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[0:00] Good morning. Good morning. Talk about turning off phones. I don't know if I told this group or not about one of my most embarrassing moments.

[0:13] I was at a funeral out on East High Street. And about ten minutes before I was scheduled to start the service, I looked at my phones all the time and told myself, and I've got to remember now I've turned this thing off.

[0:34] And I didn't. And the service started and I was about two minutes into the service and this thing went off.

[0:47] And I was embarrassed to death and I said, I'm terribly sorry. Excuse me. I just reached down and thought I'd turned it off. But I didn't hold it down long enough.

[1:01] And a minute later, after I got started, it rang again. And fortunately, the congregation was of such a nature, and the circumstance with the deceased and everything that everybody knew, was such that they were amused by it.

[1:19] And I think it did them good to see the preacher get embarrassed a little bit. And it worked, for sure. So, glad to have you here this morning. Thank you for your presence.

[1:31] And so far as I know, we'll be here just one week from today, as per usual. And Tad is not with us today because, speaking of funerals, he's conducting one out of town.

[1:43] But he'll be back for next Tuesday and he'll resume what he was bringing in the epistle of James. But this morning we're going to revisit a subject that I had thought in the past was sufficiently covered, but apparently was not.

[2:02] So I'm going to elaborate on it somewhat this morning. And this will be just a one-time thing, and yet it will be subject to Q&A, as are all the others.

[2:15] So if you have questions or comments, I would welcome them. So let's begin, shall we, with a word of prayer. Accept our thanks, Father, for the privilege and the pleasure of being here this morning.

[2:25] We are mindful that there are those who are physically unable to be with us and would really like to be here. And we appreciate our health and the ability that you give us to be out and about.

[2:38] And thank you for this occasion that brings us together, for the truth that is before us. And we pray now for a facility of understanding and appreciating the content and then seeing how it works in our lives.

[2:51] Thank you again for the presence of each one here this day. In Christ's name, amen. The subject that I'm talking about has to do with the issue of repentance.

[3:05] And like I said, I thought I had covered this in some sessions before, but apparently there is still some either disagreement or confusion about it.

[3:16] And just recently I was given a copy of this book, and it is a publication that is produced by Les Feldick. Many of you know Les or know of him.

[3:29] And we utilized his video series here at Grace for probably, I think probably a couple of years for the 9 o'clock hour. Les Feldick, he's in his 90s now.

[3:40] He has been an outstanding Bible teacher, and he's not a pastor. He's a farmer and a rancher.

[3:52] And yet he has a wonderful grasp of the Word of God. And he is available, by the way, on a number of radio stations and television stations where he has his 30-minute program.

[4:08] And you would all do well to tune him in any time you can because he's got a wealth of information, and he is thoroughly committed to the principles of Pauline's message and the secret, the mystery.

[4:21] And in this book, which by the way is one that he had written, there is a statement that is mentioned here. And when this was given to me, I was, frankly, I was a little surprised to see it because I just was not aware that Les Feldick had that particular position.

[4:39] And I'm going to take exception to what he says this morning, and I think you'll see why. Okay. But, and I do not in any way, shape, or form mean this to be critical of a man or of his message.

[4:52] You've heard me say before, all of us have wrinkles in our doctrine and our theology. None of us has it all together.

[5:04] And what we are supposed to be about is the pursuit of truth. You never outgrow your need for truth, and you never outgrow your need for repentance.

[5:18] Think of that. What I'm telling you is, repentance is a word that is as applicable to believers as it is to unbelievers.

[5:32] It is a word that is grossly misunderstood, and yet it has a very simple basic meaning, which we will get into, and I trust that this will stick to your ribs like whatever I probably brought before didn't.

[5:45] And in this particular book offered by Les Feldick, he makes this statement. He says, John, he's talking about John's gospel, John has no concept of the gospel of grace.

[6:02] John has no concept of our relationship with Christ as the head of the body. He is dealing with Jews in the kingdom economy. Absolutely.

[6:14] And what was the first step towards salvation for a Jew in the kingdom economy? Repent and be baptized.

[6:25] You're familiar with that being John's message in all of the gospels. Actually, all four of the gospels, it is repent and be baptized. And then he goes on to say, for the remission of sins.

[6:38] Now, it is important to understand that John is delivering that message in the kingdom context, and the recipients of that message were Jews exclusively.

[6:52] No Gentiles involved at all. The message of the kingdom of heaven coming to earth is a message that was given by a Jew, John the Baptist, to Jews, for Jews.

[7:06] And they were the only ones who had any concept of this idea of the kingdom of heaven coming to earth. And today, 2,000 years later, it is still a grossly misunderstood subject.

[7:21] Part of this is found, for instance, in what is commonly called the Lord's Prayer. We've been through this before, but I'm going to say it again. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

[7:35] Thy kingdom come. What is that? That's a prayer. It is a prayer asking God to bring the kingdom because when the kingdom of heaven comes to earth, then the will of God will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

[7:59] Fellas, this has never happened. Some try to make it happen by reducing the kingdom to a spiritual reality. They say, well, the kingdom of heaven has come to earth because Christ is reigning in the heart of the individual and he brings the kingdom with him and the kingdom is in your heart.

[8:20] And they spiritualize it. There wasn't a Jew anywhere that would have bought that for a moment. What they were looking for, anticipating, greatly anticipating, all excited about.

[8:34] Well, let me put it this way. In the year 586 B.C., about 600 years before Christ was born, Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians invaded Israel.

[8:49] They tore down the walls. They destroyed the temple. They leveled the city. They carried all of the items of beauty and art that were in the temple off to Babylon as trophies to show to their people when they got back.

[9:10] And they subjugated the people of Israel, leading them into captivity, making them walk from Jerusalem to Babylon, several hundred miles.

[9:25] And the king, the king of Israel was Zedekiah. He was the last one to sit on the throne of David. His name was Zedekiah.

[9:37] And Nebuchadnezzar forced Zedekiah to watch the execution of his sons. And after he witnessed that, they physically put out his eyes.

[9:54] They blinded him and made him walk with the other Israelites all the way to Babylon. And prophecy was given earlier about Zedekiah saying that he would be taken prisoner to Babylon but would never see it.

[10:14] And people wondered, well, what kind of double talk is that? How can you be taken to prison or to Babylon and never see it? Well, his eyes were put out and he was blinded. But he was in Babylon. That was the end of the kingdom of Israel.

[10:31] And that was the end of the monarchy. From that time to the present, Israel has never had a throne never had a king.

[10:43] The throne is vacant. And in 1948, when it was reestablished, it was reestablished as a democracy. And they do not have a king.

[10:56] They don't have royalty. They have a Knesset that is the equivalent of our Congress and they have a prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

[11:07] Don't have a king. Haven't had a king. This is what the Jews were interested in is the restoration. And remember, remember when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and the shouts from the people were, Hosanna, blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord.

[11:29] And they said, Hosanna to the son of who? David! Hosanna to the son of David. These people recognized Jesus of Nazareth as being a direct descendant, bloodline, of David the king.

[11:46] And he was. But David had been gone off the scene for a thousand years. What these people were excited about when Jesus went in there that he is going to take the throne of David and rule and reign as David's son.

[12:07] And the people were ecstatic about it. They lined the highways. They threw out their palm branches. They threw their coats out for the donkey to walk upon. They rejoiced and they said, Hosanna to the son of David.

[12:20] And of course, those who rejected Jesus did not accept him as the Messiah, did not see that as legitimate at all. In fact, they rebuked some of the people. They said, and they came up to Jesus and they said, do you hear what these people are saying about you?

[12:35] Tell them to stop it. Tell them to stop it. And one reason was because they were scared the Romans would view that as a threat because there was already one king and there wasn't room for another.

[12:51] Yeah, Caesar. And Jesus responded by saying, if these people hold their peace, if they stop saying that, the rocks will start saying it.

[13:05] Wow. The stones will cry out. What a statement. And of course, they went on with the accolades, the palm branches and everything. And what they were thinking about was Jesus is going to restore the kingdom.

[13:22] None of them had any idea that when he arrived in Jerusalem, it wouldn't be a throne, it would be a cross.

[13:34] It would be a cross. So, fast forward from the crucifixion, fast forward from the resurrection, fast forward another six weeks, 40 days after the resurrection, and they are there on the Mount of Olives.

[13:53] Jesus is with his disciples. He has just told them that they would receive power there to tarry in Jerusalem until they are endued with a supernatural power and then when they are, they will be witnesses unto him, Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the outermost parts of the earth.

[14:13] And the disciples, they were excited. Understandably, they were excited. I mean, they've been with Jesus now for about six weeks after his resurrection and they are looking for great things.

[14:27] And one of them asked a key question, I think it's found in verse seven or eight in Acts chapter one, and they said, with all of seriousness of purpose to take and muster, Lord, is it at this time you are going to restore the kingdom to Israel?

[14:50] Very legitimate question. What were they asking? They were saying, we've been without a king for what? For ever since Nebuchadnezzar hauled us off into Babylon, we've been without a king for 600 years, no throne of David for 600 years.

[15:07] Are you going to restore the kingdom now? And he answered and said, it is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father placed in his own power, but you shall receive power after that the whole, and so on, so on.

[15:20] So this kingdom thing, very literal, very earthly, very real, and all the Jews were familiar with it. And when John the Baptist came on the scene, now we're going to go back, we're going to go back before Jesus began his public ministry, and this is the initial part of it, John came on the scene, and John began preaching, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

[15:50] What does that mean? It means exactly what it says. It means the kingdom of heaven that we have been doing without for 600 years is right around the corner from being established again.

[16:07] and who was going to do it? He looked up and said, behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. Here comes the king, and John introduced Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah, the long awaited one, and from that time on, all they could think about was the kingdom, the kingdom, the kingdom.

[16:36] Now I'm not going to take you there because I don't have time and this is going to get away from me before I know it. So just let me say in Luke chapter 19 or thereabouts, I'm in the ballpark, I'm not going to go there, but it's about Luke 19 where Jesus gives a particular parable, and the parable he gives is the parable of one who was to come into his kingdom, but he's going to be taken away and he will be absent for a long time.

[17:10] That's why he gave that parable at that time. And the text goes on to say Jesus, Jesus gave them this parable because they thought the kingdom of heaven was going to come right away.

[17:32] and it wasn't, but they didn't know that. They didn't understand that. All right, let's go there. Come on. If it hasn't moved, it was Luke 19, I think.

[17:50] Yeah, thank you. Thank you. Luke 19 and verse 11. While they were listening to these things, he went on to tell a parable. And fellas, bear in mind the fact that Jesus never went around just spouting off parables.

[18:07] He never told stories just to have something to say. All of his parables had a point. And the point they had had something to do with the subject that was taking place at the time.

[18:21] He always made a connection with the parable and used it as a teaching tool. And here is no exception. We read in verse 11 of Luke 19, while they were listening to these things, he went on to tell a parable because, in other words, he's saying this is why Jesus is giving this parable at this time.

[18:46] Because he was near Jerusalem, this is about to enter for Palm Sunday, and they, and I think we can say safely, they, the apostles who were with him, they supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately.

[19:12] How immediately? Just as soon as Jesus got into town. He's going to go to the temple and he's going to throw out the Romans and he's going to sit on the throne of David and it's going to be wonderful.

[19:23] That's what they were anticipating. But the parable that Jesus gives them indicates that's not going to be the case at all. And look at it if you will. He said therefore, a certain nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself and then return.

[19:48] And he called ten of his slaves and gave them ten minas and said to them, do business with this until I come back. What this parable, fellas, is about, it's about him.

[20:00] He is going to be this nobleman who went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself and then he's going to leave and come back. Jesus never did really receive that kingdom.

[20:16] Israel never did offer him that kingdom. It never came to pass. What happened? Well, Jesus was crucified. Israel said they wanted no part of Jesus of Nazareth.

[20:33] They rejected him. And the point, fellas, is very simple. If you reject the king, you can't have the kingdom. They are inseparable.

[20:47] So, Jesus went back to heaven and the kingdom that they were anticipating did not arrive and did not arrive at the time of his ascension when he went to heaven.

[21:01] And let me tell you, it still has not arrived. What has happened? Two things have to take place before the kingdom of heaven can come to earth.

[21:17] Two things. Hope you remember these forever. The first thing that has to occur is that the Messiah has to pay for it.

[21:29] He has to put out the purchase price for the kingdom. He is buying it. Who is the owner of it?

[21:41] Who is the God of this world? Satan is. Jesus recognized that. He acknowledged that. When Adam and Eve gave up their governance of the earth, God told them when he created them, exercise dominion.

[22:02] You're in charge. All the animals, everything is under your authority. dominion. And that's what the word dominion means. To dominate. They were the dominators.

[22:14] They were in control. And when they rebelled against God, who put them in that position, they forfeited the dominion that God had given them.

[22:28] And to whom did they forfeit it? the adversary, Satan. He took it over. He got right to work. And one of his first exploits was to what shall I say, was to influence, was to invade the person of, was to incite the first man who was born on the earth to kill his brother.

[23:01] and this fallen world is off and running and it still is. And because Satan is the prince of the power of the air, we live under his dominion.

[23:19] He is the deceiver and the vast majority of humanity is under his deception. This is the basis for all of the lies that are out there.

[23:30] This is the basis for Islam. This is the basis for Buddhism. This is the basis for Hinduism. All of it is yielding to the lie that the deceiver has put out there.

[23:43] And he is so good at what he does. In fact, I've told you that Satan is so good at what he does, he's got a lot of people convinced that he doesn't even exist.

[23:55] And why in the world would anybody be threatened by somebody they don't believe even exists? So, this is all about this kingdom business. So, when John came on the scene and began preaching, repent, the kingdom of heaven is it, I'm telling you, these people were ecstatic.

[24:11] They were excited. Boy, this is it! This is it! And the kingdom of heaven is going to come to earth, God's going to send his Messiah, Israel's going to be reestablished, it's going to be wonderful!

[24:23] And it never happened. So, the first leg of the journey did happen. Christ picked up the tab. He paid for it. He paid for all of humanity that was fallen.

[24:37] He paid for all of fallen creation in the death that he died. And we are so glad that he did. but he has yet to collect on it.

[24:53] When he comes back the second time, fellas, he's coming to take over what he paid for the first time.

[25:04] And then Satan will get his final due. It's Revelation 19 and 20. And that will be the end of him. Meanwhile, we live in this interim.

[25:15] Well, now, wait a minute. If the kingdom of heaven didn't come then, and the kingdom of heaven still hasn't come to this day, and is still waiting for Christ to return so that he will be the rightful king of that kingdom, if this isn't the kingdom, what is this?

[25:36] What is this thing we've got now? It's called the mystery. It is not predicted. It is not promised.

[25:47] It is not even mentioned in all of the Old Testament. In all of the Old Testament, beginning with Genesis all the way through Malachi, you find this emphasis on the kingdom and the revitalization of the earth, of the planet, the Messiah coming, and all the rest of it, but it still never happened.

[26:07] Still never happened. we are living in what is referred to as an interim period, and it is the period where because the Jewish nation rejected the kingdom, rejected the king, Romans 11, 12, and 13, no, it's 9, 10, and 11, Romans 9, 10, and 11 spells out this whole thing about Israel and what's happening in the meanwhile.

[26:34] Israel and because Israel rejected the king, God has started a brand new thing that never was prophesied or predicted, no one saw it coming, and it's called the church, which is the body, the spiritual body of Christ of which he is the spiritual head.

[27:00] And this is so traumatic and different from anything that existed, and that which makes it so different is this, it is going to take believing Jews and believing Gentiles and marry them, put them together, so that there will be neither Jew nor Gentile, bond or free, male or female, you are all children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

[27:30] And that's not just for Jews, that's for anybody. That's for anybody. Whosoever will may come, Jew, Gentile, you name it. Makes no difference what your color is, what your background is, what your nationality is.

[27:43] If you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, you are a member of this brand new, unprophesied, unpredicted entity called the church or the assembly, which is the body of Christ.

[27:59] That is not to be confused with the kingdom. That's a whole different thing. But there are those who do try to put them together and make them mesh and they just won't fit.

[28:10] And part of this thing about the idea of repentance comes from John's use of it when he introduced Jesus as the Messiah and he came preaching this gospel.

[28:21] And the gospel that he preached was repent, which means change your mind. And that will result in you changing your beliefs, which will result in you changing your attitude, which will result in you changing your actions.

[28:41] This whole subject of repentance that John was calling people to is supposed to make a difference. If you genuinely repent and genuinely change your mind, it is going to be reflected in your behavior.

[28:54] It's going to make you a different person outwardly, not only inwardly. This is why when the scribes and Pharisees came to Jesus and I mean came to John the Baptist, understand they rejected John.

[29:10] Do you get that? They rejected John. They rejected John and they rejected his message. And that put them in line to reject Jesus and his message because John is going to introduce Jesus.

[29:23] So when John came on the scene preaching, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, that word repent penetrated at least some of those people.

[29:36] And they got their act together. They repented. They changed their mind. And to demonstrate that they had changed their mind, they submitted to John's baptism, which was the baptism of water.

[29:50] It was repent and be baptized for the remission of sins. repentance. Now, we bring this message of repentance into the gospel of the grace of God and there are many in the grace movement who reject that and they say, no, no, no.

[30:08] That repentance is part of the kingdom message. And it is part of the kingdom message. And it's also part of the message of the grace of God. Now, Mr.

[30:21] Feldick says, says, what was the first step toward salvation for a Jew in the kingdom economy? Repent and be baptized. What is repentance?

[30:35] And his answer is, a begging for forgiveness. That is repentance? No, it isn't.

[30:46] That is not repentance at all. It isn't a begging for forgiveness. Repentance is a change of mind.

[30:59] And the word, the word in the Greek is metanoia.

[31:10] And this word, meta, meta in Greek means through. It's a word from which we get the English word metastasize.

[31:30] If you hear that your malignancy, your cancerous malignancy, has metastasized, that means it has broken out and is invading other areas.

[31:46] It is going through other issues, other tissue. That's metastasis. It is related to the word metaphor.

[31:58] It is related to the word metabolism, meta, through. And this word, noia, is from the Greek word nous.

[32:11] Nous. And meta and nous put together literally means a change of mind.

[32:23] Through the mind. It is a mental process when someone repents. And by the way, this isn't a new biblical word.

[32:37] Almost all of the words, not all of them, but almost all of the words that you find in the New Testament, the terms, they didn't start with the New Testament. That's not the first time they ever showed up.

[32:48] These were words that were in vogue and were in common usage in everyday language in Greek before the New Testament ever came into being. And this is one of those words.

[32:59] This is the metanoia is a word that the Greeks were well familiar with before John the Baptist ever came on the scene and told them to repent.

[33:10] The word gospel. That's an old, old word. It didn't start in the New Testament. It literally means good news. Good news about what? Good news about anything.

[33:21] There's all kinds of good news. All kinds of good news. It's just that this gospel is about God's Son.

[33:31] It is news about Him. It isn't just any news. It's a special news. But there's nothing new about the word good news or gospel. Nothing new about the word apostle.

[33:43] There were apostles long before the twelve were picked by Christ. An apostle was simply one who is sent by an authority with the authority of the one who sent him.

[33:57] And the word probably most closely identified with that in our language is the word ambassador. Yeah. We send ambassadors all over the world to different countries.

[34:11] And each ambassador is a representative of the government that sent him. Actually, thanks for being here, guys.

[34:22] You have a great day. And by the way, I should have made this clear before. Anytime we're having this session, if any of you guys feel you have a need to leave, you've got an appointment or something to schedule, don't hesitate to do so.

[34:34] Just get up and leave. You're free to leave. And nobody will think you're mad at us. Have a good day, guys. So, we're very flexible here. So, the words that are found in the New Testament are, for the most part, there are a couple of exceptions and I won't go into them.

[34:51] But for the most part, they were not words that were coined, especially for the New Testament. They were words that were in everyday language of the Greek language in which the New Testament was written, long before the New Testament was ever started.

[35:02] So, just keep that in mind, if you will. And gospel is one of those words and so is repentance. Repentance is one of those words. It means to change the mind. And, the idea is, the changing of the mind is always, to the best of my knowledge, is always based on receiving information that you did not have before.

[35:29] And, it is this new information that causes you to change your mind. That's not that hard. We do it all the time.

[35:42] And, we do it about all kinds of things. Repent is not specifically a religious word, although that's almost always the way it is used.

[35:53] But, it means to repent, it means to change your mind about it, in the same way that good news, the gospel can be good news about anything. Mrs. Jones had her baby. It was an eight pound baby boy.

[36:04] So, did you hear the good news? What's the good news? Mrs. Jones had her baby. The baby's healthy and the mental is doing well. That's the gospel. Are you kidding me? Yeah, that's the gospel.

[36:15] That's the good news about Mrs. Jones and her baby. What this gospel is about, the context particularizes it. If you open up the book of Romans and start reading in chapter 1, Paul tells us that this is the good news, the gospel of God's Son.

[36:36] It particularizes what the good news is. And, it is always determined by the context. So, what is the purpose of giving people information about anything?

[36:51] You're trying to inform them. You're trying to convince them. And, a lot of times, you're trying to change their mind about something. You know, a salesman does this.

[37:04] When you go in and look at a car and you see that baby in the showroom there and it's all shined up and spiffy and everything and you visualize yourself behind the wheel of that and he starts in on his pitch.

[37:16] What's he doing? He's giving you information. He wants to change your mind so that you will say, I'll take it. That's the best car around.

[37:26] Why, yeah. And, he points out all the good points about that car and he's giving you the good news. He's giving you the gospel of that Chevy or Ford or Pontiac.

[37:36] Whatever it is, he's giving you information and what he wants to do is he wants to get you off the dime so you will sign on the dotted line and buy that car.

[37:48] That's information. This is information about God's son, Jesus Christ. Now, here, here's the point and this is so important. I want you to understand this.

[38:01] It is entirely possible for people, as a matter of fact, maybe this even happens most of the time, for people to repent and not even be conscious that they have repented.

[38:15] But what have they done? They changed their mind. They just don't call it repentance because that doesn't seem like the word that fits, but it does. It does fit. You change your mind about anything.

[38:26] This is why I say, this is why I say, guys, Christians never outgrow your need for repentance repentance. repentance. Because the only thing to repent of or from is an awareness that something you believed before is not right.

[38:46] So what do you do? You change your mind and you say, well, this is what I used to believe about that, but I don't believe that anymore. I have repented. Now, he may not call it that, and you know what?

[38:59] It doesn't make any difference. It doesn't make it. In order to make your salvation valid, you don't have to use the word repent. God reads the heart. He knows that a change of mind, a change of heart has taken place, and that's what this is.

[39:12] And it has nothing to do with begging for forgiveness. Now, where does that come from? I'll tell you where it comes from. It comes from the Roman Catholic Church. Because the Roman Catholic Church has a system set up in their doctrine of penance.

[39:31] And the word is penance. Penance. And it does have to do with making some kind of retribution for your sins.

[39:51] Some kind of payback. Some kind of penalty that you have to undergo in order to be forgiven of your sins. That is not the gospel of the grace of God.

[40:04] Never has been. You do not have to beg for forgiveness. You do not have to make promises that you will never sin again and all the rest of it.

[40:16] But in the Roman Catholic system, and I can, I'm studying right now and making some material on Roman Catholicism. And it is not hard for me at all to see how these people reach these conclusions.

[40:32] Because there's a lot of, there's a lot of convincing kind of thinking behind it. And I've said this before and I'll say it again. Now, you know, we talk about replacement theology and how some believe that the church replaces Israel and so on.

[40:46] I have come to this conclusion as a result of studying a lot of this. And that is, if Marv Wiseman had lived back there when they lived and faced the situations that they faced, I would have probably come to the same wrong conclusion that they did.

[41:07] But we, 2,000 years removed, are able to see the consequences of that position and additional light that has been shed throughout history so that we are able to escape that.

[41:21] But they didn't have that advantage. We've got the tremendous advantage over the last 2,000 years of history that they didn't have. So, in retrospect, we ought not to be too hard on these people who established the Roman Catholic Church way back when because it was a pretty logical conclusion to come to.

[41:40] I mean, after all, here you've got the Jewish nation and what happened to them? 70 A.D., Titus came in, Roman general, leveled everything, massacred thousands and thousands and thousands of people and led a bunch of them off as prisoners to Rome to be sold as slaves.

[42:01] 70 A.D. Now, what are you to make of the relationship between those people and the one who is supposed to be their God and their protector?

[42:16] And he let that happen to them? And who were the Romans? A bunch of pagan people? A bunch of idol worshipers? And God allowed his chosen people to be defeated by these scum?

[42:34] Why did God take his hand off them? Well, they were bad. And then, and then go into about 131 A.D., about 60 years later, when Rome, when Rome got fed up again with these Jews.

[42:58] Because from 70 A.D., they started rebuilding, repopulating, and multiplying, and building back up again, and along came this guy by the name of Bar Kokhba.

[43:10] And he was a rebel, and he enlisted a lot of Jews behind him. He claimed to be, he claimed to be the Messiah.

[43:22] And a bunch of people bought into it. And they got behind him, and they started rampaging, and carrying out raids against the Roman soldiers, et cetera.

[43:33] And word finally got back to Rome, Rome, and the emperor of Rome says, don't tell me these Jews are at it again. This time, we'll teach them a lesson they won't forget.

[43:48] And in 135 A.D., about 65 years after Rome was, after Jerusalem was destroyed the first time, 70 A.D., the Romans came back again.

[43:59] And this time, they really did a job. They leveled it so completely, they massacred thousands and thousands of Jews, and they forbade them to return to the city of Jerusalem under penalty of death.

[44:17] And they even changed the name of it, changed the name from Jerusalem to Capalatina, and gave it a Roman Latin name.

[44:30] And from that time on, Israel was scattered throughout the world, and they still are. All throughout the Mediterranean world, they were scattered.

[44:41] Now, how were these people who lived back then, who had come to faith in Jesus as the Messiah, many were Jews, and many were Gentiles by then?

[44:53] Because by this time, guys, by 135 A.D., there were more Gentiles who embraced Jesus as Savior than there were Jews. As it started out, they were all Jews.

[45:06] They were all Jews. And it was that way for about the first 10 or 12 years after the resurrection. And then Gentiles, through the ministry of the Apostle Paul, who was raised up specifically to be what?

[45:21] The Apostle to the Gentiles. And he began his missionary journeys, and many were coming to faith in Christ who were pagans, idolaters, but they embraced the God of Israel and Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah.

[45:38] And they, along with the believing Jews, were added to this new entity called the church, which is his body. And what were these people to think regarding what had happened to the Jews?

[45:54] we know they rejected Jesus as their Messiah, and in 70 AD, God allowed the Babylonians to level the city and carry the Jews away into captivity.

[46:08] And then in 135, same thing is going to happen, even on a bigger scale. Now, what are these people to believe other than, and follow me now, follow the logic of this.

[46:20] Doesn't it really look like God has washed his hands with the Jews? I mean, they washed their hands of Jesus, didn't they?

[46:32] So God has written them off permanently. And you know what? That seemed like a pretty logical conclusion.

[46:43] I mean, there wasn't anything that said God is finished with the Jews. Well, there is in Scripture. There is in Scripture. But they weren't looking at that. they were making the same mistake that the Jews made after the resurrection when Jesus confronted the two disciples on the road to Emmaus and he chided them by saying, when he asked why were they so down, why were they so defeated, and they said, you must be a stranger here.

[47:20] Don't you know what's happened here in the last few days? And Jesus said, what are you talking about? And they said, well, we're talking about Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God who did signs and miracles in the midst of them, and we trusted, we believed that it was he that should deliver Israel, all, but, they crucified him three days ago and it's all over, and we were wrong, and they were so sad, and Jesus said, oh, foolish ones, what were they foolish about?

[48:03] He said, oh, foolish ones, you were foolish not to believe all that the prophets have written ought not, ought not the Messiah to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory.

[48:28] They didn't read the whole record. If you read the whole record in the Old Testament, you see that because of the promises God made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, there is no way in the world that God can be finished with the Jew permanently.

[48:45] It can't happen. Because the gifts and the callings of God are irrevocable. God will make good on his promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and his seed, and if you want to see how and when, just read Revelation 19.

[49:03] There, the remnant is redeemed, and the remnant are Jews, and the remnant looks upon the one who has returned, and they shall mourn for him as one mourns for his only son.

[49:17] So Israel, as I've said, Israel's brightest days are yet ahead. God is not finished with Israel, but he has set them aside in judicial punishment, and they are under divine discipline right now.

[49:34] that's what Romans 9, 10, and 11 are all about. So all of this comes back to this same idea of the kingdom, and what is the message of the kingdom, and it is repent, and with all due respect, the less felt it, and I tell you, I love that man.

[49:52] I think he's head and shoulders above 95% of the preachers in the country when it comes to expounding the truth of God, but he's got a wrinkle in his theology, and I'm sure he could point out wrinkles in my theology, too, because we've all got them, you know, but this is just what, so repent, and I gave you an example before, too, what it means, I've said, the idea is, you can repent, change your mind without even recognizing that you have done it, and you don't need to use the word, and it isn't something magical, it's not an abracadabra word, all you do is change your mind, and listen, I want to make this as simple as I can, guys, and every time you are able to give the gospel to someone, every time you are able to tell them that Christ died for their sin, all you are doing is giving them information, and you are providing them with a reason to rethink what it is they believe when they hear your message, because everybody, everybody who comes to faith in

[51:15] Christ has repented, because you can't come to faith in Christ without repenting, and the reason I say that is this, what did you believe about yourself, about God, and about eternal life before, what did you believe before you ever heard the gospel, and Joe just said, I don't need that, I'm good enough, I go to church, I'm a good person, I've never hurt anybody, blah, blah, blah, and doesn't God grade on the curve, I'm not perfect, don't get me wrong, I'm not perfect, but I'm better than a lot of people, and I'll take my chances, I think I've got a good shot at it, I've never been too bad, this is the way people think, this is the way most people think, and the gospel penetrates and says, you've got to change your mind, you've got to give up that erroneous belief, and embrace this thing called the gospel of

[52:18] Jesus Christ, and when people do that, and everybody has to do that, nobody, nobody is automatically a believer without repenting, you've just got to change your mind, that's what the gospel is all about, that's why we're commissioned to give out the gospel, that's why it's so urgent, why it's so important, you give people something to think about, and Christianity is a thinking process, metanoia, noose, through the mind, through the mind, and a decision is made on the basis of the information that you give, and then you act on that decision, and this is also why I say, and this is an important point to make, fellas, it is entirely possible to change your mind, and repent, and not be saved, and I told you about that, I know I did, about this conversation that Art Crawford had with his fellows that were driving to Columbus, or Cleveland, from Columbus, and he said, give me your reason for believing that

[53:22] Jesus Christ came back from the dead, and Art, one of the more capable Bible teachers I've ever heard, Art Crawford spelled out the case for the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and all the way they were driving there, and this guy was hearing stuff that he had never heard in his entire life, about Christ, and who he was, and what he did, and when they pulled into the parking lot, in this place where they were going in Cleveland, this fellow says, well, he said, I never thought I would be saying this, Art, but you've convinced me, he said, I guess I just never thought of it, never gave it any credence at all before, but you convinced me, and I can see really, I really do believe that you're right, that Christ did rise from the dead, and Art said, really, and the guy said, yeah, he said, well, the facts are there, he said, I can't dispute it, you've got a case,

[54:23] I believe it, and Art says, well, you want to trust Christ as your personal savior then? Oh, no, no, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait, I don't want to do anything like that, and Art said, well, I thought, I thought you said that you believed, oh, I do, I do believe that Jesus rose from the, I believe that, but I don't want to make this commitment that you're talking about, because that would mess up my whole life, can you imagine that, that's what the man told him, did he repent, yeah, he repented, he changed his mind, but he wasn't saved, he never acted on the change, he never made a deliberate, purposeful decision as an act of his will to receive Christ as his savior, and fellas, I cannot emphasize how important that is, people, people look for all kinds of esoteric, weird, feelings, sensations, signs, or whatever, and that's not what it takes, what it takes to receive

[55:41] Christ as your personal savior, is your volition, is an act of your will, and the illustration I give is as good as any I've ever come up with, when you stand there at the altar, with the woman who you plan to marry, and someone, and the minister says, will you take this woman to be your lawful wedded wife, and you say, I will, that's your volition in action, you are making a commitment, you are making a deliberate commitment as an act of your will, and it is the same way that you receive Jesus Christ as your savior, there isn't anything mystical, or magical about it, it is a simple act of the will, you bring your volition, and your will into line, and you submit it to God, and then it is a done deal, then Christ is your savior,

[56:47] Joe, Mark, you started this out saying that you didn't have all the truth, and less doesn't have all the truth, now I can understand that, because you're just a human man like me, okay, now I read in the bible here, about John, something John said, now he's supposed to have the truth, didn't he, he wrote one of the books, that's the inspiration of God, when John says something, but I found something in here that's not the truth, John says, no one has ever seen God, and he says it twice, he said it in John, the book he wrote there, and then he said it in 1 John to those Israelites out there, he says, no one has ever seen God, now that's not true, because he could have read it in the Old Testament, in Genesis it says, Jacob wrestled with God all night, he wrestled with him, and then in the morning, he faced God face to face, now you can't have it both ways, either nobody has ever seen God or they have, and also Abraham had three strangers come there, and one of them ended up being God, and he sat down with him, he had a meal with him, and they dickered over Sodom, you know, yeah,

[57:49] I hear you, Joe, now, so you tell me, that John was telling the truth here, you can't have it both ways, either a man saw God or he didn't, but Marv, I can answer that for you, because you answered it your sermon, Sunday, you can't see God in the form of the Trinity, the Trinity of the three persons up there, I am, you cannot see God in that form, you see God, when Jesus comes out of that thing, then you can see him, and he is God, that's how you see him, you answered that question for me at the sermon.

[58:25] I appreciate that, Joe, and by the way, when he says no one has seen God at any time, I take that back to, I take that back to Exodus, where Moses asked God, he said, show me your glory, can I see your glory, well the glory of God is his effulgence, it is his brightness, part of which was reflected on the Mount of Transfiguration, but no one, and John is right in the sense that no one has ever looked upon, actually the Lord told Moses, remember this, it's in Exodus, I don't know where it is, but it's after Sinai, it's at Sinai, it's at Sinai, and Moses said, show me your glory, and the Lord said, no man can look upon me in my glory and live, what I will do is I will walk by and show you my hinder parts, interesting expression, and that would enable

[59:49] Moses to look upon God, but not upon his effulgence or his face, he said, no man could see me and live.

[60:00] I am confident that to have done so would have resulted in the immediate meltdown or self destruction of the individual, because we're talking about humanity witnessing deity, and you're not going to do that and survive.

[60:21] life. And this is part and parcel of why Christ came to us enfleshed. The incarnation simply means the enfleshment of deity, and when Christ came down to this earth, he disguised himself in a human body.

[60:42] God was in a human body, and God, he's called Emmanuel, which is God with us, and God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, and this being of God manifested in Christ.

[60:59] This, fellas, is what the transfiguration is all about. When Jesus told the twelve, he said, some of you fellows standing here, and I take it that all the twelve are probably there, he said, some of you twelve standing here are not going to die until you see the kingdom come in its glory.

[61:23] and you read on in just a couple of verses, and you see the fulfillment of that in the transfiguration. Jesus takes, of the twelve disciples, or twelve apostles, he takes just three of them, Peter, James, and John, and they go into the Mount of Transfiguration with him, and there he is transfigured before them.

[61:48] And the word that is used there is the word from which we get the word, the English word, metamorphosis, metamorphosis, and you know, a butterfly, when it, when it, when the cocoon opens, when the cocoon hatches, and the butterfly emerges from that, emerges like, like a worm, and it squeezes out of that, and all of a sudden it opens its wings, and it becomes a beautiful butterfly.

[62:18] It has undergone a process of metamorphosis, and bear the way, there's that word again, meta, which means through, and the metamorphosis, it is the, comes from the English word for shape, or form, and it means that that butterfly, or that worm, has undergone a process where its physical shape and form has been changed.

[62:48] changed. And in the same way, for a rough illustration, Jesus underwent a kind of metamorphosis when he just pulled back the veil of a little bit and allowed his glory, the deity, to shine through.

[63:10] And both John and Peter, and we saw this just last Sunday, both John and Peter said, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

[63:29] And he went on to say, his brightness, his face, his garments were as bright as the noonday sun that you could scarcely look upon him.

[63:40] And this is all tied in together because everything in the Bible is tied with everything in the Bible. And this is one of the reasons why the scriptures say, God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.

[63:54]  It's a beautiful thing, I tell you. This book is so bottomless, so inexhaustible, it's just absolutely amazing. Well, I'm over on my time.