[0:00] Please turn to the book of Ephesians, and we'll be in Ephesians chapter 2, and we'll be looking at verses 11 through 22.
[0:19] Therefore, remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by the so-called circumcision which is performed in the flesh by human hands.
[0:43] Remember that you were at the time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
[1:05] But now, in Christ Jesus, you who formerly were far off, having been brought near by the blood of Christ.
[1:20] For he himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall.
[1:36] By abolishing in his flesh the enmity, which is the law of commandments, contained in ordinances, so that in himself he might make the two into one new man.
[1:54] Thus, establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.
[2:13] And he came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have our access in one spirit to the Father.
[2:32] So then, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household.
[2:46] Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God.
[3:16] In the spirit. This is an incredible passage of scripture, and as plain and straightforward as it is, it is amazing how many people have really not come to grips with the truth of it.
[3:35] All throughout the word of God, from Genesis to Revelation, a very serious line of demarcation is drawn between Jew and Gentile.
[3:50] A failure to understand that, I can promise you, will obscure a great deal of the Bible to you. You just will not be able to make sense of so many things.
[4:00] We need to understand that God's original chosen people, who are sometimes referred to as the seed of Abraham.
[4:13] Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And Jacob's twelve sons, who comprise the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel, they constitute Israel.
[4:25] Old Testament and New Testament throughout the Bible. They are the Jew. And the word Jew, spelled J-E-W, is nothing but a shortened form for those of Judah, J-U-D-A-H.
[4:40] Today, they are just known as Jews. They are direct descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. These people comprise a very tiny percentage of the world's population.
[4:55] Probably even less than one percent. And everybody else that is not of that very tiny percentage is a Gentile.
[5:08] This means probably 99% of the people in the world are Gentiles. It doesn't make any difference what their religion is or isn't. They are Gentiles. So the Bible makes this distinctive category throughout between Jews and Gentiles, between this very, very, very tiny minority and all the rest of the world.
[5:31] But it is through this very, very tiny minority that God is going to bring ultimate restoration for the whole world.
[5:42] And it is to come about through a promised Messiah. A promised Christ. And this Christ will be a direct descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
[5:57] He will be from the tribe of Judah. That is Jacob's fourth son. And a thousand years later. One of the other Jacob's more famous sons, David the king will be born.
[6:12] And then skip another thousand years from David the king and all of the generations in between. And you arrive at Jesus the Messiah. Some do not understand the dispensational position and our emphasis upon Israel.
[6:28] And they simply miss the point. We do make a great deal of Israel without apology. They not only were God's chosen people.
[6:39] They still are. Their status hasn't changed at all. The fact that they are set aside in judicial unbelief is beside the point. Because God has unfinished business with Israel.
[6:52] And he will, once again, take up where he left off with Israel. And where he left off with Israel was their rejection of the Messiah.
[7:03] But when he takes up with Israel again, they will not be in a rejection mode. They will be in an acceptance mode. And all Israel will be saved.
[7:16] It will be an enormous evangelistic effort and endeavor. Led by none other than 144,000 Jews.
[7:32] Enumerated 12,000 from each tribe in Revelation chapter 7. And repeated again in chapter 14. These will be Jews who have come to the light of Yeshua HaMashiach.
[7:45] Jesus being their Messiah. And they will set about to evangelize all the rest of the world. Jew and Gentile. And they will have enormous success. And there will be enormous martyrdom.
[7:59] As well as enormous numbers of people coming to faith in Christ. These distinctions must be maintained. And they are found all throughout scripture. The passage that Gary read earlier tells about a time that is realized in the ministry of the Apostle Paul.
[8:20] A time that never existed before and nobody even imagined it. But it was a time that has to do with the demolishing of the distinctions that were very rigidly in place between Jew and Gentile.
[8:38] In other words, between this tiny, tiny 1% of the world's population and everybody else. And now, what is happening through the ministry of the Apostle Paul and the information revealed to him, which he would never have known or never would have imagined, except God revealed it to Paul supernaturally.
[9:01] And that is this. That God is doing away with the barrier, the distinction, that middle wall of partition that separates Jew and Gentile.
[9:13] And that's what this passage is all about. And he has made Twain, that's the two, the Jew and the Gentile, into one new man.
[9:26] Jew and Gentile together. Amalgamated. A concept that was absolutely unheard of.
[9:40] And rebelled against by the Jew. Because they did not want to be placed on a plane or did not want the Gentiles to be placed on a plane equal to them in favor and relationship to God.
[9:58] That was unthinkable. They were steeped in the law of Moses and Judaism and the sacrificial system and all that it required. And who are these people?
[10:10] These Gentiles. The uncircumcised. Dogs, they called them. It's unthinkable. God could never accept them like he accepts us. So they had this myopic view of who could and could not be related to God.
[10:27] And when Paul came on the scene, by the way, you would not have found anyone more deeply entrenched in this philosophy of maintaining the distinction between Jew and Gentile than Saul of Tarsus.
[10:43] I mean, he was a madman when it came to that. It would not be inappropriate to call Saul of Tarsus a radical. He was radical for Judaism.
[10:58] He was radical for a pure Judaism. That's why he took it upon himself to hunt down these Jews who embraced Jesus as their Messiah when every respectable enlightened Jew knew that he wasn't and couldn't possibly be.
[11:19] And yet these misguided Jews were duped into believing that Jesus was the Messiah and that he rose from the dead and all the rest of this nonsense.
[11:31] And I'm going to put an end to these people because they are a cancer growing on Judaism. And I'm going to take it upon myself to stamp them out. And Saul of Tarsus went to the chief priests in the temple and said, listen, a bunch of these people, our own countrymen, can you believe it?
[11:54] Have bought into this nonsense about Jesus being the Messiah. And when we started tightening the screws on them and arresting them, word got out and a bunch of them fled and they left the country.
[12:07] They went clear up north to Syria. I want to go after them. And I'll drag them back here. And you can try them. And we'll execute them.
[12:19] And that's exactly what he was going to do when he was on his way to Damascus. And he had the encounter with the living Christ.
[12:31] And as they say, the rest is history. This man underwent the most severe reversal of thinking and polity and procedure and belief and doctrine and everything.
[12:49] I mean, this man's world, mindset, ego, everything was just turned upside down when he was confronted by the living Christ.
[13:02] And the first thing he did when he came to his senses after spending three days and three nights not eating, not drinking, and not seeing, he was traumatized by that light, blinded by it.
[13:15] He was emotionally traumatized by the experience. This one that he set to stamp out his followers really, really was the Messiah after all.
[13:27] Can you believe that? And you read on in the passage after his conversion there in Acts chapter 9. And what did he do?
[13:40] Saul of Tarsus went into the synagogue there in Damascus and preached that Jesus really was the Messiah.
[13:55] I was all wrong. Wow. That hit like a thunderclap. Can you believe it?
[14:08] Now, God reveals to him, to Saul of Tarsus, that I have raised you up to be the special envoy, the apostle to the Gentiles.
[14:28] That's right. That's right. That's right. That's right. That's right. The hated, separated, despicable, contaminated, filthy, offscouring, uncircumcised of the world.
[14:40] And you're going to go and preach the good news to them. Folks, you cannot get a more dramatic turnaround than this. I mean, this is just incredible.
[14:51] So, when he began preaching this, how do you think that's set with his old Jewish brethren? Not very well.
[15:03] In fact, some of them hated him so much, they saw him as going over to the enemy, as being a turncoat to them, also as being duped, suckered in, all the rest of it.
[15:18] You know, and in Acts chapter 23, that we'll not take time to turn to, but this is how much his own countrymen hated him. They saw him as a traitor. And there was 40 of them.
[15:31] 40 Jews got together. They said, we have got to kill that guy. We have got to get to him. We've got to kill him. The same old story.
[15:44] When you can't defeat or refute a man's message, you kill the messenger. And 40 of them got together, and they made a pact.
[15:58] They said, I swear. Will you swear with me? We swear to God Almighty that we will not eat and we will not drink.
[16:11] Until that man's blood runs cold. And 40 of them signed such a pact. They were going to ambush the Roman garrison that was carrying Saul of Tarsus to his trial.
[16:30] And they got wind of it, and they left a different way by night and foiled their plans. All of this because God was going to break down the middle wall of partition between Jew and Gentile and make everyone one new man in Christ.
[16:49] So, I want you to see the tremendous importance of understanding this. And appreciate the fact that what I am telling you now was never a subject of prophecy.
[17:11] This was never predicted in the Old Testament. As you go through Genesis to Malachi, you will not find any reference of what I have just told you about Jew and Gentile being put on the same plane and members of the same body.
[17:28] After all, that's what makes the church the church. It's Jew plus Gentile. All the distinctions are gone. You are all children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
[17:41] That is never referred to in the Old Testament. Nobody had the slightest idea that when Jesus Christ was hanging on that cross, that there would be a resurrection from the dead three days later.
[17:57] Nobody there believed that. Nobody understood that. And after he was resurrected, nobody, nobody understood that the middle wall of partition between Jew and Gentile is going to be obliterated and God's going to put everybody on the same plane.
[18:14] Nobody understood that. Saul of Tarsus didn't understand it. None of the twelve apostles understood it. Nobody knew it. And the reason they didn't know it was because God had never revealed it.
[18:26] God had that purpose in mind all along. Ephesians tells us in chapters one and two, that was in the mind of God all the while. But he never revealed it.
[18:37] So, that's why we say it is not, the church is not a subject of prophecy. You do not find the church foretold or prophesied in the Old Testament at all.
[18:51] It just isn't there. It's a secret that God kept in his own mind to be revealed at a later time. And one other reason that God raised up the Jew, and this should allay any complaint that people have, that our position gives short shrift to the Gentiles, that God doesn't care anything about 99% of the world's people.
[19:21] All he cares about is his 1%. That's nonsense. One of the principal things that God raised up Israel for was not only to be the nation that produced the Messiah, but let's go to some passages in Isaiah.
[19:35] Isaiah 42. These are subjects of prophecy. Isaiah 42 for the first one. And in fact, a number of them are right here in Isaiah because he's pretty big on this.
[19:47] Isaiah 42. Principal reason. One of the principal reasons that God raised up the Jew was to be a light to the Gentiles.
[20:02] God never intended for Israel to keep their knowledge of God all to themselves. But God wanted Israel to be a light to the Gentiles.
[20:15] The only problem was Israel wasn't all that interested. They had a corner on God. They were pretty intent on keeping it. And they had nothing but contempt for the Gentiles because they were polytheistic.
[20:31] They worshipped many gods. They ate all kinds of unclean food. They were uncircumcised. You just wouldn't have anything to do with them. And here, look at, if you will, at Isaiah 42.
[20:45] Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom my soul delights. And this is the Father.
[20:55] This is the Father. God speaking. Of his son. The Messiah. He is the servant of Jehovah.
[21:07] Verse one. Whom I uphold. My chosen one. In whom my soul delights. I have put my spirit upon him. He will bring forth justice.
[21:18] To the nations. He will not cry out or raise his voice. Nor make his voice heard in the street. A bruised reed. He will not break. In other words.
[21:29] He will be gentle. And a dimly burning wick. He will not extinguish. He will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not be disheartened or crushed.
[21:42] Until he has established justice in the earth. This is all prophecy. Has this ever happened? Only if you've got a super imagination. Can you read anything into this by way of fulfillment?
[21:55] This hasn't happened. This is all yet future. And the coastlands will await expectantly for his law. Thus says the Lord God who created the heavens and stretched them out.
[22:07] Who spread out the earth and its offspring. Who gives breath to the people on it. And spirit to those who walk in it. I am the Lord. I have called you in righteousness.
[22:17] I will also hold you by the hand and watch over you. And I will appoint you as a covenant to the people. As a light.
[22:30] To the nations. Who are the nations? Every time. I think without exception. When the Bible refers to the nations. Plural.
[22:42] It always means the countries other than Israel. It always means the Gentiles. Those who are not Israel.
[22:53] As a light to the nation. To open blind eyes. To bring out prisoners from the dungeon. And those who dwell in darkness from the prison. I am the Lord. That is my name. I will not give my glory to another.
[23:05] And while we're in the neighborhood. Look at chapter 49. Of Isaiah. Chapter 49. And verse. Six. Well.
[23:20] Let's start with verse five. Now says the Lord. Who formed me from the womb. To be his servant. To bring Jacob.
[23:32] Back to him. What does that mean? This is the new name. Or the old name. For Israel. Jacob. The individual man.
[23:42] Jacob. Who was the son of Isaac. Had his name changed. From Jacob. To Israel. Sometimes he's referred to as Jacob.
[23:54] Sometimes he's referred to as Israel. Here. He is referred to as. Jacob. And he's speaking of a nation. He's not talking about. A man. Jacob.
[24:04] Jacob the man. When Isaiah wrote this. Had been. Dead for several hundred years. Long gone. The Jacob that he's referring to here. Of course. Is the nation.
[24:15] To bring Jacob. Or you could say. To bring Israel back to him. In order that Israel might be gathered to him. For I am honored in the sight of the Lord. And my God is my strength.
[24:26] He says. Is it too small a thing. That you should be my servant. To raise up the tribes of Jacob. And to restore the preserved ones of Israel. I will also make you a light.
[24:41] Of the nations. So that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. Whom is he speaking? He's speaking about the whole people of Israel.
[24:55] I will make you Israel. A light. To all the other nations. Well. Have they been? No.
[25:06] No. They haven't. One of the chief purposes for which God raised them up. Has not been fulfilled. They have not been a light to the nations.
[25:18] They didn't want to be. Remember a prophet by the name of. Jonah. When God called Jonah.
[25:29] To go to whom? Nineveh. Who are these people? The Ninevites. They lived in the. They lived in the present land of Iraq.
[25:43] And God called Jonah to go to them with the message. Yet 40 days. And Nineveh shall be overthrown. He didn't want to go. He said.
[25:55] I'm not going. And Jonah went down. And got on a ship. Headed in the opposite direction. And someone said. You can run from God.
[26:06] But you cannot. You cannot run away from God. And Jonah tried. And God. Explained. The benefits. And the disadvantages.
[26:18] Of disobedience. And you have that whole incident. Regarding the great fish. And. Jonah. Being. Vomited out. By the great fish. And his.
[26:29] Radical change of mind. And then. He went. To the Gentiles. These are nothing. But a bunch of. Pagan. Idolaters. With.
[26:40] No care. And no concern. For the God of Israel. Or anything. He had to do with. And he went. And preached. To these people. At Nineveh. Yet. Forty days. And Nineveh shall be overthrown.
[26:51] And. Guess what? They believed him. And they said. We better get our act together. And they repented. And God spared the city.
[27:04] From the destruction. That he was going to bring upon it. And Jonah pouted. This is the only time. I know of. In all of scripture. Where a preacher.
[27:15] Is saddened. By his success. I don't know of another place. Where. Anybody. Preached. A message. Wanting. People. To be. Converted.
[27:25] To the truth. Of the message. And then. Sad. And disappointed. When they were. But that's exactly. What happened to Jonah. And he was. Went in a big pity party. And he went. And sat under this tree. Well.
[27:36] You know the story. I won't go there. But anyway. This was all. Jonah. Being. Unwilling. To go. To the Gentiles. And you know. You don't find very many cases at all.
[27:46] In all of the Bible. About Gentiles. Coming. To faith. In the true. God. Of Israel. Find a few. Not very many. Remember Naaman. Naaman.
[27:58] Back in 2nd Kings 5. Naaman. Was the commanding general. Of the army. Of Syria. And by the way.
[28:09] If you're following the news. You know that Syria. Is in big. Big trouble today. They've got a. A real. Conflict. Going on there. Bashar. Assad.
[28:19] Is trying. To hold on to power. And he's turned his big guns loose. On the citizenry. To try and put down the rebellion. And maintain power. This.
[28:30] We're talking about the same place. This is where Naaman was from. 2nd Kings 5. He was the commanding general. He would have been their equivalent of. Eisenhower.
[28:41] Or MacArthur. To Syria. And he had leprosy. And. It's a fascinating story. You can read it. At your leisure. It's in 2nd Kings 5.
[28:52] And I won't go into it now. Except to say that. He. Was. A Gentile. He was an uncircumcised. Dog. And yet.
[29:03] And yet. Elisha. Was used. Of God. To affect. His healing. Of leprosy. And it's fascinating.
[29:14] Because Jesus refers to this later. In the gospels. And then there is another incident. Where there were lots and lots of widows. Throughout the whole land.
[29:25] Because. So many men died at a younger age. And left widows behind. And there was this one lady. Who was called the widow. Of Zarephath. And.
[29:38] Elijah. Went to bat for her. And this is the. Miraculous supply. Of food. Of oil. And of grain. That was provided.
[29:49] Miraculously. And God used. This Jewish prophet. Elijah. To minister to this. Gentile woman. And then. When Jesus is telling.
[30:00] This story. To his own people. In the town. Where he grew up. As a boy. The young man. In Nazareth. And he reminds them.
[30:13] In Luke chapter 4. About. There were many. Widows. In Israel. During the time of Elijah. But he went. To just.
[30:24] One. And provided sustenance. For her. And she. Was a Sidonian. She was from Zarephath. She was not a Jew.
[30:35] She was a Gentile. And. There were lots. And lots. Of lepers. In Israel. But God. Chose. To heal. Only. One. And he wasn't.
[30:46] Even from Israel. He was from Syria. And God. Used. Elisha. To heal. The Gentile. And you know what. In Luke 4. When Jesus.
[30:57] Made. Reference. To them. And called them. What they were. Both Gentiles. The population. Listening to him. Rose up. In anger. They jostled.
[31:08] Jesus. They grabbed him. They manhandled him. They pushed. And shoved him. Out. Of the synagogue. Out to the city. And he was just. Going backwards. All the way. And they were pushing.
[31:19] And shoving. And they took him out. To a brow of a hill. Right at the edge of town. This is local boy makes good. Only it was local boy makes bad.
[31:31] As far as they were concerned. And they were going to throw him. Over the cliff. Throw him right over. And the only reason they didn't. Was because his time had not come.
[31:45] And Jesus simply passed. Through the midst of them. And they were unable to harm. Him. Because. That's not the kind of death.
[31:57] He was going to die. That had already been planned out. What was the Fuhrer so. About. Why were they so upset. Why were they so.
[32:08] Gentiles. Gentiles. Gentiles. Can't have anything to do with these people. But you're supposed to be a light to them. What did they do with that.
[32:19] They must have just turned their back on. While we're in Isaiah 49. Look at chapter 60. Come over a few pages. Isaiah 60. Arise. Shine.
[32:38] Shine. Shine. For your light has come. And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold. Darkness will cover the earth. And deep darkness the peoples. But the Lord will rise upon you. And his glory shall appear upon you.
[32:50] And nations. Will come. To your light. Light. And kings. To the brightness of your light. Oh can't you just see nations coming to Israel's light now. Can't you just see Egypt and Syria.
[33:03] And Sudan. And can't you see these nations. Not in your wildest imagination. If they come to the light. It'll be because they're sending a missile of some kind. And using the light to hone in on.
[33:15] That's the only kind of light they're coming to. But this is all prophetic. And this is going to be realized eventually. Because this is what God has raised Israel up to do.
[33:27] And in verse 5 of chapter 60. Then you will see and be radiant. And your heart will thrill and rejoice. Because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you. The wealth of the nations will come to you.
[33:39] This is all millennial. None of this is happening now. None of it has ever happened. But it's going to happen. And while we're in the neighborhood. Look at verse 11. And your gates will be open continually.
[33:52] They will not be closed day or night. That means you will be secure. The gate. The wall around the city was the chief means of defense that they had.
[34:05] So if you've got a gate around the defensive wall to protect you from your enemies. But the gate is open day and night. That means the threat is gone. You don't even have to close the gate at night.
[34:17] It's like you. Is there anybody here that never locks their house when they leave? Not anymore. Years ago. Years ago. You could leave the house.
[34:29] Be gone all day. Never bothered to lock the house. Couldn't even find the key to the front door. Those days are gone. You don't do that anymore. You lock up.
[34:40] They will not be closed day or night. So that men may bring to you the wealth of the nations. With their kings led in procession. Wow. That too is all millennial. This is going to be realized eventually.
[34:52] It's not realized now. It never has been. And if you spiritualize this. What in the world does it mean? It doesn't mean anything if you try to spiritualize it. You've got to take it literally. But it's never happened. But it's going to happen.
[35:04] And then in chapter 62. You know Isaiah is really into this. Isaiah 62. And verse 1. For Zion's sake I will not keep silent.
[35:18] And for Jerusalem's sake I will not keep quiet. Until her righteousness goes forth like brightness. And her salvation like a torch that is burning. And the nations will see your righteousness.
[35:29] And all kings your glory. And you will be called by a new name. Which the mouth of the Lord will designate. And on and on. This is all good stuff. That's going to befall Israel.
[35:40] Because Israel then is going to be what it's supposed to be. Are they now? Nah. Not at all. Not at all. God raised them up to be a light to the Gentiles.
[35:51] They are not interested. I'm not going to take you to these references. But I would like to just mention these in the Old Testament. Jeremiah 16 verses 19 through 21.
[36:04] And we need to take a couple in the news. So come over to Matthew chapter 12. Matthew 12.
[36:21] And verse 18. Where we just came from Isaiah. Behold my servant. Whom I have chosen. As we read earlier from Isaiah 42.
[36:32] My beloved. This is the fulfillment of it. Verse 17 says. In order that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet. 700 years earlier. Might be fulfilled.
[36:43] And here's the passage. My servant whom I have chosen. My beloved. And whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my spirit upon him. And he shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles. And so on and so on.
[36:56] All of this is in fulfillment of that. And then. There is another. In Luke chapter 2. If you just compare scripture with scripture.
[37:06] And put all of these things together. The case becomes insurmountable. You just simply cannot deny this. Luke chapter 2. And verse 29.
[37:18] This is in that beautiful. Beautiful expression. That is given here by old Simeon. Verse 29.
[37:29] Now Lord thou dost let thy bondservant depart in peace according to thy word. For my eyes have seen thy salvation. And this is Simeon. And he's holding God's salvation in his arms.
[37:40] This old man. Simeon. Is cradling the baby Jesus. As he says this. And Jesus is seven weeks old. And Joseph and Mary are standing aside there.
[37:51] Listening to all of this. And Simeon says. My eyes have seen thy salvation. Which thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples.
[38:02] A light. Of revelation. To the Gentiles. To the Gentiles. To the Gentiles.
[38:14] And the glory. Of thy people. Israel. Israel. You know.
[38:29] It is really interesting to note. That God raised up. A whole. Nation. Of people. For multiple reasons.
[38:43] But one of the chief reasons. In addition to producing the Messiah. Messiah. Was to be a light. To the Gentiles. How were they to do that?
[38:56] Not by getting in bed with them. When they came into the land. Moses said. God said through Moses. When you come into the land.
[39:08] There's going to be all kinds of. Ites there. Gergishites. Hivites. Jebusites. Perizzites. All these ites. And they're all pagans. They're all heathen. Philistines.
[39:21] You are not. To enter. Marry with them. You don't. Give your sons and daughters. To them. And you don't take. Their sons and daughters. Well now.
[39:33] If you're not going to fraternize. With these people. And intermarry with them. How are you going to reach them? It's the same old story. About this girl. That meets this guy.
[39:45] And she is a sweet believer. And he isn't. And she is going to marry him. Because she's going to win him to the Lord. After she is married to him.
[39:55] She's going to see that he's converted. Ha. Ha. In your dreams. Very often doesn't work that way. So. How are they supposed to reach them?
[40:06] If they wouldn't commingle with them. If they wouldn't intermarry with them. How are you supposed to reach them? You reach them. Through. Preaching to them. When you have opportunity. An unpopular message.
[40:18] That they probably won't want to receive. But some of them will. And that's the same way. We're supposed to reach people today. You reach them.
[40:30] With the truth. You don't reach them by becoming one of them. And getting in bed with them. You reach them through conversion. Remember.
[40:42] When. When Naomi. With her husband. And two sons. Went over to Moab. Because of the great famine.
[40:54] In Israel. They crossed the Jordan River. Went over into the land of Moab. They heard. There was work over there. The famine wasn't over there. They went over there.
[41:05] And when they got there. Naomi's husband died. Then one of her sons died. Then the other son died.
[41:19] And what does she have left? Two daughters-in-law. Orpah. And Ruth. Orpah decided.
[41:30] To stay home. There in Moab. And. Ruth said. I will cling to you. I will go with you.
[41:42] And Naomi. Didn't want her to. Remember. Naomi says. No. You stay here. Among your people. And remember what she said. She said. Your people.
[41:54] Naomi. Your people. Will be my people. And your God. Will be my God. Do you know what she's saying? She's converted.
[42:06] She converted to Judaism. She left. The Moabite. Pagan. Religion. Of Chemosh. That sacrifices. Their own. Babies.
[42:18] And she said. I'm adopting. Your God. She became. A proselyte. To Judaism. That's how she was reached. And Naaman.
[42:30] The leper. When he went back home. To Syria. With all of his troops. Behind him. Do you know what he took. Along with him? That's amazing. You got to read the text.
[42:41] It's in 2nd Kings. 5 and 6. You know what he took. Along with him. He took along. Big. Saddle bags. On a mule. Filled.
[42:52] With. Israeli. soil. Dirt. Jewish. Israeli. Dirt. Packed.
[43:04] Saddle bags. Of it. And took it home. To Syria. So that. Now. In my. Homeland. In Syria. When I. Bow.
[43:14] Down. To worship. I will not. Be. Worshipping. The pagan. Deity. Of the Syrian. People. I will be. Worshipping. The true. God. And I will be.
[43:25] Kneeling. On Jewish. Soil. That's. Conversion. That's how. He was. Reached. And here.
[43:37] This whole. Nation. Of Israel. Was raised up. By God. For multiple. Purposes. But one. Of which. Was to be. A light. To the Gentiles. And they. Weren't doing it.
[43:48] They. Weren't doing it. They. Weren't getting. The job done. And God. Turns. To. One. Man. Saul.
[44:01] Of Tarsus. And he. Raises him up. Oh. This you've got to look at. This you've got to look at. Acts chapter 9. It just. Jumps off the page.
[44:12] And grabs you. So hang on to your seat. Real good. Okay. This is a conversion account. Acts chapter 9.
[44:30] And. When God appears. To Ananias. And tells him. He wants to go. Ananias answered. In verse 13. Lord. I've heard from many. About this man. How much harm. He did.
[44:40] To your saints. At Jerusalem. And here he has authority. From the chief priest. To bind all. Who call upon your name. But the Lord said to him. Go. For he is a chosen.
[44:51] Instrument. Of mine. To bear. My name. Before. The Gentiles. And kings. And the sons of Israel. I will show him.
[45:02] How much he must suffer. For my names. That is incredible. Here is a whole nation. Of people. The Jews. Twelve tribes. God raised up. To be a light. To the Gentiles.
[45:14] And they weren't doing it. Now God raises up. One man. One man. And he labels him. The apostle.
[45:25] To the Gentiles. And he sends him forth. All over the Mediterranean world. To do. What his own. Countrymen. Were called to do.
[45:36] By God. And never did. In disobedience. And you know something. Before we're too hard on the Jew. For not carrying out his job. Of evangelizing.
[45:51] How great a job. Have we done. Are our efforts. Any better. Or the results.
[46:02] Any more satisfying. I have had. I have had. A terribly. Unsettled. Feeling. Dissatisfaction.
[46:13] Ever since I became the pastor of this church. Over 40 years ago. And it has not abated. And it has not abated. And that is.
[46:28] We just. Really. Aren't. Reaching. The people. I'm. Not. Reaching. The people. I suppose.
[46:38] We could blame it on this. And blame it on that. And the culture. And the times. And lack of funds. And all the rest. But really. Is this message. Really. As vital. As we say it is.
[46:49] And why aren't I. More generous. In giving it out. To those who don't know it. Why aren't you. Something to think about.
[47:03] Seriously. Isn't it. This Jew. Gentile thing. Was such a bomb. Such a blockbuster. That. Well.
[47:15] Many today. Still. Still don't see it. And. Let me ask you. A really honest question. Now. And I. I really mean this. I really mean it. Is what I have presented.
[47:28] To you. Really factual. Or is it just. Wiseman. Blather. And if it.
[47:42] Really is. True. Does it. Fit things. Does it. Square. With scripture. If it's true. It certainly should. Because.
[47:53] I don't. I don't know what else to say. I mean. I don't know how else. To put this. Other than. What it says right here. And to me. To me. This is really.
[48:03] An open and shut case. It's an open and shut case. That. Forever. That. As far as I'm concerned. Just. Puts nails in the coffin. Of this. Replacement theology thing.
[48:14] I mean. It's just one more thing. You just. There's no way in the world. That you can support that. And. It also. It also. I have to put a few nails.
[48:25] In the coffin. Of the idea. That. The church. Began. At Pentecost. And. The church. In Acts 2. Is supposed to be. Our model. For what a church.
[48:35] Is supposed to be. And do. Oh. And I say. Well then. That means. That we're supposed to be. Speaking in tongues. In the Pentecostal. Would say. Yeah. Right. So. Why aren't you? And what are the Baptists.
[48:47] And the Methodists. And the Presbyterians. Say. Well. That. Those gifts. Have passed away. Why did they pass away? You're right. They did pass away. But why?
[48:58] What's the rationale. For that? Why aren't we. Speaking in tongues? Why aren't we. Healing the sick? Why aren't we. Raising the dead? If that's supposed.
[49:10] To be our pattern. And that's what they did. Back in the book of Acts. And our Pentecostal brethren. And bless their heart. I know these people. When they get to heaven. They're going to get straightened out.
[49:20] Just like I am. But they really believe this. And they believe the only reason. That we're not doing it. Is because. We don't have enough faith. Or we're disobedient.
[49:31] And if we. Really. Got a hold of God. We would be able to raise the dead. And heal the sick. And people would throw away their crutches.
[49:41] And their wheelchairs. And cancer would disappear. We just don't have enough faith. That's our problem. Because. The church began in the book of Acts.
[49:52] And that's supposed to be. Our pattern. And we're supposed to speak in tongues. And have these miraculous manifestations. Because that's what the church is supposed to be. And our good brethren.
[50:03] The Baptists. And the Presbyterians. And the Methodists. They come along. And I say. Well. It's true. The church began. In Acts. Chapter 2. Pentecost. That's the birthday of the church.
[50:14] Everybody knows that. But that's not. That's not supposed to be our pattern. Why isn't it supposed to be our pattern? Well. That was for another day. But listen. The church is supposed to be.
[50:25] All I'm saying. Brethren. Is this isn't the pattern for the church. This never was the pattern for the church. This is a fulfillment of a promise that God gave through Joel the prophet.
[50:41] Hundreds of years earlier. And when Peter stood up and said. These men are not drunken as ye suppose. But this is that which was spoken of by the prophet Joel. Good grief.
[50:52] Could anything be clear? Birthday of the church. Where do you get that? And they come back. And they say. Well. Right there. In verse 47. Acts.
[51:03] Chapter 2. And the Lord added to the church. Daily. Such as should be saved. Yeah. That's what it says. So their reasoning is.
[51:15] How can you add to something? Nothing. If it doesn't exist. King James says it. And as one brother put it.
[51:28] If the King James says it. That was good enough for the apostle Paul. It's good enough for me. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. There's just a little problem here.
[51:39] Nowhere in all of the scripture does it ever say anywhere that the church began on the day of Pentecost. And in verse 47.
[51:51] Where it says. The Lord added to the church daily. Such as should be saved. The word church is not even there. In the Greek. It does not exist.
[52:03] What the Greek says is. The Lord added to their number. Such as should be saved. It wasn't the church. These are all Jews doing a very Jewish thing.
[52:19] Celebrating the day of Pentecost. The American Standard revision says. And the Lord added to them. Day by day.
[52:30] Those that were saved. Weymouth says. Also day by day. The Lord added to their number. Those whom he was saving. William says. And every day. The Lord continued to add to them.
[52:41] The people who were being saved. Berkeley says. While daily the Lord added to the group. Those who were being saved. Ryu says.
[52:52] And the Lord increased their community daily by new converts. Not a word about the church. But it slipped in there in the King James Version.
[53:03] People picked up on that. Ah. There's the beginning of the church. No. It isn't. Never was. The church is very important.
[53:14] And very strategic. It is also later. And did Peter understand this when he preached on the day of Pentecost? No. Didn't have a clue.
[53:26] Peter didn't understand this years later. In Acts chapter 10. When God calls him to go to Cornelius. Peter didn't want to go. Why didn't he want to go?
[53:38] Because Cornelius was a Gentile. He wasn't a Jew. A Jew doesn't go to the house of a Gentile. And tell him anything. They are uncircumcised dogs.
[53:51] I'm not going. And he gets this message three times. And then there are men knocking at the door. And Peter says. Good grief. What is this all about? What is happening here? And he went to Cornelius.
[54:02] And he got inside the door. And he looked around. And here's the place is. Wall to wall Gentiles. Peter's not alone.
[54:15] He has got six Jewish brothers with him. And they're all uncomfortable. And Peter looks around and says. Oh. You know that it's unlawful for a man that is a Jew.
[54:30] To be in a situation like this. But. God has revealed to me that I'm supposed to be here.
[54:41] And I don't have a clue as to what this is all about. Do you think for a moment that Peter said to himself on his way down to Caesarea.
[54:52] Oh I know what this is all about. God is going to bring the Gentiles into the body. And we're all going to be one big happy family together. And I just can't wait to give him the good news. He went there with fear and trepidation.
[55:05] Didn't want to go. When he got there he didn't want to be there. And he opened his mouth. And he preached to them. Jesus. Was the Messiah.
[55:16] Of Israel. And Cornelius says. That's it. That's the message. Jesus is the Messiah of Israel.
[55:28] And Peter says. And through him. And his blood. You can be justified from all things. From which we could not be justified. Through the law of Moses.
[55:41] Wow. And Peter didn't have a clue. The other Jews didn't have a clue either. Word got back that Peter had gone to this house of Cornelius.
[55:52] And they called Peter in. They said. Peter. There is a nasty rumor going around about you. And we want you to set us straight. Because we know there can't be a bit of truth to it. And the word was that you went down to a house of a Gentile.
[56:06] And you were fraternizing with them. And you were hobnobbing with them. And you were eating with them. Tell us Peter. Peter. Tell us it isn't so. And Peter said. Well. Huh. Yeah.
[56:20] Yeah. It's all true. Golly. What was I supposed to do? Yeah. And Peter's. Peter's final defense. I love this. I love this. Peter's final defense was. What was I.
[56:33] That I could withstand God. God says you go. I said I'm not going. God says you go. And there's men outside waiting to escort you.
[56:43] You go. And Peter finally said. Okay. Okay. But I'm not going to like it. And God used. Peter. And Peter's.
[56:55] Keys. That God had given him. To open the door. To the Gentiles. Peter had credibility. That Paul didn't have.
[57:07] Peter was one of the twelve. He had prestige. He had stature. And God used him to open the door to the Gentiles. Jesus. What a beautiful.
[57:18] Beautiful thing. Well. I'm sorry. I've gone over on my time again. And it's. And I've. Oh. By the way. I do want to. I left this out last time. And I was going to start with it today.
[57:30] And it completely slipped my mind. But there is a handout. I want you to get this handout. It's called. Reviving Faith by Taking Up Serpents. Some of you have already gotten it. It's on the table out there.
[57:41] This is a group of. I'm certain. Very honest. Very honest. Sincere. Christian people. I don't doubt that they are in the Lord.
[57:52] And I see that passage in Mark 16. Where they should take up serpents. And they're taking up serpents. And handling them. And if you've got enough faith. That's what you're supposed to be doing.
[58:04] So why aren't you handling snakes? Why aren't you speaking in tongues? Why aren't you raising the dead? This is all tied together. It's all part and parcel of the same package. And when you don't understand.
[58:15] The plan and program of God. And the difference between prophecy and mystery. You don't have a good answer for not handling snakes. And for not raising the dead.
[58:27] And for not speaking in tongues. So. Get a copy of that. Consider. This was in the Wall Street Journal. April 7, 2012.
[58:38] Interesting article. I'm sure these are sincere. Well-meaning people. They are just misguided. Pray with me please. Father. Father. We've covered so much.
[58:49] And yet we've left so much uncovered. We just pray that you might be pleased to use this. To clear away some of the fog and misunderstandings. That tend to enshroud our minds.
[59:01] The minds of all of us. Because no matter how clearly we think we see these things. We still see through a glass darkly. We pray that you will help us to use this content.
[59:14] Put it together in such a way. As to provide more light for future content. We bless you for it in Christ's name. Amen.