Is It Time To Give Up On Israel? - Part 3 (Romans 11:1-6)

Church, for time's sake, let's stand again. I know you just stood, but let's stand again. Um, and I'm going to read all the way through. You can just follow along with me on this. Is it time to give up on Israel? This is our third installment in this argument of the first six chapters of Romans 11. And, uh, this, just to me, it's just so exciting that we're looking at a 2,000-year-old document and we're talking really about today's news. And, uh, my heart really goes out to two groups of people.

Number one, uh, the unbeliever. The unbeliever is comprised of many different types of people. The agnostic is an unbeliever. An agnostic is a funny person. An agnostic says, by the way, I don't mean to insult anybody, but, uh, agnostic is where we get the word, uh, the English word ignoramus. Did you know that? Why? Why? What makes a person an ignoramus? Their, their belief of being an agnostic is this: I believe God exists, he just cannot be known. If there's a God who exists and cannot be known, is that a God? No. What kind of a thing is that? If God is God and you and I can know one another, then why can't we know him?

And then there's the atheist. And I, and I get it. The atheist, uh, maybe may not have ever heard the truth. The atheist, maybe has never been challenged. The atheist, though, in most cases, maybe all cases, the atheist's religion falls apart when a great need comes into their life. They have the luxury of saying there's no God. And the reason why they have the luxury is because they don't have cancer yet. They haven't lost their home yet. Their dog hasn't died yet. They haven't, they haven't wept yet. Are you hearing what I'm saying? They've got the luxury to say there is no God.

But, uh, now I missed this, but apparently we've had a couple of earthquakes and I missed it. I, I don't know how I missed that, but I didn't feel a thing. Um, I don't think I, I don't think I feel anything. It's got to be over six for me to feel something. But, um, but you know, when people feel the, the ground move, they check. They check to see if their atheism is going to hold them up. And most often, of course, it doesn't.

And so, uh, but listen, two groups of people I appeal to, uh, the atheists today, keep this in mind that what Paul is talking about, you're living out right now in our 21st century, if you like it or not, it's happening and it's frontline headline news. And then the other person that I'm speaking about today is those, of course, who are in Judaism, Jews. And I want all of you to know something. You might say, Pastor Jack, can you, like, dial it down a little bit about about challenging the, the, the Jews on this one? Well, first of all, I'm just following the footsteps of the Jew, Paul, speaking to the believers. But I'm not going to mess with a good thing. I'll tell you why. For the first time in the history of this church, I am being inundated by Jews who have questions and or prayer to, to come to Yeshua as Messiah. So listen, uh, this is not a country club. This is a Bible class right now, and we're going to be learning God's word.

And so I'll read it all the way through. Paul says, "I say then, has God cast away his people? That's the Jews. Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away his people whom he foreknew." That's the key. God's foreknowledge will never be foiled. Everything he's doing is based off of foreknowledge. "Or do you not know what the scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?" He wasn't happy with Israel. Elijah saying, "Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life." You can hear him. [Music] Boo. But what does the divine response say to him? This is God speaking. "Hey Elijah, I have reserved for myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to Baal." Even so then, at this present time, this is a great word. That word "present" it means present time. Then when Paul was writing, present time. Today, and present time, it's in the continuous. This, we're going to have some fun with that today. That at this present time, there is a remnant according to the election of grace. Verse 6: "And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace, otherwise work is no longer work." Father, in Jesus name, blow our minds, we pray. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen. Amen. You may be seated.

I'm going to throw this quote up on the, on the screens for you right now, if you would. Uh, our good friend, Dr. Warren Weby. I say our good friend, I've never met him, but I've read a lot of his books. He's in heaven now, but I feel like I know him. "Israel is God's elect nation. He foreknew them or chose them, and they are His. The fact that most of the nation as people have rejected Christ is no proof that God has finished with His people. Israel. In his day, Elijah thought that the nation had totally departed from God, but Elijah discovered that there was yet a remnant of true believers. He thought he was the only faithful Jew left, and yet discovered that there were 7,000 others just like him." And all God's people said, Amen. Thank God. Yes, that's true. There's always a remnant. There's always a remnant.

So church, we're looking at this message regarding the question that's out there today: Is it time to give up on Israel? And we're seeing how the answer to that is certainly not, or absolutely no. And we've, we've learned these two things and we'll get into the third thing and end it today. And that is, how can we even think like that when God has an eternal plan, and it's for Israel? We need to remember that, that God, when you read the Bible, God has an eternal plan for Israel. And by the way, let God be God, and let God define Israel. That's a people, it's an individual, it's also a nation. God's got a plan, and we only know a little bit of it. But God tells us this, that he's got a plan, and it's eternal. And we know this, we learned this last time, that God's eternal plans are underway. That's why Israel's in the news every day. That's why Israel's back in the land since May 14th, 1947. God's plans are underway, and they're in the headline news. Amazing.

And then we also learned that God's eternal promises are being fulfilled. That's Bible prophecy. They're being fulfilled. And when we say fulfilled, in this context of the scripture, it was Paul's argument that he himself was Paul, a Jew, that he was of the tribe of Benjamin, that he was an Israelite, and he was from the seed of Abraham. And remember last week, we made the argument that Paul is saying to all of the replacement theology people of today, how can you guys in the 21st century be saying that Israel's got no place when I, a Jew, met Jesus personally on the road to Damascus, and he converted my soul, and he filled me with his word, he wrote my name down in the Lamb's Book of Life, I became Apostle of the Living God, and I'm here to tell you that God saves Jews. Listen, Paul told us that and wrote that down. And, uh, that debunks the replacement theology poison that is out in the world today.

Church, listen, I am, uh, violently opposed, uh, to this replacement theology heresy that's out in the world today. If you're not sure about it, you better find out because there are those that are saying that God has done with Israel, which makes Paul a liar and makes God a liar. Watch. And if you believe in that kind of stuff, then you don't know what part of the Bible to believe and what to, uh, hang on to or to reject, because you are now parsing up the Bible. And, uh, if you do that, what did God say? If you take away or add to my Bible, my book, the curses of this book will fall upon you. And that's true for the entire Bible. And then it's uttered again in the Book of Revelation. Don't tamper with the Bible. Let the Bible speak.

And then we saw last time that God's eternal prophecies will come to pass. They will come to pass based on that word, foreknowledge. That God fore, or knew. Another quote. This is a quote. Um, well, if you like it, it's from God. If it flops, it's from me. It's as, it's as though Paul is saying this: "Dear brothers in Rome and throughout the Empire, know this: It's not only that I am a Jew above all other Jews, and being a Jew, but I have naturally, supernaturally come to the knowledge that Jesus Christ is the Yeshua of the Bible. But there's more. I have also become a personal follower of Yeshua. And even more than that, Israel, as His nation, has been called to be a follower of Yeshua. Me, the Jew, and Israel, the nation, are literally the prophetic epicenters of God's future for the world. Peace out, brother Paul." That's, that's a true statement. That's his argument.

So church, mark this down. Some of it is review, some of it is new. The second argument, verses 2 to 4, is: Is it time to give up on Israel? We would say, why? When God has created a forever family. And we studied this. We just broke into it last week together. When I say, by the way, the word "family," here's what I mean by that. All of us who believe. Listen, everybody. All of us who believe. When I say believe, I mean believe in Jesus as Messiah. That is the key.

And so, what's great about this? I was traveling with somebody earlier this week, and, uh, we were talking about our churches, and he was describing his church, and his church is, is more in, uh, predominantly, um, different demographic. And I'm listening to him, and I'm thinking, I mean, I'm just going to be honest with you, I'm listening in, and I'm thinking, man, I'm, I'm glad I pastor at Chino Hills. And he's talking, and I'm thinking, I'm really glad it's not. That he was saying anything wrong, but for example, there are churches who, uh, there's all Black churches, or all Hispanic churches. You ever seen that? Or, uh, what else? There's, uh, I don't mean to upset anybody, or maybe I do. There's all, there's just the Korean church, and then there's the Chinese church, and then there's the Vietnamese church, and then there's the, the Dutch church. And let's, let's be honest, I love coming to this church because I almost feel like Hobo Kelly, or whoever that was. I see Bobby, and I see Johnny. Remember her? Anybody remember her? Is that the right one? Or was it Romper Room? Oh, it was Romper Room. I'm so sorry. Romper Room. And it's great because from my vantage point, the church, this is the church. I see Filipino, I see Black, I see white, I see yellow, I see red. I see the mix of everything, all mixed together. And you know what's awesome about that? It's called heaven. Heaven is going to be like that. We're going to walk around. Listen, the Bible tells us, because what were you thinking? Listen, if you're white, do you think everybody in heaven is like, "Hi, we're all white"? Or what? What were you thinking? That heaven's all Black, bro? Dude? Y-what? What? What? What are you thinking? Or no, no, Pastor Jack, it's all going to be Japanese? No, it's not. No, it's not. It's not going to be. No, it's not. In heaven, you know what we're going to be doing? The Bible says in heaven, it is comprised of every kindred, tribe, tongue, and nation. We, it is amazing. I don't know how this is going to work out, but in heaven, we're going to be able to walk by somebody and say, "Wow, so what was it like living in Asia growing up and hearing the gospel for the first time? When did Christ meet you? Where were you? In, were you in Hong Kong? Or were you in Beijing? Or were you in Vietnam, Saigon? Where were you?" Where you say, "Are we going to be allowed to talk about that in heaven?" We are going to talk about God's glorious works and how He rescued us forever. But every kindred, tribe, tongue, and nation of the earth. I love that. John said, "I saw them all," and he knew that they were from different regions of the world. In heaven, I can't wait. I'm white on the outside, as you can tell, Portuguese, but white. But I'm Black on the inside. But somewhere in between, there's all kinds of different colors. I'm finding out. I'm just like a little walking rainbow. I am. But I think the Holy Spirit does that in your heart. That God puts a love in your heart for people. It's not an ethnic group, it's people. And that's what drives the Christian missionary to the ends of the earth, does it not? The souls of people. And God has a forever family.

Galatians 3:24 says, "Therefore the law, remember, was our tutor, the schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come." I love that. How about this, everybody? Can I put it this way? After you get saved, you come to Christ, you're born again, we are no longer under a tutor or a schoolmaster. Verse 26: "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ." That's a whole sermon series right there. "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." The word "heirs" is shocking. We honestly, we will say, "I believe it," but sometimes I doubt it. To be heirs, as that scripture says, to be heirs of the promise, that according to biblical theology, the true word of God, that all the riches that belong to Christ Jesus, whatever that is, I don't even know, He's going to give you. He's going to give us. Where? When, Pastor? When? Wow. When? When you show up in heaven. That's right. Listen, we're on our way there. See, what, you know, somebody dies and they leave a, a, a will, and the attorney calls everybody together in the room, and you know, to my nephew, I leave, you know, that you, you all seen that movie. Can you imagine when you and I are in heaven because we've trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ? So to speak, the will is going to be broken open. But the cool thing is, the one who died to empower the will is the one who rose from the dead to make sure the will gets distributed rightly. And here's how He's going to do it: "All my kids get all the same stuff. Come into the kingdom. Come on in, everybody. It's all yours. Enjoy yourself. Eternity." Our minds can't even fathom that. It's going to be absolutely awesome. Absolutely fantastic.

Romans chapter 1:16 and 17 says, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes." Notice, "for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, 'The just shall live by faith.'" Romans chapter 2:10: "Glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, that is to do faith. Faith's a verb. You live it, you do it. To the Jew first and also to the Greek." The gospel came to the Jew first. How about this? Acts 1:8: "This is kind of fun because this is going to the Jew first and then to the Gentile. But you," Jesus said, "shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you." Church, time does not allow me to teach today. Notice that Jesus didn't say the Holy Spirit will come inside of you. That's a different Greek word. Jesus said, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit," what? "Comes upon you." And that is that Greek word, "epi." You ought to write it down in the margins of your notes. It's the word "epi." The moment you become born again, the Holy Spirit comes inside of you, and that Greek word is "en," spelled E-N, and it means the Spirit of God comes inside to dwell forever. He can't leave. Did you know He's under orders? Remember, remember when the scripture says, "I will never leave you or forsake you"? How does God? Let's pretend we're in a seminary class, maybe maybe junior senior class, and I were to ask you, the class, "How is it? On what basis does the promise, 'I'll never leave you or forsake you,' be true? On what doctrinal statement is that a fact?" The answer is, Jesus said, "I'll never leave you or forsake you," based upon the indwelling of the Holy Spirit for every believer. The book of Ephesians tells us that He is the stamp, the seal.

Now, for some of us oldies, this is very cool. Um, I don't think young people today, they miss out on so much, uh, regarding this. The Holy Spirit. The moment you say, "Lord, come into my life, forgive me of my sins, I repent, and I agree you're my Savior, and I'm the sinner, and I give you my life." The Holy Spirit comes in, "en," inside, to dwell forever. That's why Christ said, "I'm going to go away, but I'm going to send the Holy Spirit to you." Listen, He has been with you, but He shall be in you. Then His next words, amazing. "I, Jesus, will not leave you orphans. I will come to you." Is that double talk, Jesus? What are you saying? I'm going away, but I'm going to come and live inside of you. That's the Trinity of God at work. Jesus Christ dwells within the believer by the person of the Holy Spirit, never to leave you or forsake you. But this word in Acts chapter 1:8, Jesus said, "I'm going to go. I'm leaving. Go to Jerusalem, and you will receive power when the Holy Spirit," and the word is spelled "epi." Epi. He's going to come upon you. Only the believer. He comes upon the believer. And what happens? The Bible tells us, "You shall receive, or you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, and all Judea, Samaria, and the end of the earth." Wow. And that happened to a Jewish church. Acts 1:8, Jesus is speaking to the born-again, now Jewish believers. The fledgling church was just getting started. And so, what this means is a, a beautiful thing regarding the, the family of God is that we'll be a family of God, uh, forever with the Lord.

And in 1 Corinthians chapter 2, you know this well, verses 9 and 10. The Bible says, "As it is written: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him." Think about heaven now. Eye has not seen. Think of the things that your eye has seen. Nor ear heard. What have you heard? What have you heard? That's just, you know, somebody sitting in here right now. We were just out in the courtyard before service, and in the hubbub of everything going on, there was this, uh, mom and her daughter, and I was, I was walking by, and, and I heard this cooing. And I said, "Did you hear that? Did you hear that?" And they said, "Yes, we're listening to that. That dove came to church to praise the Lord." What is, what have you heard that that pleases you? Um, and I'm not talking about somebody's latest greatest album that doesn't apply. I don't care who it is. Think about it. Uh, have, have you heard the, the rumbling from a distance of a thunderstorm? When you begin to feel it so small, you think of God. The Bible tells us that it has not entered into your frame of vision what God's prepared. Yeah, you haven't heard what God has prepared, nor has it entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those who love Him. Do you love Him? Church, then guess what? What God has in store for you, for us, it's going to freak us out forever. So how long? Forever. How long's forever? Forever. No time, by the way. So that's a long time. It's no time. Time doesn't exist there. It's going to be incredible. What are we going to see? What are we going to hear? Well, it's, it's not entered our mind. But an interesting verse goes on there in verse 10. It does say this: "But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit." I think the Holy Spirit gets us excited about forever. Everybody's driving around, I get it, without Jesus Christ. People driving around, they're freaking out. Have you noticed people, by the way, all of a sudden people are like, driving weird? Have you noticed that? If you don't believe, listen, if you don't believe in the spirit realm, you need to drive in Southern California. It is wild, man. First of all, you better get prayed up. Better make sure that you're born again, then get in your car and get ready for heaven. But not everybody's ready for heaven. And some people, some people are driving around like they're trying to get to hell fast. And what's with this? People driving their car, they see you coming, and they look the other way and pull out. Is that a suicide run? Is that what they're doing? Does this happen only in Southern California? People who are coming online watching right now, comment. No, it's happening here in Minneapolis or whatever you're, I mean, what is going on? Things, things seem crazy. Just know this, for the believer, when we see crazy, we just look up and say, "Lord, how much longer are You going to wait? I mean, let's go. Let's go." Remarkable.

And regarding this family, what about this? First Thessalonians 4:13-17. Again, you know it well for many of us. This is a good rerun. Paul told the believers who had lost loved ones to death. They thought the rapture was going to come before our family died. And Paul never said that. He said to be ready. And so they were very, very confused. And so Paul wrote to them. He says, "Now, dear brothers and sisters, I want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so that you will not grieve like people who have no hope." Wow. We can grieve, you guys, but don't grieve without hope. "For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring with Him the believers who have died. Verse 15: We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet Him ahead of those who have died. For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven." Notice, He comes down, but He doesn't come to Earth. He appears in the atmosphere with a commanding shout, with the voice of the Archangel and the trumpet call of God. "First, the believers who died will rise from their, raise from their, rise from their graves. Verse 17: Then together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up, raptured is the word, in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever." That is the family of God. The family of God. And that's exciting.

Um, the next thing is this, regarding this family of ours, is in 1 John chapter 3. 1 John chapter 3, uh, verses 2 and 3. This is absolutely amazing. Verse, um, do I have your attention, everybody? So we are to be Christians 24/7, 365, right? You've pulled into church today to get refueled, and then out you go, right? So listen to this. God wants you to hear this before you go back out there. "Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be like." Which is very fun. So are we going to be taller or shorter? Am I going to be handsome or cute? Will I be this or that? Here's the great thing. Is this, read the scholars or don't. Nobody has the, nobody's got the same answer. Just nobody has the same answer. Nobody knows how to answer this. What are we going to be like? Am I, am I going to be 6'9"? And we don't know. We don't know. We don't know what it's, when Christ returns, we don't know what we're going to look like or be like. But we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him. Think of that. What does that mean? It means we will have His nature. Did you know? Aren't you glad to hear this? When you and I meet Christ, our sin nature will be completely gone and removed for all time and eternity. You say, "Well, that, that's great." Yay. No, no. It's better than great. Listen, when that happens, think of it this way: we will be greater than Adam and Eve ever was before the fall. I'm going to repeat it. When you and I are done here, and we go home to be with Jesus, or He comes and picks us up, our new state of existence, we will be like Him. It's speaking to the nature. We will have His nature. What does that mean? It means that we've already gone through our fall. You and I. We've already gone through all the grief. You and I already already went through all of the pain, the death, the sorrow of this world. And listen, because Jesus Christ died and rose again from the grave and sets His Holy Spirit within us, in that moment of our death or rapture, our bodies are completely transformed. And what does that mean? Before Adam and Eve, listen, we will be more better off and more, what's the word, glorious, frankly, than Adam and Eve was before the fall. You see, Jack, how can you say that? I, I just said it. Here's what it means. Adam and Eve, they lived in perfection, and they walked with the Lord in this relationship. What could be better than that? I'm going to tell you, when Adam and Eve was tempted, they sinned. Are you ready for this? When you and I are redeemed, the, the nature that you and I will possess, will possess us, will be the nature of Christ. We cannot be tempted. We will not be tempted in eternity. Temptation won't even be near you in eternity. You won't be in heaven for a hundred million years, trip over somebody's roller skates, and your bowling word falls out of your mouth, and, and God says, "Oh, whoa, you're out of here." It's not going to happen. It's not going to happen. If there's roller skates in heaven, you're going to trip over it, and you're going to say, "Here's your roller skates. Those are the best roller skates I've ever seen." You won't have the nature to fall. You'll be just like Christ. Isn't that amazing? And listen, here's what's so beautiful about that. "We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure." What does that mean? Get ready. Get ready. The hope is when Christ is revealed, we'll be like Him. So we want to get ready. You say, "Well, Jack, I don't know if the Lord's coming back soon." Listen, what if He's not coming back till next month? Next week? Next year? What if I don't know when? Nobody knows the day or the hour. But listen, what if you choke on lunch today? Forget about the rapture. You can choke on your hamburger and wind up going to heaven. Are you ready?

The next thing is this: that the Lord will defend His own people. That's for sure. "Or do you not know what the scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?" It's remarkable. And then it says here that in verse three, that the Lord, uh, will turn away the cloud, the, really, the cloud of darkness. Because this is very, very, uh, it ends sweet. It doesn't sound sweet, but Elijah is very, very depressed over this. He's very depressed. He's a man just like you and I. You know, we have a tendency to, to read these biblical personalities and think that these are super people. You know, they're not super people. Are you guys awake? Are you listening? So quiet. Um, don't tell me you're listening. It looks like you're sleeping to me. I'm, I'm meditating, Pastor, on what you're saying. You know, at the, you know, at the stadium, they have the kiss cam. You ever seen those kiss cams? We we need to, without letting you know, we should install some cameras. And there's the [Music] guy. And then what I would say is, "Everybody duck down. Go under your chair. Everybody hide." Can you imagine? And then we'd make this trumpet blast sound, and the guy wakes up, looks around. Wouldn't that be great? [Applause] Yeah. I'm sorry. I might have [Applause] head. Elijah's bummed. He's bummed out. He just had a tremendous experience at Mount Carmel, testing the prophets. Fearless, by the way. If you read the fine print, it's the prophets of Asteroth and Baal combined. Everybody talks about the 450 prophets. You got to read the fine print. It's 850 prophets, and they're all crying out. And he says, "Listen, what's wrong with you people?" He's talking to his people. "What's wrong with you worshiping these pagan gods who can't do anything for you?" And he sets up an altar. "You guys set up an altar, make your sacrifice. I'll make my sacrifice. You go first." And so all the pagan worshippers are doing their thing, and there, the Bible says that they're jumping around. There's no answer. The heavens were silent. It says. And then listen, this is paganism, and it happens even to the 21st century with pagan worshippers. Nothing's happening. So they get more violent in their worship. Then they start flogging themselves until it's says their blood was gushing out, trying to appease their God. To act. Here's Elijah. Can you imagine Elijah just like looks at his, uh, dial? I mean, really, come on, you guys. Where's your God? And you ought to read it later at your leisure. It is epic what he says. Maybe your God's busy. He says, "Listen, maybe your God's on a long journey." And he just keeps upping it. Jump louder. Cry more. Cut yourself some more. Maybe your God's in the bathroom. He says, "All right, shut it down. Scoot over." He makes his prayer and his request to God. The Bible says the fire of God came down and consumed, listen, consumed the sacrifice. But what Elijah did to his sacrifice is he covered it in water. The wood, the stone, and the animal. He covered it in water. Just to rub it in. It's not like he collected some dry carcass and set it on the rocks and got some really, uh, volatile wood and, you know, tried to like drop a match to make it happen. He douses the thing in water. Steps back. God, show them who You are. Remind them they once knew who He was, but they got away into paganism. And the Bible says a fire came down and not only consumed the sacrifice, but the flame was like a tongue, and it began to lap up the water all around the sacrifice. And then the fire went back up. And Elijah, this is supernatural. Elijah says, "All right, that's it. Stand still." And he took him to the brook, which, by the way, when you go to Mount Carmel, it's the only brook in the entire region. So geologically, archa-, archaeologic-, archaeology-wise, you've got to get Mount Carmel, which is historically Mount Carmel, and a spring together. He said, "Line up." And he cut their heads off. Can you imagine? They, they were so wrong. They just like, this next, uh, I think that's, I think that's amazing. You said, "Well, sure is bloody." You don't know about pagan worship. You want to talk about bloody? God destroys false prophets, and it's a very powerful thing. And he's very, very depressed. And see, he's saying, "They're going to, God, they're going to kill me. I'm the only one that's left." He goes from this moment of grandeur and greatness, and he gets an email from Jezebel. "What did you do to my people?" She sends him an email. He reads it, and she is all it said, "At about this time tomorrow, you will be just like those guys you just killed." And he goes, and he starts running for fear of Jezebel. He's hiding. He's hiding out. All this going on. "I'm the only one that's left." God says, "Zip it. I've reserved 7,000. You're not the only one that's left." The Bible tells us also in verse four, that the Lord will reserve His people a place. But what does the divine response say? "I have reserved for myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to Baal." And I absolutely love that. God's absolute reservation of His people. Are you a follower of Christ today? Listen, stay close to Him. Stay with Him in this hour like never before. Stay close to Christ. Listen, it's His desire that He stay close to you. It's His desire that you stay close to Him. Draw near to God, the Bible says, and He will draw near to you. Listen, have you noticed that whenever you and I, as a believer, experience a coolness in our Christian walk, who moved? Not God. You and I moved. And that's why that great account of the prodigal son, come back home. God is good in all these things, and He makes reservations. Listen to the power of this. You may not see the connection. I don't know. But I do. And maybe I can explain.

Matthew 13:1: "And the disciples came and said to Jesus, 'Why do You speak to the people in parables?'" Whenever Jesus spoke publicly, He spoke in parables. He taught the Bible and then ended the teaching in a parable. Verse 11: "And He said to them, 'Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has,' here's the answer. You see, I bet that's unfair. No, just read verse 12. 'For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he, uh, and and with abundance; but whoever does not have, listen, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.'" Verse 14: "And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: 'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull; their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn.'" It's the word repent, "so that I should heal them." Verse 16: "But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear." See, what in the world is going on here? Doesn't God want everybody to, to, uh, come to heaven? Yes. But God's foreknowledge tells us that He knows not everybody will. Are you hearing me? He doesn't send anybody to hell. The only people who go to hell are those who will not accept the gospel. Tell that to your friends who slam on God, "Well, this God of love of yours sends people to hell." You see, hey, stop right there. The Bible says that God is not willing that any should perish. He died on the cross for all people. But God has foreknowledge. That means He knows everything before it ever happens. And before the world was ever created, His foreknowledge, He knew today, He knew last week, He knows next month, He knows a thousand years from now, He knows a thousand years back. Back. Are you hearing me, everybody? His foreknowledge. He knew, for example, if I were to tell you today that your sin is pulling you down to hell like a 500-pound block tied around your ankles, you don't even know it. In fact, you become accustomed to it. You don't even feel that block. And the moment you slip and you fall, that block will pull you down into hell. So, whoa, that's horrible. It's terrible. It's so terrible that Christ died on the cross so that wouldn't have to happen. Well, then why is it happening? Because God knew an eternity based on foreknowledge that when that person would hear the gospel, they would say, "I don't need that. I don't want that. I'll never bow my knee to Jesus. I want to keep living my own life. I want to keep doing my own thing." God knew that you would think that and live like that before you were ever born. He didn't make you go to hell. He knew you would. Isn't it amazing? All of a sudden, like, man, that's serious. It's beyond serious. It's eternal. Sobering, to say the least.

So when Jesus says to the disciples, "Get this, guys. The word goes out to everybody, but those who have but don't utilize what they have will be taken away from them. Those who have and employ it more will be given to them." Think about your life hypothetically. Let's say you have a twin brother. You accepted Christ, and he didn't. His life went this way. Your life went this way. As you followed Christ, your life has meaning and purpose, even in the pain and, and the sorrow. Your life has purpose and meaning, and you have the assurance and the peace of eternal life. And your brother, with the same opportunity, has gone off this way. And he might be a big Wall Street wheeler and dealer, but he's empty inside, terrified about death. And when troubles come his way, his money can't buy him out of it. And they both end in death. God knew this. God didn't make your brother reject the gospel. That would mean we have a bad God. The truth is, God provides. And that's what Jesus is communicating to the disciples.

Here's where we end. Verses 5 to 6: Is it time to give up on Israel? Why? Why would we do that when God is about to move? Going to ask you to write this down, everybody. It's a greatly, uh, uh, disputed verse. It doesn't matter or passage. It doesn't matter once you hear it, you'll see why people like to place it someplace. I don't think it's necessarily a, a verse to place. It is a verse to understand the culture. It's Psalm 83, verses 1-5. Are we still okay, everybody? We're, we're almost there. Uh, when God is about to move, this is where you and I are sitting right now. And, uh, in Psalm 83, great Bible scholars differ greatly on this. And personally, it's my opinion, and I, listen, they're far, far greater a Bible student than I am, but I, I just take a different approach to this. There will, there will be those who say this was fulfilled in David's time. Some will say this will be fulfilled later. Some will say this was fulfilled in 19, uh, 67, or this was fulfilled in in 1948. I think we make a mistake by dialing it down too, too accurately. This is the general spirit of those who are saying today, from the Democrat Party to the UN to global leaders, and some Republicans, it's, it's time that we just cut ties with Israel. Just know this, go ahead and cut ties with Israel. It's not going to go well with you because you're cutting ties from God. It's not that Israel is your rescue. God is. So listen to what God warns: "Do not keep silent, O God! Do not hold Your peace, and do not be still, O God! For behold, Your enemies make a tumult; And those who hate You have lifted up their head." So whoever we're talking about is making a lot of noise, and they hate God. Everybody got that? Okay. Verse three: "They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, And consulted together against Your sheltered ones. They have said, 'Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, That the name of Israel may be remembered no more.'" For they have consulted together with one consent; They form a confederation against You. Notice, capital U. It's God. Watch this. The enemies of God hate God. The enemies of God want nothing to do with God. Is this bothering some of you? I hope it is. I hope it's getting somebody's attention because we're living it out right now. I don't know what, listen, you may have come here today, and I don't know this. It's parking stinks, and it's hot, and I don't like this, and all that thing. God wanted you here today just to hear this. The enemies of God show their hatred of God. The only way they can, they target the people God loves. Yes. Listen, where's the camera? Yes, yes. Israel. Yes, Jew. God loves you. You're in rebellion against Him. You're not believing that Yeshua HaMashiach. You're not believing that Jesus is Messiah. When we got that from your own books of the Old Testament. Go look at Proverbs 3:4 and figure out who that is. But God says, listen, in fact, Psalm 2, God says He hears the nations rumbling over this. He sits in the heavens, and the Bible says He laughs at them. You ever think of that? Wow. Put the verse back up. We'll finish this. Psalm 83. And so notice, if you have any doubt whatsoever, these enemies hate God. They're making a lot of noise. They've consulted together. They've joined a confederation, and they're going against Your sheltered ones. Verse above, or line above that, "Your people." And to remove all doubt, it says at the latter end of verse four, "That the name of Israel may be remembered no more." Church family, I want to show you one of many headlines. I mean, there's just a bazillion of them. "Iran's response to Israel looms. What are the possible scenarios?" This is one of an endless litany of news headlines from around the world that have been ongoing as to how will the region of Islam destroy Israel. Mahmoud Abbas said, "We are going to push them into the sea." Listen, that their name may be remembered no more. It's like they're reading the Bible and then living it out. People, be awake. Be alive. Be a believer. Follow Christ. This is absolutely happening right now. It's incredible.

Verse 5 teaches us this: that God moves in every generation. He's moving in every generation. "Even so then, at this present time, there is a remnant according to the election of grace." That means right now, in the 21st century, today, this month, there's an ele-, there are Jews walking around, as well as Gentiles, by the way. It's not in this context, it's Jewish, but we've already learned from the Book of Romans, it's anyone who will believe. Somewhere walking [Applause] around are Jews who God knows, and His foreknowledge, will believe in Jesus. We should, listen, we should lovingly, winsomely go out to our Jewish friends and say, "Hey, can I share something with you?" Because my goodness, what if that is a Jew who is known to God to be a Jew, to be born again? Wow.

How about this verse, though? Romans 11:25-29: "For I do not, uh, desire, brethren, lest you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinions." He's talking to Gentiles. Don't get all cocky now. "That blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in." In other words, God knows the number of Gentiles that are going to get saved, and when that's done, He's going to focus on Israel. Verse 26: "And so all Israel shall be saved, as it is written: 'The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.'" Verse 28: "Paul says, 'Concerning the gospel they are enemies, for your sake. But concerning the election, they are beloved for the sake of the fathers.'" Verse 29: "For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." God doesn't change His mind. By the way, if you are a follower of Christ, God's not going to change His mind and kick you out of the family. But God is moving, and He moves in every generation.

And then finally, here it is. Verse 6: God, God is moving right now in our world. He is moving. Oh, my goodness. Time does not allow me. I joke around all the time to tell you, I'm going to start wearing a pastor cam. I got to start wearing a pastor cam, a body cam, so you can listen and watch and see and hear the things that are going on, not just here, but everywhere in the world. God is moving. It's like overtime. He's moving. People's lives are snapping around. Listen, can I put it this way? I mean this affectionately. As violent as people are coming into the light, it's as violent as people are going into the darkness. Listen, the axe has been laid to the root of the trees, it seems, and a great division is taking place in the world around us. And people are flocking to Jesus, or people are running from Him. And as they run from Him, it's not like they're innocent. They are running away from Him headlong, crazy. The things that they're believing, the things that they're going after, they've rejected the love of God, and then they go after the most insane things. Do you know people like that? I know people like that. God is moving. And the Bible tells us in verse 6, "And if by grace," how about this? Read your Bible. But let me paraphrase it this way: "And if by God's unmerited favor, that nobody can earn His love and favor and grace, then it is no longer of works. Otherwise, God's unearned favor that's just gifted to you is no longer grace. But if it is of works," in other words, if you've got to be morally acceptable to God, if you've got to be religious to get into heaven, if you've got to be good enough, then it's no longer grace. It's one or the other. It's left or right. It's black or white. Which one will it be? And He says, "otherwise work is no longer work."

My dear friends, we end with this. The fact of the matter is, are you willing to embrace the grace of Almighty God, which completely insults your pride? In mine. Be honest. God says to you, "I will accept nothing from you of you trying to reform yourself and make yourself better." Unacceptable to me. I won't take it. But God, I gave. But God, I prayed. But God, I did anathema. I won't have it. But if you come to me with all your wretched sin and say to me, "God, I'm sorry for what I've done, and I believe Your gospel, Lord. I'm handing You my sins in repentance, and I'm receiving Your grace and Your forgiveness." God scoops you up. He scoops you up. He puts His Holy Spirit in you. He'll put His Holy Spirit on on top of you, and He'll wind you up and He'll turn You Loose into a world that needs that same kind of love.

Church, let's stand together. I'm going to rattle off these verses. I'm only 2 minutes over. That's nothing. It's been far worse than that before. Watch this, everybody. Watch this. Anybody tried to leave early, by the way? Just, you can trip them in the [Applause] Lord. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. For by grace you have been saved. Verse 8: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is a gift of God, verse 9, not of works, lest anyone should boast." Next verse: Titus 2:11: "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men." I suggest you take advantage of it. Next verse: Hebrews 13:9: "Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines, for it is good that the heart be established by what is it?" Next verse: Second Peter 3:18: "But grow in the and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." Next verse: James 4:6: "But He gives more grace. Therefore He says, 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.'" Is there another verse? Yes. John 1:16: "And of His fullness we have all received, grace for grace." For the law was given through Moses, but and truth came through Jesus Christ. Final verse. I know it's the final verse 'cause it's the end of the Bible. Revelation 22:21: "The of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen." God bless you.