nothing to do with football, but that's why I always thought it was football, and so we said the whole 10 yards. But anyway, so we have, let's see here, we'll go on. So we're fighting against God's plans if we do that. This doesn't mean that they aren't a part of his overall plans, but that their role is a negative role. even if it is used for his positive purposes, such as chasing... Oh, I skipped something. Those who fight against Israel are assuming a role which puts them at enmity with his protective plans. Now you'll understand the context. This doesn't mean that they aren't part of his overall plans, okay, but that their role is a negative role, even if it is used for his positive purposes, such as chastening Israel to effect repentance. Okay? So, somebody that's working against God's plans can actually be there for a purpose, and the purpose is to get them to wake up and call on Jesus. Right? Okay. This was seen with the Assyrians and the Babylonians. Both accomplished God's plans for Israel, but both came under God's judgment. Think this one through and then determine to support Israel. God will wake them up as much through your support as he will through the wrath of the other nations. Witness to the Jews and pray for Israel. As I say, it's the last prayer I make every single night. Not because they're right with the Lord. That's not why I support Israel. I say it in update after update because some people just blindly support Israel. They're not right with the Lord. They appoint homosexual mayors. They do this and they do that. They are completely separate from the Lord in their thinking. We are the great thing in the world, and we're going to stand because we are Jews, and we will prevail. That's not why. It's because God has his name on them. He struggles with God, and he will not allow them. They'll struggle with him, against him, or with him, for him. But either way, they struggle with God, and God will not allow them to falter. it would be against his nature to do so now before we go on we got to get into verse 3 here but yes oh yes at least completely against israel he's right he said sixty just in case you didn't hear me said sixty three percent of the churches are against israel the people in christendom i would actually think probably more but it could be you know it would be a surprise to me if it's even that high it these people they believe that they've replaced israel that israel has no right in the world today and that's why they're working against that's why they're harming them financially they're doing they're divesting all of their assets and everything possible in order to uh... you know, harm Israel. They're working against God's plans and purposes. That's all they're doing. Yep. That's right. The Methodists, the Episcopalians, the Presbyterians, especially the PCUSA, the Anglican Church, I think has probably done that up in Canada. If I'm right, I may be wrong on that, but they're all over the place. They're doing this. So now before we get into verse three, I just want to acknowledge that we have Bill and Patty Kish. They're here from Arizona. They're our missionaries over there in Arizona, and they're going to be going to Uganda. Kenya. Kenya. I knew it was Kenya and I don't know why I said it's because I said something to a guy in Uganda today. Kenya and they're going to be going there and they are here you know just for how long? 10 days. I'm sorry 10 days we'll be in Kenya. We're here just another weekend. Okay. Through the weekend and they're not going to be at church on Sunday because they have their home church that they go to but they're going to be going to Kenya and they'll be there for 10 days and then they'll be coming back and going straight to Arizona. Is that right? Okay, so it's wonderful to have you guys here. It's good to see you. So no music on Sunday? Not for us. We might do some music at the other church, but not for us. Anyway, we're going to go to verse 11-3 now. 3 Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your alters. I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me. Okay, everybody remembers that famous passage. He's in distress. He's gone. He's defeated the prophets of ball, right? And then Jezebel threatens them a woman after he did all these great things for the Lord. And what does he do? He runs away. Yeah, she put it. That's right. So, you know, here we have we have this. He's in a state of distress. He just doesn't want to go on anymore. And he makes this statement as it says there. Lord, they have killed your prophets, torn down your altars, and I alone am left and they seek my life. So it's very close to his version. This quote is taken from one Kings 19 verse 10. However, Paul amends it somewhat to meet his purposes for our instruction. Here is the exact quote of that verse. He says, So he said, I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts. For the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, tore down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they seek my life, seek to take my life. So it's a little longer, and he has amended it a little bit. Paul leaves out forsaken your covenant, okay? It is now the time of the new covenant. He has been speaking of the Jews whose adherence to the law of Moses became an end in and of itself. That's in Romans 10, 3, and 4. Let me read it to you really quickly just so you know what it says. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, God has established a new covenant through Christ's shed blood. and seeking to establish their own righteousness have not submitted to the righteousness of god for christ is the and of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes so they're trying to look at the law of moses as a means to an end and it isn't it was supposed to end it was supposed to be uh... superseded by the new covenant okay and it was superseded by the new covenant says it three times in hebrews explicitly about fifteen times implicitly it's set aside it's obsolete it is an old it's not They do have seven more years left under Daniel 9 24 through 27 to get this right though, okay? But the new covenant is in effect. They have those seven years and they will be driven to the point where they will call on Jesus at the end of the tribulation period. But that's why he doesn't use the word forsaken your covenant, okay? He also switches the order of torn down your altars and killed your prophets. It's possible that he did this to highlight prophets in order to make his point about a remnant remaining. Okay, that would be in verse 11-5. Even so, at this present time, there is a remnant according to the election of grace. The altar at Elijah's time was where one first went to sacrifice a sin offering. Only after that could a person have fellowship with God. As Jesus is the fulfillment of such sacrifices, the term prophet, the one who transmits the message, is thus highlighted. See, even him changing a verse by putting one part of it before another has meaning. Okay, this follows with the theme of Romans 10 14 through 17. Let me read you that. 10 14 says, How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent as it is written? How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of priests, who bring glad tidings of good things, but they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our report? So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. The term for torn down that he uses here is the Greek word Kateh Qapsan. It means to dig down or to dig under. It's used only two times in the New Testament, the other being in Acts 15 verse 16. The altars of the Old Testament were to be made of earth and unhewn stone. That was the law of the earth and altar which followed directly after the giving of the Ten Commandments. If you want to see a marvelous picture of Christ in his work, go watch that sermon. Wonderful stuff. In order to destroy such an altar, it would be easiest to dig into it or under it to cause it to collapse. Okay, so that's why he's using this special word. This is the reason for Paul's particular use of that word. Anybody know what a sapper is? sapper okay sapper today has a different meaning it's the same job but it's just done differently a sapper in the old days when they went into besiege a city they had guys that were called sappers and of course you have walls around cities right and they would go in and they try to siege works against it and they do this and they do that well what they're doing that they had the sappers digging under the walls of the city and guess what would happen to the sappers That was the end of them. That was their one job, was to dig until the walls collapsed on them, and then the people would rush in. Yes. Today, sappers are people that will go to, like, the IED explosives on the side of the road, and they're the sappers, so the ones that will defuse it, or they'll, you know, they have a different mission. Hopefully, they don't die as well, but the job is just as dangerous, right? So, there you go, but the idea here with the altar is you're going to dig down under it and cause it to collapse. Hopefully, you're not a sapper and be in it. Except for a chance where Yeah, he's a sap. That's exactly where it comes from. Yes, that's exactly. Yes, absolutely. It's just shortened of that. So anyway, okay, so very good though. Yes. The next thing he quotes is Elijah's belief that I am alone left and they seek my life, right? Elijah felt completely alone in his ministry. At a previous point, 100 prophets of the Lord had been kept alive by a man named, anybody remember his name? begins with an O, ends with Bediah. Bediah, very good, you got it. Okay, having kept them safe in a cave. However, it's possible that even they had been killed by the wicked Queen Jezebel. With this occurrence, Elijah thought he was the last of the faithful people of God. The sad state of despair weighed heavily on him and so he fled to Mount Horeb and there spoke to the Lord about it. The coming verses will continue to show us, however, that God had a faithful remnant even then, and he had such at Paul's time as well. Okay, so life application. The Lord's faithful believers have always come under attack. In today's world, it's an ongoing occurrence. We read about it every day in the newspaper, if you just pay attention. People in England, you know, preachers, it's happening all over the place. Anyway, daily many are martyred for their faith. Places like Vietnam, you don't hear about it a lot, but they are. And you got it in China, they're being more and more persecuted. Okay, it happens. North Korea, it's the worst against Christians in the world right now. It happens all the time with people that want to believe in something other than their human ruler. Okay, so there are places where Christians are safe to worship. They're coming under increased pressure to be silent about their belief. Boy, is that not the truth in America today. Pray for those who are facing life and death choices concerning the gospel and also pray for strength to boldly proclaim Christ where you are. Walk into a store nowadays and you ask, can I tell you about Jesus? And somebody gets offended. It's just unbelievable. Wow, if that offends you, gee whiz. I can't imagine how offended you must be when you see the perversion on TV, right? Oh no, that's okay. 11th floor. My opening will be specifically about that. Good, I can't wait. And what was God's answer to him? I have reserved for myself 7,000 who have not bowed the knee to Baal." Okay, a little different with the beginning, but what does the divine response say to him? So, other than that, direct quote. Okay, in response to Elijah concerning his plea against Israel, God returns an answer, not through the strong wind, the earthquake, or the fire, but through a still small voice. And the divine response was, Yet I have reserved 7,000 in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal." Paul's use of the term divine response is the Greek word chrymatismos. This is its only use in the New Testament and it is indicating the response itself, not the manner in which it was relayed. The word is spoken. I have reserved for myself. The Hebrew of this verse actually states, I will leave. However, Paul's quote says, I have reserved. The Geneva Bible explains the thought this way. Here's what they say. He speaks of remnants and reserved people who were chosen from everlasting and not of remnants that should be chosen afterwards, for they are not chosen because they were not idolaters, but rather they were not idolaters because they were chosen and elect. God foreknew that these would be the elect. He presented himself to Israel, and these are those who accepted the message. The honor belongs to God, not to them. They merely acknowledged his way, and all others rejected it." That's the divine response which he is speaking of. Thus, the dishonor belongs to those who rejected it. Otherwise, if you're, you know, you believe what I taught about, you know, with the predestination and election, well, where does the dishonor belong? He would say, well, it belongs on everybody and God just gets honored by saving some people and condemning all others to hell. All right. That just doesn't work that way. We went through it. Go back and watch that one. I think it was Romans 8, 28. But anyway, if you want to watch that one again, just send me an email and I'll pull it out for you. But God foreknew. I'm sorry, of those reserved, God states he has 7,000. The number seven in scripture is the number of divine perfection and completeness. Understanding this use of the number seven, it is possible that it is reflective of a complete number and not exactly 7,000, okay? I don't want to be dogmatic here either way. He says, I've reserved 7,000. He could be saying a great multitude or a certain number, okay? They are those who make up the fullness of the faithful in the Northern Ten Tribes. all others having apostatized." Regardless of whether the number is exactly 7,000 or a close approximation, it would be minuscule in comparison to the vast number in the land. Truly, only a remnant were faithful to the Lord. These few souls were those who had not bowed the knee to Baal. Baal is a word which simply means, does anybody know what Baal means? It's a very simple meaning of the word, and people get freaked out when, you know, today when somebody's married in Israel, they may call their husband one word, or they may call him imbali, my husband, right? Imbal, all right? It means master or lord. That's all it means. Okay, yeah. So David uses the term Baal when he says he's the master of the breakthroughs. Remember when the Lord broke through for him? And anyway, so he uses the term of the Lord, Baal. He's the master of the breakthroughs. So it's not always a bad term. So people need to not have that in their head because there are times where people will say, well, Baal is all bad. Well, no, it's just, it's a word. Oh, well, yeah, they talk about Baal all the way through, speaking of the bad Baal, they speak of it all the way through the books of Kings and Chronicles. Well, no, but you know, it's just one of the idols of the land, you know, but anyway, the word Baal itself simply means Lord or Master, okay, and then they have, they have, people will misuse it or they use it in one way or another way, okay, but they have, what's that? In Kings, it says that they have a kiss. It's not kissed him. That's where they get this kissing the toe. I've seen that on TV where the people go and kiss you in Rome. That I have no idea. But you know what? People say it. I will say something. People say a lot of stuff about the Vatican and the things. They say, well, that goes back to the time of Dagon. And that goes back to the time. And they're always trying to find parallels between what happened in Canaan and what happened in the Vatican. 99% of that stuff is just people making stuff up. They read something in the Bible, and the Vatican's got a pointy hat, and they say, well, look, Dagon had a pointy head back in the statue there. So what? You know what? That kind of stuff, I don't watch that crazy kind of stuff. Those videos on YouTube, there are miles and miles and miles and miles of them. And you can get lost in stuff that people make up out of their own head. Whether kissing the toe is or isn't related to that, I have no idea but it's probably not. It's like them saying that Easter comes from Ishtar when it doesn't. I talked about that before. So go ahead. This one is the one though that they offer their children. That's Molech. Yeah, that was Molech. But also Dabal, I think, and Jeremiah. They may have done it to Baal. Anyway, so yeah, but all it is, remember, all Baal means is master or lord. Don't get stuck on the name of a false idol, okay? There's a parallel to that too because God is your true master. Then it's idolatry. Then you're off elsewhere. That's right. You're off anyway. So it is irrelevant. I mean, you can get lost in that kind of stuff, but we use the same term for God, Elohim in the Old Testament to speak of the true God and of false gods. It's no different with the word Baal. And we use the same word many times. We do it in English. We have God, and we have God. And we have to make a distinction between the context of what's being spoken of. So don't get stuck on semantics. People love to get stuck on semantics, and it's never a good thing. You have to know what the context of the passage is. So Baal simply means Master or Lord. In order to show the disgraceful nature of the act, Paul states it in the feminine form. Okay, that's an important thing that he did. It's like Baal is a weak feminine God. Okay, so there you go. Life application. Let's see here. It's good to consider that even if the world is slipping into a completely, oh, you know what? I skipped an entire paragraph. Let me read this. I skipped a couple of things. I said, let me go back up here. They apostatized the 7,000. Baal is a word which simply means master or lord. I went down a couple paragraphs where I repeated that in Hebrew, but it was used as the name of one of the idol gods of the Phoenicians and Canaanites. Elsewhere, such as in Assyrian Babylonia, the comparable name, Bel, was used in the same manner. Okay, it's just a, what do you call it, a cognate word. You've got the Assyrian, you've got the Hebrew, and you've got all the Aramaic, and it's a cognate word, Baal and Bel. Okay, so when you see somebody, Belshazzar, okay, that would be, yeah, okay, there you go. To represent Baal, a bull or a similar animal, like a calf, would have been constructed. But Baal was actually referring to the sun. or possibly at times the moon. In Paul's use of this word, he uses a feminine article instead of the masculine, which was used in the Greek Old Testament. It's uncertain why he did this, but Vincent's word studies offers the following options. Some supposing an ellipsis, the image of Baal. Others that the deity was conceived as bisexual. Others that the feminine article represents the feminine noun e... I... I can't read it because I... Anyway, which in Hebrew means boshet, okay, which was used as a substitute for Baal when this name became odious to the Israelites. Okay, so there you go. Let me read this again. I wrote it in the Greek and I can't read my own Greek very well. So the last seems probable because as noted Baal otherwise simply means master lord. That's where I finished up with the feminine form. And so Vincent's word studies gave the options in what probably is being done, as Paul is just saying, it's a weak God, the feminine form. Okay, life application, again, it's good to consider that even if the world is slipping into a completely degenerate state, God does have faithful believers set aside for his glory. Okay, when we see churches taking down crosses, eliminate, know what I'm thinking of, yeah, there you go, eliminating certain terms because they may sound offensive and weakening doctrine in order to increase audience size, we don't need to think all is lost. There are faithful pockets of people still holding on to the truth of the message of the cross. And it's always going to be that way until he calls us home. There will be faithful believers. And then guess what? After the rapture, there are going to be a lot more faithful believers. They're going to find out where they were wrong. Okay. Now they have a choice to make. They can be a faithful believer all they want, but if they take the mark of the beast, they are not going to be saved. That's all there is to it. So if people need to be right with Jesus now, Anyway, I had something that I was going to pass on and it has completely flown my brain. Verse 5. Verse 5. So too, at the present time, there is a remnant chosen by grace. Okay, very close. A remnant according to the election of grace is what he says here in the New King James Version. Even so then, Paul's note of comparison between what he has just said and what he will aver concerning his countrymen. As God had reserved for himself 7,000 men who had not bowed the knee to Baal at Elijah's time, so he at this present time has likewise reserved a remnant. This present time is speaking of the time of Paul, but it is certainly inclusive of the entire church age, because his writings are so intended for that purpose. Paul being the apostle to the Gentiles. Everybody got that? When Paul writes something in his epistles, it is prescriptive for the church age. That's why when people try to say, well, that was only limited to the culture of Corinth at that time, and it doesn't apply to us today, that is a way of trying to get out of doctrine. I hear it all the time from people. They'll email me with something about, well, Paul wasn't speaking to us then. He was speaking about that church that was having problems, okay? That is not correct. Paul's writings are intended for the Church Age. They are our marching orders. That is where we get our doctrine from. Everything else, it's all useful, it's all profitable for understanding. That's why we've been in the Old Testament for years and years. But when we have Church Age doctrine, we go to the writings of Paul. Because if not, you are going to have convoluted doctrine. There's no ifs, ands, or buts about it. If you try to apply Jesus' words in the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, to our walk with the Lord right now, you will have contradictions. Pray that you may stand worthy before the Son of Man. We aren't worthy, but we are worthy because of Christ's completed sacrifice. We don't have to pray that we're gonna be counted worthy. We have received Jesus Christ and we are worthy. Not because we're worthy, but because he has made us worthy. Okay? There are always, you are always going to have contradictions when you apply the synoptic gospels. And we've gone through why I'm not saying John as well. John is different and we can go through that again someday. But the three synoptic gospels, if you say that No man knows a day or hour that's pertaining to the rapture. You are wrong, because it's not pertaining to the rapture. He's speaking to Israel under the law about something that will affect them after the church age. It has nothing to do with us. Okay, so please, I know I say that every class, and I'll continue to say it every class that we're in the writings of Paul. Paul is where we get our doctrine. He is the one, listen, when he said in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, When he said, behold, I show you a mystery, and he started detailing the rapture, that means that he's the first person ever to reveal the rapture to us. They had no idea about a rapture in Matthew 24. Zero. That is not a verse that you quote and say, listen, no man knows the day or hour. It's true, it's a true principle, but it's not speaking to the church, okay? So you can't take all those surrounding verses and start applying them to your rapture doctrine. You'll have convoluted doctrine. Paul gave us, he unveiled the mystery for us 30 years after, maybe even more, after Christ's crucifixion and resurrection, and then he says, I show you a mystery. It is now being revealed by me, folks. Okay, anyway, it's enough of that, but you get the point. We get our doctrine from Paul, yes. Thank you doctor for making that great copy. Oh yeah, dispensationalism. Absolutely. Do we have any more? No, they're all gone. Okay. During this age, dispensation chart. I've already had a lot of people email me. I've emailed them back. It's on the internet now I scanned it in I put it all together spliced it together because it took four scans and you can download it right from the home page on the superior word website you can just go there and it's you click on dispensation chart go to home and then it brings a drop down and it'll say dispensations and the guy the web guy put all that on the website you just hit a link and it'll download or I can email it to you whatever but it's a great chart it's very simple it just very clearly shows you the seven dispensations. What? Wonderful? No, no, Superior Word. Oh, Superior Word. Yeah, the homepage. So, anyway, during this age, God has not failed to retain a portion of Jewish people within the governance of His redemptive workings. That's why I say this pertains to the entire Church Age. It is not something that Paul is writing about in his time, and that's it. And I said this, I think it was two weeks ago, two weeks ago, when I was with Zola Levitt. He used to travel around, and he would speak at any church that would have him. And he asked the same question at every church that he was at. Are there any Jewish people here? And he said, always there was two or three people in a church. Didn't matter how small. And if it was a bigger church, there'd be 10 or 12. Always. There's always been a remnant. Say they identify themselves as Jews, and yet they are in a Christian church. Why? Because they are now completed Jews. They have come to Christ. Right? So, there's always been a remnant of Jewish believers. Martin Luther tried and tried to evangelize them. He never could. And he turned around and started writing very bad things about them. He changed his doctrine on them completely. He said they're accursed, blah, blah, blah. Which is true, they were accursed because that's why they were in exile and under punishment, but John Wesley led a rabbi to the Lord, okay? There's always been people that are effectual in bringing people to salvation by how they present something. I have never been able to talk to a Jew and have them come to the Lord, and I've talked to a lot of Jews. Okay. So it just, the Lord is going to work on their hearts and they will come when they come, but it has to be their choice. And I have never been able to say, you know, the right words that have sparked them to say, okay, I really need Jesus. But the seeds have been planted and a lot of them are on my Facebook page. Good friends of mine that I've known most of my life went to school with them and you know, they see the same thing that you all see when I post. from time to time, so hopefully one of these days, one of them will call on the Lord. But anyway, he's retained these people for his redemptive workings, and this is according to his promises of the Old Testament to them as a nation. The People's New Testament states it this way. The idea is that Israel was the elected, chosen people, and out of it God has always preserved a remnant by his grace. The election of individuals is not referred to, but the election of a remnant to represent the race. Okay, they are individuals, but they are remnant representing the race. There's always been this faithful remnant, because that is what God has ordained. As a sort of proof of this, the Jewish convert to Christianity, oh, Zola Levitt, I forgot that I had typed this, while still alive, I'm not even going to tell you, he would go around, normally the answer would come back with a small number of hands coming up, and he said, regardless of the denomination, it would always be the case. They representing the Jewish nation are a testament to God's grace, continued grace upon them as well as the Gentiles. It should be noted that the main reason for the continuance of a remnant is yet future to us now. It is a prophetic acknowledgement that they are still a people and will continue on after the rapture of the church. through the tribulation period and come out as the people to whom Christ will return when they call on him as a nation. This is evident throughout scripture, but a good reference, a good specific reference of this would be Zechariah 12, verses 6 through 14. Zechariah 12. 6-14 In that day I will make the governors of Judah like a firepan in the woodpile, and like a fiery torch in the sheaves. They shall devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left, but Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, Jerusalem. Verse 7 says, The Lord will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall not become greater than that of Judah. In that day, the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the angel of the Lord before them. It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And here it is in verse 10. And I will pour on the house of David and on the house of the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplication. Then they will look on me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for him as one mourns for his only son. and grieve for him as one grieves for a firstborn. In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Ramon in the plain of Megiddo. And the land shall mourn every family by itself, the family of the house of David by itself. the family of the house and their wives by themselves, the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves, the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves, the family of Shimei by itself, and their wives by themselves, all the families that remain every family by itself and their wives by themselves. They're going to realize they were wrong. What? How do you read this and not say that that's future to us now? You know what? I don't understand that. Remember that prophecy update I did about three or four months ago? This replacement theologian said that we pick arbitrary verses out of the Old Testament, those ancient writings, and they make up doctrine. Like you said, how can you read that any other way? It's never happened in the past. It's something that's in God's Word. If this is God's Word, then it's going to come true. Certain enough, it's going to happen. This is something that is going to happen, 100% guaranteed. Until that time, there is this continued remnant according to the election of grace that Paul speaks about. This small number in relation to the whole are saved, in the same manner as the vast number of Gentiles who have been saved, by grace, through faith. The offer has been made and accepted by them, and they are included in the number of the redeemed of the Lord." Life application. The nation of Israel was returned to the land of Israel in 1948. In 19th, I emailed the president of, or what's his name, Ali Khamenei, the whatever of Iran. Yeah, I emailed him again. He posted another stupid thing this past week. I get so angry at him. I send him an email. Totally, totally lying about the state of Israel before the Jews came back into the land. And so I put it in a prophecy update. That way you can hear what I said. Yeah, I get so frustrated this guy. So he publishes these things and he puts them on his personal web page and it says comment here. And I just, I don't have patience for that guy. He just lies. It's just crazy. Anyway. Yes. Facebook and Twitter. That's who. That's where they get their news. Absolutely. There's more people over there, billions of people that listen to that. Absolutely. They read that stuff and they suck it up. And he's talking about how it's all a lie and blah, blah. He brought in John Sartre, the guy back in the 30s. And anyway, And he just made all this stuff up, and so I quoted, what do you call it, Innocence Abroad. And just to show, you can only post so much. I couldn't post a page to him. So anyway, but yeah, it goes to him as an email. It's like when I get up, somebody posts on the Superior Word website, it comes to me as an email. So he gets an email from Charlie Garrett, and it's never nice. Because he lies. He's just a liar. Anyway. He didn't send anything back to you? hasn't yet he probably sits there and says get the Iranians what IRGC after this guy I don't know what anyway anyway okay we'll go back as these changes in 1967 Jerusalem again became a possession of the Jewish people as these changes have taken place another sort of change has taken place in 1973 what was founded No, no, no, that was 47. 1973, Jews for Jesus was founded and the modern messianic movement among Jewish believers has skyrocketed. Yes, that was the Yom Kippur War year. As you look at the state of spiritual rebirth of Israel, note that there is a long way to go. Pray for eyes to be opened and hearts to be changed. Time is marching on and Israel plays a significant role in the present and into the future. Oh, wonderful. 11.6. I don't know how people can read these verses and... whatever. I don't want to be too hard on it, but I just don't understand it. And if by grace, then it is no longer by works. If it were, grace would no longer be grace. That's it? Okay, yeah, they do. They leave it off. Let me read you this one. They leave off a little in yours, and they footnote it. And always read the footnotes. Don't worry about the commentaries. And if by grace, then it is no longer works. Otherwise, grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace. Otherwise, work is no longer work. Right? Makes sense. It's just, it's an addition, but I would say that's probably part of the original. He's giving you both sides so you understand it perfectly. Paul has just stated that a remnant of Jews has been reserved according to the election of grace. The conclusion, because this is written by Paul, who is the apostle to the Gentiles, is that this must be something that wasn't unique to his time alone, but for the entire time to which his letters apply, meaning the Church Age. It would be contrary to the nature of his prescriptive writings for this not to be the case. Does everybody know what prescriptive means? It prescribes. Yes, it tells you what to do. It prescribes. Descriptive simply means it describes. It doesn't tell you what to do. It just tells you what happened. right? The Lord walked up to Abraham with two people with him, right? And they sat down and had a meal, right? It describes. It doesn't tell us to do anything. There is nothing that says you need to do this. That's why when you read the Old Testament, you do not say, well, this is the law of first mention, and there we have to do that, because I went through that last week. If that's the case, then we're going to be giving our first son dies, and so his wife has to go to the second son. Well, that's what the Law of First Mention would mean. We don't do that kind of stuff, because it's a descriptive passage. It has nothing to do with our culture. Back then, it was a cultural thing, right? It was incorporated into the Law of Moses, some of these things. It is not repeated in the New Testament. We do not do it. But passages are either prescriptive or descriptive in the Bible, okay? Or they could be poetic or whatever, but I'm talking about doctrine. Don't take a descriptive passage and make it prescriptive. Okay, so. Gentiles, it must be something that wasn't unique to his time alone, but it is for the whole church age. It would be contrary to the nature of his writings for this not to be the case, just as it would be contrary to have any portion of his writing suddenly not apply during this dispensation. As I said, people say, well, the long hair thing in the book of 1 Corinthians, that only applied back then. No, it applies always. You're just reading it wrong and you've misanalyzed it. But it always applies, okay? The Church Age prescription for salvation is found in what Paul states in Romans and elsewhere. And that is very clear. Anybody know Ephesians 2, 8, 9 by heart? Go ahead. Over grace are you saved, be faithful that not of yourself. is the gift of God, not of word, lest a man should boast. Absolutely. And we are his workmanship. Make sure you say it louder next time because I'm not going to repeat what you said, but make sure you say it loud so everybody can hear. Eventually we'll have another microphone in here and it'll be able to hear over there, but we don't have it yet. So, the doctrine is set, it is unchanging for Jew and for Gentile. God has breathed out his word through Paul for church age instruction. And so, speaking of these Jews who have been reserved, he makes his case. And if by grace, meaning what you just said, Ephesians 2.8.9, meaning the means in which one is saved, okay, then it cannot be based on something other than grace. If it's based on grace, then it can't be on something other than grace. Personal merit of any kind is excluded. This includes adherence to the precepts of the law of Moses. You cannot earn God's favor by holding to the precepts of the law of Moses. You cannot be saved or unsaved by failing to observe the law of Moses, and that means the entire law. I'll say this, it always gets somebody excited, and then I'll give you the proof of it. As a matter of fact, I was saying this during a sermon one time, and some guy got his wife and he grabbed her and they left. And I was one sentence away from explaining it. And he would have said, oh, that makes complete sense. Okay? The law of Moses in its entirety is set aside. It is obsolete. It is annulled. Okay? Is the, are the, correct English, Charlie, are the Ten Commandments a part of the Law of Moses? Yes. Yes, 100%. They are done. There's no distinction between the ceremonial law and the moral law. Over the years, especially the older Reform writers, were scared of that, and they would say, well, this only pertains to the ceremonial laws, not the moral law, which is God's eternal standard. Okay? That is not true. The Ten Commandments were given to Israel under the Law of Moses, and they are done. And people will say, oh no, that's not true. Okay, we still can't kill anybody. Well, that's true, we can't kill anybody. So what is the answer to that question? My first question before I answer them is this. Do you observe the Saturday Sabbath? Now, if they're a legalist and they observe the Law of Moses, they're going to say yes, but that is out. None of us are Sabbatarians here, okay? If you want to observe on a Saturday, there's nothing that says you can't. But my question is, if you are not observing a Saturday Sabbath and yet you say the Law of Moses applies, then you've got a real problem, don't you? That's a terrible problem. Guess what? Nine of the Ten Commandments are repeated in the New Testament. We're not to kill, we're not to commit adultery, we're not to blah blah blah blah blah, right? We're to honor our parents. The Sabbath is not mentioned in the New Testament as a requirement. As a matter of fact, Paul says that why are you observing Sabbaths, right? Colossians 2, 16 and 17, they're a shadow of the things to come. And then he says in Hebrews 4, 3, because I believe Paul wrote the book of Hebrews, He says, in Him is our rest. We rest in Christ. He is our Sabbath rest. So technically, we are observing the Sabbath, but we're doing it in Him. Okay? But we don't do it on a Sabbath. What do you call, in the New Testament words, honor your mother and father, do not kill. They're not? Laws, they're... No, they are... You know, we can't call them a law by which we are imputed sin. Because if that was the case, if we did one of those things, or didn't do one of those things, and it was a law, then we would be imputed sin. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5 verse 19, or 2 Corinthians 5 19, he says that, let me read it to you so I don't blow it, but I could give you the substance of it, but I'd rather just read it to you so that you understand this. I think I said it last week too, but 2 Corinthians 5 19, that is, God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, meaning their sins, not commit counting their sins against them is what some translations say, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. If that was a law, If that was a law and we violated it, guess what? He would have to impute us sin. And if he imputed us sin, then we'd be back right where we were at the fall of man. Because the wages of sin is death. And it is not speaking of physical death, it's speaking of spiritual death. On the day that you eat of this fruit, you shall surely die. And he continued to live for 970 years. of his life, right? So it could not be that God is a liar, so it's speaking of physical death. There was a physical disconnect from God and it was forever. It was done. There was no way for him to reconcile it back to God. unless God did it himself, and that is what Jesus Christ did. God is not imputing...you talk about a verse for eternal salvation, that is it right there. If God is not imputing our sins against us, then it doesn't matter what we do, we will never lose our salvation. But we will lose our joy, we could go to jail, we could get executed, and we will certainly lose rewards when we get to heaven. Absolutely. But God is not imputing our transgressions against us. Yeah, that's what we call license. I can do anything I want. Well, licensed to sin is what, but that's what they say. I can do anything and God isn't going to hold this against me. And that is not true. Not at all true. We are to live in holiness. We're to be sanctified and we're to grow in holiness and we're to live pure lives. We're to do the things that Paul says. And when he says, thou shalt not murder, you know, honor your mother and your father, which is the first commandment with the blessing and all the things that he says, then we are to do that. But we are not being imputed our sins against us. We are never going to die against. It is spiritual death. We will never die against spiritually. It cannot be because there is no law. Where there is law, there is wrath, because Law sin is its power is from the law. Okay, he talks about that a couple chapters ago Anyway, we are not being imputed our trespasses or our VR trespasses or God is not counting our sins against us. Anyway Let's see here. Where was I down to two eight and if but by grace it means one is saved and it can't be based on something other than grace and Okay, personal merit of any kind is excluded. This includes inheritance to the precepts of the law. There is no merit before God in our salvation in abstaining from pork. That's 1 Corinthians chapter 10. Go read that. And there is no merit in our salvation in observing the Passover or a feast day or a Sabbath day. That's Colossians 2. I just said it's 16 and 17. Go read that. The observance of such rituals as a basis for our right standing with God, all fulfilled by the Lord, is contrary to what the nature of grace is. Grace is getting what you don't deserve. And if I have to do something in order to merit God's favor, then that means nothing. Christ died for absolutely nothing. And I had some people that have emailed me for years from England a couple days ago get mad at me because, oh, I told you about it. They said that we're observing the Catholic, remember I talked about the Catholic day of worship, like it's satanic or something to worship on Sunday. It's nothing to do with the Catholic. It has to do with this word right here. We meet because we are honoring the Lord's resurrection on a Sunday. That is why it's called the Lord's Day. We don't observe an obsolete, outdated law. And so if you're trying to merit God's favor because of a Sabbath day, you are failing at it. And you're also disgracing the very purpose of the cross of Jesus Christ. It's just the way it is. If you want to observe your time on a Sabbath, and I've had people email me and tell me that. We love to take our Saturdays off. That is the day when we spend the whole day worshiping the Lord, and we do it because we're thankful to the Lord. Great! That's fine. There's no problem with that at all. Paul says, we'll get to it in Romans 14, but let me pull it up really quickly. One esteems the one day one way, and another esteems another day, and where is that? Let me see if I can find it. Do you know the verse there? You know what I'm saying, but you don't know the verse number. You've let me down. But here it is, verse 5. One person esteems one day above another. Another esteems every day alike. They don't even take a day off. They just work seven days a week. I know somebody that does that. Yeah, I've been doing it for years. I've taken a day off in years. Anyway, it doesn't bother me a bit. Every day alike, let each be fully convinced in his own mind. There's no restriction. There's no prescription. There's just do what is right when you're honoring the Lord with your life. I am in my Sabbath rest. I don't mind getting up at four o'clock every single day. As a matter of fact, I'm up every day at four o'clock anyway, because it's just ingrained in me. This morning it was 401 and my dog nudged me though. Yeah, it knows. It knows that it's time for me to get up. And so I got up. Thank you. And of course, then she went back to sleep. But yeah, it just and then I go to bed at the same time every night. And I do it seven days a week. And it doesn't bother me at all. And people say we got to take time off. I hate hearing that from people. You know, I am taking time off what you know why you're doing it. Why? Because the same way my dogs do it too. Like, hey, it's time to get up. I get up and they go like, it's so warm. Oh, that's right. They get your spot. That makes sense. That makes sense. I had no idea. That makes total sense. That nice warm spot where I've been. They want it. Anyway, that's, that's probably correct. I am always in bed by eight o'clock. Always yeah, that's why if we go out to dinner I go at 5 so that I am done by 630 I go home I read the Bible and I go to bed. I don't like going to dinner any later than 5 you know that People say I say I go to bed at 8 o'clock. Well people think that it's okay that we go out to dinner at 7 o'clock Well, guess what 7 o'clock? I'm sorry 8 o'clock. You're not even done with dinner. I go I eat at 5 I and then I'm in bed by 8. And if people don't want to do that, that's fine. We'll go out to lunch. That'll be okay. By the way, that sandwich was good back then. You leave my sandwich alone. Okay, let's go on. We got people online that are... Okay, let's see here. Okay, so Colossians chapter 2, Sabbath day, the observance of such rituals as a basis for our right standing with God, all fulfilled by the Lord, as I said, is contrary to the nature of what grace is. Because we are saved by grace, then it is no longer, Paul says, of works. How clear Paul is, and yet we continuously muddy the waters, reinstituting precepts which Christ died to free us from. This must be true, otherwise grace is no longer grace, as Paul says. But the doctrine is written, the precepts are defined, and the expectancy of our belief in what Christ has done is requested. Ooh, we got a lot, and we've only got five more minutes. Wow. The obvious reason His grace is grace. Paul says, but if it is of works, it is no longer grace. We are saved by grace through faith. Anything other than that means that some type of work is involved. If some type of work is involved, then it is no longer grace. He's just turned it around to the other side of what we just said. Either one is saved or they are not saved. If they are saved, then what can they add to it? Nothing. And therefore, salvation, both in the immediate and in the continuance of it, must be by grace and not by the law. It is truly tragic how many people simply dismiss the obvious nature of Paul's words. Let me put that in a way that you can understand. You are saved and you are not saved by any work of your own, right? But people say, after you're saved, you need to do this. And you hear it in churches all the time. You've got to do this. Guess what? If you have to do that in order to keep being saved, then it wasn't grace at the beginning. Because it is all one process, and it is either eternal or it is not eternal. If you have to do anything after being saved to keep from losing your salvation, then it cannot be of God. It must be of you. And therefore, the cross has lost its purpose. Don't lose that precept. Before salvation, until salvation, and then you're saved by grace and it must continue in that state forever. If there's something you must do, and Paul talks about that using circumcision in Galatians, but even if grace is grace, both for initial and continued salvation, what does that mean concerning choice? This is as important as understanding what work actually is, because some will claim that belief is a work. We excluded that in Romans 3.17, by the way. This is a common sentiment and needs to be viewed according to the standard which Paul uses as our example for righteousness, which is Abraham. Genesis 15 says, and he believed in the Lord and he accounted it to him for righteousness. The Lord counted it to Abraham for righteousness. Paul uses this to show us how salvation occurs. He does so because Abraham was declared righteous prior to the introduction of the law and even prior to the sign of his righteousness, which is circumcision, which is Genesis chapter 17. Thank you. This is our New Testament example as given by Paul in Galatians 3 and confirmed throughout all of his writings. Because it is, then the process for Abraham must be the same for us. If Abraham was as you know, reformed theologians say, regenerated in order to believe, then scripture would clearly, either explicitly or implicitly, show us that this occurred. but it doesn't. At no point in the 1189 chapters of the Bible is this tenet demonstrated. Therefore it must be an unscriptural tenet which has been invented by man. Belief is not a work, and therefore God's grace is granted based on our Belief. It is not a work. Like I said, it's back in Romans 3. I think it was, I said 17, it might be 327. Let me go there just so we get the right verse. And it says here, Romans chapter 3, just so I don't give you the wrong verse. Yeah, 27, sorry. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. Therefore, works and faith are completely separate, and therefore belief can't be a work. Right? See that? See the logic there? Your belief is what saves you, not being regenerated in order to believe. That's crazy. Okay, if a belief were a work, and we know that Abraham was declared righteous because of his belief, as Scripture explicitly demonstrates, then the grace bestowed upon Abraham wouldn't have been grace. Instead, it would be work. His salvation would have been works and no longer grace. Otherwise, as Paul says in this verse, work is no longer work. Stated another way, by using the word belief in place of work, the results of Romans 11 verse 6 would be. I'm paraphrasing, I'm changing the word to belief so you can see what he's saying. and if by grace, then it is no longer of belief. Otherwise, grace is no longer grace. But if it is of belief, it is no longer of grace. Otherwise, belief is no longer belief. One must redefine the biblical meaning of belief in order to come to the conclusion that belief from man's free will is a work. See that? I'm not trying to change the Bible, I'm just giving you an example. If you just simply say work and belief, as it says in Romans chapter 3 verse 27, you can see it. It is not a work and therefore belief is not something that you have done to earn God's favor. He's done everything, you're just accepting it. You see the good in God and you come to Him. Life application and we are done because we are out of time. God has granted you free will to believe. little stick in the side there. Don't muddy the waters. Simply believe that this is true. Okay? We've got to close. We've got to get this thing shut off before I cause my... friend up in Tennessee or I'm sorry New Jersey more work Heavenly Father thank you for this wonderful word it is difficult it is complicated it can be very easily misconstrued it can be manipulated it can we can do all kinds of things to your word which is not correct and I would pray that what I have presented to these people today is that you're pleased with it but I would also pray that they would go home and think about it and compare scripture with scripture and and check what they have heard. Lord, this is your precious word. And so we just want to make sure that it is honoring to you when we open it and speak about it. And please help our hearts to be receptive to you throughout the week. Help us to pursue you with reckless abandon everywhere we go and in our minds and in our hearts and in our actions. Lord, one more thing. Help us to be willing to just speak about Jesus. The time certainly is short, and we pray that we would be suitable receptacles of that word to share it with others. Help us in this, and we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Okay, let me back this baby up. Can't even get my bandana on. There we go. We got it just in time. Good. Okay, let's see here. Okay, we want you to have a wonderful night. Please take good care of yourself and have a great weekend and we hope to see you here Sunday. Take care. I don't hate you, but how could you? I don't have a mind, but who loved me?