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[0:00] Let's go to Zechariah, chapter 14, and we will plan, at least, to conclude our series in Zechariah, which has taken us several months to get through. We've had a few interruptions.

[0:16] It is, by far and away, along with Daniel, the most prophetic of the books in the Old Testament. Well, Isaiah, of course, and Jeremiah, but they're not considered in the same category.

[0:30] We call those the major prophets when we call these 12 the minor prophets. But as Randy Ark pointed out in his song, that there's nothing minor about these prophets.

[0:41] They've got major truths and major responsibilities, and I don't know who labeled them as minor prophets, probably just because the content was a little bit more brief than what you find in the major prophets.

[0:53] But we find stunning, stunning items that are going to come upon this earth, and they are yet ahead. Someone asked me whether this thing that we're dealing with now, by way of the coronavirus, could be indicative of what is coming.

[1:15] And I think there is no doubt about that, because one of the characteristics of the tribulation period is the plague.

[1:27] And we have never dealt with what we actually call the plague. Probably the closest that we could come to it would be the plague of, if you want to call it a plague, the plague of flu that killed literally millions of people, 1917, 1918, just about 100 years ago.

[1:48] And there were no vaccines or anything like that to combat it. And that, too, was worldwide. And the Bible calls these kind of things plagues. And we call them, give them a scientific medical name, but the Bible refers to it as a plague.

[2:02] And that is one of the things, one of the many things, that's going to characterize the great tribulation period that will make it why it is called the tribulation, will be plagues.

[2:14] And I'm recalling reading some of the history of Martin Luther in the 1500s, the 1400s, 1500s. They were dealing with the plague in Europe and killed millions and millions of people, and they had no idea what caused it, because they didn't have the scientific instrumentation that we've got today that can analyze these things.

[2:37] So mankind has always had to deal with these negative kind of forces. And when the revelation of Jesus, before the revelation of Jesus Christ actually appears, as in Matthew 24, this world is probably going to suffer a number of plagues like that.

[2:58] And they will be debilitating, and they will take their toll on humanity. We have reason to believe that not only will two-thirds of the Jewish people who are alive at the time will be destroyed through plague, through conflict, through the efforts of the Antichrist, but approximately two-thirds of the world's population as well is going to be destroyed.

[3:26] We're talking about billions of people. It's a concept we cannot even contemplate. In fact, we can't even really get our minds around a million. But a billion is just out of the question, and yet that's what's in store for this country.

[3:41] So I want you to look at Isaiah 14 and be reminded, if you will, that the phrase, in that day, in that day, in that day, is used 17 times in chapters 12, 13, and 14.

[4:04] There is no way that you can conclude anything other than the fact that Zechariah wants to emphasize that. In that day, in that day, in that day, in that day, in that day.

[4:15] And there is going to be no day like that day. Ignoring the chapter divisions, as we have encouraged you to do in the past, because sometimes they lead us astray, I would begin with verse 8 and see how it connects with verse 14, because this is going to be somewhat difficult to follow.

[4:36] And I say that simply because Zechariah is recording a number of events, but they are not always in chronological order. And sometimes he cycles back and forth because some of these things are happening at the same time or maybe very shortly after another.

[4:54] And it's difficult to plot them on a calendar with any precision. So I'm not claiming to be able to do that. But we do know that in that day is speaking of a time frame, not talking about 24 hours.

[5:09] It is a time frame. And in verse 8, it will come about, Now, in all the land, declares the Lord, that two parts of it will be cut off and perish, but the third will be left in it.

[5:27] And I will bring the third part through the fire. And I believe here that he is talking about the remnant of Israel. These are those who are going to comprise or fulfill the saying that Paul will give us in Romans chapter 12 or chapter 11, when Paul makes that monumental statement, And so all Israel will be saved.

[5:54] And the all Israel at that time will be constituted of the remnant that exists. It will not be all Jews everywhere. It will be that faithful remnant because they will be the ones who in repentance and contrition will cry out to the Lord for his return.

[6:14] And the reason they will do so is because they will have been under instruction. And I don't know this for sure, but my suspicion is that they are going to have been impacted by the preaching and the ministry of the two witnesses that are found in Revelation chapter 11.

[6:37] Also, they are going to be recipients of the 144,000 Jews who are going to serve as evangelists. And they will be thoroughly committed to the preaching of Jesus Christ as the Messiah of Israel.

[6:55] There's 12,000 from each of the tribes. We won't go into that, but they are found in Revelation chapter 7. And then they surface again in Revelation chapter 14.

[7:07] They have the seal of God on their foreheads. And these men are going to be enormously successful, particularly among the Jewish people. So it's kind of hard to wrap your mind around this because during the tribulation period, there will be enormous increases in evangelism.

[7:26] There's going to be a lot of people come to faith in Christ. And they will be Jews and Gentiles. But at the same time, there is going to be an enormous loss of life and persecution that's going to be taking place by the efforts of the Antichrist.

[7:44] And this will also be during that same time period when no one will be able to buy or sell without the mark of the beast. So all of these things are coming into play in that phrase, in that day.

[7:55] Can you imagine the chaos, the confusion, the uncertainty, the fear that is going to grip this globe? It is something, well, our Lord Jesus himself said, it's a time such as the world has never seen before and will never see again.

[8:15] The world will never have seen anything like that. So beginning in, and we're not going to go back there because I'll get stuck there if I do.

[8:25] But prior to 13.8 and what is being talked about there, we have Israel valiant and victorious. Well, let's just give you a little, just a little taste of it.

[8:39] Let's go back to chapter 12 for just a moment. It won't stay there long. Verse 8 of chapter 12. That's tantamount to saying that somebody who ordinarily wouldn't have any physical ability at all is going to be like a valiant warrior like David.

[9:07] And then he says, like the angel of the Lord before them. And it will come about in that day that I will set about to destroy all the nations.

[9:19] And that set about simply means that he will put in motion those implements. He will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

[9:30] I will pour out on the house of David, on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, spirit of grace, supplication. They will look on me whom they do. They will mourn for him as one mourns for an only son. They will weep bitterly over him like the bitter weeping of the firstborn.

[9:43] And in that day, there will be great mourning in Jerusalem. Now, what does this mean? Because we see signs of great victory in verse 8.

[9:56] But in this same time frame, there will be great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning in Hadadrimmon, in the plain of Megiddo. And the land will mourn every family by itself.

[10:10] The family of the house of David by itself. Their wives by themselves. The family and so on. They will mourn. And then verse 13 talks about the result of their mourning.

[10:23] If they are mourning over their sin, they are contrite people. And because of that, when man mourns over his sin, when man repents of his sin, when man is contrite over his sin, there is a fountain.

[10:45] And that's the next thing. But there is no fountain without the mourning and the contrition and the repentance. There is no fountain. There is just judgment.

[10:57] But here, a fountain will be opened for the house of David. And it will come about in that day, declares the Lord of hosts. I will cut off the names of the idols from the land.

[11:07] They will no longer be remembered and so on and so on. And keep that in mind because that all figures into this same period of time that is in that day.

[11:18] All right, let's get back now to chapter 14. Yeah. When they say house of David, does that mean the entire population or just the house of David? Well, the house of David is a biblical term that is given to King David as the head of the dynasty.

[11:38] And all of David's descendants consist of the house of David. It's the bloodline of David. And it began with David.

[11:49] And it ends with our Lord Jesus Christ. It does not go beyond him because he, of course, did not marry, did not beget children. So the house of David line ends with Christ.

[12:01] And intentionally so. And that's borne out also in the genealogies, I believe. So keep in mind that the house is like a dynasty. In England, I don't even know who it is now, but in the past there's been the house of Tudor, T-U-D-O-R.

[12:17] King Henry VIII was of the house of Tudor. And then there's the house of Windsor. And that might be the present. Is that the present? And Queen Elizabeth was a direct descendant in the Windsor line.

[12:35] So she belongs to the house of Windsor. And when the Bible uses the term the house of David, it's not talking about all of Israel. It's simply talking about that theocratic line.

[12:47] Not theocratic, but the monarchical line. Yes. That confuses me further because it says that the people will be like David and the house of David will be like God.

[13:01] Seems like that would encompass more than just his bloodline. Well, I don't know what to tell you. I don't know what to say about that. But I can see the cause for confusion.

[13:15] I don't know. I can research it further, see what I can come up with. Does anybody have any ideas or anything to share with that? Probably not a critical issue.

[13:31] Well, the house of David, actually, the house of David is not limited to those directly in the bloodline.

[13:42] That's the dynasty. The house of David consists of those who are out of David. And, well, for instance, when Solomon became king and he passed off the scene, his son Rehoboam came to the throne.

[14:05] Remember? And, well, let me put, maybe this will simplify it. Mary, the mother of our Lord, is a direct descendant from David the king.

[14:22] But, she comes through the line of Nathan. And our Lord came through the line of Solomon and his son Rehoboam.

[14:44] Right? Yeah. Yeah. Solomon. Solomon was the.

[14:59] Let me think now. Solomon, as the son of David, started a different branch. Solomon was one branch.

[15:09] And, Joseph, the earthly father, the, not biological father, but the adopted father of our Lord, was a descendant of David the king.

[15:23] But, he came through Solomon. And, Mary came through Nathan. And, this is why, even though Joseph, boy, I'm really getting astray here because Joseph was of the royal line.

[15:44] Joseph, the adopted father of Jesus, was out of the line of David also. But, he was disqualified and he would not be able to sit on the throne because of the curse of Jeconiah.

[15:57] And, now that's another issue. Yes, Joe. David, would you read that again real quick? That's what you just said. Let me get back.

[16:07] Okay. The one who is feeble among them. Yeah. In that day will be like David. And, the house of David will be like God.

[16:17] Okay. That's good. Like the angel of the Lord before them. Yeah. Okay. Marvel. Would it be like this? Because, when Christ comes and sets up his kingdom, start the kingdom, who is going to be the ruling, the rulers of the world at that time?

[16:32] The Israelites. The Israelites. The Israelites. They're going to be the top dog. Right. The house of David is going to be ruling almost like God. The top dog.

[16:43] And, it could be referring to that time when they take charge, you know, of the world. Well, I think that's true. But, I don't deny that.

[16:55] But, what you're saying, I think, is millennial. Yeah. You know, that's during the ring. Yeah, yeah. It's millennial, right. But, this is talking about the time of battle, the time of conflict here in the context.

[17:06] I mean, it's within seven years. I mean, it's the end of that seven year period that that's going to happen. I mean, it's that very time period that they take over and they rule the world.

[17:17] That's why we've got, of course, Jesus is here on earth, the king, so to speak. But, all of his apostles, you know, they're going to be ruling.

[17:28] Yes, they will. They will not be the house of David, however. They will be ruling, even as our Lord said, that you who have followed me, Matthew 19, in the regeneration, when the Son of Man comes into his glory, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

[17:50] Now, they will not be the house of David. They will be the actual, the actual, literal, physical, resurrected apostles, minus Judas, who will no doubt be replaced by Matthias.

[18:03] And they will be ruling and reigning. Remember, when our Lord said to Peter, I say unto you that you are Peter, and upon this rock, that Peter just uttered, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

[18:27] And then Jesus said, and I say unto you, you are Peter, and upon this rock, the rock of his confession, that Christ will be established, and his rule will come to fruition.

[18:41] And you who have followed me will also sit upon the twelve thrones of Israel, judging the twelve tribes. And he goes on to talk about, and I will give to you the keys to the kingdom.

[18:55] Now, he didn't say the keys to the church. He said the keys to the kingdom. And then he goes on to say, and I will build my church upon this rock. So, the church that he is going to build, I believe, is in reference to Israel, in fulfillment of the promise about the kingdom.

[19:16] And when he says, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it, that is that kingdom. And he talked about giving Peter the keys, the keys to the kingdom.

[19:26] What are keys but symbols of authority? The one who possesses the keys has the power to open or to close. And he goes on to say, and whatsoever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven.

[19:43] Whatsoever you release or free on earth shall have been. That's kingdom truth. That's the way they are going to rule. And Christ is going to be the head of it.

[19:53] And he will rule with a rod of iron, which means no nonsense rule. It means absolute justice and equity will prevail throughout the earth, and he will see to it.

[20:07] And there will be rebellion in that millennial period. There will be uprisings. They will be dealt with summarily. There will be people born into it that will number by that time a huge number, because this is going to go on for a thousand years.

[20:21] And there's going to be a great multitude of people, and many of them are going to rebel against the authority of having lived in a perfect environment with a perfect just ruler, etc.

[20:32] They will rebel. That's when Satan is released, and he dupes them into following him, and then their end comes. Jesus is the king, and he's of the house of David. I'm sorry? Jesus is the king, and he is of the house of David.

[20:44] Oh, yeah, absolutely. He's going. Absolutely. Absolutely. I can't get my mind around the fact you said that the 12 tribes will be ruled by the 12 disciples.

[20:57] Well, here they are over here, and here's the rest of the world over here. You know how this all comes together. It's beyond my mind. Well, it's beyond my mind, too, except you've got to understand that the whole earth, the whole earth is going to be divided in a way that each ones are going to have different responsibilities, just like now there are nations and states, etc.

[21:20] There's going to be a geographical space considered, and it's going to be all over the globe. This is going to be a planetary thing.

[21:32] It's something that I can't get my mind around it either, but the 12 are going to rule, and they are going to judge, primarily judge in Israel.

[21:45] Christ is going to be the supreme judge, and he will be installed as the king of the earth. He will be the king of the kingdom, and the kingdom will be worldwide.

[21:57] This is where everything's gone, guys. This is what was forfeited in Genesis 3 that put everything on halt, that brought in sin and death and disease, and put the whole of humanity that had been created under optimum conditions in jeopardy.

[22:21] And we have been living with the fall ever since. And the chief principal thing of the fall is death. And if you read chapter 5 of Genesis, it's the death chapter.

[22:36] And it goes through this long list of individuals, and every one of them ends up with, and he died, and he died, and he died, and he died. And the only exception is when you come to Enoch, and Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

[22:50] And that was completely different. So he's an exception. Hey, I've really gotten off the track here. But I appreciate your comments and your questions. Yeah? Going back to the original question.

[23:00] Okay. One says the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the other is the house of David. Not all of the inhabitants of Jerusalem would be in the house of David.

[23:12] Oh, no. No. So I think that's the division. Yeah. The house of David occupies just a small part of the whole nation of Israel. But it says the people of Jerusalem.

[23:25] Well, there, of course, it's localizing. It's talking just about the city. So, yeah. And then the house of David. So that's the division, I thought. Other tribes. That's other tribes, too.

[23:36] Yeah. Yeah. Actually, what we are talking about here is so phenomenal, we have nothing with which to compare it. There is nothing in history with which we can compare this kingdom of heaven come to earth with Christ ruling and reigning.

[23:54] It's just completely out of bounds for our mind. We just cannot grasp that at all. And then in chapter 14, well, in verse 9, the third part, through the fire, refine them, etc.

[24:07] But look at what we've got now in chapter 14. A day is coming for the Lord when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle.

[24:22] And look at this. And the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished, and half of the city exiled.

[24:36] But the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. This is a time of extreme desperation. This is bad news.

[24:48] This is terrible. Look at the description of what's going to happen. This is near the climax of this time called Armageddon. It is an Armageddon, but it is very near to it.

[25:02] This is what's going to be taking place prior to that. Armageddon will not occur until the Lord arrives and does combat with the enemies. And then we've got that in verse 2. And then, I'm sorry, verse 3.

[25:16] Then, the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations as when he fights on the day of battle. These people in the city of Jerusalem and its environs are going to be in utter desperation.

[25:36] And many of them are going to suffer death as a result. And it is out of this desperation, coupled with what we saw earlier about the repentance on the part of so many.

[25:46] They're crying out to God for the Messiah to come, for the Deliverer. And then he responds. And he comes. And he comes in verse 3.

[25:58] Now, we've got a chronological situation here, as I mentioned earlier, that is kind of difficult for us to grasp.

[26:19] But if you've got that sheet before you. Did I give you one of these? Okay. In Acts chapter 1, when they witnessed the Lord's ascension, and the angel standing by said, You men of Galilee, why stand you here gazing up into heaven?

[26:43] This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come again in like manner, as you have seen him go into heaven. I think that simply requires the physical appearance of Christ, and his coming in the same way that they saw his physically going.

[27:04] And the Mount of Olives, if I understand this correctly, the Mount of Olives is not the place to which the Lord will return. He will return, and he will come to Petra.

[27:18] He will save the tents of Judah first. And then he will march northward, as the Antichrist and his troops march from the plain of Esdraelen and Megiddo southward, and the conflict will take place in the valley of Jehoshaphat, or the valley of Jezreel, the Jehoshaphat Kidron Valley area right now.

[27:42] And that's where the sharp sword will proceed from his mouth, and he will simply eliminate the enemy. But then, following that, he is moving northward, and he will arrive at the Mount of Olives, where he ascended from.

[28:02] And I know it's a little confusing because we tend to think, and I know I always thought, and the one that changed my mind about this was Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum, and I never put together those who were sequestered in Petra before, but that makes sense to me that that is where the Lord comes first, because that's where the remnant is.

[28:27] And he will come there to the remnant in response to their repentance, and their plea, and their crying for him to come. He will come, and then he will march northward, and he will arrive at the Mount of Olives.

[28:40] And when he does, another incredible thing is going to take place. Well, let's read about it. Beginning in verse 4, In that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle, from east to west.

[29:02] Now, it might make more sense to us for it to be split from north to south, because there's already a great rift there.

[29:13] And the Kidron Valley is actually part of the African rift. It runs all the way down to the continent of Africa. But this is going to be a split, a division of the land, an earthquake that is going to separate the land east to west.

[29:30] And it is absolutely unimaginable. I think that coincides with what you're thinking. If the mountain is going to move, if it's going to split, and half of it move east and half of it move west, the split would have to run north and south.

[29:52] Say what now? Wait a minute. Half of the mountain will move east, and half of it will move west. It's going to be split.

[30:03] From east to west. Yeah, well, east to west, you've got half of the mountain going to the east, and half of the mountain going to the west. But it isn't a mountain, per se.

[30:16] Okay. The Mount of Olives, I don't know, and I could stand corrected on this, I don't know that there is a mountain that is called the Mount of Olives, because the Mount of Olives is actually a range of mountains.

[30:32] No, read on. Yeah. Half of the mountain will move toward the north, and the other half will move toward the south. Okay. Okay. I didn't go far enough.

[30:43] Well, thank you for the correction. I was beginning to wonder, what am I, what's going on here? Okay. I still got some of my marbles together.

[30:55] Okay. Okay. It will split in its middle from east to west, a very large, but so half of the mountain will move toward the north, and the other half toward the south.

[31:06] So this obviously is what we would probably call maybe the most prominent of the mountains in the mountain range. I don't know if it's the highest peak, and really they're not terribly high compared to a lot of the mountains in the world.

[31:25] The mountains in Israel are not terribly high at all. They're rather low when you compare them with, you know, with the Alps and things like that. So it's going to be a geographical, cataclysmic movement of the earth that is beyond our imagination.

[31:46] And yet it's going to be a controlled thing. And you will flee by the valley of my mountains for the mountains which reached to Azale.

[31:58] Yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah. And that was a time that every Jew knew about in their history because it was really something.

[32:11] Then the Lord my God will come and all the holy ones with him. Now there is a tendency to think that the holy ones here is in reference to angelic beings.

[32:24] There are other scholars, and I happen to be in agreement with them, who believe these holy ones is going to consist of redeemed saints who will have returned to earth with the Lord.

[32:37] We will not be combatants, but we will be observers. We will see what is going to take place. If my understanding of that is correct, and it will be, again, unimaginable.

[32:53] And it will come about in that day, there's that phrase again, that there will be no light. The luminaries will dwindle. The luminaries, I think, has reference to the sun and the moon.

[33:09] And keep your place here in Malachi. I'm sorry, in Zechariah. And come over just a few pages to the first book in the New Testament, Matthew 24.

[33:21] I think we get some corroborating information regarding that. Matthew 24. And we'll just have to, I can't, I can't read the whole thing, but let's just jump in, if we may, with verse 29.

[33:45] Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened. In other words, tribulation is pretty much run its course. And what is it that is going to bring the tribulation to an abrupt halt?

[34:00] It will be the second coming. It will be the appearance of Christ. And when He appears, the tribulation period, the devastation, the persecution, the onslaught, everything that's taking place is going to come to a sudden halt.

[34:15] And we read that the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

[34:29] And Christ is going to appear. And someone says, well, if it's going to be dark like that, and there isn't going to be any light, how's anybody going to see Him? And the answer is, Jesus is going to bring His own light.

[34:43] He'll bring His own light with Him. And it will be a light, the likes of which this world has never seen. When He said in chapter 8 of John's Gospel, I think it was 8, I am the light of the world.

[34:57] Here He's going to provide a little demonstration of that. He will be the light. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man.

[35:12] And I take it that these tribes of earth here is going to be the vast majority, these are going to be the people for whom the second coming of Christ will not be good news.

[35:28] Time of real reckoning has come. And they're going to know that. And they will mourn. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.

[35:43] And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet. And they will gather together His elect from the four winds from one end of the sky to the other. And He will say, Fellas, this is so phenomenal that many scholars refuse to accept this in its literality.

[36:05] They just look at what we consider to be the utter impossibility of it all. And who would dispute that? Humanly speaking, there's nothing possible about it.

[36:16] But we're not dealing with humanity here. We're dealing with deity. And all throughout the book of Revelation in the tribulation period, one of the chief things that is going to characterize the tribulation period is an undeniable evidence of miraculous events, both negative and positive.

[36:38] The Antichrist is going to have his own cup of miracles. And things like that are going to be adding to the confusion that will be taking place because there will be supernatural things taking place.

[36:52] There will be abilities given to men to do things like the 144,000 that will have the seal of God in their foreheads. It is going to be a time that the world has nothing to compare it with.

[37:05] This is going to stand alone of all human history. There will be nothing in comparison with it. Let's get back now to chapter 14. Yeah. Again, in my small mind, we know that God is supreme.

[37:19] God can wave his hand and take care of all this. Why go through all this to reach this point in time? There must be a reason. I have no idea what is in the mind of the Almighty as to why he wants to do what he wants to do.

[37:34] All I can say is it comes under the same category as the only explanation that I have found for why there is anything.

[37:46] And that is Revelation 4.11 and the four and twenty elders fall down and they say, Worthy art thou, O Lord, to receive honor and praise and glory, dominion and power for or because.

[38:01] Because. Thou hast created all things and by thy good pleasure they were and are created.

[38:12] That's all I can tell you. The only reason there is something rather than nothing is because it pleased God to create what he did. And he did so not out of need but out of desire.

[38:27] God has no needs that he cannot fully meet within his own person and character. He does not have to go outside himself to satisfy himself about anything.

[38:40] But he desired to create and that's the extent to which we can provide any kind of an answer. Dan? I don't understand this as I'm sure as well as some in here do.

[38:56] But he came after his own people more than anybody else, correct? Yep. Why? Because they said crucify him on the cross?

[39:09] I mean, why even before that during exodus you know, the Jews were just victimized. Victimized. Right. And now it continues.

[39:21] Yes. And it continues to this day in New York City when Jews for Trump were attacked. so the point is why his own people?

[39:33] Well, it's a very good question and it is so critical to the major thrust of the Bible. And actually this goes all the way back and this goes all the way back to goes back to Genesis 12.

[39:59] Yes, Dennis? I was going to say Jews were God's chosen people. That's why he inflicted such pain because they rejected him.

[40:09] Yeah. And he wanted them to do it. That what you've talked what you said is absolutely true. And it is it is the it is the cause it is the basis for the great divide that exists in Christendom within Christendom because this began with what those who are of this persuasion and and I I've told you before that you need to understand that the position that we take regarding this that I take that our church takes is is the minority position.

[40:49] You need to understand that. And I'm talking about the minority within Christendom. Those who hold the positions that I'm describing do not constitute the majority of Christians but the minority.

[41:03] And I'm using the term Christians in in accord with the way the world characterizes Christianity. And the world characterizes Christianity as comprised of two major elements well maybe three Roman Catholicism Protestantism and Eastern Orthodox which actually the last two Protestantism and Eastern Orthodox are both derived from Roman Catholicism which was the initial or the parent organization.

[41:38] Christian and it has to do with the promises that God made to Abraham. I'll make your name great I'll bless those who bless you curse those who curse you etc.

[41:52] and you show out of you all the nations of the earth will be blessed. Everything hinges upon the character of that promise.

[42:06] Was that an unconditional promise or was it a promise that was conditioned depending upon Israel's faithfulness to God?

[42:20] That's the issue. Was it conditional or unconditional? We take the position that it was an unconditional promise and by that is meant God is telling Abraham this is what I'm going to do for you and your descendants and you don't have to do anything to make it happen.

[42:43] It's all on me. All on me. That means unconditional. Now if it were conditional then it would come with conditions.

[42:55] He would be telling Abraham Abraham if or providing if you do thus and so if you are faithful to me then I will be thus and so to you.

[43:09] That would make it a conditional promise. Most of those who disagree with the position we take think that it was a conditional promise and that Abraham and his descendants repeatedly refused to live up to the conditions so God has dismissed them permanently and he has replaced them with a new chosen people called the Christian church and this is their justification for when you read in the scriptures about promises that God has made to Israel they have been transferred to the church because Israel had their chance and they blew it so they are out of it permanently that's called replacement theology and those who replace Israel is the church and that also provided the impetus unfortunately for some particularly in the

[44:15] Roman Catholic church because this was the only church that existed at the time some in the Roman Catholic church and some of the popes actually took it upon themselves to dish out whatever punishment or deprivation they could to the Jewish people because they had charged them with the crucifixion of the Messiah and the official term was deicide you killed the deity Jesus was God on the cross and you crucified him and therefore you're going to pay and your descendants are going to pay and the Jew has been paying and paying and paying ever since they don't call the Jewish people the wandering Jew for nothing they would settle in one country where they'd be accepted and it wouldn't be long until they'd feel the heat of persecution and the pogroms and the old treatment and the ostracism and everything and many times they would pack up and move to another country and settle down there only to have the same thing repeated again and it's happened all throughout

[45:21] Europe for thousands of years for two thousands of years this has gone on and if you look at things like the Spanish Inquisition in 1492 every American knows that 1492 is when Columbus sailed the ocean blue but most of them do not know it was 1492 that Queen Isabella and Ferdinand gave the Jewish people thousands of Jewish people living in Spain at the time the option of converting and being baptized into the Catholic Church or get out you leave the land and you don't take anything with you but the clothes on your back 1492 and that's just a sample of what has taken place regarding the Jewish people so this replacement theology that was embraced by Roman Catholicism and still is to this day had a branch and the branch started literally with

[46:27] Martin Luther and what would become the Lutheran Church eventually and Luther completely rejected Roman Catholic teaching regarding justification and Luther came to the conclusion that we are justified by faith and the Roman Catholics would say well we believe that we are saved by grace also just like you do but we believe that grace is administered through the sacraments you receive grace you're saved by grace but you get grace through the sacraments baptism communion confession etc and if you do not receive the sacraments you do not receive grace and you cannot be saved by grace because you reject the sacraments and the sacraments are administered exclusively by the Roman Catholic Church and when the Pope consecrates the elements it becomes the literal actual blood of Christ and the literal actual body of

[47:31] Christ the bread even though it tastes like bread and looks like wine and tastes like wine it isn't and we say I don't think I can believe that and they say well if you have faith you can and that's their answer and out of that Martin Luther came and he rejected that concept of transubstantiation and embraced rather consubstantiation which sets forth the idea that Christ is not bodily physically present in those elements but he is there spiritually in the elements and he brought with him infant baptism and he brought with him other accouterments of the Roman Catholic Church that were just carryovers that he also adopted but the big conflict was over the basis for justification and Luther

[48:33] Luther came to the conclusion that you are justified by grace through faith alone which means through believing alone without the sacraments that that Rome has instituted and this makes salvation available to people as individuals you need not be connected or under the auspices of a church or the Roman Catholic Church and that was the basis for the great conflict that existed that almost cost Luther his life but let me go on just a little bit further because out of Lutheranism then still in the 1500s you've got turmoil theological doctrinal turmoil fomenting in Europe because of what Luther had done and he began translating the Bible into German and it just brought about the reformation that's what you call a reformation and out of Luther's decision then a little later came

[49:41] King Henry VIII into the mix and he had this wife he wanted to get rid of but he was a Roman Catholic and he appealed to the Pope for an annulment and the Pope wouldn't give him an annulment and then King Henry VIII of the House of Tudor said so long and he pulled out of the Catholic Church and began the Anglican Church the Church of England or the Episcopal Church all the same and he installed the Archbishop of Canterbury as being kind of like the Pope except the King was the head of the Church and the Savior of the Church and today that's one of the titles that is given to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth that she is the head of the Church and out of out of this Church of England came the Episcopal Church and we have Episcopal Churches here in the United

[50:42] States and by the way they've just gone through a big hubbub a big split over the ordaining of homosexual priests etc and they've but actually they they they fell aside a long time ago before that ever came out because they rejected the authority of scripture way back so anyway there's the Episcopal Church of England whatever and out of the Church of England pops up John Wesley and and and and John was the preacher and Charles was the hymn writer 6,000 hymns he wrote many of them are in our hymnals and Wesley began preaching as an ordained minister in the Church of England but he wanted to begin preaching justification by faith and the established Episcopal Church would have done of it and they closed their churches to him and would not give him access to their pulpits because they didn't want his message and the priesthood was so corrupt in

[51:50] England you didn't even have to have a profession of faith to be a minister in the Church of England you didn't even have to believe that Christ died for your sins and rose from the dead and Luther or the Wesley's began preaching and John Wesley said well if they won't let me in their churches then I'll preach on the street corner and he started doing that and couldn't contain the crowds and he ended up preaching in the fields and they would bring in a wagon and John Wesley would stand in that wagon and use that as his pulpit and preach to as many as fifteen thousand people in the fields with no amplification no microphone no anything and that produced the English revival we're talking the early 1700s 1730s 40s in that area and

[52:53] George Whitfield came on the scene and they drew huge crowds the churches were closed to them they said we'll preach in the fields and they did and tens of thousands of people came to faith in Christ long story short John Wesley made a trip to England well I don't want to get ahead of myself but the first time he came to England as a missionary he himself wasn't even converted and he was a miserable failure and he went back to England all disgusted and down hearted and was ready to throw it all in and somebody said I want you well okay I had nothing else to do and he went to this meeting and it was at the Alders Gate Street Church and the one who was preaching read from the preface that Martin Luther had written in his commentary on the book of

[53:54] Romans he just read the preface which is dynamite and John Wesley says my heart was strangely warmed and that's the time that he attributed his his conversion to Jesus Christ there completely changed his life and he would make more trips to England or to the United States and he teamed up with George Whitefield and Whitefield would make six or seven trips across the Atlantic to the United States to preach and Georgia was the colony that they settled in and they started several orphanages there because people were people did not have the longevity of life that we have today and they were dying in their 30s and 40s and there were huge numbers of children without parents and

[54:56] George Whitefield started orphanages there in Georgia and they accommodated hundreds and hundreds of children and those so long story short and the next thing you know John Wesley was here in New England and it was called the New England Awakening and it came under same time as Jonathan Edwards a little later sinners in the hands of an angry God and he preached that message and it was called the Great Awakening in the New England colonies so hey we've gone everywhere this morning actually I don't know anybody realizes our revolution was fought by Protestants basically when they went in the south the Protestants basically were against Catholics down there as far as Tories and rebels so actually we were Protestant when we went into the revolution you know that's that's true in the Maine that's certainly true and I remember reading an account of the

[56:01] Lutheran I think his name was Muhlenberg and he was the pastor of a Lutheran church somewhere in one of the colonies and the country was going through a time of great confusion and conflict over whether to revolt from England and you may not know this but I think history has proved it true and has verified that only about one third of the people in the colonies were in favor of breaking from England and one third were opposed to it wanted to remain loyal to the king and there was a lot of persecution of the one group to the other group and some of them were burned out and some of them uprooted themselves and moved to Canada to get away from the patriots who insisted and were pretty violent about seceding from me and then the third third was neutral and wanted to wait and see how this thing turned out because they'd be on whichever side won so keep in mind that our nation was birthed was birthed through the efforts and interests of primarily one third of the population of this country and that makes a big difference when you stop to think about it and it was and anyway

[57:31]  I was telling you about Muhlenberg and they were fighting and everything and congregations were divided over just like they were sometimes over the issue of slavery in the 1860s and everybody was wondering what they should do and Pastor Muhlenberg came to the pulpit one Sunday morning and he was attired in his usual clerical robe the black robe and he walked up to the pulpit and had a word of prayer and took off his robe and underneath was the uniform of a colonial officer what a setting that must have been and he told his congregation right then where his sympathies lied and as they say the rest is history and I told you I couldn't see the clock so okay thanks guys for being here