The Jewish Final Solution to the World's Problem - Peter's Message / Israel's Response Part 3

[0:00] Before we begin our consideration of the text in the book of Acts, would you turn to Romans chapter 11, and I want to give you a kind of heads up before we get into the message, so you'll have a better appreciation for where this is going to come out.

[0:19] We are dealing with an absolutely phenomenal thing, engaging the plan and program of God, as it is expressed here in his word.

[0:30] And apart from this revelation, of course, we wouldn't have even a clue as to what God is up to. But he has been pleased to reveal that. So what I would like to do is give you a kind of summation or conclusion that the Apostle Paul reaches under inspiration, and we will be able to identify with that because it does set forth the plan and program of God and the fact that what he is about is that which just completely transcends human thinking or even possibilities.

[1:09] And the conclusion to which we are referring is in verse 33 of chapter 11, and we'll go back to the beginning of the chapter in a moment, but I just want you to see the conclusion the Apostle reaches in light of all that he has said about the plan and program of God.

[1:26] Here's where it comes out. Verse 33. Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God.

[1:39] How unsearchable are his judgments and unfathomable his ways. For who has known the mind of the Lord?

[1:51] Or who became his counselor? A couple of rhetorical questions pulled out of the Old Testament. And the idea is, do you know anybody who was able to sit down at a table across from the Lord and give him some wise counsel?

[2:05] The idea is absurd. Or who has first given to him that it might be paid back to him again? For from him and through him and to him are all things.

[2:22] To him be the glory forever. Amen. God is working a plan and program that is taking into consideration the inhabitants of this earth who are described as Jews and Gentiles.

[2:39] And despite the fact that human volition and satanic involvement are afoot and are doing their worst to thwart the plan and program of God, there is no way that men or angels will succeed in that plan because God is going to have his way.

[2:57] And when everything that we call everything is finished and presented as a final product, it is that at which God will be able to look and say, everything turned out just like I planned it.

[3:16] But while we are in the midst of getting there, it certainly doesn't appear that way. And that is in part because we have such a limited perspective.

[3:27] And without belaboring the point of going all the way back to Abraham and how God chose him and his seed through which to bring about this miraculous recovery of the earth, this restitution of the earth, this restitution of all things, this establishment of the millennial reign of Christ that will go into the eternal state.

[3:48] Without going there, let us just say that that in using these people to whom God has made covenant promise, he is obligated to them and he is going to fulfill all that he has promised because the gifts and the calling of God are without revocation.

[4:09] So, at the beginning of chapter 11, let's just consider a couple of verses here because Paul is saying this by way of conclusion. And let me insert here, if I may, that these verses and these chapters in particular, Romans 9, 10, and 11, really very clearly set forth the fact that God has unfinished business with the Jew, with the nation of Israel.

[4:40] And they have not been displaced by the church. They are still very key in the plan and program of God, the nation of Israel.

[4:53] Although, most Gentiles, and that includes everybody who is not a Jew, simply doesn't see it that way. And strikingly enough, let me also add, that many of the Jews don't see it that way either.

[5:10] So, there is a judicial blindness on the part of Israel, and there is a philosophical and spiritual blindness on the part of the rest of the world as to what God is going to do and the plan and program of God.

[5:24] Many are of the opinion, particularly in American Christendom or Western Christendom, they are of the opinion that Israel, the nation, was God's chosen people, but because they crucified the Messiah, turned their back on Him, God has done away with them, and He has replaced them with the church, which is the body of Christ.

[5:48] This is commonly referred to as replacement theology. It is also sometimes called covenant theology, and it simply eliminates the Jew and the nation of Israel from any possible future in the plan and program of God.

[6:07] We simply do not see it that way at all. We take the position that God's promises to the nation of Israel that began with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob remain very much intact.

[6:24] And because God has set them aside for, lo, these 2,000 years, does not mean that God is permanently finished with them. And this is a conclusion that Paul is reaching as he sums up his argument here in Romans 11, in verse 1, when he says, I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He?

[6:43] May it never be! And in the Greek, this is as strong an adversity as you can find. It is called the meganoito. It means God forbid. Perish the thought.

[6:55] Don't let such an idea even enter your head. God has not rejected His people. And then Paul adds, For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

[7:08] God has not rejected His people, whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah? How he pleads with God against Israel.

[7:18] And then he goes on and quotes some of that passage. So let us skip, if we may, because of time's sake, to verse 11, of chapter 11, wherein Paul says, I say then, they, that is Israel, did not stumble so as to fall, did they?

[7:36] Now the idea is that Israel as a nation did stumble. There was an impediment over which they stumbled.

[7:49] What was it? Or better yet, who was it? It was Christ. He was the impediment over which they stumbled.

[8:01] This is what, this is what the Scriptures mean when it says, the stone that the builders rejected, the same has become the head of the corner.

[8:15] And that stone is Christ, the cornerstone. And what Paul is saying here, he is not denying that Israel stumbled. Oh, there's no question about that.

[8:26] They stumbled big time. The question is, was their stumbling permanent? No. It's temporal.

[8:37] Now I know for temporal to go on for 2,000 years is a long temporal. But in the plan and program of God, it isn't that long at all. It just is in human years.

[8:48] So, what he is saying is, they did not stumble so as to fall or for their fall to be permanent, did they? No. May it never be. There's that Meganoido again.

[8:59] But by their transgression, whose transgression? Israel's transgression. What was their transgression? They crucified the Messiah. They refused to recognize him as the one sent from God.

[9:13] And they handed him over to Pontius Pilate to be crucified. That was their transgression. But by their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles.

[9:29] Who's that? Everybody else. The world is separated in the plan and program of God into two elements. The Jew and the Gentile.

[9:41] the Jew comprises two-tenths of one percent of the world's population. And Gentiles comprise the balance of that.

[9:55] It's an extremely what shall I say? Ratio. The ratio is just incredible. But by their transgression, that is, by their rejection of Jesus as the Messiah, by their negative, a positive has resulted to everybody else.

[10:19] And that's the Gentiles. To make them jealous. Now, if their transgression, that is, Israel's rejection and unbelief, if their transgression be riches for the world, how is it riches for the world?

[10:34] Because the plan and program of God has turned from the Jew to the Gentile in that a whole new thing has been brought on board that had never even been thought of or imagined by anyone.

[10:50] And that is called the church. We reject the idea that the church is a replacement for Israel.

[11:01] There is no question that the church has taken front and center stage in place of Israel and Israel is on the sideline. That too is temporary and this passage makes it so clear.

[11:15] He goes on to say, if Israel's transgression in the rejection of the Messiah be riches for the world and how is it riches for the world? It gives the whole world exposure to the gospel of Jesus Christ that he died for the sins of the world.

[11:33] And this message is the riches of the world. How much more will their fulfillment be? What does that mean? Well, Israel isn't in fulfillment of that now.

[11:47] They remain in rejection of the whole concept. And by the way, let me just insert this because I have seen this time and time again. I think the greatest, at least one of the greatest examples of spiritual blindness darkness of an irrational rejection is that which Israel as a nation made up of its individuals is going through on a day-by-day basis.

[12:20] You cannot believe the enormous confusion and spiritual darkness as regards the Jew when it comes to the presentation of Jesus who is a Jew as their Messiah.

[12:38] The Jewish people have taken on so much negativity and persecution and rejection by the world's Gentiles largely in connection with their treatment of Christ that they are enormously skeptical dubious just plain scared to really look into the subject of Jesus being the Messiah.

[13:07] So many so that in many circles of Judaism they won't even use the name Jesus of Nazareth or Jesus the Messiah. You know what they call him? That man.

[13:20] That man. They won't even use his name. That man that is so extolled and revered and revered by Gentiles they believe is the reason why they as the Jewish people have suffered so much persecution from these Gentiles in the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

[13:46] That's the only connection they make. Pain, suffering, persecution heaped upon their people because of these Gentiles and their affair with Jesus of Nazareth.

[13:56] So there is a wholesale rejection mode out regarding the person of Jesus Christ and it exists to this day. I've talked with Jews and I've read the testimonies of Jews of how feared and how hated and how shunned that name was Jesus of Nazareth because of what the Jewish people have suffered and when you look at the crusades and things that have taken place under the guise of under the auspices of Christianity you can understand somewhat why the Jew feels that way they have been subjected more to perversions of Christianity in the way they have been treated in the same way in the same way that that infidels have been subjected to perversions of Islam so there is a parallel there and when he talks about the fulfillment in verse 12 he is talking about

[14:57] Israel coming around Israel coming to the place of where they need to be how much more will their fulfillment be but I am speaking to you who are Gentiles in as much then as I am an apostle of Gentiles I magnify my ministry what does that mean what does he mean when he says I magnify my ministry he means I make much of my calling and my assignment my being called to be the apostle to the Gentiles is a big deal and I'm not going to sell it short and neither should you this is revolutionary stuff it is often not appreciated as it ought to be when Paul says I magnify my ministry he is acknowledging that this is a special calling that he received from the ascended Christ and he is the only one is the only one designated in all of scripture raised up to be the apostle to the

[16:05] Gentiles and I think it is so striking and significant that God is using a Jew to be the apostle to the Gentiles that's remarkable now this is where all of this is going if somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them for if their rejection that is Israel's rejection of Christ as their savior if their rejection be the reconciliation of the world what will their acceptance be but life from the dead he is simply saying if while in a rejection mode it is a blessing and a bane for the world think of what the world is going to enjoy when Israel comes around and they are the blessing it will be magnified it will be absolutely magnificent and it will be but for now it is not the time is coming when it will be so you've got to understand this rejection issue on the part of

[17:05] Israel and the officialdom from which it came and with that let us go back to Acts chapter 4 back to Acts chapter 4 and we're going to continue this historical odyssey through this very strategic passage that is exclusively and remains exclusively Jewish there are no Gentiles here we have not yet come to anything that can be called Christian that will not surface until later in the book of Acts this is all a matter of Jews and whether or not they embrace Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah that's the issue and at this point in time that is the only issue no non-Jews are involved strictly Jewish you've got to keep that in mind otherwise you'll certainly go astray in your understanding so within just days of the time experienced on

[18:14] Pentecost in chapter 2 and a very short period of time after Peter's second sermon in chapter 3 we read that as they were speaking as chapter 4 opens to the people the priest the captain of the temple guard the Sadducees came upon them every one of those people in that verse is a Jew Romans have no interest in this at all Romans interest was strictly limited to the political and the military they cared not for anything to do with the Jews religion or the temple or anything of that kind all they did was tolerate them regarding that so these are all Jewish people and this is the Jewish establishment this is the religious hierarchy the priest captain of the guard Sadducees being greatly disturbed because they Peter and John were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead they laid hands on them put them in jail till the next day many of those who had heard the message believed and the number of the men came to be about 5,000 here we've got more of the hoi polloi in verse 6

[19:24] Annas the high priest Caiaphas John Alexander all who were of high priestly descent these were all shakers and movers this was the Jewish intelligentsia religiously politically and every other way within Judaism and they are calling the apostles into question because they are promoting Jesus and his resurrection from the dead and Peter reminds them in verse 11 that Jesus he is the stone which was rejected by you the builders but which became the very cornerstone and there is salvation in no one else for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved so we read in verse 13 they observed the confidence of Peter and John I can just see these two guys standing there in boldness determined they understood they were uneducated and untrained men they were marveling and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus and seeing the man who had been healed standing with them they had nothing to say and reply so they're in a position now what are we going to do verse 16 what shall we do with these men the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem we cannot deny it but in order that it may not spread any further among the people let us warn them to speak no more to this man to any man in this name they summoned them gave them an ultimatum and Peter and John answered and said whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God you be the judge we know whom we are going to obey if you think if you think we ought to listen to you rather than listen to

[21:26] God that's something you'll have to decide but we've already made up our minds regarding that we're going to take our cue from what God says so they threatened them further and let them go because there was no basis on which they could punish them and I want you to notice this again we've made a mention of this on account of the people this is the common people these are just your everyday ordinary garden variety Jewish citizen who's not part and parcel of the religious establishment these are the commoners and the commoners often identified with the message of Jesus and with the John the Baptist and they subscribed to that and they received Jesus as the Messiah of Israel and so on and of course the religious establishment just thought they were in doing so they were just a bunch of ignorant uneducated dummies who were easily led and easily influenced that's the way they regarded the common people they were all glorifying

[22:40] God for what had happened the end of verse 21 and when they were released in verse 23 they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priest and the elders had said to them again these are the authority figures and when they heard this they prayed lifted their voices to God uttered this prayer in verse 27 truly in this city there were gathered together against thy holy servant Jesus this is part of the prayer whom thou didst anoint both Herod and Pontius Pilate among with the Gentiles and the people to do whatever thy hand and thy purpose predestined to occur now here again we see the surfacing of the sovereignty of God in ways that's difficult for us to understand because none of us has the ability at least to the extent that we would like to be able to coordinate human volition and human will with God's sovereignty I'm sure they are no problem to

[23:43] God man is a responsible moral agent who is accountable for his actions and his decisions and God is sovereign and he does not impinge upon man's free will he respects the volition he has given to man but he is still determined to work all things after the counsel of his own will and I might add it would take an infinite being to be able to do that and he's up to it to do whatever your hand and your purpose predestined to occur and now I love this conclusion of their prayer I love this and now Lord take note of their threats and grant that thy bond servants may have sense enough to keep their mouth shut and not say anything else that's not what they're praying is it grant that your bond servants may speak thy word with all confidence not be intimidated not be talked down not be threatened oh

[24:53] God give us a backbone so that we'll be able to deliver your message with clarity and integrity and determination while you do extend your hand to heal and signs and wonders take place through the name of thy holy servant Jesus now this is important signs and wonders where are they now they aren't here they aren't here oh on rare occasion we get a miracle that can be classified as a bona fide miracle but in the main no no now let me make an important distinction in this day in this day of which we're speaking here in acts signs and miracles were the norm for that day that was the modus operandi that was a way that God frequently revealed himself and when

[26:03] Paul wrote to the Corinthians and said for the Jews the Jews require a sign that is really important they are a people accustomed to demonstrable physical visible miraculous events and Christ authenticated his messiahship he validated his claims to be Israel's messiah by the mighty deeds and miracles that he performed that nobody else could do they were his calling card they were his badge his credentials where are they today it is the Jews who require a sign what are we supposed to do we are to walk by faith not by sight if you require a sign and you operate on the basis of signs what you see and hear that's working on and living by sign we are not to do that we are not

[27:06] Israel we are not to require a sign what are we to require what is required of us it is just faith we walk by faith not by sight the Jew walked by sight God conditioned them to walk by sight God taught them to walk by sight and he was the one that provided the sights but that was distinctive for Israel that's not distinctive for the church which is the body of Christ which is a spiritual entity not a physical material entity it's entirely different and if you don't make a distinction between those two bodies and you try to meld them or mix them confusion abounds there is no straightening it out when you keep them separate and see them as two different programs entirely God at the head of both of them Christ the center of both of them everything falls into place where it is supposed to grant that thy bond servants may speak thy word with all confidence and verse 31 says when they prayed the place where they gathered together was shaken what does that mean

[28:14] I think it means just that it was shaken I think there were tremors I think the walls were quaking and the ceiling was shaking and everybody was what is this what's good I think the place was physically shaking I don't care how long we could get together here and pray I don't think these walls are going to quake I really don't and they're not supposed to but under this program that was different so we are going to skip the incident regarding Ananias and Sapphira but may I just inject quickly if I may that too was an expression of the miraculous and the reason Peter was able to do what he did and you can boil this down to the lowest common denominator and

[29:21] Peter as well as the other apostles were given miraculous ability to perform miracles that goes back to Matthew 10 where Jesus gave them authority over unclean spirits demons etc heal the sick raise the dead and all the rest he gave them that power and here in Acts 5 Peter is using it and the lowest common denominator regarding this situation with Ananias and Sapphira is that Peter looked at both of them and said drop dead and they did they had lied and Peter said you haven't lied merely to men you've lied to God and Ananias fell over dead and when Sapphira came in they asked her the same question and she lied too and Peter said hey the feet of those who carried out your husband dead are the same ones who are going to carry you out and she fell over dead well

[30:23] I guess a lot of people can be thankful that preachers don't have that ability today there might be churches with a lot of corpses in them but at any rate this was a miraculous manifestation hey this is not the norm this is extraordinary stuff and any so called faith healers miracle workers that think they can produce this today are just whistling Dixie it's not for this plan and this program but it was common for that back there now let's hasten on if we may here at the balance of chapter five well not maybe the balance but in in the middle all of these miraculous manifestations are continuing to take place look at this look at verse 12 and at the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people and they were all with one accord in Solomon's portico what is all of this stuff this listen this is an ongoing effort to reach the nation of Israel and bring them in line and it is providing them with all of these evidences that are to be used as tools to convince

[31:45] Israel to come along with the plan and program of God and who's responding the common people the ordinary everyday Joe but the religious establishment the shakers and movers the great minds the philosophers etc they are rejecting it I think it was William F.

[32:09] Buckley Jr. who said that he would rather be governed by the first 435 names that are listed in the Boston telephone book than he would by the 435 people who are in Congress I like that I'd rather be governed by them too when you take a bunch of experts and put them in positions of power the people are going to suffer I'll never forget Marietta Seifert gave me her definition of an expert an X is a has been and a spurt is a drip under pressure we got a lot of experts who know better than anybody about everything and that's who these people are here and you know something every culture has them they are the arrogant up and outers there are the smartest ones in the room there are the ones who know everything and everybody else is stupid but them they are the educated they are the enlightened they've got the degrees they've got the learned they've got this and you don't have anything that's worth knowing and by the way lest I be thought of being anti-educational my philosophy is get all the education you can you're going to need it and it will help you but you've got to have

[33:29] Christ at the center of it so what we've got here is verse 11 great fear as a result of the Ananias and Sapphira thing great fear came upon the whole church and rightly so they'd be scared because they saw what happened to them and all the more believers in the Lord multitudes of men and women were constantly added to their number and you may take it that these are just just the common people this is the word that is going out and is being taught from house to house and they're having little bible classes and they're getting together but you're not going to find any of the elite here you're not going to find any of the Sadducees here or the chief priest why they wouldn't be caught dead in surroundings with these common people these people who know nothing as far as they are concerned now we've got the plot thickening because the persecution is going to intensify we read in verse 17 but the high priest rose up there he is shaker and mover the high priest rose up along with all his associates that is the sect of the Sadducees and they were filled with jealousy how about that and they laid hands on the apostles physically confronted them put them in a public jail we're going to take these guys out of circulation and they did put them in jail now there's no indication that there is any kind of a formal charge or a trial or accusations or defense or anything of the kind they were just the power so they had their they had their bullies accost them take them away cuff them put them in jail and an angel of the Lord during the night opened the gates of the prison do we have any angels doing things like this today miraculous deliverances we've got people who are in jail in Iran like those two young women were for several months and there weren't any angels that opened those doors and let them out we've got a pastor who was preaching the gospel and he's in jail over there and has been for months and they've been seeking his release and praying for him but there aren't any angels going there and opening those doors now I'm not saying that God couldn't do that

[36:21] I'm not limiting God and saying he can't do that I'm saying that doesn't appear to be his modus operandi today but it was here it was here it's a different time different place different people different program don't mix them angel of the Lord appeared the night opened the gates of the prison taking them out he said go your way stand and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this life oh boy wow and upon hearing this they entered into the temple about daybreak about the time of the first prayers in the morning and began to teach now when the high priest and his associates had come they called the council together even all the senate of the sons of Israel and sent orders to the prison house for them to be brought but you're not going to find them because they're not there and the officers who came did not find them in the prison and they returned and reported back saying we found the prison house locked quite securely and the guards standing at the doors but when we had opened up we found no one inside now think of that not only were the doors of the prison locked but even the guards who were supposed to be guarding the door they were still there but the cells were empty what in the world is going on here how can you explain that and when the captain of the temple guard and the chief priest heard these words they were greatly perplexed about them as to what would come of this but someone came and reported to them behold hey did you know the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people what are you serious how did they get out what's going on why the confusion is just rampant and the captain went along with the officers proceeded to bring them back without violence we want to escort them back but we're not going to grab them and drag them off why not because people won't tolerate that the common people you may consider them a bunch of dumbbells but there's a lot more of them than there is of you so don't cross them don't rile the crowd up they wanted to take them peaceably they were afraid of the people lest they should be stoned and that's exactly what the people might very well have done and when they brought them they stood them before the council and the high priest questioned them saying we gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name behold you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching you intend to bring this man's blood upon it who is this man

[39:14] Jesus you intend to bring this man's blood you're trying to say we're responsible for his death well they were they were not responsible alone but they were and Peter and the apostles answered and said we must obey God rather than man the God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you had put to death by hanging him on a cross he is the one whom God exalted to his right hand as a prince and a savior to grant repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins I see what he's saying here he's saying listen this is really important he's saying Israel Israel you still have a shot you still can reverse yourself you still can repent you still can do what many of your brethren did back on the day of Pentecost it's not too late that's the message that Peter is giving and what will their response be but more of the same more rejection more intimidation more persecution their eyes are blinded we are witnesses of these things though also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him and when they heard this they were cut to the quick they were and were intending to slay them when you can't refute the message kill the messenger that's the plan work with John the Baptist can't refute him kill him

[41:17] Jesus of Nazareth can't refute him kill him here are the apostles you can't answer their arguments get rid of them kill them this is what spiritual blindness does well the verse the chapter concludes with every day in the temple and from house to house they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Messiah they are not going to be intimidated into silence so the time is coming when their rejection will be complete and the curtain will fall we'll see that in the next session it will be the end of it questions or comments anyone Terry in the back has a comment or question you began this morning with

[42:28] Romans 11 11 where it says I say then they did not stumble so as to fall did they may it never be but by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles to make them jealous is Paul suggesting that the purpose of Christ being crucified was to make Israel jealous no I think what is going to result in making Israel jealous is that the information that was originally sent to the Jewish people and for the benefit primarily of the Jewish people even though it would extend to the whole world has been diverted and that message now rejected by Israel is going to the Gentiles and the Gentiles are going to be recipients of that which Israel should have been a recipient of but rejected so what we've got is a picture of this salvation that Israel rejected in chapter 13 of

[43:40] Acts I think it's there in the 13th chapter of Acts where Paul says it was necessary that the word of God and the gospel of salvation should come to you first and he's talking about the Jew the Jewish people he's talking to the Jew and then he says but seeing as how you regard yourselves unworthy of eternal life lo we turn to the Gentiles and they will hear it and that's exactly what happened and the Gentiles are still hearing it today I'm one of them and so are you so Israel perhaps here's where part of the confusion is we are not saying that Israel has not been displaced on front and center stage by the church it has we are saying that

[44:47] Israel is not permanently displaced the church is a temporary thing referred to in the scriptures as a mystery you can look all through the Old Testament which is just loaded with all kinds of prophecies you will not find the church prophesied just isn't there it isn't there that's referred to as a mystery it is secret it is something that was never revealed before it is not disclosed in the Old Testament at all it just comes on the scene bang where did that come from well that's a new thing that God is doing with the Gentile upon the rejection by the Jew and it is a beautiful thing because it takes the Jew who will believe and the Gentile who will believe and it melds both of them into one body and

[45:48] Paul says making the twain one making the two into one body Jew and Gentile on the same level on the same footing with the same benefits and the same blessings which was unheard of before Jew and Gentile in this one body that is the church which is the body of Christ it's the spiritual body of Christ Christ is the head Ephesians and Colossians are all about these concepts a beautiful thing other comments or questions I have two questions number one is in Acts chapter four there would have been Gentiles on the outskirts listening to the proceedings going on or would there be and then in Romans 11 33 I have heard it said that that was an exclamation that Paul bursted out on his own not led by the

[46:50] Holy Spirit repeat that last part please about Paul in Romans 11 verse 33 when Paul burst out oh the depths and the riches I have heard it said by grace preachers that Paul did that on his own he just was caught up in what he was saying by the Holy Spirit and boom here this comes just from excited about it or you know just all do you think that would be possible well I can see Paul certainly being excited about the truth but so far as it originating with Paul is concerned there's no way I could buy that that it was spoken by Paul of course and by the way when it comes to inspiration it doesn't mean that everything that these apostles said was inspired of God but it means everything that God inspired them to write is inspired of God it is the scriptures that is the breath of

[47:51] God and if they were not writing scripture they were susceptible to misspeaking misquoting misstating as much as anybody else is there was no what shall I say there was there was no divine protection against misspeaking when they were not under the inspiration of the spirit of God writing scripture Joe had a comment or question here I was just going to say a good example of what you were saying about the inheritance of the Gentiles if you have a family father mother and they have a son and that's their blood son and then they adopt another son just adopting and they say now our inheritance is going to go to both of you kids now well that first son may very well get jealous of that second son because now he gets part of inheritance which was intended for you only he gets part of it therefore he's jealous it's kind of the same thing with the

[49:03] Jews I see the legitimacy of the parallel yeah and I would concur yeah absolutely absolutely and we are we are the adopted ones we are you know the olive branches we are the wild olive grafted in we're not part of the original the original is Abraham Isaac and Jacob and his seed so we are the grafted in ones yeah other comments or questions now we are going to continue following this rejection of Israel for one or two more sessions and you've simply got to see Israel's status and the things that the nation is subjected to particularly in the middle ages largely from what was referred to as the Christian church and it was almost exclusively historic Roman Catholicism we will see that and I'm sure that there were probably well-meaning real believers involved in it because you see when someone becomes a

[50:08] Christian it does mean that that such a person now has a potential that was never realized before but it is not a guarantee that that person is going to exercise that potential or always be what they ought to be and I say that just to say that just because you become a believer in Jesus Christ with all of its wonderful privileges potential benefits etc doesn't prevent you from doing something out of the flesh that is really stupid and harmful and there are plenty of believers who've done that down through the years and doing it today and it doesn't reflect people who are Christians who know and love the Lord and are going to be in heaven when they die being able to walk in the flesh in other words just because you become a Christian you do not lose your ability to sin in fact it's more complicated but well may we stand please father there is so much about your planning program both for the

[51:26] Jew and for the Gentile and for the body of Christ wherein we know we just really lack understanding but we want to know we want to be able to appreciate because we want to be able to serve you and love you more intelligently we are so grateful for what you've been pleased to reveal and we recognize that very often it is laborious and extensive study that is needed to understand these things but you built that need into the program as well and we are grateful thank you for the power of your word for the comfort it provides for the enlightenment that we can gain from it we we recognize our deficiency and we humbly admit that we are devoid of many of the answers that we would like but we're so grateful for those that you've been pleased to give especially for the clarity of the gospel how that Christ who knew no sin was made to be sin on our behalf that we might be made the righteousness of

[52:32] God in him we don't expect to ever get over that truth and we don't want to thank you for it in Christ's name amen