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[0:00] Thank you for being here. I've almost forgotten what it is like to have a full auditorium, but we're glad that you are here and that you are responding to the need for the social distancing and the mask wearing and all of that. And I sure will be glad to see us all get rid of these things because it will be wonderful to return to normal. Even if it's a new normal, it'll be closer than what we've enjoyed for the past several months. And yet, you know, this can certainly be a wake-up call for us all. It just reminds us once again that we are not in charge and we are not as smart as we would like to think. And although our scientific achievements have accomplished quite a bit, there's still a lot more that they don't know than what they do know.

[0:49] And something like this pandemic tends to provide us with a refreshing idea of our perspective, and that is the Lord is really the only one who is in charge. And you know what? We need to be grateful for that. Good to see Nick Michaels this morning. He's a friend who goes back many, many years here at Grace. And here he is. He's a resident of Wisconsin. And here he shows up again, 10 children later. And he tells me this morning that he is retired. So it's great to see you again, Nick. I appreciate your presence. As we go to prayer, we want to remember Jim Holdsworth. Many of you know Jim. He's Holly's brother and Chris Beloff's brother. And he just underwent emergency surgery for resectioning of his colon. And that's something that will lay him up for a while. But we're grateful that this kind of technology is available and that Jim was a beneficiary of it. And let's pray for speedy recovery. Thank you. Loving Father, as we come into your presence, once again, we are reminded even by the circumstances taking place, not only here in our country, but all around the world, our weakness as a humanity has been revealed once again. And we simply pray that it will speak to each and every one that is impacted in a positive way. We are to be reminded that you and you alone rule in the heavens and you give the kingdom to whomsoever you will. You are a sovereign Lord.

[2:31] We are, as sheep, the people of your pasture. And we are grateful for the opportunity that you provide us and other believers around the world to gather together and focus upon what you have done for us and in us through our Lord Jesus Christ. So we ask this morning once again that the service may be sanctified unto yourself, that each one here has a different spiritual need and you are able to address each and every one in ways that we don't understand. But we thank you for it.

[3:03] Hearts and minds as well this morning go out to our brother Jim. And we pray that you will continue to undertake for and thank you for the success of the surgery. We realize that he's got a time of recuperation ahead of him and we pray that you will use this downtime in his life to accomplish something of real spiritual significance that perhaps would not be possible otherwise. And for those of our congregation who have needs that are unspoken, thank you that you are the ever-present help in time of trouble. We can go to you, depend upon you, and bring our prayers and petitions to you and then completely relax as to your answer.

[3:44] Because it is through loving fingers of our Father that you filter all of our requests and you respond in a way that is for our best interest whether we recognize it at the time or not. And we are so grateful that you are the God you are, so much about you we do not understand, but we still appreciate. So thank you for this morning for the time that we are spending together and for the time that we will be spending together in your word. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

[4:17] I have a number of handouts. Some of them are repeats. I consider them so important I make them a kind of an annual repeat. And the first one that I would like to mention is from the pen of Marvin Rosenthal who is a Hebrew Christian son of Abraham and I told you, I think I told you about Marv Rosenthal before, the anecdote regarding him.

[4:44] Remarkable Jewish scholar. He is the gentleman who as when he was about 16 years of age or maybe 17 years of age working in his father's delicatessen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania this would have probably been in the 1940s or early 50s and they had a regular customer that would come into this Jewish delicatessen and restaurant and she was known as a home missionary lady and when she went to pay her bill Marv Rosenthal was there at the cash register accepting people's checks and taking their money and making change and so on and this little lady was a regular and she looked at him and she said Marvin Rosenthal I want you to know that I am praying for you and he looked at her and said you're praying for me?

[5:46] why would you be praying for me? and she said I'm praying that you might be saved he threw his head back and laughed and said ha!

[6:00] the only thing I want to be saved from is kooks like you and anyway the little lady took her change and went on well, long story short it wasn't too long after that I don't know if it was before he joined the Marine Corps or after but Marv Rosenthal that Jewish cash register fellow there in his father's delicatessen came into a personal relationship with Christ and it wasn't long after that through spiritual growth he was elevated to the position of being the president of Friends of Israel a Christian organization many of you are familiar with and we get their publications and in fact two of the handouts that I'm going to mention this morning are from Friends of Israel and they were penned by Dr. Rennie Showers and the reason that I'm bringing them out now is because of what's taking place in our culture but to finish what I was saying about Marv Rosenthal same one that I just told you about also wrote this article called The Incarnation it is the most thorough the most in-depth the most explanatory thing I have ever seen regarding the birth of Christ it is absolutely magnificent and there are copies of it in the literature rack as you exit the back door it is simply called

[7:22] The Incarnation from Israel My Glory by Marv Rosenthal and it contains information and details that most people have never heard of never thought of but it just shows once again how magnificently connected everything in the scriptures is to everything in the scriptures so make sure that you have a copy of this I make this an annual release and I keep copies of it and every December you get one so if you've got them already why just use this to give somebody else or file it away or whatever but I can promise you it's one of the most important items of literature you will ever have the pleasure of keeping and along with that in connection with what's taken place in our culture today I want to make mention of these two handouts and they too have been distributed before they have a date on them of five years ago and I can't believe that it was five years ago that we gave these out but they are authored by Dr. Rennie Showers he is with the Lord now but he left behind a tremendous legacy in his writings and he was a regular contributor to the Jewish Christian magazine

[8:34] Friends of Israel and this one is entitled The Foundations of Faith Humanity's Rejection of Genuine Wisdom and we have explained to you before so say I now again that every human being that comes into this world is under what shall we say well it's actually under a curse part of which is death physical death and spiritual death and part of that curse includes a warped intellect a skewed logic we are all born with that it's a humbling thing to recognize it but it is we are born with an intellect that is just as fallen and contaminated as the rest of us and what that causes us to do is to think things are other than they are and it's called deception and it too comes from the original deceiver whose forte is deception making people think things are other than they are all of humanity is infected with this all of us and so are you and so am I and the only thing that can correct it is information that will give us the straight scoop and show us where we're wrong because there is a way that seems right to a man but the end thereof is the way of death

[10:11] Proverbs 16 25 seems right seems logical sure it does you wouldn't believe it if it didn't seem right but it's wrong and the corrective the only corrective is the information that God has provided in his word long story short the Bible was provided as a grace gift of God to straighten us out to give us the real scoop and here it addresses this issue humanity's rejection of genuine wisdom and what do we replace it with we replace it with human wisdom if you want a commentary on that read 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and it explains the difference between God's wisdom and man's wisdom and then an attendant article humanity's rejection of God's moral absolutes both of these from the pen of Dr. Showers and they are priceless articles just a couple of pages take you all maybe 10-15 minutes to read it but it will put information in your human spirit that can be lodged there for future reference and we all need it humanity's rejection of God's moral absolutes and what have we replaced moral absolutes with we have replaced them with flexible flexible opinions it is called moral relativism it is another of the plagues of humanity where moral issues essentially meaning right and wrong is not considered established by an overarching authority or a moral north star to give everybody direction no no that's rejected that's the moral absolute that's rejected that's the traditional right and wrong that is rejected and it is replaced with moral relativism which means all moral beliefs are relative you have yours and I have mine and they may differ radically but the beautiful thing is they're both right isn't that wonderful how that works out that way it too is part of the deception and when you don't have well

[12:41] I've quoted this before brothers Karamazov Dostoevsky if there is no God all things are permitted it is completely permitted to cheat and steal in an election if that takes if that's what it takes to win it's okay because you're doing it based on your moral framework and your moral framework says this is what needs to be done and actually people will thank me for it that's the reasoning that goes into it so it is a curse and it is infected the entirety of humanity and this helps to spell it out humanity's rejection of God's moral absolutes and you know there's just one place surviving just one place surviving where the moral relativity will not fly and it's in trouble there even and I'm talking about the courts of our land when you go into a court

[13:59] I don't care if it's a local court federal court state court whatever it is they are supposed to be and so far most of them are really only concerned about what is true and when somebody is charged with a serious crime and witnesses are brought forth and they are cross-examined the jury the jury has the solemn responsibility of trying to figure out who of these witnesses is credible who's telling the truth about the testimony and try to get to the facts and you know they don't care a rip about people's opinion and if somebody says well I know he did it I know he's guilty well how do you know that well I can just sense it I can just feel it in my heart well what does that mean somebody else feels the opposite this is the kind of nonsense that some would propose but our courts aren't buying it thankfully and they are interested in just getting the jury remember

[15:06] Joe Friday on Dragnet just want the facts ma'am just the facts well that's what we need today we are a nation in desperate need of the facts and many times the facts have been sifted through the sifter of fake news and what comes out is no longer facts that's partly what we are dealing with in our culture today and it is a remarkable thing also in connection with that and this is timely and I bring these to your information because information is what it's all about you cannot process what you do not have you cannot reach conclusions about what you do not process that makes information absolutely critical that's why the bible is so important that's why truth is so important it is information you process the information you reach a conclusion and you act on it if you get wrong information you make wrong conclusions which are followed by wrong actions which is where we are as a culture this and something about the

[16:15] Jewish Jewishness is coming out in this Marvin Olasky has written an article I shared with you before this is last year this is an annual thing again it's called the state of servitude slavery as socialism and vice versa striking thing about Marvin Olasky he is the editor-in-chief of World Magazine premier Christian publication comes out every month and Marvin Olasky was born and reared into a card-carrying atheistic communistic family completely dedicated to the cause and he too came to faith in Christ and he's made some enormous contributions to the cause and this is just one of them it's called the state of servitude and I wish that so many people who are seemingly so excited about socialism would read the article and understand something about what is really involved and let me say this and I say it with all the sobriety and all the serious that I can muster and I am not exaggerating socialism is communism in the closet make no bones about it socialism is communism in the closet communism is nothing but a synonym for

[17:47] Marxism we have here in the United States hundreds hundreds and hundreds of high paid university professors in our universities across the nation who are communists Marxists and proud of it don't deny it but flaunt it and they have been indoctrinating our young people for the last two decades and we have sat silently by completely oblivious to what is happening and they by the way are so many of the young bucks that you see out there who have been bust in bust in to these locations to raise hell to start fires to insult people to break down windows to loot places and all the rest of it they are the product of that kind of thinking and I don't say this to scare you but I say it to sober you we are on the precipice of a revolution yes

[18:56] I use the right word of a revolution this is what people are seeking to bring about in the United States a revolution that they intend to encompass the world with but the United States is the major impediment if they can just get the USA to fall the rest will come in line and they know that and it is a worldwide thing that has taken place so he addresses the state of servitude and socialism and what it is all about and I did not intend this frankly I did not intend it but this is the way it's turned out here's another Jew and as far as I know this man is not a believer I don't know that he is but his name is Arie Sparrow S-P-E-R-O this is an article that appeared some years ago in the Wall Street Journal and it is entitled

[19:58] What the Bible Teaches About Capitalism Written by a Jew and it's on the back side of the state of servitude if you haven't already obtained it you need to do so I'm sure you will really appreciate it and by the way so far as other announcements are concerned oh yes I do have one more this this too I don't know if it's because Christmas is near and we tend to think of things like this but here it is our hats off to the Jew this morning this is written I told you about Marvin Rosenthal this is an article written by Marvin Rosenthal's son David who has also become a believer and I was so struck by the concepts of this article and the way he put it I thought you needed to know about it it appeared in the last issue of Zion's fire says we don't know what lies ahead for our nation but one thing is certain our

[21:05] God is a faithful covenant keeping God who deserves our heartfelt attitude gratitude he has bestowed upon us countless blessings for which we praise his name I can almost hear the glorious melody and the wondrous words of my tribute a treasured hymn penned by Andre Crouch nearly 50 years ago how can I say thanks for the things you have done for me things so undeserved yet you gave to prove your love for me the voices of a million angels could not express my gratitude all that I am and ever hope to be I owe it all to thee to God be the glory to God be the glory to God be the glory for the great things he has done with his blood he has saved me with his power he has raised me to God be the glory for the things he has done finding truth he titled his article finding truth in a world of confusion please listen even as we praise him for all he has done in our lives we also must face the reality that our world is in chaos and humanity is lost and confused in

[22:26] America the foundations are cracking and our nation remains deeply divided over issues too numerous to detail in this brief letter Judeo Christian values are no longer respected let alone viewed as essential by ever growing numbers within our society in fact many are antagonistic toward them in civility and outright disdain for authority have been on full display these recent months the daily headlines we've seen throughout 2020 provide ample evidence of the turmoil a global pandemic economic upheaval racial tension urban rioting rolling lockdowns judicial battles and the most contentious presidential election of our lifetimes have all punctuated a year we won't soon forget with the frenetic pace of the daily news cycle it seems as though we've been drawn into one controversial issue after another it's left many of us feeling irritated and overwhelmed by the constant barrage of breaking news but that shouldn't surprise us conflict and controversy are what drive the media complex you get that don't ever forget it it's important that you understand it conflict and controversy are what drive the media complex websites clamor for more clicks with sensational headlines and TV networks create contentious programming designed to keep us glued to the tube it's how they remain competitive in a cutthroat marketplace sadly truth is an expendable commodity today there are notable exceptions in the media industry journalists and news correspondents who have a genuine concern for their audience and who seek to advance the truth but most major outlets simply package news for public consumption based on what boosts their online presence increased ratings and advances their ideological agenda by and large these companies aren't in business to help you their audience attain greater knowledge and gain a deeper understanding of current events they exist primarily to achieve financial profitability and increase their sphere influence in in mark contrast the

[25:30] God of the Bible is the God of truth Deuteronomy 32 4 John 16 13 as the sovereign of the universe age he isn't concerned with increasing profitability or gaining influence he created it all owns it all and oversees it all but despite his sovereign status he is deeply concerned that his beloved children have biblical understanding and spiritual discernment to navigate the dangers of this present evil age and this is one of the principal reasons that we are here at Grace Bible Church frankly I don't have any other justification for our existence other than to be dissemination of the truth the last cab ride you know there are a lot of people who live in large cities where it's almost impossible and impractical to own your own vehicle and almost everybody travels wherever they go by cab by taxi you know especially

[26:48] New York Chicago places like that this is about the last cab ride a beautiful reminder about what life is really about from a cab driver's perspective I arrived at the address and honked the horn after waiting a few minutes I honked again since this was going to be my last ride on my shift I thought about just driving away but instead I put the car in park and walked up to the door and knocked just a minute answered a frail elderly voice I could hear something being dragged across the floor after a long pause the door opened a small woman in her 90s stood before me she was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it something like somebody out of a 1940s movie by her side was a small nylon suitcase the apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years all the furniture was covered with sheets there were no clocks on the walls no knick-knacks or utensils on the counters and in the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware would you carry my bag out to the car she said

[28:29] I took the suitcase to the cab and then returned to assist the woman she took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb she kept thanking me for my kindness oh it's nothing I said I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother to be treated oh you're such a good boy she said when we got in the cab she gave me an address and then asked could you drive through downtown well that's not the shortest way I answered quickly oh I don't mind she said I'm in no hurry I'm on my way to a hospice I looked in the rear view mirror her eyes were glistening I don't have any family left she continued in a soft voice and the doctor says

[29:33] I don't have very long I quietly reached over and shut off the meter what route would you like me to take I ask for the next two hours we drove through the city she showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator we drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newly weds she had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ball room where she had gone dancing as a girl sometimes she'd ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would just sit there staring into the darkness saying nothing at the first hint of sun was increasing on the horizon she suddenly said

[30:39] I'm tired let's go now we drove in silence to the address she had given me it was a low building like a small convalescent home with a driveway that passed under a portico two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up they were solicitous and intent watching her every move they must have been expecting her I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door the woman was already seated in a wheelchair how much do I owe you she asked reaching into her purse oh nothing I answered what you have you have to make a living she said I responded well there are other passengers almost without thinking

[31:39] I bent down and gave her a hug she held on to me tightly you gave an old woman a little moment of joy she said thank you I squeezed her hand and then walked into the dim morning light behind me a door shut it was the sound of the closing of life for the rest of that day I could hardly talk what if that woman had gotten an angry driver or one who was impatient to end his shift what if I had refused to take the run or had just honked once and then driven away on a quick review I don't think that I have done anything more important in my life we're conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments but great moments often catch us unaware beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one so people may not remember exactly what you did or what you said but they will always remember how you made them feel last cab ride

[33:13] I think the moral of that story all boiled down could just be this treat with real kindness everyone you meet because you never know what they may be dealing with would you open your bibles please and look at your prophecy sheet this little thing that we distributed that I trust you have kept in your bible distinguishing the difference between prophecy and mystery we have taught these truths or some form of them for the last five decades that we have been here and you may recall that I informed you back when well this was when we had a full audience I guess it was the first of the year it's almost almost the whole year gone by already but

[34:15] I recall telling you in January that we were going to go over the ABCs of this material because it has to do with that most distinguishing characteristic of the grace of God and that's wrapped up in the reality of the progressive revelation of scripture and how important that is and I recall telling you that I am in the twilight of my ministry here and I know some of you are saying Marv you've been saying that for years you all recall that we did retire once back in 2005 and we ended up coming back when when Jed's family had its difficulty and I told you at the time that I wanted to do everything that I could to leave these precious truths with you because there is a tendency for

[35:19] God's truth to be eroded over time if it is not diligently promoted by those who come along and I think the observation has been made that it takes only one generation just one generation to drop the ball for everything to be changed and hey have we ever seen that to be a reality in the US of A doesn't take long so my intent is to stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance regarding these things already you know them and as I've said I don't want to convey them so that you will remember them I want to convey them so that you will not be able to forget them and there is a difference and we are looking at this little sheet I trust that you have your copy available but it starts out with a correction and it is my fault because I mentioned in the bulletin this is item number six and in actuality it should be item number seven

[36:25] I got ahead of myself a little bit so on the green sheet under prophecy we're looking at the Gentiles to be blessed through Israel's rise and a couple of references given there are many more available but these are two of the more principal ones and then across the page you see item number seven that the Gentiles are blessed through Israel's fall and the reference are given in Acts and also in the Revelation so there are a number of things that need to be brought to our attention once again so that I can I am stirring up your pure minds by way of remembrance and I've already lost a key sheet but we'll manage without it so this is to simply reveal or reinforce the key relationship that Israel has to the plan and program of God and there is no way that I can overemphasize this because it is a truth that has been lost to

[37:30] Christendom for literally centuries and it has been overtaken by what we have referred to as replacement theology and I think it is one of Satan's greatest deceptions and he has used it so effectively he has succeeded in misleading I believe the majority of Christendom in this what I cannot call anything other than just a heresy and that replacement theology is that there is but just one people of God and there is a certain amount of truth to that but this one people of God is expressed in two venues and we are convinced that the first venue is the nation of Israel and the descendants of Abraham Isaac and Jacob and the second venue not to be confused with the first but entirely different from it in every way is referred to as the mystery which Paul describes in Ephesians chapter three and it contains many aspects but the nugget of it is this that the

[38:38] Jew and the Gentile are bonded together in a new entity called the body of Christ which was never predicted never promised never prophesied and never expected it just bang came on the scene like that right out of the blue and it leaves people saying where did that come from and if you read Ephesians three which we will not do now because we have in the time past you will see that the apostle Paul says this concept of Jew and Gentile was never imagined and never revealed before although it was tucked away in the mind and heart of God waiting for the precise time to reveal it and that precise time did not come until God chose to reveal it through the vehicle called

[39:41] Saul of Tarsus who was to become Paul the apostle and with that information a whole new concept was developed called the church the body of Christ and the important thing is we need to understand it does not replace Israel as the most favored nation even though Israel has been set aside in unbelief and in their rejection and God has disciplined them matter of fact the nation of Israel and the Jewish people although they I'm sure would not agree with this they are set aside right now and they are under divine discipline this is part of the checkered past of Israel as a nation there are no people that have been so favored and so blessed by God and so frequently on the outs with

[40:42] God as the Jewish people they are a remarkable people and we pointed out to you in time past how that even though they do not comprise even 1% of the world's population they don't even make up 1% what do they make up they make up two tenths of 1% of the world's population two tenths of 1% and how in the world do you explain the reality that they have garnered 20% of the Nobel Prize awards go figure what is going on there that does not compute and the reason it doesn't compute is because there is a God factor involved and when the Lord told Abraham that through you and through your seed all nations of the earth are going to be blessed that has already come true in part through no other means than the coming of the

[41:50] Messiah and what he did for the whole world that was the principal meaning of that the seed of the woman right there but in so many other ways this tiny insignificant that is geographically insignificant population wise insignificant a little chunk of real estate no bigger than the state of New Jersey that has been fighting for their existence ever since 1948 when they came into being living under threat of being decimated by all of their neighbors that led Golda Meir who was the prime minister of Israel at the time to say we have only one friendly neighbor and that's the Mediterranean Sea everything else that surrounds them has vowed for their destruction and yet this nation has been a world leader and by the way these people these people in Israel devote 90% 90% of their budget for defense isn't that something and in the midst of just trying to survive and stay alive with rockets occasionally falling along their population these people have been leaders in the world in technology and science and medicine all the while trying to survive how do you explain that there is no human explanation there is no people on the face of the earth that has had a checkered past like the nation

[43:35] Israel and the thing that is so stunning and it is not complimentary there are no people that have so soundly and so frequently turned their back on the benevolence and the goodness of God as the Jewish people I looked up the reference stiff necked and stiff in the concordance and I think I found something like seven or eight times that it is used stiff necked and in each case it refers to the nation of Israel and God or the prophet through God God through the prophet is speaking and saying that all day long I have reached out my hand to a stubborn and stiff necked people and if you've got a stiff neck that means it won't let your head turn it means you won't be turned it means you are set you are fixed you are unyielding you are unbending and that and that and

[44:47] God has raised up prophet after prophet to preach to these people and to warn them you need to get rid of your idols you need to get rid of these false gods otherwise I'm going to bring judgment against the nation you only he said through Amos penetrating statement the prophet Amos and it is so indicative of the truth that was involved God speaking through Amos says you only you only of all the nations of the earth have I known of course he knew about all the nations but he never knew any of them in the intimate personal way that he knew the nation of Israel and these people were descendants of Abraham Isaac and Jacob they are referred to time and again in the Bible as the fathers plural no one had been given more light more privileges more benefits more blessings beginning with the release from

[45:57] Egypt and the miracles that accompanied it nobody had been so favored and so blessed as the nation of Israel and yet every time God turns around they're at the altar of some false deity whether it is Dagon or Baal or Molech one of these false deities worshipped by the neighboring tribes that surrounded them they would fall into that and the God would raise up a prophet and warn them against it and saying you need to get rid of these things I have been like a faithful husband to you and you as a nation have treated me like a wife who has become a harlot that's the way you've responded to my goodness and if you don't change and why did God do this by the way why did he bring this chastening why did he bring these enemies against them to rebuke them and to captivate them and to make prisoners them why did he do that wasn't because he hated them because he loved them that's the whole principle of chastening what son is he whom the father chastens not now if you do not endure chastening then that's a demonstration that you are not really children for the same reason that nobody disciplines the neighbor's children they discipline their own children and god says i have loved you with an everlasting love and you have repaid my love with ingratitude with unfaithfulness and with idolatry and i'll tell you what i'm going to do i'm going to bring a pagan nation that is worse than you and i'm going to bring them against you to teach you a lesson and they were warned about this god raised up the prophets to warn the people and do you know what the people said stick it in your ear we don't believe it god would never allow that to happen to us so lo and behold somebody came ashirbanipal named ashirbanipal comes knocking at the door came down into northern israel after they broken up the union and carried those ten tribes off into captivity they left a bunch of their own people behind to stabilize and to occupy the area and eventually they intermarried with the jews that they left there in the land and the people produced from that relationship came to be known as the samaritans and by the way they're still in existence today they're in that area of of israel and do you think that the southern two tribes who witnessed the fall and failure of the ten tribes in the north do you think that scared them enough to say ooh see what god did to them we better get our act together or the same thing is going to happen to us did they benefit from that not at all they took the attitude won't happen to us can't happen to us we've got the temple we've got jerusalem we've got the priesthood we are invulnerable we are the apple of god's eye nothing like that could happen to us and then god raised up some other prophets most principal one of whom i suspect would be jeremiah and jeremiah not only told the nation of israel and preached to them and gave them object lessons that if you don't mend your ways and you don't return to the lord god is going to do to you what he did to your sister ten tribes and if you think you can get away with this you're mistaken matter of fact those whom god will use the babylonians

[49:59] they're just to the east of us and they are going to come over here and make mincemeat of you if you don't get your act together but i want you to know you can change all of that you can repent of your sin you can turn to the lord you can get rid of these idols and all of the hypocrisy and god will spare this nation but if you don't that's what's going to happen to you and jeremiah wrote that it was on a scroll a long scroll you just wind it and wind it and just keep and someone got a hold of the scroll and they said the king needs to see this this is rebellion and insurrection going on right here in our own country and you know what jeremiah was accused of he's just an alarmist he's just trying to scare people he's just trying to make everybody afraid don't put any stock in it it isn't true it's just nonsense the king read it and threw the whole scroll into the fireplace burned the whole thing up and the lord told jeremiah get another scroll get another pen and write it all over again and he did and what jeremiah wrote you've got in your bible in the old testament you ought to read it it's very eye opening he not only named the people but he said not only that but you're going to be carried away into captivity and you're not going to return for 70 years and he even told them exactly how long the sentence would be it's going to be 70 years and the people said ah he's just blowing smoke he's just a he's just a rabble rouser he's just a troublemaker don't pay any attention to him it's all fake news that's what jeremiah is doing he's cranking out fake news but it wasn't fake news and a man called zedekiah zedekiah was the last king ever to sit on the throne of david zedekiah think of that a direct descendant in the bloodline of david the king zedekiah and the prophecy was giving of zedekiah that he is going to be carried off to the land of babylon but he will never see it what kind of a statement is that how can you be carried off to a land and not see it well the prophecy came to pass precisely as it was written because when the babylonians came in broke down the walls set jerusalem afire destroyed the temple carried all the gold and silver and treasures including zedekiah and they lined up all of zedekiah's sons and they executed every one of his sons and made him watch their execution and when they had dispatched them then they turned to zedekiah and they put out his eyes blind as a bat and made him walk with thousands of other jews to the land of babylon where they would remain until that whole generation

[54:00] died off and one of those was a young boy probably about 12 years of age his name was Daniel you can read all about him in the book that bears his name Daniel the prophet and the ministry that he had was significant now I say all of that to try and put Israel in perspective they are they remain a special chosen people of God although you know what a lot of Jews today I mean a lot of Jews don't believe that because they cannot account for how the Jews have been treated with a God who is supposed to love them being in charge I have related to you before how huge numbers of Jewish people have embraced atheism directly related to the

[55:03] Holocaust and you can understand that you can see that can you not I mean we are God's chosen people we are the apple of his eye and he allows six million of his chosen people to die in Hitler's gas ovens and concentration camps and you mean to tell me that a God of those people who could snap his fingers and change anything he wanted to would allow something like that to happen thanks but no thanks I don't want anything to do with a God like that and many of them have embraced atheism and those who think there might be a God I'm not sure maybe there is a God but if there is I don't want anything to do with him just based on that alone and do you know what that is that is reasoning with a warped logic with a skewed intellect if you use the scriptures to correct your reasoning you will be confronted with the reality that the days are coming saith the

[56:09] Lord when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah not like the covenant which I made with their fathers when I brought them out of Egypt which covenant they broke but this will be a covenant I will put my law in their hearts and in their minds and they will be obedient and I will forgive their sins and I bless them and that's all future that's to come and we will see how that's going to be realized in the remnant of Israel that will survive the great tribulation period so this is part of the dark past of Israel's checkered past and by the way they've had heights of euphoria as well of blessing and richness and benefit like under Solomon and when the kingdom was brought to new heights never before known by any nation in the world so they've been on both sides of this track there is no people in the world that have had an incredible checkered past like the nation of

[57:09] Israel and right now they are set aside in their unbelief and the Jews who live in Israel and by the way it happened I guess it was about I guess it was about 20 years ago for the first time in who knows how many years there were more Jews now as of about 20 years ago there were more Jews in the land of Israel than there were in New York City that's significant and so many have gone back to Israel it's called Aliyah Aliyah A-L-I-Y-A-H Aliyah it is it's Hebrew for the return and they are returning thousands tens of thousands were finally allowed to exit the Soviet Union and they did and they went to Israel and there are other stories about the return so what we've got here in this sheet if you will look at item number six and

[58:09] I've told you that's incorrect we should be on number seven that the Gentiles are to be blessed through Israel's instrumentality and that's already a realism because primarily because of Christ who has blessed through Israel's obstinacy and they are but for just a little bit of review I'd have you to turn to Acts 13 if you would please I plan to get into Romans but we may not get that far and I don't know who took the clock down back there but oh well I pretend that I can't see it with the glare that's on it anyway I want you to just look at Acts chapter 13 this is such amazing stuff I would not be disappointed if something happened to that clock mysteriously

[59:14] Acts 13 and verse well for time's sake we'll we'll just have to begin with verse 17 we'll just have to jump in here but let me set the stage this is Paul's first missionary journey now be reminded that he has been a believer I mean we are talking about about 15 years after the Damascus road conversion that Paul takes his first missionary journey and when he does we read that in verse 1 in chapter 13 they are at Antioch and if you look at that Antioch and the church of prophets and so on and then come down to verse 13 of the same chapter 13 13 Paul and his companions put out the sea from Paphos came to Perga and Pamphylia and John left and returned to Jerusalem and going on from

[60:15] Perga they arrived at Pisidian Antioch now that's an Antioch too it's not unusual for cities to have the same name we've got a lot of cities in the United States that have the same name as others but this is Pisidian Antioch as opposed to Antioch in Syria where they started from and on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue being Jews and knowing that there would be a lot of Jews there in the synagogue and after reading the law and the prophets the synagogue officials sent to them saying brethren if you have any word of exhortation for the people say it and Paul stood up and motioned with his hand and he said men of Israel and you who fear God listen now he's got an important message to deliver Paul and Barnabas are strangers they've never been here before these people don't know them but just because they show up at the synagogue at sundown on Friday which is when the synagogue services begin they just assume that these two strangers who came into town are

[61:22] Jews that's why they're here at the synagogue so the captain or the master of the synagogue the ruler of the synagogue goes back to them and says I see you fellows are new in town and of course they always gave an opportunity for a stranger from another place to say a few words in the synagogue mainly because communication was such a problem and everything had to be hand carried and what not and people always were curious about what's going in other parts of the world so they invite them to take the floor if you've got something to say to the folks we'd love to hear what you have to say so Paul stands up and delivers his message and unfortunately we don't have time for it now but but we'll to we'll and we'll we'll resume and I encourage you to tune in this time next week for the next thrilling episode from Acts chapter 13 because it is a dandy and what Paul will be explaining here is this new thing that has just arrived on the scene and that he did you have a神 descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

[62:58] A Gentile is not a Jew. What interest does God have in Gentiles? Well, it was commonly believed among the Jews, zero, none.

[63:12] And a good Jewish prayer that the Jewish faithful would recite on rising in the morning is, O God, I thank Thee that Thou hast not made me a woman, a slave, or a Gentile.

[63:27] How's that for arrogance? That's not exactly politically correct, is it? But that's the way people thought back then. And how this is going to play out and what Paul's message will be and how the Gentiles are going to pick up on that.

[63:47] And Paul delivers this message how God sent Jesus to be the fulfillment, the messianic fulfillment of His promise, and the Jewish nation rejected Him.

[64:04] The leadership rejected Him. And Paul preaches this message and it riles up the Jews. But do you know what? There are Gentiles there too.

[64:14] And Paul said, And you, you are absolved from all things by which you could not be absolved or forgiven by the law of Moses.

[64:29] And that was to be good news to the Jews. And the Jews turned up their nose at it and they rounded up some people to create a riot and a rebellion against what Paul was speaking.

[64:42] And this message was so electrifying that these people, especially the Jews, the Gentiles who were there, came up to Paul and said, Listen, we've got to hear more of this.

[64:52] You've got to tell us more about this. This is incredible. This is new stuff. We've never heard this before. And can you guys stay in town? Can you preach here next week? And they do.

[65:05] And the text goes on to say, The next day, the next week, the synagogue was packed. And Paul preaches this message about Christ coming for the salvation of the world.

[65:19] And the Jews turned up their nose at it. And the Gentiles there said, We'll take him. We'll take him. He came for us too.

[65:33] We want him. We want him. We want him. And they got him. And Paul delivered that message.

[65:45] And it was the first of many like that that he's going to deliver to mixed audiences of Jews and Gentiles. And the controversy is going to be incredible. The confusion is going to be everywhere.

[65:58] And the talk is going to be everywhere. And Paul will later be talked about in the courts of royalty saying, Here, this, this is the guy.

[66:10] This is the guy that's turned the world upside down. And they call him on the carpet. And you know what? He ends paying the ultimate price for his faith.

[66:27] It's called martyrdom. And let me tell you something. That time is coming again. It may be closer than we know.

[66:44] Pray with me for you. Father, we've simply scratched the surface of things that are so near to your heart and so clearly revealed in Scripture.

[66:57] And our hearts ache because there are so very many who don't believe this, don't understand it, are completely ignorant of it.

[67:09] And we feel such a burden for them to know these truths and the peace and the joy and the understanding, the enlightenment that they provide.

[67:21] It's just indescribable. and our hearts go out to all those who are out there in the same darkness that we were in before the light of Christ came into our lives.

[67:35] How grateful we are for it. And Father, our prayer is that this congregation will be so grateful that we will not rest and we will not flag nor seek any responsibility or opportunity to communicate it to others.

[67:55] Even if we communicate it to deaf ears because we remember when our ears first heard these things, we were deaf too.

[68:05] we were blinded by error just like the whole world lies in the lap of the evil one as John has described.

[68:17] How thankful we are for the glorious light and liberty of Christ and how it sets us free and puts a song in our heart that the world knows not of. And we just so desperately want them to know it and enjoy the release and the forgiveness of sin, the assurance of heaven.

[68:38] Oh, there's so very much you have to offer. However we can implement the telling of this, the spreading of this, as a congregation or as individuals, we just want nothing more than to be at your disposal.

[68:55] Thank you for the precious opportunity you've already provided in Christ's name. Amen. I would really like to open this for some Q&A, but I do not want to encroach on your time, so we will dismiss now and look forward to continuing this message next week.

[69:19] I want to remind you that the audio of this that was just delivered should probably be available on the webpage, Grace Bible webpage, within a couple of hours this afternoon.

[69:34] And we really appreciate the people who are able to tune in and get the message. It's not as good as being here, but it's certainly not, it's certainly better than not getting anything at all.

[69:44]  So the Lord bless you and have a great afternoon. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.