False Assumptions Resumed

[0:00] The title of the message this morning is Jewish Faulty Assumptions Resumed.

[0:12] I would like you to please turn in your Bible to the book of Romans. And this morning we'll be in Romans chapter 11.

[0:27] And we'll be taking a look at Romans 11, 1 through 14.

[0:42] I say then, God has not rejected his people, has he? May it never be. For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

[1:01] God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Or do you not know what the scripture says in the passage about Elijah?

[1:13] How he pleads with God against Israel. Lord, they have killed your prophets. They have torn down your altars.

[1:25] And I alone am left. And they are seeking my life. But what is the divine response to him?

[1:35] I have kept for myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to Baal. In the same way, then, there is also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God's gracious choice.

[1:53] But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works. Otherwise, grace is no longer grace.

[2:07] What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained. But those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened.

[2:19] Just as it is written, God gave them a spirit of stupor. Eyes to see not, and ears to hear not.

[2:31] Down to this very day. And David says, Let their table become a snare, and a trap, and a stumbling block, and a retribution to them.

[2:47] Let their eyes be darkened to see not, and bend their backs forever. I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they?

[2:59] May it never be. But by their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make them jealous.

[3:12] Now, if their transgression is riches for the world, and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be?

[3:24] But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. And as much then, as I am an apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry.

[3:39] If somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them. I could not help but wonder what was in the mind of Elijah when he was told in verse 4, God is saying, I have kept for myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.

[4:17] I am confident the response to poor old Elijah would have been, Where are they? Where are they? Obviously, they were rather well hidden.

[4:29] And he certainly did feel all alone in the position that he was taking. But then again, this just points out the difference between divine perspective and human perspective.

[4:41] Because Elijah could not see any indication of their presence. However, the Lord knew exactly who they were and where they were and how many there were. And he tried to comfort him with that bold fact, I have 7,000 that have not bowed the knee to Baal.

[4:57] So, Elijah, even though you may like to think and it feels like you're in this all alone, you're not. But I've got some allies that you don't know about.

[5:07] So, he informed him of that. In connection with what we were studying this morning, the 9 o'clock hour as we're going through the Bible chronologically, we spent our time in Deuteronomy.

[5:21] And we were simply laying out some of the distinctions that were provided, the things that were provided for the Jews of old as opposed to their being really passe for today.

[5:35] And we made the point that Judaism has become a defunct religion. And the fact that there may be multitudes of Jews throughout the world that practice some semblance of Judaism, there is no way that they can practice the Judaism that was established in the Old Testament under the law of Moses.

[6:00] And the principal reason simply being because Israel as a nation no longer has a sacrificial system. They no longer have an altar.

[6:11] And they no longer have a temple. And anyone who knows anything about Judaism knows that these items were the absolute heartbeat of the nation of Israel.

[6:21] It was all about sacrifice and what God had instituted. And with the destruction of the temple and the inability of the Jew to offer sacrifice, plus the fact, the principal fact that Christ died on the cross as he did and paid the sin debt of the world, that virtually eliminated and made defunct the whole concept of Judaism.

[6:46] And as a result, Jews today who keep the Sabbath or who observe a kosher kitchen and a kosher diet and so on and abstain from pork and these kind of things, even though they may think they are doing that to gain the pleasure of God and the approval of God, in reality they are not.

[7:09] They may do those things out of tradition because it's just part of their being a Jew to do them. And that's the way their forefathers did it. If they want to do and observe them from tradition, that's entirely their prerogative.

[7:24] But it is no longer required because all of that has become passé. And that's very difficult for some people to understand because there is a tendency to think that whatever is prescribed in the word of God is intended for all people for all times.

[7:40] And that, of course, is a very erroneous misunderstanding. The Bible is a book of development. It is a book of progression. It is a book that grows from one seedling into a full kind of tree.

[7:56] And if you do not see the progression and do not allow for it and do not see what the end product is from the beginning, then you're going to be at a terrible disadvantage for even trying to understand the Bible.

[8:10] So whatsoever things were written for our learning were written for time were written for our learning. That's a far cry from saying whatsoever things were written for time were written for us to do.

[8:23] And that, of course, is simply not the case. But making that distinction and standing for it and insisting on it, sometimes you feel like you're a voice crying in the wilderness because so many people simply do not see it that way.

[8:41] We've made a great deal of the Jewish nation, and we continue to do so. And when you understand that a full three-fourths of the Bible is Old Testament and is all put under this Old Testament concept, the law of Moses and so on, and then you have a very small part, principally, what the Apostle Paul wrote and the general epistles that come after that comprise the New Testament, when you see these things in perspective, it makes you wonder just exactly what's going on.

[9:20] And there again is that progression thing. But if you plant yourself in any one portion there in the Old Testament or in the Gospels and you try to go and do likewise, you're going to encounter a great deal of frustration and a lot of contradiction because that's just not the way it's supposed to be.

[9:37] And with all of this emphasis upon the Jews, I'm sure there are some people who may stray in here from time to time and wonder, is this a Christian church or is this a Jewish synagogue?

[9:50] You spend so much time talking about the Jew. Why do you do that? Why do you put all of this emphasis upon the Jew? And the answer is very simple. First of all, God does.

[10:03] Secondly, the Bible does. And thirdly, Satan does. There is a drama that is being played out even as we speak.

[10:17] And it began back with creation. And it will culminate with the establishment of the new covenant and the disposition of Satan in Revelation chapter 20. And this is a drama.

[10:29] It is the drama of redemption that is being played out in bold relief all over the globe in different ways and places. And the Jew, the seed of Abraham, is smack dab in the center of it.

[10:46] And perhaps the most important thing is that you need to understand that the Jew and the Jewish people comprise the catalyst for the plan and program of God.

[11:02] And perhaps the most ironic thing about this is that the Jew and the Jew and the nation of Israel is right at the center of it.

[11:13] And perhaps the most ironic thing about this is that many of the Jews themselves do not understand that. They do not see themselves that way at all.

[11:27] Oh, they know and they understand that they are a peculiar people. They understand that their monotheism, which, by the way, they had to stray from numerous times until God kept bringing them back through punishment and chastisement.

[11:43] Their monotheism made them stand out like a sore thumb among all the other nations of the earth. Because virtually all of their neighbors all around them worship many gods and many deities.

[11:55] And Israel alone was monotheistic. So they know that they are a peculiar people. They know that they were chosen of God.

[12:05] At least, let me put it this way. Many of them do. But do you realize that there are many, many Jews today, probably hundreds of thousands of Jews today, who do not even embrace the concept of a personal God.

[12:28] And they do not see even their own Old Testament as being the very word of God. And many of them, many of them are simply atheistic.

[12:42] Well, if you are a Jew and you are atheistic, what kind of confidence do you put in the idea that you are the chosen people of God?

[12:53] Where does that put the chosen people of God if there is no God? I mean, think about it a little bit. And that's precisely where many of these people are. They do not understand that they are, in fact, the very tip of the arrow that God is going to use to penetrate what really needs to be changed.

[13:19] They are the tip of the arrow. And, of course, the one who is the tip of the tip is none other than the Messiah himself, Yeshua HaMashiach. So, it is without apology that we place a great deal of effort and time and attention upon the Jewish people.

[13:38] I can easily understand how some of them, like in Fiddler on the Roof, Tebby the Milkman, lamented, So, we are your chosen people. Would you like to choose somebody else for a while?

[13:52] Give us a break. They have suffered such enormous amounts of persecution, hatred, deprivation, murder, you name it.

[14:03] It is just, well, it is purely satanic. Look, the degree of persecution that has been heaped upon the Jew and the amount of unjust criticism that has been leveled at the Jew.

[14:18] All Jews are money hungry. All Jews control all of the banking of the world. All Jews are rich. All Jews, you know, on and on and on it goes. And the Jewish libel. And it is the Jews, the protocol of the elders of Israel goes clear back into the Middle Ages, where the Jews were accused of every year they would kidnap a Gentile child and slay the child and use the blood of the Gentile child to make matzo balls for Passover.

[14:52] And you would be surprised how many bookstores you can find for sale, the updated versions, perhaps not in the United States, I would hope not in the United States, but all throughout the Arab world, all throughout the Arab world, who are the number one protractors of Israel, you will find those books available in their bookstores, the elders of the protocol, and stuff like that.

[15:21] And they teach their children at the very earliest of ages, children that are growing up now in the Gaza Strip, from which the rockets are fired over the Gaza Strip into Israel.

[15:36] And these precious children, Palestinian Arab children, are taught from the age of four or five that the greatest honor that you can bring to your family and to your parents is to kill a Jew.

[15:49] These children are brainwashed with that. They grow up to seeing that as a model and as a goal and as an objective. And it's just horrid, the things that go on like that and have gone on, all because of the inordinate and irrational hatred of the Jewish people.

[16:09] And, you know, we've made the point before, and so it needs to be made again, that all of us, all of us in our fallenness, think with a skewed intellect.

[16:22] And this is how hatred can become so irrational. And what I mean by irrational for the young people is, I mean, hatred can be extended toward a group of people that is illogical and has no basis in fact at all.

[16:41] And that's what we mean when we say it is illogical and irrational. But this is the way Satan helps people think.

[16:54] We are told that he blinds the minds of those that believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, which is the image of God, should shine unto them.

[17:04] So Satan is afoot out there and he is using, in many instances, he is using Jews to combat Jews. Did you know George Soros is an atheistic Jew?

[17:20] And he is anti-Israel? Where in the world do you get off of that? Here is a Jew who is anti-Israel? Oh, yes, there are multitudes of them out there. It's just amazing.

[17:31] This is the kind of blindness of which the Apostle Paul is speaking there in Romans when he says that blindness in part is not in full, but in part.

[17:45] And we can be comforted by the fact that it is not in full because the Apostle Paul says, I also am a Jew. So it isn't that salvation is held in abeyance or off limits for the Jew.

[18:03] It's that the Jew does have an additional obstacle to overcome. And that is, in part at least, the blindness that is imposed upon them, not only by their own fallen nature, which we have to deal with as well, but even with Satan.

[18:19] And Satan realizes, you see, because he cannot, there is no way that he can get at God. And he knows that. So he settles for God's children.

[18:33] And God has no greater obligation than that which he has promised to fulfill to the nation of Israel. And the Messiah, who is to be the principal product of the nation of Israel, is the one who is going to be the Redeemer.

[18:50] And Satan knew or understood a certain amount of that. And that all ties in with the temptation of Christ by Satan. And so all of these things come together. Satan knows full well how strategic the Jew is to the plan and program of God, even though many Jews do not.

[19:10] He understands it. And this is why his effort is to thwart the plan and program of God at any way, shape, and form that he can. So he goes for God's children.

[19:22] He goes for God's people, the apple of his eye, the Jew. He goes for Christians. He goes for believers. He calls the Apostle Paul to say, we are not ignorant of his devices.

[19:34] He is scheming. He is a murderer. He is a liar who abode not in the truth. And he was a liar from the beginning. And Christ certainly had him pegged. So whether or not God is able to fulfill all that he has promised to Israel and to the world through Israel, his reputation is hanging in the balance.

[19:56] And I'd like you to turn to Luke chapter 1 and verse 46. We'll just select a portion of this from the Virgin Mary's Magnificat, one of the most beautiful, stirring things that has ever been provided for us in Scripture.

[20:12] It's just an absolutely stunning thing. This is Mary's response. Mary's response to what the angel Gabriel told her about her being the mother of the Redeemer.

[20:26] And this is just so stunning. And Mary said, My soul exalts the Lord. She is just enthralled by it all.

[20:39] And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior, for he has regard for the humble estate of his bond slave. For behold, from this time on, all generations will count me blessed.

[20:58] Isn't that something? Here is this young virgin girl in Israel, just a peasant girl. We're not sure how old she was, but she may have been as young as 14 or 15, or maybe 17, 18, probably in all likelihood still a teenager, just a young girl.

[21:15] And yet she has the perception and the wisdom to know that her being selected for this honor is one that will leave all the world for all times to come to call her blessed.

[21:36] And she couldn't be more right. That's pretty heavy theology for a young peasant teenage girl, isn't it? She understood the implications of that.

[21:46] Because all the way back from Genesis 3, when the seed of the woman was promised, that that seed would come, every Jewish woman from that time forward looked upon herself as possibility of being favored, as being the mother of the Messiah.

[22:07] There could be no greater honor on planet earth than that. And here it has fallen to Mary. And she understands. All generations from this time on will count me blessed.

[22:17] For the mighty one has done great things for me. And holy is his name. And his mercy is upon generation after generation towards those who fear him.

[22:30] He has done mighty deeds with his arm. He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart. He has brought down rulers from their thrones. And she's probably thinking of Nebuchadnezzar and Ahasuerus and people like that.

[22:45] And has exalted those who were humble. He's filled the hungry with good things, sent away the rich empty-handed. He has given help to Israel, his servant. And why has he done that?

[22:56] Why has he done that? Look at the next verse. In remembrance of his mercy. As he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his offspring forever.

[23:17] How long had it been that Abraham had been around when Mary uttered these words? 2,000 years. Abraham was dead and buried for 2,000 years.

[23:29] And Mary is making a statement like this. This gal had her prophecy and her theology all together. And you know what? I like to think that was probably pretty standard fare for the teenagers in Judaism of that day.

[23:43] Because they were educated that way. They were taught that way. They were told that they were the apple of God's eye. They were told that the time is coming when God will send a Messiah and he's going to fix a broken and crooked world.

[23:59] And he's going to do it through a Messiah who will be born of a human being. Wow. And Mary is that one.

[24:09] Greatest faulty assumption made by the majority of Christians historically and worldwide is that the Jewish people through their rejection of the Messiah have thus forfeited all of the positive future that God had promised and intended for them.

[24:34] And while when this is falsely assumed as it is in so much of Christendom today and then built upon as Christendom has in the main everything is thrown off track.

[24:48] And that's where we are today. We are in a world that is kind of thrown off track that is skewed also and warped in its objective in its thinking in its future in its plans and everything.

[25:04] The world maybe you already knew this but the world's in a mess and this country is contributing its fair share to the mess. There is so much confusion and unknowing and so much contradiction out there and conflict.

[25:20] It's just incredible. It's just like stirring up a big pot and just keeping it stirred. And guess who is handling the ladle and doing the stirring? His infernal majesty.

[25:33] He works. He works through confusion and deceit. They are his principal weapons and he's very, very good at using them.

[25:47] The entire plan and program of God is perceived to be on another track than what it actually is. And then the whole sphere of the prophetic promises of God is negated.

[26:00] I'd just like to reinforce this a little bit and if you would come back to the Old Testament with me. 2 Samuel chapter 7. Very stunning passage. 2 Samuel chapter 7.

[26:11] 2 Samuel chapter 7.

[26:27] This is David the king. And his plans were to build a temple for the Lord.

[26:39] And we read beginning in verse 1. It came about when the king lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest on every side from all his enemies.

[26:51] And do you know how he did that? Do you know how the Lord gave David rest from all of his enemies? He defeated all of them. He bested them. Defeated them all. And it resulted in peace for the whole territory.

[27:05] That peace had never been known. And you know, originally when David wanted to build this temple and the Lord forbade him to do so because the scripture text says that David had been a man of war so God wouldn't allow him to build the temple.

[27:24] And some of our friends, particularly among the conscientious objector type, says that, well, that's just God saying that he didn't want a man of war and a man of violence to have anything to do with the temple.

[27:36] He wanted it to be a man of peace. But I don't think that's valid at all. And you've got to remember that when David went to war with all of his enemies, it was at whose behest that he did so.

[27:51] It was at the Lord's. It was God that commanded him to go against those different ones and defeat them. And he was not charged with building the temple because he had his hands full.

[28:05] Militarily, he was in conflict with all of their surrounding neighbors and it wasn't until he literally put them down and defeated all of them that peace was achieved for the whole area for the first time.

[28:21] And David expended virtually all of his energy and all of his military prowess in subduing all of the enemies and creating a time of prosperity and peace. For who?

[28:32] For Solomon. Solomon came to the throne and because everything was taken off of the military budget and put into the domestic spending and everything, why, the economy boomed, buildings were built, and Israel achieved a level of pomp and wealth and blessing that they had never known before.

[28:59] All because Solomon was able to pursue all of these objectives without having to defend themselves all the time like they did during David's time.

[29:11] So David was a man of war, but he created a peaceful situation that provided for a time of domestic prosperity. And we know that it reached heights during Solomon's time that were unexcelled.

[29:22] So, the king said to Nathan the prophet, I love this guy too, Nathan. You know, he's, Nathan is that fearless prophet that went before David the king and unmasked him.

[29:39] Gave that story about the parable of the lambs and the man that just had this one lamb and everything. And David says, well, I'd like to get my hands on that guy. I would wring his neck.

[29:50] And Nathan pointed his finger at him and said, thou art the man. And David just collapsed.

[30:02] He knew it was all over. He indicated that David was the one who had taken that one little lamb.

[30:12] And who was the lamb? That was Bathsheba from Uriah the Hittite. And David knew that he'd been found out.

[30:24] And he went into this mode of contrition and repentance. He broke down. He sorrowed. He wept. He was filled with remorse.

[30:35] He pled and begged out to God, cleanse me from my iniquity. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Acknowledge all of his sin and evil.

[30:46] And God made a new man of him. And you would have thought maybe humanly speaking that David would have had a right to have it in for Nathan.

[30:58] He was the guy that brought down the curtain on him. He was the guy that pointed his finger at him and said, you're the guy. You're the one who did this. But David's repentance and contrition was so deep and so genuine that he had the only kind of proper attitude that he could have toward Nathan.

[31:19] And you know what it was? It was one of gratitude. One of thanksgiving. When someone cares enough about you to level with you and tell you the truth, that's a real friend.

[31:34] And David, I think, was so indebted to Nathan the prophet, the guy who called him out and exposed him, that when he had a son, guess what David named him?

[31:51] Nathan. I love that. I just love that. Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in your mind, for the Lord is with you. And it came about the same night. The word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying, Go and say to my servant David, thus saith the Lord, Are you the one who should build me a house to dwell in?

[32:09] For I have not dwelt in a house since the day I brought up the sons of Israel from Egypt, even to this day. But I have been moving about in a tent, even in a tabernacle. Wherever I have gone with all the sons of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the tribes of Israel, which I commanded to shepherd my people, saying, Why have you not built me a house of cedar?

[32:30] Now therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture from following the sheep, that you should be ruler over my people, Israel.

[32:42] From ruling over the sheep to ruling over people. Quite a promotion, huh? And I've been with you wherever you've gone, and I've cut off all your enemies from before you, and I will make you a great name like the names of the great men who are on the earth.

[32:56] I will also appoint a place for my people, Israel, and will plant them, that they may live in their own place and not be disturbed again, nor will the wicked afflict them any more as formerly.

[33:09] From even the day, even from the day that I commanded judges to be over my people, Israel, I will give you rest from all your enemies. The Lord also declares to you that the Lord will make a house for you.

[33:23] And when your days are complete, this is Nathan talking to David. When your days are complete, and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom.

[33:45] Who's this? This is Yeshua! Yeshua HaMashiach. And Nathan, whether he knew it or not, Nathan was talking a thousand years into the future from the time he uttered this to David.

[34:06] I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name. I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. The question is, where is it?

[34:20] it never has been established. When it is established, it will be established forever. But it never has been.

[34:34] I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to me. When he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of iron and the strokes of the son of men. And he's, of course, referring to the kings that are going to dwell in between.

[34:47] Those who will be kings over Israel before the Messiah ever comes a thousand years later. And Israel, or Judah, actually is going to have a whole long list of kings, many of whom will be wicked and displeasing to the Lord, and some will be godly and will serve the Lord.

[35:06] And they're going to struggle with idolatry and all the rest of it. But my loving kindness shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall endure before me forever.

[35:23] Your throne shall be established forever. You know, we pointed out in earlier sessions of prophecy how that David, the king, is going to be resurrected.

[35:38] In the same way that Moses and Elijah were resurrected, or at least showed up, put in appearance in the Mount of Transfiguration, and they were readily identified by Peter, James, and John as being Moses and Elijah.

[35:53] David, the king, is going to be resurrected. In fact, everybody is. Everybody's coming back. Everybody is coming back.

[36:06] Some to glory and some, as Daniel said in chapter 12, to everlasting shame and disgrace. Everybody's coming back.

[36:18] Nobody's going away for good. The evil and the good are all coming back. And David, the king, is going to rule over the 12 tribes of Israel.

[36:30] The 12 apostles are going to rule over the 12 tribes, and David is going to be the regent over all of them as the vice-regent to our Lord Jesus Christ.

[36:41] He's going to be resurrected. It's going to be something, folks. Because we're all coming back. Isn't that amazing? We're all coming back. Nobody's going for good. In accordance with all these works and all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.

[36:58] Wow. All of this is just priceless. And then there is one more that we probably ought to look at, and that's in Psalm 89. Psalm 89. All of this has to do with what God has provided and promised for the nation of Israel, and it's all going to come about, come to fruition through the Messiah.

[37:21] Psalm 89. I will sing of the loving kindness of the Lord forever. To all generations I will make known thy faithfulness with my mouth.

[37:33] For I have said loving kindness will be built up forever in the heavens. Thou will establish thy faithfulness. I have made a covenant with my chosen.

[37:45] I have sworn to David my servant. Like the psalmist or the writer of Hebrews said that since God could swear by none greater, because there was none greater, he swore by himself.

[38:00] When we take an oath of office, or we stand on a witness stand and put our hand on the Bible, at least those courts that still use one, we swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me, God.

[38:17] And we swear an oath, a promise to God that we will tell the truth. But who is God going to swear to? There isn't anyone greater, so he has to swear to himself, by himself.

[38:32] The writer of Hebrews says, I will establish your seed. forever. And seed, of course, is offspring, descendants, and build up your throne to all generations, and the heavens will praise thy wonders, O Lord, thy faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones.

[38:56] For who in the skies is compatible to the Lord, comparable to the Lord? Who among the sons of the mighty is like the Lord? All of these things come on down to chapter verse 30 of the same chapter?

[39:15] Well, this whole thing has got 50 some verses in it. We cannot take the time, but you'll be reading these in your reading schedule when you go through the Bible.

[39:28] But all of this is in keeping with those who are going to follow in the Davidic line and Messiah himself. We'll just jump in with verse 20.

[39:43] Let's just start with verse 20. 89-20 Bible .

[40:07] I shall crush his adversaries before him and strike those who hate him. And my faithfulness and my loving kindness will be with him. And in my name, his horn, and that's a symbol of power, will be exalted.

[40:20] I shall also set his hand on the sea and his right hand on the rivers. He will cry to me, thou art my father, my God and the rock of my salvation. I also shall make him my firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.

[40:33] My loving kindness I will keep for him forever. And my covenant shall be confirmed to him. So I will establish his descendants forever.

[40:46] And his throne as the days of heaven. All of this is pointing to that messianic fulfillment that is certainly going to be realized.

[40:57] And the last one that I want you to consider is in Jeremiah chapter 31. And it's somewhat familiar to you because we've looked at the new covenant before. But I want you to see just one more little wrinkle about it.

[41:11] Jeremiah chapter 31. And verse 31. When he talks about making this new covenant. And we elaborated on this at the nine o'clock hour.

[41:21] And we've related to the idea that it is because we have the hearts we have. Which are deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.

[41:36] This is why we need a new heart. And we're going to get new hearts. God said to his own people that I will take the heart of stone out of you. And replace it with the heart of flesh.

[41:46] And you will serve me. And they will serve God in a way that they did not before. When he says, It will not be, verse 32.

[41:56] Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers. In the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. My covenant which they broke. Although I was a husband to them, declares the Lord.

[42:08] But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel. Those days, declares the Lord. I will put my law within them. And on their heart, I will write it.

[42:22] And I will be their God. And they shall be my people. What a fantastic difference this is going to make. Because then, we will be given a heart to obey.

[42:36] And a heart that will desire to obey. Rather than to disobey. The hearts we have now are deceitful and self-centered. That's why we have all the conflict in the world.

[42:49] The hearts we will have then will be a heart that is in tune with God himself. And our service and our obedience to him will not be grudging or out of necessity.

[43:03] But it will be delightful and desirable. That's not the heart I've got now. The heart I've got now is what the songwriter was singing about when he said, Prone to wander.

[43:17] Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. That's the condition of our hearts. But when we get this new heart and Israel gets this new heart, it will be a whole different thing.

[43:33] And it is all coming. And in Jeremiah 31, the passage I'll not take time to develop, but the writer goes on to say, And how definite is this?

[43:43] How significant, how sure is this? And Jeremiah says, Well, let me put it this way. When the sun, moon, and stars just cease to exist, then you can discount my word.

[43:59] But the promise that I have made and the assurance that I have given is just as certain as the starry skies and the planets that are out there. And if you can reach up and move any of them and displace them or take them out of the picture, then my word is subject to fail as well.

[44:19] But I don't think there's any takers for that. That's how concrete and how certain this thing is. And as I mentioned before, perhaps the most ironic thing about this whole program we see is the failure of the Jewish people upon whom it is given to see it, appreciate it, revel in it, rejoice in it, and anticipate it.

[44:45] And they don't. And do you know what they're doing today? They're just trying to survive. That's all. And that is amazing. That is amazing. Thank you, Father, for the revelation that you've been pleased to give.

[45:00] And we know that there is so much that we have not seen between the lines. But we see over and over again, you are a God who is utterly worthy of being trusted and making good on all that you've promised.

[45:16] We are so grateful that not only do you have the wisdom to make these promises, you have the power to bring them to pass. And Satan and the minions of hell cannot deter or deny it.

[45:31] We rest with great comfort and assurance knowing that you do all things well. And you will perfect that which concerns us.

[45:44] Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless his holy name. Amen.